Monday, August 24, 2020

Organizational Structure Paper

Presentation With globalization and headway in data innovation, endeavors have extended their activities past national fringes. Business firms no longer work in the equivalent land regions.Advertising We will compose a custom exposition test on Organizational Structure Paper explicitly for you for just $16.05 $11/page Learn More therefore, rivalry in the worldwide markets has heightened. Organizations have been compelled to characterize better methods of reacting all the more rapidly to this adjustment in the business condition. The sort of structure embraced by an association has sweeping impacts on its accomplishment in the serious condition. So as to wait in business, a business firm should embrace and actualize hierarchical structure that would empower it rapidly react and adjust to the market changes. Contextual investigation: Starbucks Corporation Brief History and Background Starbucks is a universal organization headquartered in Seattle, Washington. Since its beginning in 1971 , the organization has acknowledged noteworthy development. It has been growing its business tasks to numerous nations of the world. As of now, Starbucks Corporation is the biggest espresso organization on the planet. It is evaluated to have in excess of 19,000 stores in 60 nations. The huge accomplishments of the organization are ascribed to powerful initiative and fitting authoritative structure.Advertising Looking for paper on business financial matters? How about we check whether we can support you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Starbucks’ Organizational Structure (Matrix Structure) Intense rivalry has constrained the organization to receive and actualize hierarchical structure to permit it react all the more rapidly to quick changes in the business condition. Starbucks has grasped network hierarchical structure which encouraged gathering of representatives by both item and capacity. Representatives in the association are gathered into groups with the goal that they can take favorable circumstances of one another while achieving obligations. The structure is level and separated by capacities expected to accomplish explicit objectives. Likenesses and Differences between Matrix Structure and Functional Structure Functional structure has likewise been generally received by various organizations around the globe. Quite, useful structure has highlights like those of network structure. In the two cases, an association characterizes its representatives into divisions and permits capacities to be coordinated. Notwithstanding these likenesses, they are unmistakable contrasts between the two. A network structure is more entangled than a practical structure. With a grid structure, an association is isolated by items and capacities. In this way, every representative serves two divisions for example an item and practical division.Advertising We will compose a custom exposition test on Organizational Structure Paper explicitly for you for just $16. 05 $11/page Learn More By differentiate, utilitarian structure requires an association to partition its workers basing on their capacities and capabilities. In contrast to utilitarian structure, framework structure urges representatives to share information. Similitudes and contrasts among Matrix and Bureaucratic Structure Both structures are more qualified for regularly yet not enormous scope associations. In the two structures, employees’ endeavors are interwoven consequently they are together liable for yields of the association. Associations which have embraced bureaucratic structures are not separated while firms which have lattice structure are exceptionally separated. Bureaucratic structures are exceptionally normalized while framework associations have low normalization. A network structure gives an association a level structure while bureaucratic structure makes the whole structure of a substance level. Grid is a profoundly decentralized though bureaucratic is except ionally brought together. How Organizational Functions Influence and Determine Organizational Structure of Starbucks Corporation Basically, a hierarchical structure characterizes how assignments are attempted and announcing connections which empower a firm to control and arrange different exercises in an offer to achieve foreordained objectives and destinations. In this way, an association must receive and actualize a structure that would encourage fulfillment of the expressed objectives. In the worldview case, HR, showcasing and fund activities have affected the organization to receive lattice hierarchical structure. So as to wait in the serious business condition, Starbucks Corporation must be prepared to react to the changing needs and requests of the purchasers, and this establishes advertising capacities. The organization must respond to new customers’ needs and demands.Advertising Searching for paper on business financial aspects? How about we check whether we can support you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Find out More All things considered, it must guarantee that lead-times for new items and administrations are diminished. In this manner, the organization needs to embrace lattice structure since it will permit it to get by in quick paced conditions. Starbucks has received forceful showcasing and item arrangement business technique which must be accomplished through departmentalization. For this situation, employees’ productivity and adequacy is principal. Division of workers by capacity and item permits the association to organize their endeavors. Starbucks association esteems more prominent adaptability in different business tasks. The authoritative needs in regard to human asset are changing continually consequently the organization must embrace framework structure as contradict to various leveled structure. Since the organization has different offices, open correspondence between representatives or partners is significant. The representatives should share information and participate to i mprove nature of items and administration conveyed to the clients. Framework structure is one of the hierarchical structures that have been demonstrated to open up for correspondence. For quite a while, Starbucks Corporation has been utilizing groups of workers to play out all activities. Past administration of the substance has had the conviction that utilization of groups permits workers to take the favorable circumstances and to compensate for the impediments of one another. This would improve most extreme creation both in present moment and long haul. How Organizational plan Determines Starbucks’ Organizational Structure Starbucks is a client based café organization and it is working in a quick paced business condition. The test of most organizations around the globe has been fulfilling new customers’ needs. In this way, the organization must guarantee that it has measures and procedures that improve snappy reaction to the ever-changing requirements of the clients . It must have compelling and beneficial workforce consistently in order to ensure quality items and administrations. Accordingly, this has required the enterprise to utilize grid structure to adjust effectively to the market changes. The structure rouses high level of status to react instantly to the new requests of purchasers. The organization handles various activities outfitted towards addressing the requirements of the clients. Consequently, it must dole out particular assets to propelled ventures when need be. This can be acknowledged just if there is network association. In a traditional view, Starbucks’ exercises have been gathered into offices in its journey to accomplish planned objectives and targets. The organization has received conventional departmentalization which saw gathering of different exercises by capacities. In the United States, the organization is working under four particular divisions which incorporate Northwest/Mountain, Northeast, Southeast and We stern/Pacific. So as to have most extreme correspondence between different offices and division, the organization needed to grasp network hierarchical structure. The offices and divisions must help the objectives and dreams of one another, and this ordered the enterprise to embrace lattice structure. End Arguably, an association structure impact the achievement of an element in present day business condition. Starbucks Corporation has acknowledged extraordinary arrangement of accomplishments because of its grid authoritative structure which has encouraged specialization and proficiency among the workers. It very well may be inferred that the structure is appropriate for organizations working in quick evolving conditions. This article on Organizational Structure Paper was composed and put together by client Br0therh00d0fEv1lMutants to help you with your own investigations. You are allowed to utilize it for research and reference purposes so as to compose your own paper; be that as it may, you should refer to it as needs be. You can give your paper here.

