Beetlejuice and the wired world
This October 10th, I saw the amazing musical Beetlejuice, written by Scott Brown & Anthony King and directed by Alex Timbers in winter garden theatre. The adapted version of the film Beetlejuice is more magnificent considering the staging. The play is about the ghost Beetlejuice who wants to be seen by others, trying to let others say his name three times. And Lydia, who just lost her mother and had to live with her father and an annoying stepmother, can actually see Beetlejuice which makes her Beetlejuice’s first option. Because of Lydia’s capability of seeing ghosts, she also meets the dead former house owners, Barbara and Adam, and they decide to kick Lydia’s father and stepmother out by scaring them and get the house back. In Act 1, the plot focuses on explaining different characters’ backgrounds and their ultimate goals like Beetlejuice who endeavors to make himself be seen by others. And because of Lydia’s aim to scare her father, she helps Beetlejuice, and in return, Beetlejuice creates chaos. In Act 2, the director focuses on the struggle inside Lydia. She can not handle her mother's death very well, so she decided to go to the Netherlands to find her mother. At last, Lydia understands her father and they start their new life. One of the themes that go through the play is attention from others. Beetlejuice and Lydia, share a characteristic in common which is that they want attention from others. Beetlejuice, as a ghost, wants to be seen by others, while Lydia, who thinks she is ignored by her family, desire warmth from her father and mother. Also, they are all viewed as “abnormal” because Lydia can see ghosts and always acts creepy, and Beetlejuice is a ghost. So both of them are not acceptable by most people which symbolizes how minority trying to seek belongings and existence in the society.
The staging of the play really creates a sense of the play which is creepy, abnormal and chaotic. The main colors used for the set are black, white, purple and green which are also the colors that Beetlejuice wears. The setting of the house is also noticeable because it shows the whole interior of the house by distorting it. It not only presents the whole perspective but also provides a tone of this world that everything is not normal but distorted. The combination of colors and setting of the house together enables the audience to sense the weird but interesting world that the director creates. The tradition of the setting is also intriguing because the house can move forward and backward on stage, so when the house move backward, the audience will focus on the characters more because they outside the house and close to the audience, which also accentuates the inner feeling of the characters instead of the plot that is going on.
Speaking of characters, the play has created many memorable characters. Beetlejuice, the most distinctive character, uses a lot of props including the huge monster, hands, and feet which surprise the audience and contribute to his character which is unexpected and crazy at the same time. The costume of Beetlejuice also makes him a special character because of the striking colors which differ profoundly from what Barbara and Adam wear. Another character that really stands out to me is Lydia. Because of her mother's death, Lydia has been continuously depressed, and the fact that her father never mentions her mother lead to her disdain towards her father. The deep depression and obsession of death makes her a wired child that is not appreciated by her father and stepmother. Her all-black costume really expresses her identity and the way that she sings is so different because her pitch is high and her tone is a little wacky.
One moment that is most outstanding to me is when Lydia is in the Netherland and her father follows her. When Lydia is singing the song “Home”, the whole setting is so simple that only has spiral frames in the background and there are only black and white on the stage. As audiences, our focus is fully on Lydia and we can really relate to her loneliness and desire to find belonging. The second time that she sings the song, the feeling is entirely different because Lydia finds out that she has misunderstood her father and they finally break the barrier between them. So her gestures become more exaggerated which expresses her joy and her tone is no longer gloomy. We can easily feel the curve of the character with the change of lighting and voices.
Overall, I really enjoy the musical Beetlejuice because of the fresh perspective that the director took to create the story. And the incorporation of lighting and sound effects surely draws the attention of the audience to the weird but novel world that is created. The moment of Lydia teaches me that the atmosphere can be created without fancy settings, as long as the emotion of the character is expressed, the scene can be memorable.
