Big River Play Review Essay

The play titled “Big River, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” that I attended on Thursday October 13th in Bruder Theatre, forever changed my opinion of musicals and theatre in general. I have only witnessed two theatre productions in my life, both performed by my high-school. I have watched movies that include many musical scenes within them and normally they just bored me until I changed the channel. Between my experiences of plays and musical themed movies my excitement level for this particular production and assignment was very low. However, after attending the production “Big River”, I find it rather enjoyable and easy to discuss the content of the play within this assignment.
The thing that surprised and excited me the most about the production was the setup of the play. Between the back drops, paintings, lighting, props, and costumes I was completely captivated by the sights. The costumes weren’t anything glorious, but they told a little more about each person’s character such as their social status or what their personalities were in general. Some of the women wore very plain gowns and they were just very plain characters. Others wore costumes that had a little bit more to them and made the audience want to study them more, I found this especially so with Mary Jane. Even though she was in a black gown of morning for her father there was something about the design of it that made her a very elegant and classy character. I was amazed at how the performers were able to do so much with so little. My imagination was running wild conjuring up the scenery in my head and the only props the characters were using was a wooden cart (raft) and a painted back drop of a river. When Huckleberry was in someone’s house, I could imagine everything clear up to what the color of the walls were or when he had docked the raft I could see the murky water and the dock that he was tying the raft to. I haven’t had to use my imagination like that since I was a young child playing a game. Using my imagination was definitely my favorite part of the whole play, the fact that I had to in order to see a bigger and better picture. “Big River” is a play based on the original novel written by Mark Twain and is about Huckleberry Fin, a boy who is trying to escape a drunk abusive father, and slave named Jim, who is trying to escape to freedom. The two boys share their ups and downs of crazy adventure and when things start to look bleak for both of them there ends up being a surprise ending that solves everything. This is a great tail of adventure, suspense, and friendship. What captured my attention most about “Big River” was how Jim and Huckleberry were able to make the best of most every situation. In one scene, everything looked bleak and hopeless, and in the next Jim and Huckleberry were sharing a laugh. Throughout the play, the two find themselves in a heap of trouble with one person or the next, but whether it was pure luck or a guardian angel looking out for them, they were able to make it out on the winning side. I believe that the overall theme of “Big River” is freedom. Jim is trying …show more content…
While I was watching the play I didn’t do much in depth thinking or considering about what the purpose of the play was, I was just enjoying the scenes unfold. It wasn’t until the play had ended and I had time to think that I realized what the play was actually about besides some grand adventure. Having an underlying message of importance is something that not many stories have today. Many stories that are told are actually very pointless, they may be entertaining, but there isn’t anything to take away or learn from the story. I believe why this is why “Big River” is an important play worth spending time to go see. “Big River” teaches a great lesson to those who will take the time to listen and observe, so yes, I believe this play is worth producing and witnessing hundred times