Individual Dance Analysis

On this paper, I will be discussing a theatrical opera from PBS.org called “IL POSTINO” (The Postman); it was adapted by Daniel Catan from the 1994 Oscar-winning Italian film Il Postino as an opera. The play depicts part of the life of Pablo Neruda’s exile to Italy. Pablo Neruda was a famous Chilean writer/poet who wrote mostly about love, and had communist ideals and ideas which often caused him serious problems. Due to those problems, the poet (Pablo Neruda) had to move to the island of Cala di Sotto. The local postman, Mario a fisherman dreamer meets Mr. Neruda and the plot starts…. I really enjoyed the play, mostly because I grew up in Venezuela and Italy and understand both languages very well, so I understood the words without having to read the translation which is good but not perfect. The theme is good; the performers are great (I love Placido Domingo’s voice.) Combined with a simple set, great lighting, realistic costumes, sound and music are critical in any opera, the dynamics are good.

Even though I consider it a great play, the pronunciation is not, the accents are not real, and the speaker is not of Italian or Chilean origin or accent. Very few people would notice such a thing and I am one of them. I like the simplicity of the stage and how it was easily changed from one location to the next. I disliked some of the words pronunciations as they had to be modified to the opera sounds, but the same happens in most languages. The play simply expresses the lack of basic necessities such as water, and how it compares to other countries such as The United States of America. The speech is clear and easy to understand, with great movement and motivation. The degrees of dramatic intensity fluctuate continuously maintaining the audiences’ attention.

My wife and I watched the play together, the emotional feelings towards the play were high, and we like the theme since we were both familiar with Pablo Neruda and the actor playing his role. We didn’t like some of the words used, but again most people would not know the difference. If I could change something, it would be the pronunciation accent to more authentic Chilean. At the beginning, one of the actors has the perfect enunciation. Mario on the other hand has a heavy Spanish accent (from Spain.) Placido Domingo has also a heavy accent from Spain, but he is able to change it during his performances. In conclusion, Daniel Catan was able to take a movie and converted into a wonderful opera, retaining many details from the original movie. The play expresses great feelings about sex, love, social issues, and politics. It allows the audience to understand the story in a dramatic way keeping their attention through the entire play.

References:

PBS Video – Production Meeting: IL Postino. Retrieved from the internet on 02/11/2013 from http://video.pbs.org/video/2159295871/ PBS Video – Great Performances: IL Postino from LA Opera. Retrieved from the internet on 02/11/2013 from http://video.pbs.org/video/2170737097?starttime=1200000 You Tube – Great Performances: IL Postino from LA Opera | Preview | PBS. Retrieved from the internet on 02/11/2013 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWRvsj7kA1A You Tube – Movie clip: IL Postino (2/12) Metaphors (1994) Retrieved from the internet on 02/11/2013 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OipkhcxS10