Overtones might be the funniest play I have ever read. In class, everyone talked about how the overtones and undertones in the play are reflected in women today. We put up false pretenses to hide what we are actually feeling. I agree with this but it wasn't what I was thinking while I was reading it. The entire time i pictured it as a sort of SNL skit. In my head the conversation flowed at a quick pace with Hetty and Maggie barely letting Margaret and Harriet finish their lined before interjecting with how they really felt. It seemed very comical to me. Writing about it made me realize that the play was funnier in my head. Something that really stood out to me in Overtones was the subtlety of the stage directions. For example, when Maggie grabs at the cake given to Margaret, the stage directions say that Margaret gracefully and nonchalantly takes the cake. Without these stage directions, we wouldn't know what was going on. We wouldn't see how desperate Maggie is for the cake or how much of a front Margaret puts up in order to look calm and unconcerned in front of Harriet. I think that its the small things like this in Overtones that made it seem humorous to me. All of the theatrics and drama was just too much(in an good way).
I agree 100% with you. This was very humorous to me as well. I like humor but appreciate a work of drama more, which is why I probably saw it that way. There were a lot of theatrics and drama that I agree was in a good way. It helped to unfold the story. I never pictured it as a SNL skit. I will re-read it with that approach. Thanks for stating that different insight.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, I'm surprised that SNL hasn't done a sketch of this yet! I can totally see Tina Fey and Amy Poehler playing Margaret and Harriet! And I can definitely see what you mean by without the stage directions, we wouldn't see that impact of the overtones and how it shows how they are truely feeling! But I do have to agree that this play was pretty funny. I think the funniest one I've seen was Dove. But that's a different situation, seeing it rather than reading it. And also I haven't seen nor read alot of plays, so my opinion isn't too valid haha.
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