Director's Vision

The musical that I picked is “The Hunchback of Notre Dame”. It was first introduced to me by my mother, she was listening to this for four weeks straight and she would play it in anywhere she wants, such as when she was driving or when she was cooking. That is also the very first time I actually listened to a musical production. It is quite fascinating to see the production, although it was in bad quality, but the songs and how actors act on stage is ironed in my mind.

When I was watching the play with my mother, I cannot understand a thing from the play since it was french and there were no subs at all. I read the storyline like a year later after I watch the play and I rewatch it. There is this conflict of who is the main character of the play, who is the main character and who is actually the main character. I guess this is the question that the director’s vision is trying to let us figure out.

I think the heart of the show, should be this love relationship between Quasimodo, Frollo, Pheobus, Clopin and Gringoire to Esmeralda. When these characters gather together and sing the “Where is she” song, even if that is not the most touching part of the play, but that sends out such strong message of the bond that Esmeralda has created within the characters. Although audiences might be eager to see a good ending with Quasimodo can be with Esmeralda in the end, which would not be the case, but still giving the audience what the play is supposed to end on. It is a tragedy for sure, but the heart of the play is the romance.

I have watched some versions of the play, and I have a conclusion of, there really are not a lot of things that you can alter in the play. It is just not flexible at all, the whole point of the show is to tell this great love story, if anything gets changed, it is hard to maintain what you, as a director is trying to depict in the play. There might be different takeaways and understandings, but what I want to present in the play is what I mentioned earlier, the romance of the play. Most of the audience would see the play as an adventure, love, rescue and love. It does sound accessible, but that would be flavorless since there are countless hero film or play out there. It would be way more intriguing if the whole theme is the romance itself.

Unit Reflection:
I had learned three things in total in this unit. They are something that I had never realize or actually put in time to think about them before. The very first of them all is the idea that a play can actually be directed in different ways. I used to think of a script as a rule book for any directors to read and follow, everything is stiff and unchangeable. But when I was actually reading some plays and watching different versions of a certain play, I now understand that play is just the textual information that the author had given to the world. The message and the feeling that it can provide to audience is heavily depending on the director's opinion. That is what makes theatre beautiful, because each director would have their own interpretation of the play.

The second thing is a saying. And it is really easy for people to understand, but hard to put into action. "Always remember directors should have passion in their heart, or else everything he/she creates would be bloodless." Such concept can literally be adapted into anything. Music, painting, writing, you name it. But it is hard for me to find the passion for theatre inside of me.

The last thing is this idea of practical acting or directing. "There should not be too much actions because that would expose the subtext." I never thought about this before, I though it would be better if the director could make a lot of plot related actions on the stage. After thinking more about that, the idea itself actually make sense,.