Play Reflection: Analyzing 'Goodnight Desdemona, Good Morning Juliet'

This essay reflects on Ann-Marie Macdonald's play 'Goodnight Desdemona, Good Morning Juliet,' focusing on its feminist re-envisioning of Othello and Romeo and Juliet. The reflection covers the set design, including the office setting with blue wallpaper and randomly arranged books, and the costumes, which are designed to align with the original play's European setting, such as Romeo's velvet doublet and Juliet's taffeta gown. The essay also praises the actors' performances, highlighting Constance's multiple roles, the professor's unique accent, and Romeo's stage presence, while noting Desdemona's overly dramatic portrayal. The success of the play is attributed to the actors' contributions and the effective use of light and sound effects. Desklib offers a variety of study tools, including solved assignments and past papers, to aid students in their academic pursuits.

Running Head: REFLECTION ON PLAY 0
Play

REFLECTION ON PLAY 1
Table of Contents
Reaction......................................................................................................................................2
The set design and the costumes............................................................................................2
Acting.....................................................................................................................................3
References..................................................................................................................................4

REFLECTION ON PLAY 2
Reaction
Ann marie’s Macdonald’s clever play “Goodnight Desdemona, Good Morning Juliet is a
lively tale. It is the re-envisioning of Othello and Romeo and Juliet in a feminist manner.
The set design and the costumes
The play starts form an office area covered with five shelves and the blue coloured wallpaper.
The books are arranged randomly. Constance is wearing the grey shirt paired up with the
brown knee length skirt along with the red cap. The original play was set in the European
countries and to keep a sink with the original play the costumes are designed accordingly.
Romeo is wearing a doublet of blue and grey colour which is exactly alike like that of a base
of the theatre. The material seems be of velvet and with a silver shimmer additional big
borders on it. Juliet ad Lady Capulet on the other hand is wearing taffeta gowns and silk
gowns with the silk border and the embroidery. The hats gloves ad ruffs are also worn to
elaborate the style accordingly (Tess, 2018). Tybalt the cousin of the Romeo is dressed up
the dark coloured doublet paired with black stockings and shoes which are automatically
giving a glance of the costumes. In the white silk dress, Juliet is looking elegant and soft.
Also the props like round violin and the masks that have been used are definitely influencing
the mood of the play. Behind the stage there are four walls with an equivalent gap and stone
effects is giving a balance to the bright blue colour wallpaper. The stage set for the last seen
to reflect the death has interesting elements like the skeleton like structure which a times
gives a scary effect. Lastly the presentation of the moon is the cherry on the cake. With the
dark lights the stage is designed to suit each and every mood of the act (Utah Shakespeare
Festival, 2018).

REFLECTION ON PLAY 3
Acting
The greatest strength of the play is its actors. The numbers of actor are five who fulfils the
roles of the Constance’s real world. Constance plays three or four character at the same time.
The Constance professor also marked his positon in the play with the newly different accent
to grab the attention of the audience. In contrast to him the nurse also played an impeccable
role with divine emotions that were expressive through her eyes (Dundas, 2014). Coming to
the show stopper Romeo (North country public radio, 2018). He is having an unforgettable
stage presence. The movements of the body and the flow of the language were surprising and
soft. The subtle movements of the body were delivering the correct message. Each character
had his/her own pace however, Desdemona was overly dramatic and the dialogue delivery
was also a bid sugar coated (Tess, 2018). The sound of the laugh of Constance or the little bit
nervousness on her face is what the audience were entitled to watch. The play was a great
success because of the actors and the contribution along with the light and sound effects. The
acting of the Juliet is what sets her apart from the rest of the cast. She is in the flow of the
emotions which are soft yet at the same time the anger and rage is depicted.

REFLECTION ON PLAY 4
References
Mofat, Tess. “Mayfield Secondary School's 2016 performance of Goodnight Desdemona
(Good morning Juliet)”, 2017. 15.06.2018 < https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=DFX_0dpvc0c&t=357s>
Dundas, Jon. The newspaper Goodnight Desdemona at hart house theatre is really pretty
funny, 2014. 15.06.2018 <http://www.thenewspaper.ca/the-arts/goodnight-
desdemona-good-morning-juliet-hart-house-theatre-really-pretty-funny>
Utah Shakespeare Festival. What they wore 2018. <https://www.bard.org/study-guides/what-
they-wore>
North country public radio. Theatre Review: “Goodnight Desdemona, (Good morning
Juliet )” at GCTC, 2018.
<https://www.northcountrypublicradio.org/news/story/23378/20131202/theatre-
review-goodnight-desdemona-good-morning-juliet-at-gctc>