Much Ado About Nothing

Dear Friend,


     I got to see the off-broadway production Much Ado About Nothing.  The play wasn't too long and it was pretty enjoyable.  One thing that I really liked was the use of Jazz music and the roles of the musicians in the play.  They used a lot of dramatic, hyperbolic actions in the play.  The theme for the play is to take life as it comes.


     The use of jazz music goes along very well with the theme of the play.  The theme is just to enjoy life because all of this crazy stuff happens, but in the end, not much changes from the original set of events.  The jazz music presents that fun theme.  This is because of all of the often randomness of jazz, but it still sounds sweet.


     The play has a lot of intentional exaggerations.  The two most common are when the characters act like bulls when the word comes up and when Don Pedro throws down the table in anger.  Don Pedro's action is funny and gives the audience a good feel for his character and the amount of anger he has.  This intentional overacting makes the play sort of goofy and fun.  


    Overall, I recommend seeing this play.  It was only 90 minutes and it was well acted.  I am very happy we got to go there on a school trip.  

Sincerely,

Joshua Waldman

Capulet Drama

     We've been reading Romeo and Juliet for quite some time and what I find most interesting is the conflicts and issues that are in the Capulet House.  These issues came to front in scene 3 or act 1.  The issues of marriage, womens rights, and the idea of marriage without even really knowing a person.


     What is interesting is that Juliet's father was against the marraige with Paris and Lady Capulet was very strongly for it.  Getting married at my age seems odd, and especially to someone I didn't know.  I would think that Lady Capulet would understand that, but she didn't.  Juliet's dad was understanding and wanted to protect his daughter as I most certainly would try to.  Lady Capulet said that she was married and raised Juliet when she was even younger then Juliet.  This shows just how different things were for women then.  Their jobs were basically to raise their children, cook and clean.  This is why the idea seems inconceivable to me but would make sense at the time the play was written.


     Another thing that is weird is that it's not clear that Juliet even knew Paris when he approached her father and asked if he could marry her.  So, essentially, he wanted to marry her because of her looks and wealth.  Another weird thing is that Lady Capulet wanted her to get married to him, both so that she would grow up and have a family and because he was a man of such power and money.  The idea of marriage has also seemed to have changed over the years.  Less people get married because of economics and almost all people at the very least know the person they are marrying.  


     All in all, scene 3 shows how much things have changed.  This makes the play interesting because it shows the social elements of the times.  However, many of the same personalities and characters lived then and now. 

Romeo and Juliet

Dear Friend,
    
     The first scene of Romeo and Juliet does an amazing job of presenting the two huge themes in the play.  Those themes are love and mindless grudges.  My read has been interesting so far.

   There are many great, interesting lines in this first scene. One that I really liked was, "I have lost myself.  I am not here."  Even though this line is not famous or anything, for some reason, I really like this line.  I like that it uses old words, but needs no translation.  The second sentence is a metaphor.  Even though it's simple, it represents so much more.  It means he is so in love that the love and the stress is the only place Romeo is.  Its a great line, which somehow is both simple and complex.

     This is not my first time reading Shakespeare.  I have already read three of his plays and preformed in one of them, Twelfth Night.  Shakespeare can be a struggle, but i find once I get it, it's great.  So far, this play has been a slow read, but not a boring one.  I suggest reading this, but, my favorite Shakespeare so far is Twelfth Night.

     I am not entirely into Romeo and Juliet, but I like it.  I wonder if it will become a faster read.  Its a hard read because of the constant vocabulary checking.  I don't really have questions about this play, but again, I recommend Romeo and Juliet to you.