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SIR WILLIAM DAVENANT
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-Claimed Shakespeare stayed at his parent's inn and that he was his godson -Married an influential woman in good standing with the Puritans and was able to stage an "historical" play bc of her -Staged at RUTLAND HOUSE in Spring of 1656 -Referred to as an "opera" but was theatre, dramatic // bc Puritans objected to drama but not music -Led THE DUKE'S COMPANY which had a gr8 rivalry with THE KING'S COMPANY led by Thomas Killigrew
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THE SIEGE OF RHODES
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-Follow up show by Davenant in fall of 1656 -An "opera" set to text
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THOMAS KILLIGREW
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-Led THE KING'S COMPANY which ultimately collapsed and was absorbed into THE DUKE'S COMPANY making THE UNITED COMPANY (1682)
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THOMAS BETTERTON
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-Led THE UNITED COMPANY -Best actor in E at that time -Trained by Davenant to be Hamlet
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SAMUEL PEPYS
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-Naval administrator and member of Parliament -Kept a famous diary of English society and theatre at the time -Claimed Betterton was the "best actor in the world"
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CHRISTOPHER WREN
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-Designed the Second Theatre Royal and Dorset Garden -Theatre for King's Company Theatre for Duke's CO -Both theaters very ornate -designer of 2nd Theatre @ DRURY LANE
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JOHN DRYDEN
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-Led early E restoration, b4 him Histories were for the Court and he brought it back to public theatre & popular consumption -wrote THE RIVAL LOVER which introduced both THE HEROIC COUPLET & THE PROVISO SCENE into E drama
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HEROIC COUPLET
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-Iambic pentameter in rhyme scheme AA, BB, CC -Introduced in Dryden's THE RIVAL LOVERS
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PROVISO SCENE
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-Scene in which hero and heroine bargain about marriage -Introduced in Dryden's THE RIVAL LOVERS and becomes stock scene in Restoration Comedy/Drama -Shows influence of Commedia on Restoration Theatre
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"ESSAY ON DRAMATIC POESY"
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-French plot is more correct; the English have more subplots, more varied but they are all working together & the idea of "beautiful accidents" which are more believable -French tendency to only focus on one character makes F plays barren bc their plots are singular -LOVE ENGLISH THEATRE -Rules for Comedy: no man is sincere; no woman is chaste; country people are stupid; all citizens are either cuckholds or whores; marriage is a bore -French keep action offstage which is bad bc plays lack "masculine fancy"
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APHRA BEHN
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-1st woman to be documented as a professional playwright
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WILLIAM WYCHERLY
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-Satirist -Wrote THE COUNTRY WIFE about a man who feigns impotence in order to win women and succeeds
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WILLIAM CONGREVE
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-Serious satirist; end of restoration -THE WAY OF THE WORLD (1700) -Overly complicated & dense, increased cynicism -This play (1700) marks the end of Restoration -Everything is a sham and we have no idea how to find out what is real bc of how society is -Audience has to sit through a whole act before finding out what play is about bc many given circumstances aren't revealed until the second act -Features many aspects of Restoration Drama→ PROVISO SCENE -Not well received when 1st produced bc it was seen as continuing immorality of T from previous decades -Mirabell is trying to get the girl & $$$$
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ELIZABETH BARRY
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-Among the 1st professional female actors, seen as novelties -Became brilliant tragic actor with coaching -Deemed "ugliest woman in the world!!"→ a very cool title!
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NELL GWYNN
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-Female actor and King's mistress (she advertised this) -Living embodiment of spirit of E Restoration → wit & comedy -"I AM A *****, NOW FIND SOMETHING ELSE TO FIGHT ABOUT!"
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JEREMY COLLIER
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-Wrote "A SHORT VIEW ON THE IMMORALITY AND THE PROFANENESS OF THE ENGLISH STAGE" in 1698 -A moralistic pamphleteer against Restoration drama
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THE STAGE CONTROVERSY
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-Pamphlet war led by JEREMY COLLIER about immorality of English Restoration Drama -Congreve tried to fight back but ultimately agreed with Collier that plays need moral justification (since Congreve is a satirist)
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18th C France
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-Age of Enlightenment→ Church loses power→ science! -Early Romanticism→ supremacy of nature; beauty of organic form -Massive power shift from aristocracy to more middle class (from landowners to laborers and finance) -Theatre has to prove itself to new audience→ all men equal→ art 4 middle class -Theatre becoming more respectable & down to earth -Accuracy of depiction→ concrete Truth -Tenants of Theatre: Must be ethical, recognizable Philosophy proposed a universal bill of rights Theatre was for the middle class; good middle class ethics Rise of work ethic over privilege, distinctions in theatre were earned
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VOLTAIRE
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-1st major French Theatre revolutionary -Philosopher, major pamphleteer, playwright & director -Reformer→ changed seating arrangements in theater, no more spectators on stage & called for new realist & informal style of acting -Little lasting impact as a playwright, but legacy as a director -"A DISCOURSE IN TRAGEDY"—1734
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LE COMEDIE FRANCAIS
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-Company & Theater established in 1629 by FRANÇOIS D'ORBAY -Had stalls for spectators onstage until Voltaire called for no more stage seating
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MLLE. CLAIRON
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-Famous actress who broke wardrobe boundaries -Dressed as a slave in THE ORPHAN OF CHINA (!!) -Wanted to show nature & truth
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LEKAIN
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-Greatest tragic actor of the age; very physical acting style -Reacted as a human (!) and not as an actor -Embraced new norms of costume→ costumes to fit period & location of play (new idea!!)
