Necessary Target: Theatre Essay

The Necessary Targets is a play that had been written by Eve Ensler. The highlight of the play is about the role of women in the society. The play had remarkably convinced readers to think about the women when it comes to warfare. The author had claimed that the first idea that one gets when we talk about war is man and the weapons but no one had ever tried to understand what happened to the women in the wars had affected humanity since the beginning of human’s life time.

The play Necessary Targets could be a very interesting play for the students to perform and equally experience it as an audience. It is being proposed that the projection of the play for school Theatre Company would be a great source of joy and legendary salute on the upcoming Women’s History Month.

Characters

The published play tells the stories of many Bosnian women who had to go through the aftermaths of the war. The use author had mentioned that even though there were a lot of destructions in the era and many women had lost their brothers, sons, fathers and husbands, those Bosnian women did not want to take revenge. A number of female students can take part in the play and tell the stories of different women as mentioned in the published play (Ensler).

Character I:

The first character that could be projected in the theater could be of Azra who according to the author’s writing was the oldest woman. The character of Azra needs to be very sophisticated. The dialogue delivery will automatically take the grasp of audience’s attention. The character of Azra is more of a woman who does not have any reason in life to live. Azra had been shown to complain a lot in the course of the play. Azra would be the first character to be shown on the stage as she is most experienced about what happened in the war (Ensler).

Character II:

Saeeda is the next important character of the play as she is portrays the character of a very helpless mother. The character of Saeeda is more of a psychology imbalanced woman who had lost her only child while she was running from the men during the war. The person who would be playing the character of Saeeda must wear a bag made up of bundle of clothes where she tried to hide her baby daughter Doona.

Character III:

The third character would display a stronger woman named Jelena who is one woman who tries to calm the women in the group (Bovard). The character of Jelena would ultimately help the audiences to understand the emotional capacity of women.

Character IV:

Nuna is the fourth character of the play who is a young girl in the group. She does not have the idea how crucial the situations for girls would be because in the course of the play her attention is diverted towards the American women who had come to rehabilitate them. Nuna must be portrayed as a character that is greatly influenced from the American ladies and tires to ask questions from people to gain knowledge (Ensler).

Sets

The set should be set as the real scenarios of Bosnia. The set must be floored with soil and stones. Two camps would surely compliment the story as the author had written some scenes where the women told their stories while starring outside the camps. The camps are required to be khaki in color. It would be best if the camps are stitched with different pieces of clothes as the women are poor and had no one to provide them with basic needs (Morgon).

The set would also include a bathroom that would show the filthy condition in which women after the war had to live. A room must also be set up on the stage as it would be shown that the American women who came for women rehabilitation lived comfortably.

Costume

The costumes for the play are suggested to be very traditionally Bosnian. In Bosnian traditions, women are supposed to wear one long veil like robe. The fabric that will be used for the robe must be worn out. The clothes must be torn from the bottoms that will show the poor conditions of the women as they had no homes. The costume for the American women for rehabilitation services must be trousers and dark colored shirts with caps to wear on heads.

Lights and Sounds

The sounds and the background music should be selected from the genre of mellow music as it will compliment the overall scenario of the play. Moreover, lights will be dim but it could be make brighter at the end of the play as it will enhance and the visibility of the characters while delivering the desired message to the audiences.

The portrayal of the play in the school theatre would be very interesting for the local audiences. Through the usage of proposed sets and theme, it would be easy for the audiences to understand the living conditions of the women during the war. In this way, the audiences shall also be able to understand the tradition of Bosnian women. The play will overall be a very excellent projection specifically for the women history month.

Works Cited

Bovard, K. “Necessary Targets Review.” Theatre Journal 54.4 (2002): 642-643.

Ensler, E. Necessary Targets. New York: Dramatists Play Service, 2003.

Morgon, R. Sisterhood is Forever: The Women’s Anthology for a New Millennium. Washington DC.: Washington Square Press, 2003.