Stags and Hens - personal performance review :: Drama

Stags and Hens - personal performance reviewDrama courseworkThe practical piece that I performed on 16th December 04 was a playwritten by Willy Russel called Stags and Hens. It was written in1978 and is set on a hen/stag night in Liverpool for what was at thattime, the present - construe the play, however, and comparing it withthe portrayal of present day Liverpool I spy no obvious changes.Another play that I have studied is Blue Remembered Hills by DennisPotter. This play was written in and is set in the heart of Devon inWW2 year 1943 with a cast of 5 boys and 2 girl characters all ofwhich ar children around the age of 7. Composed for a cast of 5female and 5 male characters, Stags and Hens highlights a variety ofways in which men and women resist from each other. The two scenesconsist of several location switches, initially between the male andfemale WC rooms at a nightclub - followed by further ventures into thenightclub itself. When reading a male section, I noticed how there waslittle hesitation from the majority of characters when it came toleaving their vomiting friend in the WC, whereas the ladies balk toleave their friend behind while she does her buy off. This points outhow men and women can react differently to a situation here, whilstthe women are showing sensitivity and rush for each others feelings,the men appear thoughtless and self-indulgent. Links similar to thisone are made throughout the play, and although not always noticed atfirst, usually become clear with hindsight. Initially, the male andfemale characters are kept separate from each other, but as the nightprogresses they mix up more this gives the impression of awarenessand organisation at the beginning, gradually smudging into a drunkenconfused muddle towards the end. It is a common feature of modern fellowship for men and women to form separate alliances, and is oftenencouraged by gender division in everyday things. Things that arenteven considered like going to the lot it is s eldom that anyonewill see a unisex toilet in public. Also, it is seen as normal for mento play football and drink beer, and women to wear make-up and drinkgirly drinks. This is accentuated in Stags and Hens on severaloccasions. Both genders make referrals to each other putting thesestereotypes into place girls Y can bet theyll be pourin it rasethem like its goin out a fashion. (Talking about the men) guys A woman has responsibility to her feller.