PRC scene for Success At Last

Raeburn, Nic, Vera and Aashna are seated (in this order) … ILI walks in and sits down, angled to face them. Immediately, RNVA’s sits up straight.

R: Guang Zhou, China.

N: I’ve graduated with a university degree.

V: Yes, I speak a bit of English and I’m willing to learn more!

A: I use to work in Bank of China.

ILI moves her position and RNVA change their positions synchronizing their actions.

R: Geylang? What’s that?

N: I’ve never heard of anything like that.

V: What is a “Geylang Chicken”?

A: Are you trying to call me… No!

ILI moves her position and RNVA change their positions synchronizing their actions.

R: $5 per hour right?

N: huh? $2.50?

V: Why do I get $2.50 and everyone else gets $5?

A: How am I different?

ILI moves her position and RNVA change their positions synchronizing their actions.

R: Uh I need the job to feed my family.

N: I have two sons

V: Yes I’m a single parent that’s why I need to earn money.           

A: Yes I’m willing to work night shift!

ILI moves her position and RNVA change their positions synchronizing their actions.

R: Manager?!

N: Manager for what?

V: I’ve done manager before! I can do it!

A: Toilet?           

R: No no no! I still want the job!

N: $2.50 is alright

V: When can I start?

A: Okay, Thank you.

RNVA all stand and exit.

TRIH notes from 03 Sept 2012

AN ENDANGERED SPECIES

Melodrama

A style of drama that we can utilised in the performing of TRIH is melodrama.

Melodrama style of Acting

Watch this video of the play A 10 Minute Melodrama and describe what the characteristics of this style of acting are. How do the characters speak and move?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptDUGNkPvHY

Basic melodrama stage conventions

http://thecrushedtragedian.blogspot.sg/2007/07/basic-melodramatic-stage-conventions.html

Melodrama Types and Acting Conventions (video inclusive)

http://wanderingash5.blogspot.sg/2011/03/melodrama-types-and-acting-conventions.html

Webpage from Kaiapoy High School with a whole unit on Melodrama!

http://www.kaiapoi.school.nz/WebSpace/784/

Notes about the genre of Melodrama

19^th Century Melodrama

http://novaonline.nvcc.edu/eli/spd130et/melodrama.htm

Wikipedia’s entry on Melodrama

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melodrama

Agatha's Christie's The Mousetrap

Girls, please watch a these video clips of The Mousetrap so that you understand the kind of style that you parodying in TRIH. What are the characteristics of the style of acting?
What else do you notice about the two plays? Similarities? Differences?

Mousetrap Act 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Js6pqzRxUBI&feature=related
The Mousetrap Clip 1---Intro & Meet the Ralstons.wmv
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_cBfBrZ3js&feature=related
The Mousetrap Clip 2---Irritated Husbands,Terrible Females, and The Arrival of the Unexpected Guest
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frme10_gnZw&feature=relmfu

The Mousetrap Clip 3---Well-Disguised Cornbeef---Mrs. Boyle and Major Metcalf get acquainted

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhFwlDrLU0U&feature=relmfu

What is success?

Success to me is when I have accomplished a goal that I have set for myself. Success often comes with lots of obstacles in between. It’s like having a road block, blocking you from your goal. Success varies among people as many people have different definitions of success. Some may say success comes about with money, some say it comes with happiness and some, love. For me, as long as I am happy with what I have achieved I could say that I feel success.

What is the metaphor of a maze?

A maze is like having your path blocked so many times that you get annoyed or frustrated. Only certain routes lead to the finish. But imagine defying the laws of the maze (going through a blocked path which you never thought was possible), you could still reach the finish. The metaphor of a maze is the path to success. Taking any path you want. There is no right or wrong. All that matters is you get to the finish, which is what you desire.

What does a maze look like?

Lines. Lot and lots of lines. It looks rather messy but in a way there’s a certain pattern to it. Every maze is unique with a single winning path.

What’s in a maze?

Everything and nothing, and well, me. It depends on what the person thinks that is a maze to them. They’re own problems and path they have to dig out for themselves. Everyone has their own maze. So just imagine in your head and you’ll see what’s in a maze.