Saturday, August 22, 2020

Ronald Reagan work in Cannon, Diggin Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Ronald Reagan work in Cannon, Diggin - Essay Example A few biographers have expounded a great deal on Reagan as a president just as his prior and later life. This paper will endeavor to place corresponding to each other the authentic and philosophical presuppositions composed by a portion of his biographers. Michael Schaller is one of the acclaimed history specialists of the United States political right. In his works, he offers the perusers a nitty gritty record of Ronald Reagan’s life and accomplishments. This, he does well frame Reagan’s childhood in the rustic Illinois to his accomplishment in Hollywood, section into the American governmental issues as a representative, to his later ascent to the White House. In his composition, Schaller archives that Ronald Reagan was destined to John Edward and Nelle Wilson on sixth 1911 in Illinois. His dad, who was affectionately known as Jack battled with liquor addiction and regularly constrained his family to move as often as possible in front of the bill authority (Schaller 2). This came about to the family moving to a few unassuming communities inside Illinois and quickly to Chicago before a last settlement in Dixon. Through steady supportive gestures from his mom, Reagan took an interest in sports and measure as a young in sch ool. In school, Reagan studied human science and financial matters (Schaller 10). Sometime down the road, Reagan related a mind-blowing achievement to his cheerful youth. Peggy Noon, one of Reagan’s best White House scholars, portrayed Reagan’s outward congeniality as a product of his youth life. As per her, Reagan discovered it his obligation to fulfill others. The biographer Sean Wilentz likewise composes that Reagan consumed all his time on earth attempting to be another person. He says that the little kid turned into a Hollywood entertainer, the receptive democrat turned into a republic traditionalist, and the resident hotshot became representative and later president. Reagan moved on from collge in 1932 and made sure about a vocation as a commentator of a radio. As a young,

Thursday, July 23, 2020

Word of the Week! Soporific Richmond Writing

Word of the Week! Soporific Richmond Writing Here we have a perfect word for late summer, and just today I heard a BBC reporter use it to describe the weather in a small Cuban town. Weather that hot and humid makes one drowsy, which is the nature of anything soporific. This word can also be used to describe the actions of certain drugs. John Locke, in an example from the OED Online, noted the soporifick virtue of opium as early as 1690. With school soon to begin, we might note that our word can describe the effect of a boring anecdote or lecture. The OED catches that usage well with an example from 1727, Hibernian matrons thus of old, Their soporific stories told. So its more than boring. Not everything that bores you makes you drop off.   But in order to keep you awake, Ill end now. Im feeling rather drowsy myself. This blog will continue all summer, so nominate a word by e-mailing me (jessid -at- richmond -dot- edu) or leaving a comment below. See all of our Words of the Week  here. image courtesy of Wikipedia.

Friday, May 22, 2020

Introduction to Studying French Verbs

Most French students are impressed with French verbs. So let’s talk about them, and the terms used to explain how we should  conjugate French verbs. What is the  Verb? A verb indicates an action. It can be physical (to walk, to run, to go), mental (to think, to laugh)  or a condition or a state (to be, to have). A verb is conjugated to agree with (to match) its subject: He does, she has, they were, as opposed to the incorrect he do, she have, they be. What is Person in Grammar? In grammar, person refers to the different pronouns used to conjugate a verb: I, you, he, she, it, we, they. Read more on French  subject pronouns to understand  this concept better. What is Agreement? In French, some words are said to â€Å"agree† with each other. Its the same in English; you add an â€Å"s† to the end of the verb for he / she/ it, as in: She singS. In French, it gets a little more complicated. In French, you have to change some words or parts of words (like the endings of verbs) to match other words related them.  Ã‚   What or Who is the  Subject?   The subject is the person or thing that does the action of the verb.   There is an easy way to find the subject of a sentence. First, find the verb. Then ask: â€Å"who verb† or â€Å"what verb.† The answer to that question will be your subject. A subject is a noun (Camille, flower, room) or a pronoun (I, you, they). A noun can be a person, thing, place or idea. Examples:  I paint.Who paints?Answer: I paint. â€Å"I† is the subject. Camille is teaching French.Who is teaching?Answer:  Camille is teaching.â€Å"Camille† is the subject.   What is happening to Camille?What’s happening?Answer:  What is happening.â€Å"What† is the subject (This one was trickier, wasn’t it?)   What is a Conjugation? Conjugation is the way a subject changes a verb so they agree (match). In English, the conjugation of verbs is quite simple. The verbs don’t change much: I, you, we, they speak; he, she, it  speakS. An exception: the verb to be (I am, you are, he is). It is not this way in French, where the verb form changes with almost every different person. Some verbs are called â€Å"regular† because they follow a predictable conjugation pattern, such as adding an â€Å"s† to the 3rd person singular, as in English). Some are called â€Å"irregular† because their conjugation pattern is not predictable, like the verb â€Å"to be† in English. The way French verbs are written and their pronunciation  are also very different, this is why I highly recommend you train with audio drills when learning French verbs. What is the Infinitive? The infinitive is the form of the verb before it is conjugated. It’s the verb name, for example, â€Å"to speak.† In English, the infinitive is usually preceded by â€Å"to† as in â€Å"to study,† but its not always this way, for example: â€Å"can.†) In French, there is no â€Å"to† before the verb. The infinitive form is one word, and the last two or three letters of the infinitive will identify the type of conjugation pattern it follows, if the verb is regular. These letters are  usually -er, -ir or -re.   What is a Tense? A tense indicates when the action of the verb is taking place: now, in the past, in the future. A simple tense consists of only one verb form (â€Å"I speak†).A compound tense consists of one or more verbs, including an auxiliary verb a main verb (â€Å"I am speaking,† â€Å"I have been thinking†). What is Mood? The mood indicates how the verb relates to the subject: Is the action a statement of fact (indicative mood) or something else like a command (imperative mood) or a wish (subjunctive mood). This will affect the conjugation of the verb. and, likewise, the conjugation will communicate the mood.    Whats the Best Way to Learn French Verb Conjugations? Learning French verbs is a long process, and you shouldnt learn everything at once. Start by learning useful conjugations in the present indicative of the most common irregular and regular French verbs. Make sure you get the pronunciation right. French is full of liaisons, elisions and glidings, and it is not pronounced as it is written.   If you are serious about learning French, start with a good French audio method. Read about how to select the right tools to self-study  French. Your next step: Learning about French Subject Pronouns.

