The Dancers By Alberto Florentino

I. Introduction

The play The Dancer was written by Alberto S. Florentino Jr. It is a story of a poor family who struggles in the harshness of poverty. Because of poverty Mang Tomas (The father) wants his youngest daughter - Nenita to join Rita and make a living at a young age as dancer. The older brother – Tony does not approve to his father’s decision and the youngest sibling – Juanito seems become submissive and no longer argue with them. As well as their mother does not approve to her husband’s decision, but then Mang Tomas persistently insist because for him he has the rights and the authority to decide for his daughters being their father.

I chose this play because I was persuaded with the plot and the message of the play. The message of the play is very much timely in the current situation of our country. And the message it conveys is really true in our present situation.

II. Analysis

The actors and actresses in the play were able to execute well and give justice with their roles. They perfectly internalize their roles, by changing their tones, intonations and by the gestures they made. With these actions they were able to show to the audience their real roles in the play which helps the audience better understand the play. As for their way of enunciating words, some of them were audible and understandable. Because the audience laughs when they had a punch lines, when the audiences see something awkward they respond accordingly. Even though their dialogues required them to deliver it fast, still the audiences were able to respond well. In that case, it only means that the actors and actresses were able to catch the attention of the audience and their voices were clear enough to be heard by all.

Props, production and costumes play a very important role in a play. It plays as supplemental element to support the whole play. They used an improvised house for their background; some of their props were detailed or real such as the bench, the real chicken and the racking chair. But the props appear as if it was not well made and did not appear strong though the props contribute with the production of the play. The actors can freely move and did not get distracted with the presence of the props. As for their costumes, they were effective and were able support their characters well. On the other hand, their lights were limited but then the simplicity of their lights gave a great impact, effect and enhances their whole production. As well as their lights help the production of the whole play in conveying different moods expressed in the play and even their sound contributed to the whole play. It was encouraging especially when they integrate dancing at the course of their performance; it makes the audience attracted and directed them as to where their attention should be focused.

As for the improvement of the play, though all in all it was a good production maybe the blockings of the respective characters should be well rehearsed. For instance, where to exit or to enter whether on the left or right corner of the stage, in order for the whole play to be perfect. And it will then be achieved by having more practice.

All in all the play, was a good one. All the characters were able to act properly the characters they are portraying. The sounds, costumes, and props went smoothly and coincide with the whole production. It is a job well done performance.

III. Conclusion
As for the message of the play I can say that the theme the play wants to convey is that anything can happen or anything might lead to such unplanned decisions in life because of poverty. As a person we should not let poverty hinders us from achieving a good life. And also being a human we should take into consideration the people that might be affected of such decisions we made, we should not dictate other people whether they are an immediate family member because they still have their own feelings and decision in life that we should understand. This was evident when the father dictated and made a decision without considering the feelings and wellbeing of his daughter Nenita. We should be perseverance enough if we really want to make a difference and not be dictated to other else’ decision. We should stand to what we think is right for us.