Mazes

Hampton Court Maze

Barcelona Maze

Nicole Cheah

Success At Last! (Melissa Mae)

1. What is success?

To me, success is the feeling when you know you have achieved your desired goal after overcoming many, many obstacles along the way. The feeling of success is great. It is when you truly know that all of your hard work and determination -that has been put into a certain goal- has paid of, that you know you're finally successful. 


In this particular story that we're doing (The Maze), success is not achieved only by getting out of the maze, but the journey you had. If you got out of the maze without overcoming any obstacles, it wouldn't even be considered as success after all. The journey you had while trying to get out of the maze is the thing that determines the level of success you have achieved. If you managed to overcome all obstacles in the maze, your level of success would be great. 


"Obstacles are necessary for success because in selling, as in all careers of importance, victory comes only after many struggles and countless defeats." - Og Mandino


2. What is the metaphor of the maze?
[Message and Intention]


- Why did you go into the maze?

I went into the maze to save the lives of my parents. They were on one end of the maze, and I was on the other. I was given a time limit to save them and if I didn't, they would get killed by an UNSUB. Along the way to the other end, I would encounter many obstacles involving dangerous animals and people. After beating each enemy, I would be given a clue that would tell me which route to take next, and eventually lead me to my parent's whereabouts. I wanted to put a little twist of Criminal Minds and Harry Potter in my story.

- What did the maze look like?

Some mazes...

The maze looks complicated, on both the outside and inside. It is as large or larger than a football field, and is made out of leaves and vines. The maze is very tall and long. This is so that it has an eerie feel to it. When you're in the maze, you'll get confused and feel trapped for a while before you decide where you're headed to next. The maze will be easy to complete if you follow all the steps to get to the other side, however if you don't, getting out of the maze would be a torturous experience for you.


Done by: Melissa Mae :)

Success at Last. (food for thought) (Dawn)

What success at last means to me is; taking a very long procedure and numerous times of failures to get to what you are trying to accomplish. To me the ahievement/accomplishment that you have achieved is does not really define the success but it is more of the lessons;(values, wisdoms)  that you have learnt or even gained from, because maybe the particular achievement may last only for a while whereas the things gained may last you your whole life.



           The Maize.
                                   
                                          okay... nvm. 

                                                    The Mazes

                                          Reignac-sur-Indre Maze (France)

                                          The Mind Maze          

                 This is like not a real maze this is like a "pshycology Maze".

                                        It is sort of like the you are trying to figure out what who you are               and that you are also trying to walk out of this maze
(your mental thoughts) that is messing with your mind

What is the metaphor of the maze? Why enter the maze?
For the both of the mazes it like a "trial and error" type of thing . Because for someone to get out of a complicated maze, she must have tried the maze many times to actually do it. Hence every route that you pick to (try) and get out is like taking a chance to do something, and the many routes which leads you not to the exit is like setbacks. And these motivation to redo and gaining the knowledge that these routes are wrong are like things that the person gains. 


Dawn.

Stimuli(NicR)

What is success?

To me, success is when you feel that you have accomplished something and have met your own standards. It’s when you feel pleased with yourself and your work. I guess it’s also the sense that your esteem is given a boost because of your accomplishment.

Success could be defined as anything to different people but the basis of what makes up ‘success’ to me is usually that feeling of happiness after completing the task.

What is the metaphor of the maze?

A certain stage of one’s life when one has to make many choices and are faced with many setbacks, having to try and try again when we don’t get it right. For example, right now in our teenage years we make a lot of mistakes but no matter how many times we come to a dead end, we get back up and try another way to get out of the maze. Since the maze in this case represents our teenage years, the way out could be a metaphor for when we finally learn what it means to become adults, to learn to make the right choices and going on a journey to develop yourself on the way to get out of that maze.  

What does the maze look like?