Thursday, May 7, 2020

Douglas C 47 Gooney Bird - 979 Words

Research Paper: Douglas C-47 â€Å"Gooney Bird† The C-47 was the lead plane of the 37th troop carrier squadron, dropping elements of the 82nd airborne division near St. Mere Eglise, France in the early hours of June 6th, 1944. June 6th is formally known as D Day. The C-47 was very important to aviation or even the most important because over 13,000 planes were sold, it was one of the most successful cargo planes, every branch of the U.S military and all the major allied powers flew it during World War two. The Douglas C-47 was manufactured in December 7th, 1935. It was manufactured by Douglas. The C-47 was the military model of the DC-3. It could travel 1,600 miles, it could carry up to 6,000 pounds of cargo, and it could also carry 28 soldiers in full combat fear. As a medical airlift plane, it could accommodate 14 stretcher patients and three nurses. Seven basic versions were built. Every branch of the military flew it and all the allied powers flew it. The Navy version of the C-47 was the R4D. The aircraft operated in every continent in the world and participating in every major battle. The outside of the Douglas C-47 was a fundamental shape of smooth rolling contours, low mono-plane wing set, tubular cabin and a single vertical tail. Two engines where mounted on each wing providing 1,200 horsepower. The co-pilot and the pilot sat at the extreme front of the fuselage with the observation blister directly behind the cockpit. The doors were situated at the forward and aft

