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Menta BASIC DEFINITIONS & CONTEXT OF 19TH CENTURY THEATRE Theatre of Communion:
(Greeks, Romans, Medieval, Elizabethans) Theatre of Illusionism:
(Renaissance Italy to early film -c.1900) In the gradual, over-arching path towards Illusionism, Western theatre generally moves from: - huge outdoor amphitheatres
to smaller indoor theatres Total Illusionism triumphs in film. Theatre of Revolt
from Modernism (Ibsen) to Postmodernism (Robert Wilson) Brustein defines 3 basic types of Theatre of revolt (which often overlap): 1, Messianic: dramatist revolts against God, tries to take his place (the priest examines his own image in the mirror). Very Romantic. Messianic hero is a superman who kills god, tries to take his place. Long verse plays, grand scale, episodic, dramas of liberation. Examples: Ibsen's Brand, Strindberg's To Damascus, Shaw's Man & Superman, Genet's The Balcony. 2. Social: rebellion against social conventions, mores, values of society (priest turn mirror on audience). realism, Prose. Concentrates on man in society in conflict with community. Plays of middle class problems/characters. Examples: Ibsen's A Doll House, Strindberg's Miss Julie, Miller's Death Of a Salesman, some Brecht. This type of Social Revolt continued in the Black Arts Movement in the American Theatre in the 1950s and 1960 s with such plays as A Raisin in the Sun (Hansberry) & Dutchman (Baraka) Also in the 1960s and 1970s, we have other ethnic theatre movements that could be termed as social revolt such as Latino/Latina Theatre - Luis Valdez (Stinking Badges), Maria Irene Fornes (The Conduct of Life), and Cherrie Moraga ( Giving Up the Ghost),Asian American Theatre – David Henry Hwang (M. Butterfly) and Native American Theatre - Diane Glancy (The Woman Who Was a Red Deer Dressed for the Deer Dance).It also continues today, at some level, with other with Feminist Theatre (Churchill’s Cloud 9), the work of Megan Terry, and many others, and Gay/Lesbian Theatre (Holly Hughes). Much of this work does not follow a traditional linear, dramatic structure and it also may be very theatricalized or non-realistic. For those reasons, some of the above plays and artists might also overlap into: 3. Existential: rebellion against conditions of existence. Examines metaphysical life of humankind. Priest turns the mirror on to the void. The "old age of Modern Drama." Exploration of Spiritual world/time/timelessness. Impossibility of social action and social intercourse. Terror of existence, absurdity, madness of life. Examples: Beckett, all of the Absurdists (Pinter, Ionesco, American theatre in the 1960s), or Funnyhouse of a Negro (Adrienne Kennedy). Postmodernism perhaps begins with Beckett. Fragmentation of language, even reliance on images as much as text; fragmentation of traditional "character", more non-linear than causal plot. Self-referential, treats history as smorgasbord of imagery, influences. Examples: Wilson, Heiner Muller, Tony Kushner (perhaps), many contemporary directors as well as playwrights (Akalaitis, Serban, Peter Sellars), Performance Art (Holly Hughes, Split Britches, many others). Realism & Naturalism in the Context of the Late 19th Century Legacy of 19th Century: True popular entertainment in Europe and USA. All classes go to theatre. All types of melodramas, (which was absolutely serious theatre), Scribe's formulaic "well-made play." Incredible spectacle, machinery, spectacular pictorial realism. Capitalism and Industrial revolution create middle class, therefore more leisure time, therefore rise of entertainment as big business. Urbanization, railroads makes touring possible, we have first big media stars in actresses such as Sarah Bernhardt. Beginnings of musical theatre. Commercial control of the Syndicate - controls all touring and NY theatre. Despite many truly great artists, especially actors and designers, no doubt that 19th century theatre catered to public taste (least common denominator of audience). This is what Modern Drama revolts against! Use of Scientific method (method of observation & hypothesis to suggest solutions to problems)
How does this affect theatre? Realism and Naturalism attempt to show realistic human behavior, suggest cures to society's ills, specialization of capitalist society creates specialization in theatre - especially in the rise of the director. Modern theatre is characterized by unification of all of the elements of theatre text, acting, design under one figure - director. Ibsen deals with heredity, Shaw with evolution of the "Superman", Strindberg with dreams, the Stanislavsky system of acting is a "scientific method" of acting based on observation and psychology. The Duke of Saxe-Meiningen is the "first true director, " unites all elements, careful staging, period costumes and sets, - scientific method of producing a play. Realism: A term we use loosely now to define anything that seems lifelike; it has been entrenched by television and film. Realism is just another "ism!" Originally a mid-19th cent. French movement in literature, we now associate it with:
Examples: Ibsen's Social Revolt plays, O'Neill's Long Day's Journey, Miller's All My Sons and other plays, Odets, many, many others. We still use the term as a "norm" against which to judge, but maybe, every age defines "what is real" on its own terms. The Greeks thought Sophocles was real, the Elizabethans thought Shkp. incredibly lifelike, 18th century British actor David Garrick startled audiences with his more "real delivery", and so on. Naturalism: Not exactly the same as realism. A more specific late 19th century French movement, which viewed humankind as a biological phenomenon, determined by genetic, social, and environmental circumstances (influence of Darwin). Other characteristics:
Examples: Emile Zola's Therese Racquin (b/o actual murder case), some would say Chekhov, Gorki's The Lower Depths, O'Neill's The Iceman Cometh, Lanford Wilson's The Hot l Baltimore, 5th of July, Balm in Gilead. The Independent Theatre Movement: Modern theatre in late 19th/early 20th century is also characterized by rise of the Independent Theatre Movement (reaction against commercialism in theatre). Most of these smaller, theatres produced the "new drama" of Ibsen, Chekhov, Strindberg, and Shaw. Germany : Duke of Saxe-Meiningen's Theatre, Duke was first modern director - realism in crowd scenes, careful blocking, long rehearsal periods, first true period plays, etc France: Andre Antoine's Theatre Libre - gas clerk who started his own theatre, first in France to produce Ibsen, would design groundplan and decide later which wall to remove for 4th wall, known as the "Theatre of Antoine's back" England - The Independent Theatre directed by J.T. Greine, first to produce Shaw Russia- Moscow Art Theatre started by Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko after a 19-hr. conversation on how to reform the Russian theatre. Marriage of Chekhov's plays and Stanislavsky's acting/directing style. USA - Provincetown players. started by Susan Glaspell and Jig Cook. First to produce Eugene O'Neill. |