Bonded takes us back to the time of slavery. The play itself is set in 1820, Virginia. The protagonists of this play are Sonny (Terrence Colby Clemons), Lily (Toyin Moses), Jack (Carl Crudup), and Asa (Eric B. Anthony). This play does not seem to have an antagonist, the antagonist exist in another form. Slavery is in a sense, an antagonist along with the element of homosexuality. The protagonists aims to just live life off before Asa came along. The conflict starts when Asa was purchased as a slave, through numerous twist and turns including Jack lusts for Lily whom only likes Sonny, and Asa being a rebellious which caused trouble for Sonny, the play was able to develop into something far more different than expected. We, as audiences were able to see the build up of tensions and suspense that would spring up during this short play. Bonded by Donald Jolly had a very clear message in this short play. The playwright wanted us to see the taboo of homosexuality during the old slavery days. From today you can relate that homosexuality is not quite as accepted even though we are more open minded than in the 1820s. We can assume that homosexuality was even more criticized and hated than today. At least homosexuality is more tolerated than today, so I can't really imagine what it would be like for homosexuals in the past. Sonny and Asa portrays that quarrel and hatreds can into mutual attraction which shows the hidden message that homosexuality shouldn't be despised as long as there is no harm to anyone else, people should be free to express their feelings which is ironic in a way because Jolly used slaves to portray this free feeling when slaves are anything but free. In a way this also relates to life because there will always be a sort of triangle relationship, someone will always be left out because there is no room for their love. It shows the fears and helplessness of love which also exists in today's modern world. Love is not something that will return in the same manner that you give out, you do not reap what you sow. People do not always return affection. The acting of the main characters were very thorough in a way. I feel that they exaggerate in some parts while in other parts there are not enough emotions. The play did have a simple plot with hidden messages, but with all said and done, the acting was pretty good. Even though it has a simple plot I believe that to actually act it out requires some sort of charisma. I wouldn't be able to act out this play because some scene was rather uncomfortable and it feels that it would be hard to portray it to the best of my abilities. Beside some scenes, the play's overall acting was more than acceptable, I feel that the actors and actress really did bring out that passion for the characters that they are playing, it feels that they are one and the same. I was able to suspend my belief because it feels that the emotions were real, I could feel their pain, their happiness, and their suffering. They were able to bring me back to the 1820s. I liked Asa's character more though, I really felt that Eric played this part well. He is not afraid of expressing his love even though it's taboo and his rebellious nature really fits in with his nature of love. The visual of the play fitted rather well with the overall makeup of the play. The audiences sat in this small space where we can see the actors directly. The wood set were also movable which helped show different scenes of the play, like the plowing of the fields and their bed. It was creative yet simple. I really liked the sound effects because it fits in rather nicely at the right time. The lightning was also good, but at different scene I feel that it could be adjusted a little bit more to fit in with the overall mood of the actors and actress so it could help them feel the characters more, but the lightning in combination with the acting fit in pretty well, at certain times it did fit in with scenes, particularly the ending where the gunshots go off and the stage dims. The costumes, in my opinion, fitted well with the characters. The characters being slaves would not have any good clothing, so when they looked messy and dirty it allowed me to understand them a bit more, especially when they didn't have shoes, when Sonny took Asa shoes he was happy which shows that how bad it was being a slave. Overall the play affected me in a good way because its relevance to life was uncanny. Like how there was an Act 1, intermission, and Act 2, it relates to the different chapter of life that everybody has. Everybody has their own chapter of life whether its happiness or sad. I wouldn't say that it changed my life, but it got me thinking of how life is controlled by society, we can see that homosexuals are looked in a negative light when they have done nothing wrong. People are just not able to accept that everyone is different. Looking back I do sometimes feel that homosexuality is wrong, I feel that since that there are males and females, going with the same gender is pretty messed up. After the play it feels that homosexuality should be more accepted rather than just being tolerated by everyone else, hatred should be turned into acceptance. In a way it shows how slow society progress in some areas, 1820s compared to today would not be so much different. My favorite scene, however, was when Asa was sleeping and Sonny was bothering him, the following scene where he woke up and described the dream and the look on Sonny's face was priceless, but it felt wrong because it was a sexual innuendo. I didn't like the naked scenes for obvious reasons, I felt the play could have done without it, it felt weird watching naked scenes, perhaps it is my conservative nature. After all said and done I would wholeheartedly recommend the plays to others, I feel that the play is up to par with good standards. The playwright and cast involved really put a lot of work into the acting, visual effects, and the hidden messages, etc. The title of the play was also good, Bonded can be scene physically and emotionally. They, being slaves are bonded to their owners and their love is also bonded by mutual attraction, in a sense their physical self and emotional self do not belong to themselves.