It looks intimidating. Something daunting and something that you wouldn’t to go into; but at the same time, when you finally go in you learn how to adapt to the changes and start to try and make your way out. I guess its kind of like a bouncy castle. It looks large and scary, and at first it feels a bit unnerving to have the ground underneath you bounce and feel unsteady, but eventually you get used to it and even start to have fun as you make your way through the castle and eventually exit the castle altogether.

Labyrinth:

1.                              A complicated irregular network of passages or paths in which it is difficult to find one's way; a maze. An intricate and confusing arrangement.

Maze:

A network of paths and hedges designed as a puzzle through which one has to find a way. A few of the mazes/labyrinths:

 this maze shows how when we eventually get to the end, there will be something waiting there for us whether it be good or bad, and it also brings about the feeling of success at having completed the maze.

Stimuli (Gillian's PoV)

Suggestions:

1. What is success? Success is attaining my goal after going through all the hard work, effort and obstacles to get there. Success is about the goal and the journey. Success is knowing that i have the capability to do what I had set my mind to.

-Is it getting out of the maze?

No, it is getting to the core of the maze. To gain control.

2. What is the metaphor of the maze?

-Forced or choose to go into it? (Message/intention) Forced to go into it. It is something you cannot avoid. You can run away from it, but it will always find a way to catch up with you and then you will have to face it.

-what do I do in the maze? Wander around it, looking for a certain point but not exactly sure what it would be like.

-How is it related to real life? We know what our goals are but we never really know what will happen once we get there.

3. What does the maze look like?

-eg Singapore

-Why? An hourglass – To signify that time is running out.

4. Research Famous mazes/ labyrinth – literature, real life (below)

5. What’s in the maze? Ultimately, it is ‘me’ that the person is looking for. We always think we are looking for something, but little do we know it, we are searching for ourselves and who we are. In the maze, there are random things that cause me to trip or slow down.

 

Definition of labyrinth - (noun) a confusing set of connecting passages or paths in which it is easy to get lost.

Definition of maze – (noun) ¹a complicated system of paths or passages which people try to find their way through for amusement ²an area in which you can get easily lost because there are so many similar streets or passages  

http://www.lessons4living.com/labyrinth.htm

"Your life is a sacred journey. And it is about change, growth, discovery, movement, transformation, continuously expanding your vision of what is possible, stretching your soul, learning to see clearly and deeply, listening to your intuition, taking courageous challenges at every step along the way. You are on the path... exactly where you are meant to be right now... And from here, you can only go forward, shaping your life story into a magnificent tale of triumph, of healing of courage, of beauty, of wisdom, of power, of dignity, and of love." 
Caroline Adams

We are all on the path... exactly where we need to be. The labyrinth is a model of that path.

A labyrinth is an ancient symbol that relates to wholeness. It combines the imagery of the circle and the spiral into a meandering but purposeful path. The Labyrinth represents a journey to our own center and back again out into the world. Labyrinths have long been used as meditation and prayer tools.

A labyrinth is an archetype with which we can have a direct experience. We can walk it. It is a metaphor for life's journey. It is a symbol that creates a sacred space and place and takes us out of our ego to "That Which Is Within."

Labyrinths and mazes have often been confused. When most people hear of a labyrinth they think of a maze. A labyrinth is not a maze. A maze is like a puzzle to be solved. It has twists, turns, and blind alleys. It is a left brain task that requires logical, sequential, analytical activity to find the correct path into the maze and out.

A labyrinth has only one path. It is unicursal. The way in is the way out. There are no blind alleys. The path leads you on a circuitous path to the center and out again.

A labyrinth is a right brain task. It involves intuition, creativity, and imagery. With a maze many choices must be made and an active mind is needed to solve the problem of finding the center. With a labyrinth there is only one choice to be made. The choice is to enter or not. A more passive, receptive mindset is needed. The choice is whether or not to walk a spiritual path.

At its most basic level the labyrinth is a metaphor for the journey to the center of your deepest self and back out into the world with a broadened understanding of who you are.

 
 
 
 
           

Aashnaaaaa~

SUCCESS AT LAST!

What is success? 

- Success to me, means achieving something after trying to get it for very long or achieving something after you have given all your best. Getting out of the maze is a success because a person takes very long to get out of a maze as it is a long process. 

