Mariluz Reynosa
Tao 100
Play critique
In Extremis The East Los Angeles play “In extremis” took place in during the 12th century in Anno Domini in Paris. It starts off with Peter Abelard, arguing with his teacher William of Champeaux, which has set up a new philosophical school of his own, which proves popular at the royal court of France. One of his followers is Heloise, with whom he also starts a sexual affair, under the guise of private tuition. His school's success worries Bernard of Clairvaux, who feels it, is subjecting divine revelation to reason and may destroy the Roman Catholic Church and Christianity itself. They spend years arguing about whose right and who’s wrong and during that time he and Heloise go through many obstacles because of their forbidden love affair. There were many likeable characters in the play my favorite were Peter and Heloise. They were the main characters of the play. Peter had a very strong presence on stage and he portrayed the main character very well because he spoke like a true philosopher and made you feel like every time he spoke you were hearing a wise man speaking. He brought good energy on stage and I never got bored with his character. He projected his voice very well and spoke with an accent the whole time. He did not break from his character at all. Heloise was his lover and I found her to be very likable as well she stood up for herself and did that with great confidence and poise. The actress spoke very well and also stayed in character the whole time. Her presence wasn’t as strong as Peters but you knew whenever she was on stage. I liked her facial emotions whenever she was talking about something. I also liked the fact that she had an accent too. Whenever those two were on stage you can tell that everyone was focused on them the whole time. They had good chemistry as a couple on stage as well. The set of the play was simple they had several pillars which they would move around to create different structures. They had a projection in the back which let you know where they changed it to let you know where they were. The setting was right in front of you there was no stage that was dividing the audience from the actors. They came out through the center between the seating benches and also through the sides. It was a very intimate location which made you feel more connected to the actors. They had a few props that they would bring in but that was also quite simple as well. They had many cut out little papers in different colors on the floor which helped them pretend there was grass and such. The space was well occupied and everything was centered. The lighting in the play wasn’t too bright they would have a main spotlight on the characters but it didn’t blind you because they were very close to the audience. Even though the lighting wasn’t super bright they still kept my attention and I stayed focused on the characters. They also had the back lights on the projection screen which helped them explain the years it took place and every time they changed a scene the location. They didn’t blackout every scene change because since the setting was so close to the audience the techies had to have a bit of light in order to switch around the set. You saw everything even the backstage crew. The costumes of the play were used effectively to