english

I went to The Schuster Theatre to watch the play, “Lazarus Laughed”. That was Friday, February 19, 2016 at night. It was originally written by Eugene O'Neill and edited/adapted by Alaina Manchester. The place was not very big but is just fit for a small audience making me comfortable watching the play. The number of people is just right for me to watch the play quietly and try to understand it very well.

I understood the story behind the play. It is all about Lazarus and his tendency to laugh to every bad situation that he is in, especially when people are dying. The tendency of a normal person is to cry if somewhat dies, especially if that someone is very dear to you. The plot solely revolves around this concept. That I think is the reason why I did not really enjoyed the play. For me, the plot is very simple that I there is no enough suspense. I am a fan of movies and stories that tells about mystery. I like it when the story only unfolds as it progresses. For me, the play do not contain enough mystery and suspense actions that I will enjoy and watch with full interest.

As for the theme, the tragic nature of the play is just alright for me. However, I don’t think that the actors really capture realistic dying of the people in the play. I am not just sure if this is just the way of how they do it in stage play because I rarely watch plays as I like going to movies more. It is also worth noting that the title is tricky as one may falsely believe that the play is a comedy as from its title.

But if I will judge the totality of the play, I can still say that it is still very good and above average. This is because of how the elements in the play interact with each other very well. The lightings suit the scenes in the play very well as well as the setup, props and costumes in the stage. When people are dying, you can feel the gloomy and sad feeling because of the elements presented in the play. The lightings are dimmed, the actors are sad (well except Lazarus since it is already his nature to laugh) and background music will not even give you any help. What makes the play very good is that you can understand the story not just from the conversation of the actors but also from the setup, the music, lightings and especially the actions of the actors in the play.

After the play, I have heard the audience still talking about the play. That may say how the play is good for them. I don’t liked the play because of its nature but I must admit that it is good as testified by these audience. It is even interesting to see some of them talking about the play and saying that Lazarus is really out of his mind. They said that the play is not very realistic and that made it much more interesting.

As for my own reaction after the play, I can say that the scenes will be retained in my mind for quite some time because they are very much different from the scenes that I always see in the movies I watch. The play is also not good for kids because they will find it hard to understand the plot as many people are just dying in it. The idea that it sets is that while I always think that dying is a sad event in any person’s life, there may always be someone in the side laughing about that death. The laughter may not always be caused by the fact that he hates the dying person but many other reasons like that person will end his suffering or that he will be reconciled with his dead loved ones, and the like.

I am looking forward to similar classic plays and I am very hopeful that next time, I will like the concept of it and I will be able to say much more reviews and reaction about the film.