FAMOUS MAZES

Richardson Castle

The Richardson Farm has a number of large corn mazes, but the fairy tale castle is perhaps the most…enchanting. The mazes change annually, and this castle is now closed, but it’s thrilling to view regardless.

Victoria Park Water Maze

This water maze is beautiful when filled with rainwater. It is distinctive because it is a Chartres Maze. This special type of maze is based upon Christian mythology, and it features a clear cross-like symbology (at right, below) which the believer is meant to walk in a particular pattern (as shown at left below).

What is the metaphor of the maze? Why enter the maze?

-at the end of the maze there is a huge treasure that is worth million of dollars $$$$$$$ and we need to get out of the maze and finish tasks in the maze if we want that treasure. (something like a treasure hunt)

AASHNA 

Lauren (:

What is Success?

- accomplishing something

- a sense of achievement

- finally reaching the end of a difficult task.

These are some of the things that come to my mind when i see the word success. Getting out of a maze is an accomplishment as after a long walk inside the maze, you're finally out free...a maze is like real life. There are many obstacles and whatnot blocking our way each day, at every corner there could be a wall or dead end stopping us from moving forward. This is like how we face setbacks in our own lives. Dead ends or obstacles are sometimes very upsetting and they can make you feel like giving up is the easiest option but that depends on how you want to see it. It could also be motivation to do better and to try harder. The message of the maze could be that sometimes its good to take small and slow steps and think carefully about where you are going. If there's a fork in your path, make a wise decision or take a chance. You never know what could be waiting for you at the end of that path. 

The maze could be a very challenging one with many obstacles and forks. This could be to show how much people go through in life and what type of difficulties they face. There should be dead ends at some points but always will there be a way out because in life, no one really meets a complete daed end.

One maze that i found was quite interesting was the Snakes ‘n Ladders one. It looks like this... 

I think this maze is really cool cause its an abstract way of playing snakes 'n' Ladders 

Another maze i thought was quite interesting was the Hampton Maze. This maze is so simple, yet very challenging. 

There is a bunch of Labyrinths in Sedona, Arizona which i think are super cool because they aren't like normal mazes and stuff which are made out of Hedges and all. They are put together by rocks and sand! 

Stimuli

1. Endangered Species
When I think of endangered species, I think of the apocalypse. If an apocalypse happens, the whole human race might be wiped out or the human population will decrease, causing humans to be an endangered species

2. Circles and squares 
For circles and squares, I think of wormholes in space. Mainly because the structure of a wormhole has both circles and squares in it.


3. Success at last!
For success at last, I think of an individual overcoming whatever fear or obstacles that he/she has within her/him-self, such as phobias.

VERA'S BRAINSTORM

Stimuli ideas~

1. Endangered Species

• What if literary arts is dying out? We could be the group of students that try to save it by putting up a musical

2. Success at Last

• A group of people trying to break up relationships between people and they succeed, sending the entire world into war

3. CIRCLES & SQUARES

• Different genders represented by both shapes; it portrays how different we are dimensionally

Stimuli

ENDANGERED SPECIES
When i think of an endangered species, i immediately think of an animal or plant, which are most common. However, i really like Ms Lenden's idea of the concept of the IJ girl being extinct. Society has impacted and shaped all of us all over the world to behave in a certain type of way. Another idea could be our ancestral and cultural beliefs that are endangered. Some of today's youth of seem to be losing tradition and have just do not respect culture or religion anymore. This could be a topic we discuss as traditions, culture and religion are what started our small Nation.


CIRCLES AND SQUARES
This reminds me of Obstacle courses. maybe we could do an obstacle course and show how there are many things in our way each day and we as human beings face plenty of setbacks, but we can also show that we cannot back down. That every obstacle can be overcomed. Another thing that reminds me of Circles and Squares is the Galaxy and how unlimited it is. The stars, constellations and planets and whatever they have up there is another world on it's own. It's something new for us to explore.


