English Assignment: JATP - The Production

Oh Ms Brogan, 
For you my heart is broken,
Because of you,
poetry I cannot do 


Juno and the Paycock : The Production

As we set off to see the much anticipated production of Juno and the Paycock, I wondered would it compare to the play we read in class. I was hoping it would as I found it difficult to imagine the setting, the tones and the moods of the play from reading in class.

Well the productiom most definitely did beat reading the book. The acting, the delivery of the lines, the set and the themes and issues raised impressed me very much.

The acting in the play was by far the aspect of the production that I was most impressed with. I felt that the actors Joxer, Mary and Johnny shone the most. From their perfected accents to their strong and powerful delivery of lines, in my opinion they stole the attention. Joxer's gestures matched his lines perfectly. Usually he performed as a drunken man and so his slurred words and messy gestures clearly displayed his lack of seriousness and focus on life. The character Mary was a total contrast to the character of Joxer. Althoug they rarely performed on stage togeteher, the contrast in their characters highlighted their traits. Joxer's scruffed clothes and appearance was highlighted by Mary's neat, polished demeanor. In my opinion, Johnny was not a very important character while reading the play but his powerful presence on stage definitely made a huge difference to the play. Although he did not say as much as other characters but his reactions and gestures made his part extremely important. Although I enjoyed all the character's performances and I commend the choices mad to choose these characters, the characters of Joxer, mary and Johnny were my favourite. Their characterisations made the play a success in my eyes.

The set in the production did what it was supposed to do and so much more. It appealed to my visual senses. The dull colours, the old and unmatching furniture conveyed the financal state of the Boyle family. The stairs behind the set and doors made the set seem more realistic. Although everybody was aware that the living room and kitchen was the centre of the soryline, the other rooms made it seem so much more realistic. The set did not only appeal to the viual senses as a typical set would. What surprised the audience and I was the use of smells to appeal to our other senses too. When Mrs Boyle (Juno) was cooking saussages the familiar smell was strong throughout the whole theatre, reminding the audience of traditions in Ireland that have and will never change. The lighting on the stage was not particularly strong because the director aims to display the sadness and strain in the country. Overall the set really appealed to me and contributed so much to the production.

In my opinion the vision of Sean O'Casey was to show people the condition and way of Ireland at the time. The issues of war and economic strain are those that stood out for me most predominantly. The theme of war is portrayed the most through the character of Johnny. His distress and emotional pain shows the effect that the war is having on so many young men and families. The sounds that are played from the streets shows the constant and ongoing war. The death of Mrs tancred's son and the death of Johnny at the end of the play shows that the war is ruining and tearing families apart. This is seen in the Boyle Fmaily. The economic strain in the world of the text is shown by the way the Boyle family work on a day-to-day basis. The fact that their clothes are old and scruffy, their neighbours are begging them for their money back and Juno is too scared to face the shopkeeper herself because she has gotten so much stuff'on tick' shows that their situation is becoming worse by the day.

Overall I thoroughly enjoyed the play, especially because of the characters, the set and the way that the world of the text was portrayed. On a final note, I would most definitely conclude that the production of 'Juno and the Paycock', in my opinion, outshone the book by far.