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PAUL-ANTOINE BRUNETTI
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-Voltaire's designer -New & accurate set for every play! → Revolutionary idea!! Change from stock sets
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MARIVAUX
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-Playwright for LA COMÉDIE ITALIENNE -Company featured an accuracy of props, furniture & set -Improv at root of its style, an inherent informality -Writing style like nothing else in this period, drawing from Commedia & French classicism, but with complex and contemporary subject material -Wrote Comedie D'Amours (like Rom-Coms)
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SCENA PER ANGOLO
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-Technique used at LA COMÉDIE ITALIENNE -Scenery with 2 vanishing points→ looks good from all seats in house -Actors could now act in set, not just in front of it
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DRAME SERIEUX
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-New popular style of plays in F 18th C T -Invented by Diderot & Beamarché -A domestic drama, about the everyday→ featured middle class heroes→ reflects middle class ethic & emphasis on Utile Dulci
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DENIS DIDEROT
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-Prototypical French 18th C. figure -Wrote "ON DRAMATIC POETRY" 1. Belief that there is a warmth and power in recognizable situations onstage 2. Convention of 4th wall→ audience as unknowing witness 3. Theatre should illustrate moral message (middle class morality!) 4. Realism in acting, scenery & costumes -Invented blocking "CONVERSATIONS ON THE NATURAL SON" -Let actors act→ let them interpret the text -More variety in kinds of ppl; ppl of different stations for different types of relationships -Art & nature are linked
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DECREE OF MOSCOW
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-While Napoleon was in Moscow, he set limit on # of theaters within Paris to 8 (including COMEDIE FRANCAIS & COMEDIE ITALIENNE)
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VICTOR HUGO
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"PREFACE TO CROMWELL" (1827) -Manifesto for new style of Romanticism over Classicism -Sublime grotesque→ grotesque as good counterpart to beautiful -Greeks combined comedy & tragedy HERNANI-->play
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HERNANI
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-Play by HUGO -On February 25, 1830 there was a showdown at its production -Conservatives were furious, ended in a giant fistfight that the Romanticists won
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18TH C ENGLAND
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Theatre becomes utilitarian→ as a moral instructor
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DAVID GARRICK
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-Actor-Manager at DRURY LANE & COVENT GARDEN (2 patent houses) -His style took England by storm; took naturalistic style from MACKLIN -Developed type-casting -Emphasized rehearsal discipline & punctuality -Adapted Shakespeare to "have morals" -1763→ took seats off stage once & for all; reduced size of apron stage, scenery not behind, but integrated; auditorium less lit than stage! (worked with LOUTHERBOURG)
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DRURY LANE & COVENT GARDEN
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Both Patent Houses
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THE ACTOR-MANAGER
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-Dominant figure of the patent houses -Dominate 18th C like playwrights did 17th C -Lead actor (with "star power"), director, manager & designer for a company (& sometimes playwright)
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DRAMA OF SENSIBILITY
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-Huge trend; chief distinction between drama & tragedy -Comedy ends happily; drama ends unhappily -T job is to "make virtue attractive"
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JAMES QUIN
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-Star of COVENT GARDEN -Beautiful reader of verse, with nothing spontaneous (DECLAMATORY STYLE)
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THE DECLAMATORY STYLE
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-Style of JAMES QUIN -Immaculate performance for sake of the performers -No spontaneity or realistic "life on stage"
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CHARLES MACKLIN
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-Actor in the Patent Houses -1st big success as Shylock→ played him seriously & not as a fool -Insisted on historical accuracy in costumes -Known for THE FAMILIAR STYLE
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THE FAMILIAR STYLE
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-MACKLIN'S style of acting, realistic & spontaneous; unlike DECLAMATORY STYLE -BROKEN TONES OF UTTERANCE
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BROKEN TONES OF UTTERANCE
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-An aspect of THE FAMILIAR STYLE -Macklin's style of verse reading, as if it were prose -Broke verse according to its sense, not its meter
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DE LOUTHERBOURG
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-Designer hired by GARRICK -Stock costumes & scenery abandoned -Interested in gr8 depth & perspective -Known 4 special effects -reduced size of apron stage, scenery not behind, but integrated
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OLIVER GOLDSMITH