Wednesday, May 6, 2020

The Return Shadow Souls Chapter 33 Free Essays

string(34) " little distance from the others\." To her surprise, Elena felt no anger, only a determination to protect Stefan if she could. And then she saw that in the cell she’d assumed was empty, there was a kitsune. The kitsune looked nothing like Shinichi or Misao. We will write a custom essay sample on The Return: Shadow Souls Chapter 33 or any similar topic only for you Order Now He had long, long hair as white as snow – but his face was young. He was wearing all white, too, tunic and breeches out of some flowing, silky material and his tail practically filled the small cell, it was so fluffy. He also had fox ears which twitched this way and that. His eyes were the gold of fireworks. He was gorgeous. The kitsune coughed again. Then he produced – from his long hair, Elena thought, a very, very small and thin-skinned leather bag. Like, Elena thought, the perfect bag for one perfect jewel. Now the kitsune took a pretend bottle of Black Magic (it was heavy and a pretend drink was delicious), and filled the little bag with it. Then he took a pretend syringe (he held it as Dr. Meggar had and tapped it to get the bubbles out) and filled it from the little bag. Finally, he stuck the pretend syringe through his own bars and depressed his thumb, emptying it. â€Å"I can feed you Black Magic wine,† Elena translated. â€Å"With his little pouch I can hold it and fill the syringe. Dr. Meggar could fill the syringe, too. But there’s no time, so I’m going to do it.† â€Å"I – † began Stefan. â€Å"You are going to drink as fast as you can.† Elena loved Stefan, wanted to hear his voice, wanted to fill her eyes with him, but there was a life to be saved, and the life was his. She took the little pouch with a bow of thanks to the kitsune and left her cloak on the floor. She was too intent on Stefan to even remember how she was dressed. Her hands wanted to shake but she wouldn’t let them. She had three bottles of Black Magic here: her own, in her cloak, Dr. Meggar’s, and somewhere, in his cloak, Damon’s. So with the delicate efficiency of a machine, she repeated what the kitsune had shown her over and over. Dip, pull up lever, push through bars, squirt. Over and over and over. After about a dozen of these Elena developed a new technique, the catapult. Filling the tiny bag with wine and holding it by the top until Stefan got his mouth positioned, and then, all in one motion, smashing the bag with her palm and squirting a fair amount straight into Stefan’s mouth. It got the bars sticky, it got Stefan sticky; it would never have worked if the steel had been razor-sharp for him, but it actually forced a surprising amount down his throat. The other bottle of Black Magic wine she put in the kitsune’s cell, which had regular bars. She didn’t quite know how to thank him, but when she could spare a second, she turned to him and smiled. He was chugging the Black Magic straight from the bottle, and his face was set in an expression of cool, appreciative pleasure. The end came too quickly. Elena heard Sage’s voice booming, â€Å"It is no fair! Elena will not be ready! Elena has not had enough time with him!† Elena didn’t need an anvil dropped on her head. She shoved the last bottle of Black Magic wine into the kitsune’s cell, she bowed for the last time and gave him back his tiny pouch – but with the canary diamond from her navel in it. It was the largest piece of jewelry she had left and she saw him turn it over precisely in long-nailed fingers and then rise to his feet and make a tiny bow to her. There was a moment for a mutual smile and then Elena was cleaning up Dr. Meggar’s bag, and pulling on her red cloak. Then she was turning to Stefan, jelly inside once more, gasping: â€Å"I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to make it a medical visit.† â€Å"But you saw the chance to save my life and just couldn’t pass it up.† Sometimes the brothers were very much alike. â€Å"Stefan, don’t! Oh, I love you!† â€Å"Elena.† He kissed her fingers, pressed to the bars. Then, to the guards: â€Å"No, please, please, don’t take her away! For pity’s sake, give us one more minute! Just one!† But Elena had to let go of his fingers to hold her cloak together. The last she saw of Stefan, he was pounding on the bars with his fists and calling, â€Å"Elena, I love you! Elena!† Then Elena was dragged out of the hallway and a door shut between them. She sagged. Arms went around her, helped her to walk. Elena got angry! If Stefan was being put back in his old lice-ridden cell – as she supposed he was, right about now – he was being made to walk. And these demons did nothing gently, she knew that. He was probably being driven like an animal with sharp instruments of wood. Elena could walk, too. As they reached the front of the Shi no Shi lobby Elena looked around. â€Å"Where’s Damon?† â€Å"In the coach,† Sage answered in his gentlest voice. â€Å"He needed some time.† Part of Elena said, â€Å"I’ll give him time! Time to scream once before I rip his throat out!† But the rest of her was just sad. â€Å"I didn’t get to say anything I wanted to say. I wanted to tell him how sorry Damon is; and how Damon’s changed. He didn’t even remember that Damon had been there – â€Å" â€Å"He talked to you?† Sage seemed astonished. The two of them, Sage and Elena, walked out of the final marble doors of the building of the Gods of Death. That was the name Elena had chosen for it in her own mind. The carriage was at the curb in front of them, but no one got in. Instead, Sage gently steered Elena a little distance from the others. You read "The Return: Shadow Souls Chapter 33" in category "Essay examples" There he put his large hands on her shoulders and spoke, still in that very soft voice, â€Å"Mon Dieu, my child, but I do not want to say this to you. It is that I must. I fear that even if we get your Stefan out of jail by the day of Lady Bloddeuwedd’s party that – that it will be too late. In three days he will already be†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Is that your medical opinion?† Elena said sharply, looking up at him. She knew her face was pinched and white and that he pitied her greatly, but what she wanted was an answer. â€Å"I am not a medical man,† he said slowly. â€Å"I am just another vampire.† â€Å"Just another Old One?† Sage’s eyebrows went up. â€Å"Now, what gave you that little idea?† â€Å"Nothing. I’m sorry if I’m wrong. But will you please get Dr. Meggar?† Sage looked at her for a long minute more, then departed to get the doctor. Both men came back. Elena was ready for them. â€Å"Dr. Meggar, Sage only saw Stefan at the beginning, before you gave him that injection. It was Sage’s opinion that Stefan would be dead in three days. Given the effects of the injection, do you agree?† Dr. Meggar peered at her and she could see the shine of tears in his short-sighted eyes. â€Å"It is – possible – just possible that if he has enough willpower, he could still be alive by then. But most likely†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Would it make any difference to your opinion if I said that he drank maybe a third of a bottle of Black Magic wine tonight?† Both men stared at her. â€Å"Are you saying – â€Å" â€Å"Is this just a plan you have now?† â€Å"Please!† Forgetting about her cape, forgetting everything, Elena grasped Dr. Meggar’s hands. â€Å"I found a way to get him to drink about that much. Does it make a difference?† She squeezed the elderly hands until she could feel bone. â€Å"It certainly should.