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The Seven Guitars

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Submitted By tstaylor1
Words 675
Pages 3
Tamber Taylor
Intro to Theatre
Matthew Davis
October 15, 2013
Seven Guitars The Seven Guitars follows a storyline of African American friends who came together after their friend, Floyd “Schoolboy Barton, is murdered unexpectedly. Together, they reminisce about Floyd’s short life and discover the desires and underlying spirit that live within each of them. Floyd is the central character of the Seven Guitars. Floyd dreams of becoming a famous and wealthy blues singer. However, due to his bad attitude, criminal record, and selfishness his life is cut short. Floyd is killed by Hedley. Hedley means well, but he is a very unstable person. Throughout the play, Hedley successfully portrayed his character. Through the universal qualities of energy, purpose, and control, Hedley presented an outstanding character. Hedley hopes to become a “big man.” He wants to be a great leader. However, he does not realize that is not possible because of the time period. Racism plays a role in Hedley’s failures, directly and indirectly. Hedley stated, “I am going to buy me a big plantation. The white man not going to tell me what to do.” In this scene, Hedley is very head strong. His stage presence was profound. The audience could feel that Hedley was determined to be a powerful black man. The simple facial expression he gave told the story of his endeavors. In addition, Hedley was an older guy. He was sort of slumped over, but when he wanted to get his point across, his movements were stern and attentive. Even though Hedley lived in his own reality, he was a disciplined actor. He had the ability to recite lines without stumbling and hit every mark. For example, in one scene, he acted as if he was intoxicated. Playing drunk can easily be detected; however, seeing Hedley in that scene was like seeing a drunken homeless man in a dark alley. He was very convincing. Based on Hedley physical, emotional, and mental energy he was able to shed light of his main purpose. With every action displayed by Hedley, his main purpose was to be wealthy and own a plantation. Hedley, living in America at this time period, has no chance of becoming wealthy and powerful like his heroes (Buddy Bolden, Joe Louis, and Toussaint L’Ouventure). Moreover, he is so ambitious that he stops at nothing to obtain his goal. His impulsive dreams lead him to kill Floyd, whom he thinks is Buddy Bolden. Hedley shows that people with spontaneous dreams can be dangerous. He considers himself a king which shows that he is unstable. For example, he once murdered a man because he refused to call him King. Hedley’s actions were done with tremendous meaning. Furthermore, the setting starts off Hedley killing chickens. From the beginning, Hedley is associated with death. It can be symbolized that death followed Hedley. Therefore, one can say that his purpose was also to kill Floyd. In addition, Hedley was very flexible in playing different personalities. Hedley followed the script correctly. In one scene he was this funny guy and the next a disturbed man. It takes flexibility to be able to express and deliver a controlled performance with change in personalities. The changes in his personality did not change the successfulness of his character. In all actuality, it strengthens his character. The control of his character helped the audience to connect to his role. However, what if this play was written in another time frame? Considering a different time frame probably would have changed the outcomes of Floyd’s and Hedley’s fate. If this play was based on modern years, Hedley probably would have never killed Floyd. Both Floyd and Hedley had similar dreams. Perhaps they could have work together and helped each other succeed and not have so much animosity built up due to the white man’s society. In the end, nobody wins. Floyd dies and Hedley never gets his plantation. Hedley will probably suffer for his indiscretions for the rest of his life. Moral of the story: Greed does not get a person anywhere.

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