Tennessee Williams's "27 Wagons Full of Cotton" analyzed

¶ … Energy

"27 Wagons Full Cotton" is a play written by Tennessee Williams. There are no known plays available for this play. The only thing watchable was a YouTube video detailing the entirety of the play, which can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31_eH7gWbNk. The setting was Blue Mountain, Mississippi and the first character one sees on stage is Flora because she leaves her house after a fire broke out near her on the Syndicate Plantation. The first few minutes, one can hear a feminine voice and one can clearly see that the first impression would be of a southerner who was perhaps uneducated and living as a blue-collar worker. The setting was average looking and the actor portraying Flora seemed somewhat dim-witted and naive. She moves about and is dressed like a little girl. She wore a lavender colored dress and a lavender ribbon on her head. The part where the explosion occurred was quite nice and lent to the complexity of the set, which had several props in it. The other voice that came after Flora seemed despondent was a nice touch and made everything feel immersive. Considering there is a rape in the story, they did a good job of displaying the pain as well as the desperation of it all. Because this was broadcasted, there is a high level of effort put on both the set as well as the actors selected. The actors that played Jake and Flora portray a layer of complexity to their roles.

Focus/Concentration

The focus/concentration remained heavily on Flora. She is the one that witnesses the explosion, she is the one questioned and then raped by Vicarro and she is the one that is left a mess after Jake returns. So giving the actor who plays Flora a nice costume and home from which to act in was an excellent touch because it provided the appropriate backdrop to what was the crucial element of the play, Flora's suffering and Jake's apathy to it. A good example of this is Jake touching Flora's chest and then pushing her saying, "You holler out everythin." Jake treats her like a sexual object and then abuses her when she speaks out of turn or in a way, he does not like.

Stage Business (use of prop)/Detail

The stage was the front porch of the house Flora and Jake lived in. It was very nice and painted. It had multiple levels, place to sit. The windows were covered in dust, making it seem like it is in a rural area.

Vocal Projection/Expressiveness

This was a big problem. Out of the three main actors, the actor who played Jake was the best. He was able to vocalize his lines clearly and that is not saying much. The actor who played Vicarro, he was quiet and his voice was not clearly projected. His annunciation faltered and his odd accent became repetitive and boring. Flora had odd inflection with an up or down tone throughout every, single line. One watching her would not be able to tell if she was serious or joking. It all sounded the same.

Physicality/Movement True to Character

The actor who played Flora took the role and made it appear like a silly, little girl versus an abused and neglected homemaker. Sure, she played the role of halfwit well, but she failed to add anything more. She tried to give innocence to the character when she should have added fear and apprehension. The other characters were decent, but Vicarro was overly tanned with a curly haircut. It looked off for a southern area.

Props/Costume

Flora had three costume changes. The second change had a pink ribbon and a more revealing dress. The last one was a white, satin nightgown that was quite short. She had no bra on and no ribbon. The porch swing was nice. It was able to provide variation in movement for the actors.

Memorization

The actors did not have any pauses. It seemed fluid and there was no breaks.

Overall Theatricality and effectiveness

It was not effective in the beginning. It was boring and felt pushed. However, towards the end when Vicarro was groping Flora, that felt more visceral. The end scene with Flora singing "cradled and all," that was the most entertaining part of the play, because it gave a sense of defeat, but also hope to keep going. Overall, the play was entertaining.

What did you learn about acting from this performance?

I learned that acting is about interpretation. Sometimes the interpretation is spot on, other times it is not. An actor must really work hard to get into the character, to understand the character's perspective in order to deliver a believable performance.