2nd new play blog - "101 WAYS TO. . ."

"101 Ways To . . ."

First of all, this play was one of the best plays I have ever seen in my whole life. I admit that I have not seen so many plays but this one was outstanding in effect, plot, the actors were good and there is even more to it. I want to go into details to explain my fascination to the class.

The structure of the plot: I think the plot was structured very good. I think that the construction of the plot which is made of many small scenes allows every director who interprets the script to move a scene around exactly where he or she thinks it might fit best. The mocked music videos carry the chance to make every staging of the play seem up-to-date because the director could choose a popular video which is in the charts just at the time the play is staged.

The content of the plot: It is a great idea to mock the girls' magazines. The superficiality and insecurity, not only of the girls but of our whole society (in Germany we have very similar magazines, thus I am speaking of the "Western society") was made obvious in a very entertaining way. On the other side the laughter stuck in the throats of the audience when the father of two explains his concerns about his 8-year-old daughters being interested in make-up and fancy clothes. I think the direction our society is heading regarding this topic deserves this critical comment. I think it is also a criticism on these magazines in the sense that they write whatever would make young girls buy them while the girls on the other side really take the contents serious (especially younger teenagers).

The actors, their performance and the effect of the play: All of the actors did not need many costumes. All of them obviously were not nervous but really had a lot of fun. I laughed till tears came into my eyes when Jenny did the Kamasutra and then "faster backwards" or when the actors were eating and digesting magazines like the "Cosmopolitan" and were explaining how "slimy" they tasted. I think the most part of the audience was really fascinated in the same way. By offering rapid changes of scenes and using interesting, not-everyday settings (like the shadowplay in the beginning, monologues like the girl who wants "boobs" or directly adressing and involving the audience) the entertainment was sophisticated and well-thought in any aspect.