† Dr. Meggar looked bewildered and afraid to hope. â€Å"If you really got that much into his system, he would be almost certain to live until the night of Bloddeuwedd’s party. That’s what you want, isn’t it?† Elena sank back, unable to resist giving his hands a little kiss as she let go. â€Å"And now let’s go tell Damon the good news,† she said. In the carriage, Damon was sitting bolt upright, his profile outlined against a blood-red sky. Elena got in and shut the door behind her. With no expression at all, he said, â€Å"Is it over?† â€Å"Over?† Elena wasn’t really this dense, but she figured it was important that Damon be clear in his own mind as to what he was asking. â€Å"Is he – dead?† Damon said wearily, pinching the bridge of his nose with his fingers. Elena allowed the silence to go on for a few beats longer. Damon must know Stefan was not likely to actually die in the next half hour. Now that he wasn’t getting instant confirmation of this his head snapped up. â€Å"Elena, tell me! What happened?† he demanded, urgency in his voice. â€Å"Is my brother dead?† â€Å"No,† Elena said quietly. â€Å"But he’s likely to die in a few days. He was coherent this time, Damon. Why didn’t you speak to him?† There was an almost palpable drawing-in on Damon’s part. â€Å"What do I have to say to him that matters?† he asked harshly. â€Å"‘Oh, I’m sorry I almost killed you’? ‘Oh, I hope you make it another few days’?† â€Å"Things like that, maybe, if you lose the sarcasm.† â€Å"When I die,† Damon said cuttingly, â€Å"I’m going to be standing on my own two feet and fighting.† Elena slapped him across the mouth. There wasn’t room to get much leverage here, but she put as much Power behind the motion as she dared without risking breaking the carriage. Afterward, there was a long silence. Damon was touching his bleeding lip, accelerating the healing, swallowing his own blood. Finally he said, â€Å"It never even occurred to you that you are my slave, did it? That I’m your master?† â€Å"If you’re going to retreat into fantasy, that’s your affair,† Elena said. â€Å"Myself, I have to deal with the real world. And, by the way, soon after you ran away, Stefan was not only standing but laughing.† â€Å"Elena† – on a quick rising note. â€Å"You found a way to give him blood?† He grasped her arm so hard it hurt. â€Å"Not blood. A little Black Magic. With two of us there, it would have gone twice as fast.† â€Å"There were three of you there.† â€Å"Sage and Dr. Meggar had to distract the guards.† Damon took his hand away. â€Å"I see,† he said, expressionlessly. â€Å"So I failed him yet again.† Elena looked at him with sympathy. â€Å"You’re completely inside the stone ball now, aren’t you?† â€Å"I don’t know what you’re talking about.† â€Å"The stone ball you stick anything that might hurt you inside. You even draw yourself inside it, although it must be very cramped in there. Katherine must be in there, I suppose, walled off in her own little chamber.† She remembered the night at the hotel. â€Å"And your mother, of course. I should say, Stefan’s mother. She was the mother you knew.† â€Å"Don’t†¦my mother†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Damon couldn’t even form a coherent sentence. Elena knew what he wanted. He wanted to be held and soothed and told it was all right – just the two of them, under her cloak with her warm arms holding him. But he wasn’t going to get it. This time she was saying no. She had promised Stefan that this was for him, alone. And, she thought, she would keep to the spirit of that promise, if she hadn’t kept to the letter, forever. As the week progressed, Elena was able to recover from the pain of seeing Stefan. Although none of them could speak about it except in choked, brief exclamations, they listened when Elena said that there was still a job to be done, and that if they managed to complete it well they would be able to go home soon – while if they did not complete it, Elena didn’t care whether she went home or stayed here in the Dark Dimension. Home! It had the sound of a haven, even though Bonnie and Meredith knew firsthand what kind of hell was lurking in Fell’s Church for them. But somehow anything would be preferable to this land of bloody light. With hope kindling interest in their surroundings, they were once again able to feel pleasure at the dresses Lady Ulma was having made for them. Designing was the one pursuit that the lady could still enjoy during her official bed rest, and Lady Ulma had been hard at work with her sketchbook. Since Bloddeuwedd’s party would be an indoor/outdoor affair, all three dresses had to be carefully designed to be attractive both under candlelight and under the giant red sun’s crimson rays. Meredith’s gown was deep metallic blue, violet in the sunlight, and it showed an entirely different side of the girl from the siren in the skin-tight mermaid dress who had attended Fazina’s gala. It reminded Elena somehow of something an Egyptian princess would wear. Once again, it left Meredith’s arms and shoulders bare, but the modest narrow skirt that fell in straight lines to her sandals, and the delicacy of the sapphire beads that adorned the shoulder straps served to give Meredith an unassuming look. That look was emphasized by Meredith’s hair, which Lady Ulma dictated be worn down, and her face, which was bare of makeup except kohl around the eyes. At her throat, a necklace made of the very largest oval-cut sapphires formed an elaborate collar. She also had matching blue gems on her wrists and slender fingers. Bonnie’s dress was a little clever invention: it was made of a silvery material which took on a pastel tinge of the color of the ambient lighting. Moonlight-colored indoors, it shone a soft shimmering pink, almost exactly the color of Bonnie’s strawberry hair, when she was outside. It sported a belt, necklace, bracelets, earrings, and rings all of matching cabochon-cut white opals. Bonnie’s curls were to be carefully pinned up and away from her face, in a daringly mussed-up mass, leaving her translucent skin to shine softly rose in the sunlight, and ethereally pale inside. Once again, Elena’s dress was the simplest and the most striking. Her gown was scarlet, the same color under blood-red sun or indoor gas lamp. It was rather low cut, giving her creamy skin a chance to shine golden in the sunlight. Clinging close to her figure, it was slashed up one side to give her room to walk or dance. On the afternoon of the party Lady Ulma had Elena’s hair carefully brushed into a tangled cloud that shimmered Titian outdoors, golden indoors. Her jewelry ranged from an inset of diamonds at the bottom of the neckline, to diamonds on her fingers, wrists and one upper arm, plus a diamond choker that fit over Stefan’s necklace. All these would blaze as red as rubies in the sunlight, but would occasionally glint another startling color, like a burst of mini-fireworks. Onlookers, Lady Ulma promised, would be dazzled. â€Å"But I can’t wear these,† Elena had protested to Lady Ulma. â€Å"I might not get to see you again before we get Stefan – and from that moment we’re on the run!† â€Å"It’s the same for all of us,† Meredith had added quietly, looking at each of the girls in their â€Å"indoor† colors of silvery-blue, scarlet, and opal. â€Å"We’re all wearing the most jewelry we’ve ever worn indoors or out – but you might lose it all!† â€Å"And you might need it all,† Lucen had said quietly. â€Å"All the more reason for you each to have jewelry that you can trade for carriages, safety, food, whatever. It’s simply designed, too – you can wrench out a stone and use it as payment, and the jewels are not in an elaborate setting that might not be to some collector’s taste.