Ancient Greece The story of Medea

Ancient Greece The story of Medea Essay In Ancient Greece, the name of the monstrous murdering mother Medea was well- known. The story of Medea, the mysterious sorcerer-princess who helped Jason steal the famous Golden Fleece from her father, is a mythical romance with a terrible, terrible ending. Splendids new creative adaptation puts the audience at the heart of the performance, as a twenty-first century chorus presents a timeless tale of passion, betrayal and revenge. The performance took the audience through all sorts of emotions, as the story of a mother and wife took revenge on her hero husband that betrayed her by cheating with a princess. Medea takes revenge so far and even though she is banished from her city, she takes the ultimate revenge on Jason killing her own children. Although the play had many characters and a chorus, there was only 3 actors in whole performance. These 3 actors managed to multi-role play perfectly by using such simple ideas that made the audience recognise the characters they were playing easily. One of the most recognised and in my opinion, effective way they managed to change characters was by using scarves. It wasnt a complicated fiddling about changing clothing, it was a simple scarf and a belt. When the actors were being narrators or not performing, they wore these scarves in a different way each time to represent the character that they were playing. All of the costume changes were to the audience and sometimes they would tuck the scarf in their belt, to represent a strong character, like a hero. Other times they would be storytelling and wrapped the scarf around their heads to represent an old granny telling a old story. I thought this was highly effective and a creative way of adding to a character. It made the transitions between characters simple and it only took minimal seconds to change the way they wore the scarves. As soon as they placed the scarf differently, the actors switched instantly and stepped into the shoes of the characters. It was clear that they didnt need a big costume change for you to imagine the character because using the scarf was just effective enough. For me, it seemed like one of those ideas that you would think why didnt I think of that because it was an unique way of changing character. Another way the actors used multi-role play was by how they used their voice and positioned their stance and posture. Each actors voice or stance was never the same. The pitch, tone, volume and accent changed every time to represent the different character. No character was similar in voice which made it clear to the audience who they were playing. For example, the male performer (Jimmy Whiteaker) played a narrator while wearing his scarf around his head. His posture was bent over like he was old and frail and his movement was slow and soft. His voice was in a welsh accent, which is a great story telling accent. His tone was soft but happy and uplifting and his facial expression was always in a smile with his eyes bright. Compared to his other character, Jason, this is a dramatic change. Jasons posture was always strong and upright with his head held high and his nose in the air. His movement and gestures were sharp and without regret or thought. And he spoke confidently, in a serious, bold tone and the pitch low and manly. Each actor changed all these qualities in their own way, to create a personality and traits for the character they were playing. Another way they used multi-role play was by using personal props. These props were very minimalistic but once again they were personal to the character they were playing. I thought all of the 3 actors did an amazing job of multi-role play and they have given me many ideas and inspired me to think more about my roles. READ: Catholism 19th century EssayThe set on the stage was very simple and minimalistic. This was definitely more of a quality to the performance than negative. It didnt look over the top and it didnt need to be. Splendid productions state on their website that Splendids powerful cast of three will show how an ancient story can resonate through time, and how the simplest of theatrical ideas can have a devastating impact. And this is exactly what they did, especially with the set. It was so simple yet creative at the same time and even though a rope was just placed in a square on the stage, once the actors stepped into that rope the whole atmosphere changed and thats what created such a devastating impact. The set represented Greek Theatre. It represented the Unities that the play was all in one day, one place and one story. It made the audience concentrate on the actors and appreciate what they were doing and how much of creative thinking had been put into the performance. What I thought was most effective about the set was that the audience was used as part of the set. Multiple times the actors came into where the audience was watching, and they were still in character. Other times they would interact with the audience. But the fact was, they knew the audience was always going to be part of the set however, we didnt. And thats what I thought was so interesting and using the audience really involved them and kept them interacted but also added a lot of symbolism to the story. The main piece of set was a thick rope shaped in a large square centre stage. The rope was the most used part of the set because inside of it the were playing a character and playing the scene. Yet outside of the rope, they were telling the story and being narrators. The minimal set was most effective and was more effective then it wouldve been with complicated set because it forced the actors to be creative and imaginative by miming etc. As they didnt rely on the set to do the job for them. The actors used choral speaking which is when actors speak at the same time. They did this when they introduced Ancient Greece. This was very effective as they changed their voice style a lot throughout and added a lot of humor to it and gestures which gave the audience a break from the seriousness and intensity of the storyline, broke up the story and kept them interested in the performance. It was in unison perfectly and in my opinion it was important that they added humor as it brightened up the performance. The actors performed this very clearly and loud. The actions during the song made it more effective as it added character to the performance and made it more interesting. Also, it involved the audience through laughter. Another reason it was effective was that it focused on the tragic elements of the story but these negative themes were not as harsh as they spoke boldly and humorously about it. The choral speaking had an interesting contrast between conversations and the formal narrative and without it I dont think the performance would have been as enjoyable because it was clear the choral speaking had a great lasting impact on the audience.

