Lauren Strickland
Professor Morong
LBST 1104-563
17 November 2013
Love The Doctor Analysis On November 3rd, 2013 I watched a production of Love the Doctor in the Black Box Theater at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Love the Doctor is a play by Tirso de Molina; it surrounds the story of a girl Dona Jeronima and how she becomes a doctor and finds love. Jeronima falls in love with a man whom does not realize she exists and then she makes it her mission to make him love her and also to become a doctor. For this production of Love the Doctor I believe that the playwright and creative team was trying to get across the fact that women should always feel empowered. The leading lady did not want to do either of the socially acceptable options for a lady during that time, marry a man that was picked for her or join a nunnery, she wanted to practice medicine. I really believe that this play was trying to show that it is possible to break the metaphorical glass ceiling that women encounter in the work force. The director of this production of Love the Doctor was Erin Freeman. Because I have never seen a different production of this particular play, I do not have anything to compare the particular directing style to. I believe that the director wanted the concept of this play to be that glass ceilings can be broken and that you can achieve whatever you set your mind to. This concept did make the play meaningful to me, being a female and completely understanding that there are “ceilings” in place that make it difficult or impossible to advance in the work force. There were many production elements in this play. The production team had very nice sets and costumes that were coordinated together very smoothly. The director’s use of the platform type set was varied nicely; it was used for a different place in each scene. The director used the entirety of the black box theatre, even having the actors run through and behind the audience. Even though it was the particular theater utilized and not the director I enjoyed the set up. The audience sat on the same floor that the “stage” was on, which really put us into the action. The pace of this play was very appropriate. Unlike Othello I was not checking my phone constantly to see the time, it flowed from scene to scene, and by the time intermission happened I was surprised it was time for it already. I do not think the director spent too much time on any aspect of the plot, yet she also did not spend too little time. Going along with this I believe that the audience enjoyed the pace also. As I mentioned above when it was time for intermission I, along with the rest of the audience, was surprised that it was already time. Overall I believe that the director did a very nice job leading this production. This production of Love the Doctor employed nine actors, two of which played multiple parts. The actors in this production did a very fine job at portraying their characters. The setting of this play was in Spain or its surrounding areas; therefore one would have expected accents to be used. This was not the case, the actors talked in their own voices, but still showed that the play was set in another country very well. The acting all of the actors produced was that of which I did not expect from university students; I expected something of the high school drama club variety, I was very surprised. The actors spoke clearly and showed all of their feelings truthfully really convincing me that I was watching this story in real life not on a stage in the Black Box Theater. One of the funny parts of this production was when Tello kept fighting the musician; the fighting seemed very real and seemed to draw in the audience even more. Thus I was completely able to suspend my disbelief during this performance. The design of this production was different that most I have viewed. There was one central set that stayed for the entire production and a group of benches that the actors moved according to what the next scene entailed. The central set was the structure with stairs that was used as mostly different houses. The bench was made up of multiple small benches that the characters would move as the scene changed, for example the bench was moved into the middle of the staging area to serve as a sort of courtyard during one scene. The sets really helped contribute to the world of the world of the play because, with them you did not have to imagine what the surrounding area was like, like one had to in Othello. Lighting just like in Othello was exposed to the audiences’ eyes, so it did not per se take away from the world of the play but it also did not add. All sound was provided by the character of the musician, he would play his guitar during the scenes, this added to the world of the play for me because it added a sense of warmth to the stage. All in all the world of the play was very real and like I said above it allowed me to suspend my disbelief nicely. My personal opinion of the production was that I really enjoyed it. I loved the plot and I found myself to be really invested in the affairs of the heart for Jeronima. I believe that the Black Box Theater was a smart place to house this production because of the warm feeling of the theater. The warm feeling of the theater coupled with the audience placed on the “stage” allowed for a more real suspension of disbelief than I experienced with the production of Othello. I would most definitely return to watch another production at this theater because; I loved the way that the audience felt as if they were a part of the action. I would also go and see another play written by Tirso de Molina. This is because Love the Doctor really captured my interest, and I want to see if any of his other plays entice me like that. Love the Doctor was by far a favorite among the plays that I have ever viewed. Whether the particular theater used had any affect on this, I am unsure, but I do know that overall I would not change a thing about this production.