† â€Å"In addition to which, they are all of the highest quality,† Lady Ulma had added. â€Å"They are the most flawless examples of their kind we could get on such short notice.† At that point, all three girls had reached their limit, and rushed the couple – Lady Ulma on her enormous bed, sketchbook always beside her, and Lucen standing nearby – and cried and kissed and generally undid the beautiful jobs that had been done on their faces. â€Å"You’re like angels to us, do you know that?† Elena sobbed. â€Å"Just like fairy godparents or angels! I don’t know how I can say good-bye!† â€Å"Like angels,† Lady Ulma had said then, wiping a tear from Elena’s cheek. Then she grasped Elena, saying â€Å"Look!† and gestured to herself comfortably in bed, with a couple of blooming, dewy-eyed young women ready to attend to her wishes. Lady Ulma had then nodded at the window, out of which a small mill stream could be seen, and some plum trees, with ripe fruit blazing like jewels on the branches, and then with a sweep of her hand indicated the gardens, orchards, fields, and forests on the estate. Then she had taken Elena’s hand and smoothed it over her own softly curving abdomen. â€Å"You see?† she had spoken almost in a whisper. â€Å"Do you see all of this – and can you remember how you found me? Which of us is an angel now?† At the words â€Å"how you found me† Elena’s hands had flown up to cover her face – as if she’d been unable to bear what memory showed her at that moment. Then she was hugging and kissing Lady Ulma again, and a whole new round of cosmetic-destroying embraces had begun. â€Å"Master Damon was even kind enough to buy Lucen,† Lady Ulma had said, â€Å"and you may not be able to picture it, but† – here she had looked at the quiet, bearded jeweler with eyes full of tears – â€Å"I feel for him as you feel for your Stefan.† And then she had blushed and hidden her face in her hands. â€Å"He’s freeing Lucen today,† Elena had said, dropping to her knees to rest her head against Lady Ulma’s pillow. â€Å"And giving the estate to you irrevocably. He’s had a lawyer – an advocate, you’d say – working on the papers all week with a Guardian. They’re done now, and even if that hideous general should come back, he couldn’t touch you. You have your home forever.† More crying. More kissing. Sage, who had been innocently walking down the hallway, whistling, after a romp with his dog, Saber, had passed Lady Ulma’s room and had been drawn in. â€Å"We’ll all miss you, too!† Elena had wept. â€Å"Oh, thank you!† Later that day, Damon had made good on all of Elena’s promises, besides giving a large bonus to each member of the staff. The air had been full of metallic confetti, rose petals, music, and cries of farewell as Damon, Elena, Bonnie, and Meredith had been carried to Bloddeuwedd’s party – and away forever. â€Å"Come to think of it, why didn’t Damon free us?† Bonnie asked Meredith as they rode in litters toward Bloddeuwedd’s mansion. â€Å"I can understand that we needed to be slaves to get into this world, but we’re in now. Why not make honest girls of us?† â€Å"Bonnie, we’re honest girls already,† Meredith reminded her. â€Å"And I think the point is that we were never real slaves at all.† â€Å"Well, I meant: Why doesn’t he free us so that everyone knows we’re honest girls, Meredith, and you know it.† â€Å"Because you can’t free somebody who’s free already, that’s why.† â€Å"But he could have gone through the ceremony,† Bonnie persisted. â€Å"Or is it really hard to free a slave here?† â€Å"I don’t know,† Meredith said, breaking at last under this tireless inquisition. â€Å"But I’ll tell you why I think he doesn’t do it. I think that it’s because this way he’s responsible for us. I mean, it’s not that slaves can’t be punished – we saw that with Elena.† Meredith paused while they both shuddered at the memory. â€Å"But, ultimately, it’s the slave owner that can lose their life over it. Remember, they wanted to stake Damon for what Elena did.† â€Å"So he’s doing it for us? To protect us?† â€Å"I don’t know. I†¦suppose so,† Meredith said slowly. â€Å"Then – I guess we’ve been wrong about him in the past?† Bonnie generously said â€Å"we’ve† instead of â€Å"you’ve.† Meredith had always been the one of Elena’s group most resistant to Damon’s charm. â€Å"I†¦suppose so,† Meredith said again. â€Å"Although it seems that everyone is forgetting that until recently Damon helped the kitsune twins to put Stefan here! And Stefan definitely hadn’t done anything to deserve it.† â€Å"Well, of course that’s true,† Bonnie said, sounding relieved not to have been too wrong, and at the same time strangely wistful. â€Å"All Stefan ever wanted from Damon was peace and quiet,† Meredith continued, as if on more steady ground there. â€Å"And Elena,† Bonnie added automatically. â€Å"Yes, yes – and Elena. But all Elena wanted was Stefan! I mean – all Elena wants†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Meredith’s voice trailed off. The sentence didn’t seem to work properly in the present tense anymore. She tried again. â€Å"All Elena wants now is†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Bonnie just watched her speechlessly. â€Å"Well, whatever she wants,† Meredith concluded, rather shaken, â€Å"she wants Stefan to be a part of it. And she doesn’t want any of us to have to stay here – in this†¦this hellhole.† In another litter just beside them things were very quiet. Bonnie and Meredith were so used by now to traveling in closed litters that they hadn’t even realized that another palanquin had drawn abreast of them and that their voices carried clearly in the hot, still afternoon air. In the second litter, Damon and Elena both looked very hard at the silken curtains fluttering open. Now, Elena, with an almost mad air of needing something to do, hurriedly unwound a cord and the curtains dropped into place. It was a mistake. It closed Elena and Damon into a surreal glowing red oblong, in which only the words that they had just heard seemed to have validity. Elena felt her breath coming too quickly. Her aura was slipping. Everything was slipping sideways. They don’t believe that I only want to be with Stefan! â€Å"Steady on,† Damon said. â€Å"This is the last night. By tomorrow – â€Å" Elena held up a hand to keep him from saying it. â€Å"By tomorrow we’ll have found the key and gotten Stefan and we’ll be out of here,† Damon said anyway. Jinx, thought Elena. And sent up a prayer after it. They rode in silence up toward Bloddeuwedd’s grand mansion. For a surprisingly long time Elena didn’t realize that Damon was trembling. It was a quick, involuntary shaken breath that alerted her. â€Å"Damon! Dear – dear heaven!† Elena was stricken, at a loss, not for words, but for the right words. â€Å"Damon, look at me! Why?† Why? Damon replied in the only voice he could trust not to tremble or crack or break. Because – do you ever think of what’s happening to Stefan while you’re going to a party wearing splendid clothes, being carried along, to drink the finest wine and to dance – while he – while he – The thought remained unfinished. This is just what I needed right before being seen in public, Elena thought, as they reached the long driveway to Bloddeuwedd’s home. She tried to call on all of her resources before the curtains were drawn and they were free to step out at the location of the second half of the key. How to cite The Return: Shadow Souls Chapter 33, Essay examples

