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The Merchant of Venice
Otterbein University Theatre and Dance Department
The Merchant of Venice is a 16th-century play by William Shakespeare in which a merchant in Venice must default on a large loan provided by an abused (Jewish) moneylender. It is believed to have been written between 1596 and 1599. Though classified as a comedy in the First Folio and sharing certain aspects with Shakespeare's other romantic comedies, the play is perhaps most remembered for its dramatic scenes, and it is best known for Shylock and the famous "Hath not a Jew eyes?" speech. Also notable is Portia's speech about "the quality of mercy".
The Merchant of Venice. (2017, June 12). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 20:22, June 12, 2017, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Merchant_of_Venice&oldid=785235511
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Waiting for Godot
Otterbein University Theatre and Dance Department
It has been said Waiting for Godot, with destructive intent, that it is a drama in which absolutely nothing happens. "And does that seem a small accomplishment?" we should ask. This is precisely what is so fascinating about Waiting for Godot: that nothing happens. It is a lucid testimony of nothingness. But while we are left cold by many dramas of intrigue in which a great deal happens, this "nothing happens" of Waiting for Godot keeps us in suspense. These men who are bored cast us out of our own boredom; their boredom produces our catharsis, and we follow their adventure breathlessly, for they have suddenly placed us before the "nothing happens" of our lives. The gray and meaningless mass of our everyday existence is suddenly illuminated, disclosing its true structure, naked and desolate. That is the great revelation. Besides, we are not before a plotless drama. We are before a mono-situational plot. Considered in this light, Waiting for Godot is a drama which conforms to the artistic requirements of traditional drama. It is rooted in sure ground, the only ground in which theater can be seriously rooted: situation. Thus, "nothing happens" can be the form in which the most extraordinary and profound events are presented, just as "many things happen" can be a form of emptiness.
Waiting for Godot captures this "nothing happens" which constitutes our daily existence. For this reason, it is a familiar picture, a radiographic plate in which we recognize ourselves with horror. The story of Waiting for Godot is precisely a story of our lives.
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The Crucible
Otterbein University Theatre and Dance Department
The Crucible is a 1953 play by American playwright Arthur Miller. It is a dramatized and partially fictionalized story of the Salem witch trials that took place in the Massachusetts Bay Colony during 1692/93. Miller wrote the play as an allegory for McCarthyism, when the United States government ostracized people for being communists. Miller himself was questioned by the House of Representatives' Committee on Un-American Activities in 1956 and convicted of contempt of Congress for refusing to identify others present at meetings he had attended.
The play was first performed at the Martin Beck Theatre on Broadway on January 22, 1953, starring E. G. Marshall, Beatrice Straight and Madeleine Sherwood. Miller felt that this production was too stylized and cold and the reviews for it were largely hostile (although The New York Times noted "a powerful play [in a] driving performance"). Nonetheless, the production won the 1953 Tony Award for Best Play. A year later a new production succeeded and the play became a classic. It is regarded as a central work in the canon of American drama
The Crucible. (2017, June 3). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 20:48, June 12, 2017, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Crucible&oldid=783624878
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Carousel
Otterbein University Theatre and Dance Department
The story revolves around carousel barker Billy Bigelow, whose romance with millworker Julie Jordan comes at the price of both their jobs. He attempts a robbery to provide for Julie and their unborn child; after it goes wrong, he is given a chance to make things right. A secondary plot line deals with millworker Carrie Pipperidge and her romance with ambitious fisherman Enoch Snow. The show includes the well-known songs "If I Loved You", "June Is Bustin' Out All Over" and "You'll Never Walk Alone".
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