Sleeper

Caroline Dillon
THR 116
Maria Orlowski
The Sleeper
“The Sleeper”, written by Catherine Butterfield, tells a story of an over protective mother named Gretchen who gets caught up in the eyes of her sons tutor, Matthew. Matthew’s political views are found to be much different than that of Gretchen’s. Her realization leads to a very risky series of events that absolutely contradicts her previously sheltered existence and changes the lives of many around her.
The actors/actresses had many different emotions that they had to interpret in this play. Each and every one was just about perfect. You could really see the emotion in their eyes and they made in that much more believable. That is something that you must have to be a successful actor. The character that you are playing must not only come out in the words and actions, but the emotions on the face. The actor that I thought did the best was Gretchen, played by Nicole Rowley. She is the one who seemed to have the most emotional changes throughout the play.
At the beginning of the play Gretchen was supposed to be the “security mom” who never let the slightest thing slip by without approval. She was at all of the town meetings and always on her son and husbands “case” about getting things done. Then as the play goes on she slips more and more out of that emotional state and becomes more laid back and carefree. She cheats on her husband but still remains as calm as can be. Nicole Rowley did a very admirable job at doing each scene with the perfect emotional outlook. She did not let anything distract her whether it was a noise from the audience or a missed line on stage. She also had very nice stage presence.
The play took place in a Black Box theater. A Black Box theater is an infinitely flexible performance space named for its black, box shaped appearance. The Black Box allows for much change and different areas of stage/seating.   During the play, the seating was lined up with a set of bleacher chairs on each... [continues]

Read full essay