Actors’ Style, Goals and Major Conflicts
The play Golden Boy is remarkable in terms of the performance. Actors have to reveal the emotions of people who need to solve various personal issues. The major issue is the conflict of their inclinations and reality. The actors use realistic acting as the play is concerned with the life of people with quite earthly issues. It is noteworthy that the choice is appropriate as actors manage to create the necessary atmosphere and the viewer forgets that it is a play but thinks he/she is observing a real-life story.
Each character is trying to achieve his/her goal: Joe and Lorna strive for fortune and rich life, Moody is willing to have a successful career, Mr. Bonaparte wants his son to be a successful musician. At the same time, each of these characters has their own conflicts. Joe loves music and he is even passionate about it but he thinks that only fighting can help him live a rich life.
Lorna loves Joe, but she tends to choose Moody who can give her a calm and prosperous life. Mr. Bonaparte loves his son and he wants him to be happy but he also thinks that fighting is too dangerous.
It is possible to note that actors keep a balance between specific tactics and playing attitude. Tthe hus, physical verbs that define Joe are to fight, to live, and to murder (as the character was killing himself during each of his fights as he was meant to be a musician). At the same time, Joe keeps saying that he does not want to be ashamed of his life, and this is playing attitude. As for Lorna, it is possible to identify the following verbs: to seduce, to live, to love. However, she is also playing attitude as she keeps saying that she wants to feel peace.
Character’s Status and Their Journey
The status of each character is perfectly explicit. Thus, Joe is always in the center as other characters are always around him. They try to persuade him to fight, they congratulate him and try to encourage him to fight more, and some are trying to convince him to focus on music.
At the end, they all mourn for him. Lorna is the character who is often a tool in someone’s game. She is a seducer and she is a friend. At the end, her status changes as she chooses to be the master of her own life. The status of other characters does not change throughout the play as they perform their roles and affect the protagonist’s decisions.
The protagonist makes quite a long journey. He starts as a pursuer of a better life even though he has to quit the thing he loves immensely (music). In the middle of the journey, Joe enjoys the benefits of his success. At the end, he understands that he was killing himself all along. He tries to escape and he does escape: he dies. He does not have to deal with his main conflict.
Interaction of Actors
Notably, actors interact perfectly well. First, the dialogues are very effective as each character uses specific vocabulary that defines him/her. It seems that the dialogue flows from interaction, as it is very lively. The characters listen to each other and their reactions are quite natural. More so, there is also certain interaction with the audience. The viewers feel involved in the story as if they are observing the whole thing being participants of the story.
Personal Reaction
Joe is the character that touched me the most. His struggle with the world and with his self is very remarkable. I have also had such struggles and some of them are still going on. Joe made me think about my own aspirations and reality.