Berto_Tony_201307_PhD .pdf - University of Guelph

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somewhat reminiscent of the bull’s eye seen in opening sequences of the James Bond films.
This aspect underscores ideas of shooting and targeting, which feature in the play’s theme
of bullying.
The play’s name is featured predominantly across the top of the poster, and its
ambivalent meanings work with the image to suggest and extend its themes. The Shooting
Stage can imply a stage or place where a youth is isolated to have his image objectified in
photographs. The background around Sponagle’s body in the image has only white space
around it, and this reinforces an idea of a controlled space, such as a studio, focusing
attention only on the youth in a manner that appears to fetishise his presentation. The title
The Shooting Stage also communicates information regarding the play’s violence. As the
play progresses the level of threat increases until it arrives at a stage where guns are shot, a
stage where shooting occurs. MacLennan’s title offers two differing meanings that add to,
and contextualize, the various themes that the play’s poster presents.
The themes of the image are changed by their overt reference to the process of
theatre. Examining the image, clues are offered that indicate that the subject is an adult
actor and not an actual youth. Both of Sponagle’s arms are tattooed, and while some youth
may get tattoos while underage, tattoos have associations of adulthood. In Canada, industry
practices usually make them unavailable to those under eighteen without parental consent
(“Body”). Sponagle’s hairy legs also offer the secondary sexual characteristics of a postpubescent
male. While Sponagle has a youthful face, his physique is clearly that of an adult.
The contrast between his juvenile pose and his adult physiognomy allows a discerning eye
to read the thematic elements that the image suggests while also being reminded of the
notion that the figure is contextualised as an element of theatre, where an adult actor is