Trifles

In regards of producing Trifles as a theatricalized play as opposed to it's original setting in naturalistic, I would like to argue both sides.


For: The idea of a very minimalist design for Trifles is very interesting. Having both read and watched the play, and having read the short story that was based on this play, I feel like I at least a better than average insight to what this play is about. To make this production minimalistic and abstract, would put the play in a different perspective, such as from the men's point of view. I would like to refer this to "gender blindness" where a man can walk into a "woman's domain" (such as a kitchen) and see nothing but "kitchen things." To the men in the play, I wouldn't doubt that they just see the room in shapes as opposed to the detailed objects they are. I think that making the audience see the room from the men's point of view would create a very surreal effect and will probably confuse the audience in a good way. It would probably make them try to envision what the room would look like in natural form (in another words, it would make the audience think.)


Against: There is a reason why this play was titled Trifles. It is almost esential that we see all of Minnie Wright's world, her uncleaned kitchen, her broken jars of fruit, her unfinished quilt, and the pretty little box that held her dearest friend. To see the world through a woman's eye and see that the room is not just a pile of dirty pots and unkept home, but that we find the reason why these things are the way they are by following each and every clue in that kitchen full of "women's trifles."