Gasser Gaballah Prof. Antu A. Yacob 03/12/2019 Gasser Gaballah’s Response on By the Way, Meet Vera Stark To begin this response, I’ll summarize my point of view of the show. I think By the Way, Meet Vera Stark was a play showing Vera Stark’s path making it into the movie industry back in 1933 according to the playback, actually it's time was based in the year of 1933,1973 and 2003, such as it start off with Vera stark as a maid and aspiring actress in 1933, then the last interview of Vera stark which took place in 1973, and the analyzing of the interview trying to find out what happened to Vera stark, took place in 2003. The play took place at the Signature Theater which I think held around 400 people, which would make it an off-Broadway show, as well as the stage had a circle in it that rotated to be different rooms or different areas that the actors and actresses would take part in, it felt like pretty high quality in my opinion. I feel that the way the theater was spaced out, it actually impressed me that they managed to make each row of chairs low enough that no one in front of you is blocking the play, compared to a movie theater where a slightly tall guy can easily block your view, so I felt they did a good job on that, but it had no negative effect or even detract from the storytelling for me personally, as long as I heard them and could see them with no obstructions, I don't think It would have been a better experience if it was a smaller theater. What I think the playwright and director were trying to communicate, is the struggle of Vera Stark or a minority, to make it in a film, and how some of her roommates had to find different ways to make it into the picture, such as her roommate acting Brazilian and trying to get a part by going on a date with the director, While Vera Stark had to for example act as a slave who had been worn down when the director wanted real people who went through hardship, she made herself fit the bill, I think this shows the struggle of minorities to get a part in a play especially in the 1930s where the play was portrayed. To support this idea the Leroy Barksdale mentions that black actress keep playing the part of maids in pictures and that it wasn't helping their case of moving on to bigger and better roles, as well as Lottie McBride, Vera’s roommate also seems to have frowned upon or to not fully support when Vera mentions she get a role as a maid in a picture. As for the production itself, I think they made an excellent choice of the costumes with such as Gloria wearing the fur scar it seemed to fit the time frame they were trying to portray, as well as when they show Lottie McBride listening to a show on the radio supported the time frame that part of the play was taking place in. Overall, I don’t have any major issue with the play only a couple things that I feel could’ve been better were thing such as the interview, it felt overacted at some points and I don't think it was an accurate representation of what talk show hosts really act like. I would say my favorite actor would be Heather Alicia Simms who played Lottie McBride and Carmen Levy green, I felt she was one of the actors who really were perfect for their role, she fit her characters well I believe. I think all the actors did an excellent job and I didn’t find any issues that threw me off any of them. The part that I feel stood out the most in the play was when Vera Stark had to act like she was a slave that went through hardship to get a role, while she and her other 2 roommates also had to act like people they aren't so they can get a part, I felt that it was very similar with the Casting Couch issue in Hollywood, such as Anne Mae Simpkins, had to act as a Brazilian and planned on sleeping with the director so she can get herself a part in the film. It seems to me that the this was part of the message such as this is what some actors and actresses must do to get a part. I found this play very entertaining, I enjoyed most of it, and it did a pretty good job on keeping my attention throughout the whole showing, I found it also had some funny moments which I wasn’t really expecting, especially the Interview part, which I found to be funny. I would say that I learned that next time I go to a play I won’t try to judge it before seeing it, because what I thought might be a boring play ended up being one that I enjoyed very much.
