The Drowsy Chaperone

Jordyn Lindsey

Phil Simmons

Intro to Theatre CTAR 150L3

The Drowsy Chaperone

February 3, 2016

        The play The Drowsy Chaperone is musical comedy, however there is a twist to this musical. The Drowsy Chaperone is parody of the 1920’s musical. This play takes place in what seems to be a proscenium stage, which forms a rectangular shape and the audience faces the stage. The characters of this play were great and played their characters with the best of their ability. Kitty and the Drowsy Chaperone were two of the most convincing characters for me. The way Kitty’s stereotypical “ditzy blonde” character was played the best by her. It almost made it seem like she was actually this type of person in real life. The character Drowsy Chaperone played the personality of “the drunk” that she fit perfectly and convinced me that she was an actual drunk.

        Throughout the play I believe you can see some character development the most visibly with Janet. In the beginning of the play Janet was insecure and unsure about her relationship status with Robert. By the end of the play after fighting internally with herself over staying a show girl and if Robert truly loves her, and fighting with Robert when he “kissed a French girl”, Janet found her true self. Janet finally overcame her personal battles and figured out in the end that Robert is her true love and they are a mess together. I believe one detail that helped advance the show were the costumes. The costumes helped add to the character’s personality and paint a picture of how to view them. Even though the costumes were right in front of you, typically costumes can tell a lot about a character. For example, when you saw the costume that the Drowsy Chaperone wore you could tell by the way it hung off her body by the shoulder and tightly clung to her that she was particularly friskier and lived a showgirl life. The costumes are also essential to the plot. With the costumes, it was easier to read the plot and figure out what was happening. For example, the wedding dresses and fancy outfits indicated that a wedding celebration was to happen. Also, because the scenery was limited and most of the time the backdrops were just changed, the costumes could indicate the different scene.