SUCCESS AT LAST!
To me success is getting everything you dreamed and worked for. So my was of "success at last" is having a perfect family with a stable job and a normal life. 


LAUREN <3

Stimuli

An endangered species?

Endangered;threatened with extinction
What if an endangered species can once again not be endangered? Like just probably maybe it was just a thought that a particular something is going to disappear/wiped off but somehow it is not the case, somehow if you are just able to "ignite" the particular factor, it would no longer face the danger of being endangered.  For eg, Water is "poured" to diminish an extremely huge fire but somehow or rather it wasnt put out properly and there is still a very small "spark" there which if anything flammable is added to it, it would become ablaze again . 


Circles and Squares 


By using the ideas of mirrors we can probably show how diff shape of mirrors (i.e a person's mind ) show the reflection of itself and how it think about oneself. 


Succes At Last '
 
Is like how your life is one huge big milestone that you are facing with
It's like until the death then one realises that he's happy because he fought with his own life before and at least tried and did dnot even hesistate "fighting it" 


Dawn

Stimuli

An Endangered Species?
The question mark leaves room for doubt so i don't feel that this stimuli should be restricted to animals only. For example how innocence is lost in today's generation? Or perhaps chivalry because i keep hearing "chivalry is dead". Maybe the active teen is endangered. It seems that we're all attached to our iphones. However after seeing quie a few of us posting about endangered sort of human beings, i thought some animals won't do any harm. So some endangered animals would be the blue whale, the african lion, broad-toothed mice, desert rat kangaroo and cougars and jaguars.

Circles and squares
For circles and squares, we can do contemporary theatre and this stimuli will allow us to use our body more. We tend to neglect how our body moves on stage so for circles and squares i don't have much ideas for it but i'm hoping it can help us with body language and the use of our bodies.

Success At Last!
For this one, we could do something related to people who want to see a change in society? Or people who have a message. We could do something about Severn Suzuki and how she's still an environmentalist even after silencing the world for 6 minutes when she was younger. We can explore what methods did she take to achieve what she wanted? and at what cost? This could be paralleled to the guy who started the Kony 2012 project and ended up arrested for .. indecent exposure in public. Soo we can show these people with a big message but how does it take a toll on them?


Ili

Ideas for Stimuli :]

1. Endangered species - the first thought that came to me was of animals. i realised that it was very mainstream to think about animals. so here's what i think. isn't the human race an endangered species? sure our total human population is in the billions but the world we know it will definetly die. so, talking about humans, i took my researha step closer to home. there are in fact many endangered species in Singapore. 1. Trishaw uncles (i only ever sew uncles driving them. never any young people.) 2. Hawkers ( many hawkers are retiring and their family bussiness will not carry on because their children would rather work high paying white collar jobs. 3. Ge tai (if im not wrong its the play for the dead people but nowadays i only see them occassionally. apologies if i named it incorrectly.)                                                                
2.Circles and squares - well, circles are indeed a cycle but it also means forever. a promise - wedding rings. Squares  - i like the idea of going back to square 1  . another idea i have for circles and squares is that circles could be rolling into continuity, time and it never stops instead it moves faster and gains momentum. Squares remind me of this invisible wall that all of us have which we build around our vulnerable selves to protect ourselves.  Squares remind me of being claustophobic, trapped, enclosed, and a mental institution.                        
3. Success at last! - when i think of this i imagine someone literally at the top of the world after scaling a mountain and is now enjoying then scenary. i dont know why but i feel that this phrase can be used in sarcastic terms.                                                                                                             Gillian Koh

Stimuli

An endangered species?

Maybe we could do something like what our generation used to watch/play with/eat/do.
E.g, playing with Barbie dolls, using erasable drawing boards, watching Dora the Explorer/Blues Clues or just using our imaginations to entertain ourselves,etc.
Then showing how the modern generation nowadays have iPhones and iPads etc. when all we had last time was a Nokia we used to play Snake.

I guess it's also showing the generation gap nowadays because of how much the world has changed, and showing the contrast of what the modern generation have nowadays as compared to the generation last time. To return to the topic, I suppose the "endangered species" would be what we had last time as compared to now.

