On Friday, February 29, TheaterWorks went to see the play Gone To Look For America. It was held at Arron Davis hall located at City College. The Creative Arts Team Youth Theater performed the play. Our reason for going was to pick out what kind of acting techniques we would like to use for our work.
The play was about the past and present problems of America. It included things like drugs, segregation, spending more than you have, and how the war in Iraq is affecting families. I loved watching it. I had never been to anything like it. It was short, but it really touched me in an emotional way. Especially when they talked about segregation and how black people were being lynched. They used so much creativity in that scene. It was inspiring. I would like to use the same creativity they used in our performances.
I saw a couple of techniques I would like to use. One technique was the way the actors signaled each other. They would stomp on the ground to signal when to fall when actors were hit or shot. Another thing I would like to take from the performance was how even though there wasn’t anything on the stage, the actors created imaginary environments. In one scene, a mother was in the kitchen cooking a Thanksgiving dinner. Even though there wasn’t really a kitchen on the stage, I could see it.
Overall, I enjoyed the play and have been inspired to do something similar in my own work.
– Daesean Lassiter
Destination Red Hook 