PROYECCIÓN PRIVADA: the use of melodrama, and how it works within the audience

DESCRIPTION:

Last Friday we went to see proyección privada, by Gilbert Rouviere, the actors were:  Jimena Lindo, Norma Martinez and Miguel Iza.

This play was about the consumption of the TV in our society, and how this cuts the communication in the family (in this case between a wife and a husband). It focused in the idea of how TV consumes us, and it hypnotize us to the extent of watching TV all day long.

Norma Martinez (left) and Jimena Lindo (right) 

ANALYSIS:

Before starting analysing the melodrama part, I would like to point that the wife’s name is not mention and names in general of the three actors are not mention constantly. Also that sometimes the play may turn a little bit boring and fake, like in the part of Jimena Lindo were she bump into the wall “like she was falling”, she did this so many times, that it looked fake.

In order to focus more the idea of consumption of the TV, the director uses “melodrama” in one part of the play. Before starting this part of the play Norma Martinez (which we don’t know her character’s name in all the play) tells Jimena Lindo all about her “telenovela”, she mentions all the characters name, and all the plot and the problems within the telenovela.

After this long explanation is that the melodrama part starts. Just by the introduction of the story of the telenovela is that they catch the audience’s attention. We (as the audience) try to understand the story, and by the way the actress tells it is that it’s catchier, she looks so into the telenovela that we get into it too.

In the melodrama, the names are mention, with details, the actions are exaggerated, the voices change, the use of the space is wider, and the face expressions are even more exaggerated. All of this elements together catches the audience’s attention. Suddenly from a dull story we turn into the BIG interesting story, which make us wake up again.

Just by mentioning the names in the melodrama part and not that much in the real-life story, is that we see the difference between one and another, and how just the use of the names, change the story from real to the telenovela, it also suggests that real life is not that important and TV is, as the names are clearly mention in the TV and as said before not that much in the real life story. The actors do not have to tell us that they are “inside the tv” but we can clearly see this by the change of characters, and the totally different use of the elements previously mention.

Also we can see how the TV and the real life connects, as at the end of the telenovela we can see that the actress ends up coming to the real life story because of something that happened in the telenovela.

CONNECTIONS:

We’ve have never seen a theatre like this one before in terms of the melodrama part, but the use of exaggerated plot and exaggerated characters, reminded me of  theatre of the absurd, this theatre emphasizes the absurdity of human and exaggerates movement too as the text is absurd and we need to understand the plot, the actions need to be exaggerated, this kind of theatre is funny just like the melodrama part in this play.

REFLECTION:

We can see how melodrama works, and how it catch the audience’s attention in this play, but to what extend does melodrama work? I mean how much can we use it? It obviously does not apply to every plot, as the plot has to be exaggerated but how much can we use so that it doesn’t turns monotonous and boring? It obviously works in telenovela, but because there is always something to the story to be added, and still for me telenovelas are boring as we see the SAME story always: two lovers, one bad girl who wants to separate them, separates them and finally come together. It may change sometimes but it’s always that story, so to what extend can we use this melodrama effect, if I want to do a melodrama play? Melodrama implies “exaggeration of plot and characters in order to appeal to the emotions” but to what extent can we use this? Here it worked in a part of the play, and it worked as a surprise element, but would’ve worked in all the play? If it would have been use in all the play, wouldn’t it turn boring? TO WHAT EXTEND SHOULD WE USE MELODRAMA?!