Monday, April 27, 2020

Waltz in three dimensions Essay Example For Students

Waltz in three dimensions Essay Paula Vogel always encourages the students in her MFA playwriting workshop at Brown University to write plays that can be staged for under $100. The exercise is less concerned with teaching her novice playwrights how to negotiate the deplorable state of funding for the arts than it is to get them to rethink the theatrical form. In one way or another, nearly all of Vogels own plays including Desdemona, The Oldest Profession, And Baby Makes Seven and The Baltimore Waltz exhibit just such a rigorous rethinking of theatrical forms. (I also firmly believe that, payment to artists excepted, each of these plays could be staged without compromise for less than $100. But thats another article.) Vogels plays are seldom what they appear to be on first reading, but they utilize an exuberant theatricality that subverts naturalistic conventions and theatregoers expectations at every turn. We will write a custom essay on Waltz in three dimensions specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now Three mountings of The Baltimore Waltz, all of which opened within two months of each other this season, provided a unique opportunity for observing the versatility of Vogels work from the point of view of design. The plays premiere production, a cooperative venture of New Yorks Circle Repertory Company and Houstons Alley Theatre with support from ATT: OnStage, turned out to be two distinctively different stagings, both supervised by director Anne Bogart and designed by Loy Arcenas; Center Stage of Baltimore followed with a production directed by Michael Greif and designed by Donald Eastman. Like Angels in America, Lips Together, Teeth Apart and Marvins Room, The Baltimore Waltz is part of a growing body of work identified as second-generation AIDS plays. In contrast to the earnest, exhortatory tone of first-generation AIDS plays like The Normal Heart and As Is, these second-,generation works are often angry, seldom sentimental, occasionally abstract and always funny. Angry, unsentimental, abstract, funny The Baltimore Waltz to a T. On one level, the play appears to be a brittle comedy about a young woman, an elementary-school teacher from Baltimore, who receives the grim news that she is terminally ill with ATD (Acquired Toilet Disease). Knowing that there is no known cure, Anne and her brother Carl, a childrens librarian, go on a whirlwind tour of Europe in pursuit of an unorthodox miracle cure, black-market drugs and uninhibited sexual pleasure. The reality, however, is something else entirely. As Michael Feingold put it in his Village Voice review of the play, This transparent absurdity is the mirror image of the actual story being told: Anna is perfectly healthy, her brother Carl is dying of AIDS in a Baltimore hospital (as the authors brother Carl in fact did); the European trip is one they planned but didnt take. For Frank Rich of the New York Times, The Baltimore Waltz is that rare AIDS play that rides completely off the rails of documentary reality, trying to rise above and even remake the world in which the disease exists. The stage directions for The Baltimore Waltz (as printed in the September 91 issue of American Theatre) indicate that the play takes place in a hospital (perhaps in a lounge, corridor or waiting room) in Baltimore. Vogel, however, provides an additional, liberating clue in her introduction to a letter from her brother, written to her shortly before he died, which is printed in its entirety with the script and usually reprinted in the program Here, Vogel describes the Baltimore Waltz as a journey with Carl to a Europe that exists only in the imagination. NEW YORK, Feb. 11 Circle Reps association with The Baltimore Waltz actually began more than a year ago, when the theatre offered Vogel and her director of choice, Anne Bogart, a chance to stage a workshop production of the script is part of its Circle Lab program. Although the workshop allowed Bogart to test-drive some of her ideas about the play, surprisingly little of what was seen in the workshop is used in the subsequent production. the lone set element shared by both is a white curtain, tautly, stretched across the entire width of the stage, which serves variously as front curtain, projection screen and hospital curtain. After Anna and Carl are introduced to the audience in the narrow space in front of this curtain, they fling it back to reveal Arcenas full set: a sterile, impersonal, contemporary waiting room, pale green in color, with solarium windows and one nondescript, six-foot cough (just the kind one would expect to find in a waiting room). A downstage left door leads to a corridor; another door upstage left opens onto a closet, or perhaps a bathroom, into which the third member of the cast disappears periodically to make costume changes with Irma Vep-velocity. .uad85e8cdf7d5b3e425d7903887ee26f0 , .uad85e8cdf7d5b3e425d7903887ee26f0 .postImageUrl , .uad85e8cdf7d5b3e425d7903887ee26f0 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .uad85e8cdf7d5b3e425d7903887ee26f0 , .uad85e8cdf7d5b3e425d7903887ee26f0:hover , .uad85e8cdf7d5b3e425d7903887ee26f0:visited , .uad85e8cdf7d5b3e425d7903887ee26f0:active { border:0!important; } .uad85e8cdf7d5b3e425d7903887ee26f0 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .uad85e8cdf7d5b3e425d7903887ee26f0 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .uad85e8cdf7d5b3e425d7903887ee26f0:active , .uad85e8cdf7d5b3e425d7903887ee26f0:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .uad85e8cdf7d5b3e425d7903887ee26f0 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .uad85e8cdf7d5b3e425d7903887ee26f0 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .uad85e8cdf7d5b3e425d7903887ee26f0 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .uad85e8cdf7d5b3e425d7903887ee26f0 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .uad85e8cdf7d5b3e425d7903887ee26f0:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .uad85e8cdf7d5b3e425d7903887ee26f0 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .uad85e8cdf7d5b3e425d7903887ee26f0 .uad85e8cdf7d5b3e425d7903887ee26f0-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .uad85e8cdf7d5b3e425d7903887ee26f0:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Eva Smith Original Writing Piece EssayAlthough the set contains a good deal of detail electrical outlets, sprinkler fixtures, wooden handrails, a sound-absorbent tile ceiling, even simulated grime around the baseboards little about it suggested a hospital waiting room. Little, that is, except for an ominous gurney that sits in the up left corner of the stage. That item of grim reality not withstanding, it is the fanciful use of the couch which clues the audience that what they are watching is no ordinary trip through Europe. While the waiting room does double duty as a variety of hotel rooms, bistros, cafes and public squares in France, Holland and Germany, the single couch, repositioned at the beginning of each scene, is used to represent assorted double beds, bars, an airports security checkpoint, the private compartment of a train, even the Eiffel Tower. To further emphasize the fantasy, lighting designer Dennis Parichy illuminates the set with a rich, ever-changing array of lush colors, including lavenders, pinks, greenish-blues and salmons a palette more closely associated with romantic comedies than plays about AIDS. Only near the end of the play, when Anna returns to the hospital to find her lifeless brother on the gurney (now positioned center stage), does Parichy drain the light of all its color. The effect, in tandem with an abrasive buzzer and low rumblings constructed by sound score designer John Gromada, is genuinely shocking. Like Parichys lighting, Walter-Hicklins costumes take the fantasy by the throat. Anna is dressed in a full black slip and trenchcoat whenever she isnt in bed, where she wears only the slip. Except for his appearance at the very end of the play (in what the script describes as Austrian military regalia), Carl