Overtones Response

In the play Overtones, everyone can see and hear the characters of Harriet and Margaret. The only person to hear Hattie is Harriet and the only person to hear Maggie is Margaret, but neither of them acknowledge their ‘primitives selves’, as Gerstenberg puts it, other than to respond to them verbally. However, there is at only one point in the play when someone appears to see Hattie and Maggie and that is when they converse with each other. This only happens when the conversation between Margaret and Harriet becomes very heated and appears to be reaching the climax. It’s interesting that this would be the point where the inner selves acknowledge each other because it would suggest that this is not only the point where the separation between the outer appearance and the inner appearance are the closest, but it also suggests that the characters of Harriet and Margaret can see through each other to see exactly what the other wants.

Trifels Response

I think it would work to strip the play down and put the emphasis on the characters and dialogue like the director wants, but I’m not sure you would need to strip the play down in order to do that. I am of the belief that the set of the play leads the characters to their conclusion of what happened. Without the set, it would mean the actors would have to hint at what was there and what they were seeing and that might actually contradict what the director wants to do. I don’t think there is anything to be gained from the stripping down of the play, other than the audience might feel more connected to the characters because they are plain and simple and that might make them more relatable. That is a big might, however. The audience could be confused as to why the actors weren’t in costume and wonder what period they were from, because they would be able to infer from the dialogue but they wouldn’t know for sure. With these complications in mind I don’t think the production would gain anything from being performed in a theatricalized way. I honestly see no reason to strip this play down. Unless the budget for the production is very low or non-existent, and even then I would encourage the director to find as many ways as possible to give the audience the setting of this play.