Reading Responses to The Rivals and the movement for Actors reading

When I started reading the play The Rivals, the language threw me off almost immeadiately. However, after re-reading it a couple of times, I was able to understand what was going on in the story and found that I rather enjoyed it. I liked the characters that were introduced in the play, as well as the entangled love problems that all of them seemed to be facing. There were also parts in the various scenes that I had no idea what was going on- it could have been that fact of the language and how it was written, and I did catch myself falling asleep in some spots of the play. So who knows, may it was a combination of all three. I did find the duel preparations and how David was freaking out about the fight with the man. I wouldnt mind seeing t a tape of this play either, as I think it would make it a little easier to understand.

After reading the movement section, like others I was impressed with how may different dances there were as well as how they should be produced on stage in order to make them work with the writer's image, but also with the actors and the directors. I also found that the walking and the balancing and the sitting sections were good to with the little exercises and the explanations of why and how the men and women would be sitting in chairs to accomodate swords and their outfits in that time period. I haven't curtsied in forever either :)