Humanities Homework Help

I’m working on a theater discussion question and need an explanation and answer to help me learn.

The Container represents a contemporary play (written around 2002 but not produced until later) that focuses on a contemporary issue. Some of the other plays this semester also focus on, for them, contemporary issues — although those issues may not always seem contemporary to us. For this posting, drawing on The Container and at least one other production from the semester, discuss why you think plays should or should not draw attention to contemporary social issues — and whether you think that focus limits or expands the value of the play as a work of theatre. Also, include your thoughts on this production’s choice of venue. Do you think it works? Or do you think it’s a waste of possible seating opportunities? Do you think plays should be heavily subsidized? Your posting should be between 250 and 350 words, well-written, with a clear thesis and argument — and with specific evidence from the productions to support that argument.

you are to watch The Container and then write about the importance of using theatre to comment on contemporary issues. The Container focuses on a very specific set of circumstances, but those circumstances remain in evidence at the present time. The production also represents a particular kind of theatrical experience, one that is, of course, not fully available to you in watching the video. This production (and other productions of the play — you can google “The Container Clare Bayley review” to find other examples) takes place entirely within a shipping container — a container that holds the cast and the audience. In some ways, it is an example of what is often called “site-specific theatre” — a theatre piece developed to be played in (and in some cases about) a specific place. Normally, a site-specific piece cannot be moved, but as the site of this performance is a container, it is possible to re-create it in different theatrical circumstances. One might ask, though, if the play were done in a more conventional theatre (perhaps on a thrust or arena stage) in front of an audience of 100 or more (rather than the 30 or so that fit in the container), what would be lost? What would be gained.

As always, in watching the production, think about the conventions that undergird how the play expresses meaning — which includes the conventions we’ve internalized about how people act, dress, talk, and so on. Your posting asks you to compare the production of The Container with a least one of the other productions we’ve watched this semester, and thinking about the kinds of conventions used might provide a way in.