Circles and squares.

I thought we could do something like having Circles and Squares as two different types of people(like what we did in the earlier term, being the ball/stick/cloth). So the people who are Circles could be fun, carefree, cheerful, bouncy etc. while those who were Squares could be rigid, unwilling to change their mindsets just like the frame of a square, down to earth or in other words, a possible opposite of the Circles.

We could show how these Circles and Squares co-existed no matter how different they were(conflicts between them), and show how people can overcome obstacles if they just try hard enough instead of turning on each other.

Success at last!

This idea could be portrayed in the form of different scenarios: what one person could consider a success might be different from others. For example, some might consider finishing a marathon to be a success but others might consider surviving a school day or finishing a book, a success.

Rodrigues

Stimuli

An endangered species?

Children’s childhood that does not involve technology and gadgets. A simple, fun and exciting childhood where children gather together to play instead of always hanging out through the Internet or having their eyes glued to the television.

Capturing dreams that you once had. You can never remember it fully and wonder why as time goes by the dream fades and become fuzzy.

Circles and squares

A six sided square dice. Probability of landing on 1 number is 1 over 6. Symbolizes how life can have many possibilities and outcomes. With everything done, a consequence follows. For example, like a chessboard. What paths are taken and wrong choices made on the way to ultimately reach your desired goal. Or either what choices are made which landed you up at the losing point. Everything that is done is a gamble with no correct answer. Portray this topic on a game board or chessboard, with dices and everything.

Success at last!

Walking through a maze wondering how to get out. When problems are encountered, this is what you will feel like. Portray the inner workings of your mind and how you come about the epiphany you suddenly had which led to your success.

Nicole Cheah 

Stimuli Ideas

An endangered species:

When I first saw the topic 'endangered species', I immediately thought of 1. Wild animals 2. Extinction 3. Hunting 4. Death. However, I also thought about it in a deeper level... For example, people and how endangered we are. By definition, endangered means "threatened to extinction" and when I saw that, I thought about the different ways a person can die from. I don't know why I had such depressing thoughts the first time I saw the topic but I definitely found it cool to do a piece on methods of death somehow... We could have different characters telling us how they "died" and going into the methods of death. 

Circles and Squares:

I thought of a rhythmic pattern when I first saw the topic. In my opinion, circles and squares are basic shapes, therefore, we could do a piece on an average student's everyday life and daily routine. Because I thought of a rhythmic pattern at first, I thought that it would suit my idea well as it could show how that student's routine is repeated everyday. For example, wake up, wash up, get changed, go to school, stay for structured lessons, come home, shower, eat dinner, complete homework, watch TV, brush teeth, go to bed, and repeat the routine the next day. 

Success at last!:

"Success at last!" made me think about victory, exams and competitions. My first thought when I saw the topic was my canoeing competitions and how success was hard to achieve when competing amongst other great canoeing schools. Then again, success doesn't necessarily have to deal with competitions. It could be how successful you are in school and your grades. Whenever someone gets their desired grade for whatever subject, they'll definitely feel successful. I was thinking about doing a  play-within-play. I don't know why but it seemed pretty interesting. We could show a bunch of drama students who had just finished performing at their drama showcase and show how successful they felt afterwards. That way, we could relate to the characters and it would be pretty fun to play characters alike ourselves. 

-Melissa Mae :)

Stimuli

An endangered species?

-mention about dinosaurs and and show how they became endangered and what life was like when they still existed.

Circles and squares

-set of theme park with children playing on the ferris wheel or merry-go-round, etc.

Success at last!

-the latest story about Dawn Loggins (Homeless to Harvard), she gained success after struggling a lot and after facing a lot of hardship

Aashna

Tom Stoppard

 Tom Stoppard's playwrighting career embodies a fascinating clash of opposites. In an interview, he once said, "I don't write plays for discussion." Yet his writings have been the subject of dozens of academic books and hundreds of critical articles. He has also commented "I've never felt . . . that art is important." Yet many of his characters continually ponder the significance of theater, indeed, the significance all the arts, as part of a perpetual search for meaning. 

