Grease is a dynamic school musical written by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey that got its name from the American youth subculture of the 1950s known as greasers. The action takes place in Rydell High School and involves working-class students, whose relationships are closely examined while they attempt to find their love, deal with societal pressure, struggle against rejection, and identify pivotal life values. The paper at hand is aimed to estimate one of the recent theatrical productions of the play in terms of acting level, staging decisions, set design, light, and costumes as the key components of a successful performance.
Before being too much skeptical about the actors’ ability to interpret the characters, we should make allowance for the fact that the play was staged by Union High School and the performers were unlikely to have any professional drama education at the time of the production. Taking this into account, we can say that the acting is rather tolerable though far from being convincing. The teenage actors use forced intonations and voice modulations, exaggerate emotions, and resort to typical patterns associated with the ways teens must move, react, and communicate: Patty Simcox is an omnipresent annoying cheerleader and activist, Sandy Dumbrowski is a straight-A student with innocent and naïve perception of love and friendship, Danny Zuko is a classical “bad guy” who is afraid of revealing his subtle and sensitive nature, etc. The Pink Ladies and the Burger Palace Boys are typical gangs of teenagers who pretend to be close friends but are hostile to each other. Although they manage to interact rather successfully (no actor exists separately from the others), they still fail to show any originality – their interpretations of the roles are predictable. Rizzo seems to be the most profound one. Her role is complex indeed as she has to demonstrate a turning point claiming that she is a better person than others may think (2011_05_21 UHS Theatre “GREASE” Musical). Her speech runs naturally and her movements are not stiff as compared to the others (though there are still certain clichés in the way she expresses aggression).
As for the direction, it seems to be rather well-done despite lacking any unique decisions. All the music and dance scenes involving a large number of performers are staged carefully: the entrances and exits are smooth, the actors are not fussing around, and no redundant actions distract from the plot. The characters not only cooperate but also establish communication with the audience descending to the stalls, which is always challenging to direct as well as to perform. The acting areas are properly indicated for the viewer to see everything in detail, however, sometimes it is difficult to hear what the actors say (this could happen because they do not resort to any specific scenic speech techniques making utterances more distinct). The director seems to be quite professional in everything that concerns staging but, unfortunately, is not creative.
The set design of the production is more conventional than elaborate. There is a “brick” wall in the background and some cloth lockers on each side to show that the action takes place in the school hall. Occasionally, there appear benches, chairs, or even a cardboard car to carry the viewer to some other places. The only holistic part of the scenery is Marty’s room that even has some props in it (posters, nightstands, pillows, a radio, etc.). It considerably assists the actresses in creating the atmosphere of a slumber party that would be incomplete without a girlish bedroom. The overall set design of the production does not leap to the eye and has nothing especially pleasing in it but it is not repulsive either. It responds perfectly to the requirements of a school play that does not allow making use of exquisite and refined decorations.
The lighting of the performance is rather simple, without any particular symbolism. The light is mostly yellow to imitate the daytime – it changes only during the scenes when the action happens at night (in such cases it is switched to dark-blue). Blackouts are used for practical purposes: they allow stage workers to replace the scenery and hide one acting area highlighting the other (when two groups of actors are present on the stage at the same time but are not supposed to see each other). The only metaphorical usage of light can be noticed in the scenes of night meetings of the gang – the abrupt appearance of the red light emphasizes the danger and anger of the participants. In other scenes, the light is mild and ambient. This is not quite right for the play that attempts to show the inner and outer struggle with reality. Moreover, even though the actors are properly seen, it seems strange how the lighting man uses the front light to show their faces: this light is too bright and blinds them. Besides, it often occurs that two rays of light are directed to only one person.
The costumes the actors wear are chosen quite carefully to stress the peculiar personal traits of their characters. For instance, the Burger Palace Boys are dressed in leather and jeans like all cool guys are supposed to do, whereas the Pink Ladies wear glamorous pink jackets to emphasize their Barbie-doll nature. Patty Simcox sticks to her uniform, which shows her as a school activist. All the minor characters are dressed casually like typical school students (with the only exception of the chorus of angels who come to support Frenchy – they wear identical light costumes and weird metallic hats). However natural all these garments may seem, Sandy Dumbrowski is still the only one whose image corresponds to the epoch whereas the clothes of others seem to be quite modern. Sandy’s modest dresses and long skirts are aimed to demonstrate her innocence and compliance. The picture changes in the second act at the end of which she is transformed into a dream greaser girl wearing sexy black tights. However, this is rather an exception than the rule: no changes happen to the costumes of the other characters no matter what personal alterations they have undergone (e.g. Rizzo).
In conclusion, it should be noted that despite its flaws, the musical is engaging and pleasant to watch. The director gave it a slightly comic touch, which compensates for the drawbacks. Even though the actors are not professionals, they seem to understand the viewers’ expectations. Surprisingly, I discovered that the major task of a musical is not to excel in technical aspects but to grasp the mood of the play and communicate it to the audience.
Works Cited
“2011 UHS Theatre “GREASE” Musical.” YouTube, uploaded by UnionChoir. Web.