Leadership and change Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 3

Leadership and change - Essay Example This helps in improving morale and performance in organisations. Major factors that contribute to employees leaving an organisation includes; the management’s lack of interest in the employee’s needs, employing autocratic leadership, not involving the employee’s in the organisation’s decision-making process, lack of recognizing employee’s skills and providing employee’s with autonomy in the work environment(Oshagbemi 2008, p.1902). While it is important for the management of an organisation to take charge in terms of leading their subordinates, showing good leadership is vital in retaining skilled and experienced workforce. Further, employee turnover rate is a pertinent issue in organisations, and it is important to look at the factors that promote low employee turnover. In this regard, the leadership behaviour adopted in organisations is one of the key factors that influence employee turnover rate in organisations. In addition, while there i s different leadership behaviours that the management of an organisation can utilize, a leadership behaviour that fosters democracy in the work environment is ideal in retaining skilled and experienced employees. In essence, changing organisational situation in regard to high employee turnover requires a participative or democratic leadership behaviour. This type of leadership places value on teamwork; however, the responsibility of the final decision-making rests with the leader of the team. This leadership is important in organisation with vibrant workforce in the sense that, it helps to improve employee’s morale. In addition, this leadership behaviour is ideal in times of change management process (Sorensen & Holman 2014, p.72). In relying on theoretical concepts and practice, this paper explores how a participative leadership behaviour can help to change high employee turnover. Concerning participative

ORGANIZATION THEORY Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

ORGANIZATION THEORY - Essay Example Edgar H. Schein’s article basically looks into the possibility of coming up with a viable definition for the term â€Å"organizational culture.† He has approached the endeavor from the symbolic-interpretive perspective and he has utilized the metaphor of culture as he tries to define and understand â€Å"organizational culture.† I have classified his work under symbolic-interpretive perspective because one can read from his work the pervading idea that it is persons themselves who have negotiated and created the symbols and have provided the meanings of the symbols that they themselves are using in organizations. And this â€Å"empowerment† is clearly manifested by these people when they work from the same underlying assumptions, hold onto similar values and norms, affirmed and accepted behavior patterns and other similar signs. As such, Schein is operating from the metaphor of culture. Not because he is to define culture, but because he presents the ideat ion that organization behaves or acts in a particular manner because it is the â€Å"pattern of meaning created and maintained by human association itself† (Hatch, 1998, p52) Edgar Schein’s (1988) article â€Å"Defining Organizational Culture,† presented the notion that the term culture â€Å"has different implications and meanings† (p.371). However, the moment that you attached it to the concept of organization one has more or less limited its application to the notion that one is to deal with a particular group in society. And it is in this context he claims that culture though ambiguous, can be appreciated as the coming together of concepts on the basis that is commonly shared by the players creating basic assumptions that becomes the foundation of values, norms, behaviors and traditions. In trying to come up with a working definition for â€Å"organizational culture†, Schein has taken us back to the important dynamic roles and functions that human beings play and perform in the organization. Some

Teamwork Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Teamwork - Essay Example Teamwork In organizations in which cohesiveness is present within team settings the members of the team display greater motivation. These employees value the time they spend with their co-workers. There is a lower employee turnover and lower absenteeism in companies with cohesive team units. A cohesive team unit is not achieved overnight; it takes time for employees to build trust in each other. It is more likely to cohesiveness to manifest itself when group members are similar in age, attitudes, needs and backgrounds (Schermerhorn, et al. 2003, p.202). Another factor that is favorable to achieve cohesiveness is to creating small size teams. The optimum size of a team is between four and seven members (Yeatts & Hyten, 1998). When a group is too big it becomes difficult to the member to build close relationships with each other, thus cohesiveness is harder to achieve. Creating cohesiveness within a team is important, but from an organizational perspective cohesiveness is only attractive if it enables the firm to a higher work performance. A way to determine if cohesiveness is adding value to a company is by measuring the match of cohesiveness with performance norms. If a specific work team has a high degree of cohesiveness, but the performance of the team has not improved over time or has declined then it is possible that cohesiveness is having a negative impact on the work output of the team unit.

