To Kill a Mockingbird Production Review

On Friday, class one were fortunate enough to watch the live stage production of To Kill a Mockingbird. The stage adaptation of the classic novel was interpreted fabulously from the novel, which obviously presented quite the challenge, due to all of the changes of scene and the action. 

Personally I enjoyed the way in which extracts from the novel were read before the acting began, as I felt this helped to give the scenes come context. 

On the other hand, I felt that the character of Mayella Ewell could have possibly been portrayed in a way closer to how she came across in the novel, as I personally did not like the way the actress seemed to be extremely timid and then extremely violent with no transition, and the way she ran around the court room. 

I enjoyed the simplistic set as it allowed for the production to be done fully, but without all of the complicated scene changes. Another thing I enjoyed was the guitarist roaming the stage playing fitting music, as I felt this helped to set the mood for each scene. 

I was surprised by the way the production handled the last scene, when Bob Ewell tried to harm Jem and Scout. I did not know what to expect from this scene, as it obviously presents quite a challenge, logistically speaking. I did not expect Scout to actually be wearing a ham costume, as I thought it might make a production easier if she was only to say "I was a ham". 

Overall, I really enjoyed this production as I felt it delivered a mostly accurate representation of the novel. I would not choose to change many details of the play, apart from the way in which Mayella was portrayed. I also appreciated the way in which the scene order was tweaked slightly and how some scenes were left out to make the overall message clearer, as the actual novel was so detailed that it could become tedious to show every scene. 

Buddha Photo and Quote

Comparing Religions: Christianity and Buddhism

Main Differences:

Buddhism's origin is Nepal, India and Christianity's origin is Judea.

Buddhists worship in monasteries, temples, nunneries and pagodas, Christians worship in church, chapel, and cathedral, home.

Buddhists follow the teachings of Buddha, Christians recite follow the story of Jesus Christ, told by the bible and gospels, they try to respect the values Jesus stood for, and they believe that he once walked the earth in the flesh.

The goal of Buddhism is to attain enlightenment and be released from the cycle of reincarnation, thus attaining Nirvana (or eternal bliss). Christian's goals of life are to love God and obey his commands while maintain a relationship with Jesus, whilst also spreading the gospel to others so that they too can be saved (preaching the gospels).

Jesus is irrelevant to Buddhists, but it is vital to CHRISTians, origin of the name of Christianity is based upon Christ’s name, and the religion is based upon his way of life, values, closeness with God and his teachings.

Buddhists don’t worship saints; they only have upright or mentioned people, Arhats or those who live exactly to Buddha’s teachings. Catholic and Orthodox Christians recognise very holy people as saints, most Protestants to not recognise saints.

Very few similarities:

Divine abilities: Some Buddhists and Christians agree on deity, but deity, transcendence and immanence were not originally taught, but Buddhists mainly in Japan (where Buddhism is merged with the Shinto religion), believe in a pantheon of supernatural beings.

Prayer: Christians mainly agree on prayer to God and Jesus being a core part of the religion, but some Buddhists also believe in the power of prayer, but some do not.

Religion Fact File: Christianity

Name of the religion: Christianity

Name for someone who follows it: Christian

Symbol: The cross, which symbolises the cross structure that Jesus Christ was crucified on.

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Name of holy book: the Bible

Approx. amount of followers: 2,039,000,000

Name(s) of founders of the religion: Christianity originates from  Judaism in the 1st century C.E. It is founded on the life, teachings, death, and resurrection of Jesus.

Religion Fact File: Buddhism

Name of the religion: Buddhism

Name for someone who follows it: Buddhist

Symbol: Buddhists have lots of different symbols, which they use for 

different occasions. a few of their symbols are:   

The wheel of life (The wheel of Dharma), commonly used to pray for those fighting for their lives, this symbol shows life, hope and is something to remind you of the light at the end of the tunnel when you are in a time of need.

• Buddha's eyes (wisdom eyes). this symbolises the omniscience of the buddah, and reminds buddhists that buddha sees everything. this symbol is on every surface available, and it is so prevalent and respected that it has become the honorary symbol of nepal.

• The parasol, buddhists believe that this symbol casts a shadow of protection, and as a normal parasol would protect its user from heat and sun, this parasol protects from the metaphorical heat of evil. this is a traditional symbol of protection and royalty

       

• The golden fish is a symbol of happiness and fertility. It is believed that the symbol of the  golden fish is from to the pre-Buddhist era, when the two fish represented the holy Indian rivers of Ganga and Yamuna.
  

Name of holy book: The sacred book of Buddhism is called the Tipitaka. It is written in an old Indian language called Pali which is believed to be the closest dialect the language that the Buddha himself spoke. The Tripitaka is a very very long book. 

Approx. amount of followers: 376,000,000 

Name(s) of founders of the religion: Buddha Shakyamuni is the founder of Buddhism. he was born as a prince in 624 BC in Lumbini, which was originally in northern India but is now part of Nepal.