    He is regarded as the most intellectual dramatist of our time, and his works are permeated with cultural allusions and a remarkable depth of scholarship in a dizzying array of fields. Yet his formal education ended after the second year of high school. Finally, despite Stoppard's stature as a "serious" playwright, his writings overflow with fun: parodies, puns, and verbal byplay across multiple languages. 

    To encapsulate the work of any artist in a few paragraphs is difficult. One place to begin with Stoppard, however, is to recognize that after he left school at the age of seventeen, he worked for a few years as a journalist, including several months as a drama critic. This career seems to have inspired in him an almost scientific curiosity about people's behavior, a fascination with how they attempt to maintain personal, emotional, and intellectual balance as they wander through the uncertainties of life. Indeed, the main characters in virtually all his plays conduct a perpetual struggle to affirm their beliefs and values in a bewildering world. 

    Nowhere is this theme more evident than in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (1967), Stoppard's first international success. Here he dramatizes the plight of two peripheral characters from Shakespeare'sHamlet, as they meander in and out of the turmoil that ravages the Danish court of Elsinore. The two men are unaware that Prince Hamlet has been ordered by his father's Ghost to revenge the murder of this father, the King, at the hands of Claudius, now ruler of Denmark and husband of Gertrude, Hamlet's mother. Nor have they any sense of the social, political, religious, and sexual implications of this crisis. All they know is that they have been summoned to discover why Hamlet, their old school chum, seems so distressed. Stoppard weaves scenes from Shakespeare with his own sparkling dialogue, creating a memorable portrait of two little men who seek to understand a world hopelessly beyond their ken. 

    From time to time, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern encounter some Players who entertain at Hamlet's court, and at those moments, the two lost souls tend to regard themselves as actors on the stage of life. This theme is developed further in one of Stoppard's most successful short plays, The Real Inspector Hound (1968), in which two theater critics, casually reviewing a preposterous thriller, are drawn reluctantly into the conflict onstage. On one level, Hound is a delightful spoof of critical jargon and the pomposity that characterizes Stoppard's former profession. Yet more subtly it suggests how any of us, thinking ourselves safe from the hubbub of the world, may nonetheless be whisked unwillingly and even fatally into the chaos. 

    Stoppard's next major play, Jumpers (1972), accomplishes the seemingly impossible task of bringing the world of contemporary philosophy to the theatre. Throughout the play, the protagonist, who shares the name of twentieth-century British philosopher G. E. Moore, prepares for an academic debate on the nature of moral values. His ruminations are frequently interrupted, however, by the shenanigans of a troupe of renegade gymnast/philosophers who, believe it or not, have seized the British government. Part of the background to these bizarre goings-on is the 1969 landing on the moon, and the way that this event, so Stoppard suggests, altered humanity's perception of itself. The play is ultimately a reaction against the modern denial of values, and an affirmation that something inherent within us makes us human, and allows us to maintain faith in goodness and beauty. 

    Stoppard's first attempt to create historical drama was Travesties (1974), which uses as a starting point the coincidence that novelist James Joyce, Russian revolutionary Lenin, and Dadaist poet Tristan Tzara all lived in Zurich, Switzerland during World War I. No historical evidence indicates that the three ever encountered one another, but in Stoppard's imagination they do so. The text is complicated by the use of an elderly narrator, whose frazzled memory muddles details of plot beyond description. In the midst of the confusion, though, we may discern parallels between the goals of the artistic revolutionary and those of the political revolutionary, as well as the need for all individuals to establish a purpose for their existence. 

    These brief outlines suggest some of the themes that have buttressed Stoppard's extensive dramatic output. In more recent works, he has moved through a great range of political, social, religious, and scientific issues, many of which may be found in Arcadia, along with perspectives on Time, Poetry, Love, and other subjects too numerous to elucidate here. Perhaps the most important point to remember, though, is that no matter how intellectually daunting the material, Arcadia is, in fact, a "play," and that at its foundation lies a joy and creative energy to be found uniquely in the magic of theater.