Selection of Baby Name Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Selection of Baby Name - Essay Example As much as some aspects of the baby naming system in the United Arab Emirates are m significant than others they are all relevant. Naming may always be done in honor of the previous bearers of the names such as the Islamic ancestors that were looked up to in the Islamic religion. Naming a baby after an Islamic ancestor is believed to tie the baby and the family to religious (Islamic) affiliation and that the relationship is strong. It is always treated as a sign of reverencing and because every Islamic ancestor had a role, the names are attached to some roles and meanings. Some of the names may mean protection and because many families in UAE are Muslims, they believe in the powers and religious aspects of the Islamic ancestors. Most parents, especially with strong religious background prefer integrating religion (Islam) in their babies’ names to signify their loyalty and love for their religion. Parents believe that naming their children after Islamic ancestors benefits and b rings blessing to the child. Moreover, some parents in the UAE name their children after their grandparents. Selecting a grandparent name for a newborn shows love and respect the family has for the grandparent. Families who use such kind of naming system are those who love social values and would want to maintain the social status of the family lineage. Additionally, naming a newborn after a grandparent tends to strengthen the family bondage and blood relationship. Such kind of parents believes that their newborn will receive family favors and the favor of the person the child is named after. This form of the naming system further avoids some bad things such as marrying some from same blood relations. Every parent chooses names with good meanings such as righteous meaning and some of the names may include names from history, names of prophets and modern names.

Free Speech vs. Security Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Free Speech vs. Security - Essay Example It allows for the debate and resolution of these problems by the mutual consent of the people. However from the homeland security perspective, a society incorporating free speech may appear as a threat to political stability. The best example here is of Egypt where normal citizens planned a historic protest on a social networking website. Also in a society where people from different racial and religious background live, freedom of speech may provoke a particular community. In such a case, spread of violence and hatred may occur. The use of internet has allowed everyone to speak freely without any fear. The amount of information available on the internet is formidable and the people have easy access to it (Sunstein, 1995). Homeland security considers this availability of extensive amount of information as a security threat as it may be used for negative purposes and this is the reason why recently a bill has been passed which gives government the right to bar internet access if it de ems it appropriate. Everyone should know that accompanying the right of free speech are the responsibilities associated with it. The responsibility of people increases multifold during wartime.

Essay question Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 6

Question - Essay Example Or symbolically, that we may be consumed by our problems and challenges because it is too much for us to handle. The words of Christ here may be stern and rebuking but this gave assurance to the faithful that nothing will happen to them even in the midst of the strongest storm if He is with them. The message of the story is that if we have enough unwavering faith in Jesus Christ, our personal storms or problems will take care of its own. And that we should not worry of drowning just like the disciples did because if we have faith in Jesus, no harm would come to us even if the strongest storm will come upon us. Or in short, we should not be afraid of any challenges that life may confront us if we have in Jesus. 3. In Matthew 8:18-22, Jesus revealed the cost of discipleship when the crowd gathered around him and a teacher of the law manifested his willingness to become His disciple and follow wherever he may go. And Jesus told,   Jesus replied,  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Manhas no place to lay his head† (Matthews 8:18-20). Jesus answer was allegory of how demanding the work of a disciple is. It means that they will not have rest for they will live the life of the disciple. Then another disciple ask Jesus to first let him go to bury his father before following him as disciple. Jesus reply here is stern statement and to the modern day reader, this may sound insensitive for Jesus Christ because he will not entertain any sentimentalities from his disciples saying â€Å"Follow me,  and let the dead bury their own dead.† This only manifests the demands to become a disciple of Jesus Christ that one must have an unwavering faith and dedication that things will take care of their own when they follow Jesus. This is supported by the following verses in Matthews when a storm was upon them and the disciples panicked and woke up the sleeping Jesus to save them from