wears flannel pajamas, a blue blazer and, for the exterior scenes in Europe, a trenchcoat. The character identified in the script as the Third Man/Doctor impersonates all the characters Anna and Carl encounter on their fantasy tour of Europe, including Harry Lime (the elusive villain from the Carol Reed-Graham Greene thriller The Third Man) American function,tries and various European stereotypes. Hicklins costumes for these characters draw the audience deeper and deeper into Annas fantasy world. Minor changes, like slapping an official-looking patch on the arm for the Airport Security Guard or adding a brocade vest for the Garcon, are at first made in full view of the audience; after the convention for introducing new characters is securely established, the Third Man is able to make a complete costume change, becoming the little Dutch Boy at Age 50, without it appearing incongruous. This also sets up the audience for Dr. Todesrochein, the last and most bizarre of Annas fantasy characters by the time he makes his entrance, preposterously dressed in a blood-spattered lab c oat, thick glasses, ludicrous fright wig and a single black rubber glove, one is prepared to accept almost anything as part of the plays skewed universe. HOUSTON, April 8 While this citys production of The Baltimore Waltz retains much of the spirit of the New York production, the set has to be completedly redesigned for the Alleys Neuhaus Arena Stage, which seats the audience on four sides of an approximately 25 by 25 acting area. Arcenass new set is far less specific than his antiseptic, claustrophobic waiting room at Circle Rep: here there are only two institutional double-hinged doors in opposite corners of the stage and a pair of backless benches, which, like the couch in New York, are periodically repositioned to suggest a change in location. With much of the action reblocked to occur on the diagonal between the doors, the production often appears to be set in a hospital corridor. The gurney is sitting on stage as the audience enters, but it is wheeled out just prior to the first scene and then, carrying Carl, wheeled back in for the end of the play. .u38c08790590b1d54c82b890d8034fbf7 , .u38c08790590b1d54c82b890d8034fbf7 .postImageUrl , .u38c08790590b1d54c82b890d8034fbf7 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u38c08790590b1d54c82b890d8034fbf7 , .u38c08790590b1d54c82b890d8034fbf7:hover , .u38c08790590b1d54c82b890d8034fbf7:visited , .u38c08790590b1d54c82b890d8034fbf7:active { border:0!important; } .u38c08790590b1d54c82b890d8034fbf7 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u38c08790590b1d54c82b890d8034fbf7 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u38c08790590b1d54c82b890d8034fbf7:active , .u38c08790590b1d54c82b890d8034fbf7:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u38c08790590b1d54c82b890d8034fbf7 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u38c08790590b1d54c82b890d8034fbf7 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u38c08790590b1d54c82b890d8034fbf7 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u38c08790590b1d54c82b890d8034fbf7 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u38c08790590b1d54c82b890d8034fbf7:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u38c08790590b1d54c82b890d8034fbf7 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u38c08790590b1d54c82b890d8034fbf7 .u38c08790590b1d54c82b890d8034fbf7-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u38c08790590b1d54c82b890d8034fbf7:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Made in Montgomery: sighting heroes and villains on ASF stages, and off EssayParichys lighting has to be rethought in terms of the arena staging, of course, but aesthetically it changes little; Hicklins costumes and Gromadas soundscore are identical. But there are other important changes: Due to scheduling conflicts, Cherry Jones, Richard Thompson and Joe Mantello (who played Anna, Carl and the Third Man/doctor, respectively) have been replaced by Alma Cuervo, Willis Sparks and Arnie Burton. Since the Houston set has no curtain that can serve as a projection surface, Carls slides are shown on two masked screens, one in each of the two corners not occupied by the swinging doors. Finally, while the Circle Rep production used one stagehand dressed as a hospital orderly to assist the three principals with couch, prop and costume changes, the production at the Alley uses two orderlies. (The idea for dressing a stagehand as a hospital orderly is Bogarts; the character does not appear in Vogels script.) Still, audiences in New York and Houston saw basically the same production. The variations are the result of Neuhauss arena configuration, which, for example, makes Anna, Carl and the Third Man appear to be addressing the audience more directly and more often. Consequently, the Houston production may be experienced as more intimate, personal and emotional than the one seen in New York; I also suspect that the Houston set, which leaves more to the imagination than did the set used in New York, encourages audiences to take a more active role during the performances. These variations illustrate how a single production, imaginatively staged, can be presented in two very different theatres, be equally effective and still preserve the playwrights intentions. BALTIMORE, April 8-Michael Greif takes a more realistic approach to The Baltimore Waltz, but places it within a more abstract setting. Donald Eastman has pared the plays environment down to a 12-foot white curtain hung from a circular track in the center of the stage, masked in black. By eliminating all architectural detail and then introducing select furniture and props readily associated with either a European hotel or a contemporary hospital, the production simultaneously evokes the fantastic and the concrete qualities of the play. Anna (Kristine Nielsen), Carl (Jonathan Fried) and the Third Man/doctor (Robert Dorfman) make their initial entrances from under the curtain. When Anna begins her fantasy tour of Europe, the curtain is pulled aside to reveal an elegant double bed and chair, which represent 19th-century hotels and other locales. (The ferris wheel scene, for instance, in which Carl finally meets Harry Lime is staged with the characters standing on the bed.) As Annas anxiety about her brothers condition escalates, more and more items from the sterile, metallic world of the hospital surface in her fantasy. By the time she finally realizes that Carl has in fact died, the hotelroom elements have been completely replaced with those from Carls hospital room including a gurney instead of a regular hospital bed. James F. Ingalls took his cue for the lighting from The Third Man and approaches the production as film noir. This is particularly apparent during the fantasy sequences, in which the light is projected at sharp angles, using venetian blind templates and no overt use of color. Throughout much of the production, the lighting changes in direct response to the sound, a mix of European music and hospital effects designed by Mark Bennett. The sound and light interconnection often makes Annas trip through Europe seem like a reaction to or escape from the mostly unpleasant ambiance of the halls of a hospital. Like the lighting and sound, Paul Tazewells costumes are pointedly exaggerated and cartoonish: here Dr. Todesrocheins sinister black rubber gloves reach all the way up his shoulders. Seeing these three productions of The Baltimore Waltz as well as photographs from the original workshop production, directed by Annie Stokes-Hutchison at Perseverance Theatre in Douglas, Alaska confirms my conviction that while Vogels non-naturalistic script includes both realistic and abstract elements, it is the relationships among the three characters that determines the success of a production. In other words, it is the emotional clarity and intensity with which the characters and story action are presented, rather than the specificity of the setting, which make The Baltimore Waltz such a powerful experience for so many theatregoers.