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-Playwright -Wrote "AN ESSAY ON THEATRE: A COMPARISON BETWEEN LAUGHING & SENTIMENTAL COMEDY" Hybrid of comedy & tragedy, wanted to write like the Restoration Found pure virtue to be dull Sentimental comedy is insipid & foolishly easy to write
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THOMAS CORYATE
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-Touring Englishman; described 1608 Mountebank performances -Felt that legit Theatre in Venice was inferior to English -Impressed by presence of actresses
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CARLO GOLDONI
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-Major Italian Author; "Italy's Moliere" -THE SERVANT OF TWO MASTERS -Wrote new characters to be more natural with the actors (like Garrick's type casting) -Liked simplicity & naturalness, not stylization
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CESKY KRUMLOV CASTLE
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-Court theatre in Czech Republic for a prince -nearly pristine time capsule of Baroque theatre & architecture & costumes & scenery
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DROTTINGHOLM
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-Designed in 1766 as a Palace Theatre Opera House in Prussia -Amazing collection of original equipment, costumes, sets, & theatrical machines
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DEVELOPMENT OF GERMAN THEATRE
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-Growth of middle class in 18th C -Theaters grew into mercantile centers for the middle class; to grow & reflect taste of middle class -Germany was a collection of nation states, not a unified nation -Native German drama grew out of influence of Italian Theatre (both opera & commedia)
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WILL KEMPE
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English actor that did a successful German tour with a lasting impact
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GEORGE JOLLY
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-Actor during English Restoration -Toured in Germany, was a huge hit -Brought Actor-Manager system to G
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HAUPT UND STAATSAKTIONEN
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-style of G T -1st plot: Italian neoclassical opera -2nd plot: HANS WURST similar to commedia -Demonstrated high & stately actions
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HANS WURST
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-2nd plot of STRANITZKY was with clown character named HANS WURST -Played by STRANITZKY himself -Translates to "Henry Hotdog" -Character was an oaf, simpleton & glutton -Counterpoint to plot of the serious play
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JOHANN & CAROLINE NEUBER
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-Leaders of GOTTSCHED's troupe -Sought to 1. Purify native German drama & 2. MAKE DAT $$$, BABY! -Banished antics of HANS WURST, but then kept him to make $$ -Performed own versions of French neoclassic plays
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HAMBURG DRAMATURGY
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-GOTTHOLD LESSING wrote journal criticizing the Hamburg National Theatre -Argued that England should be the model for drama -LESSING wrote proposal for purifying German theatre, a move toward the domestic & realistic -Journal repeated cries of Letter #17 that declared war on GOTTSCHED's forced ideas that led to bad art of Hamburg Natl. T
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STURM UND DRANG
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-new style in G T -Extreme freedom of form -New drama springing up at end of 18th C. -Practitioners of STURM UND DRANG were called "THE GENIUSES" -Scenes have no legible causal relationship -Plots concern a hero who is in conflict with society and its conventions, hero assumed to have complete freedom; marriage is bad; older generation to blame! -Literary form as anarchic as characters
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FRIEDERICH SCHILLER
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-Hired by GOETHE as director -Imposed strict rules of actors & audience -Audiences should behave as in a "temple of art" -Actors should perform for audience→ return to DECLAMATORY STYLE -Beauty first, Truth second "THE STAGE AS A MORAL INSTITUTION" (1784) Utile Dulci for society as a whole→ nationalistic theatre To convey morality, do it thru pleasure bc we enjoy it and will learn the lesson Sight (and therefore feeling) is more powerful than description & therefore theatre is more powerful than law The stage can create these circumstances with impunity because of the anonymity of character, "chastising us as the anonymous fool" Explicitly German way of looking at things→ nationalistic theatre, presenting it as moral bc it unifies the nation "ON THE USE OF THE CHORUS IN TRAGEDY" (1803) The chorus is not itself an individual but rather a general concept, which impresses the senses by its expansive presence. The chorus abandons the narrow circle of the action to discourse on past & future, distant ages & peoples, the entire range of things human, in order to draw the great conclusions of life and to pronounce the teachings of wisdom Without the chorus we would be confused amid the subject matter and no longer hover above it
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JOHANN WOLFGANG GOETHE
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Minister of finance, attracted poets & artists to city UR-FAUST: STURM UND DRANG play; history of peasant revolt 1786→ GOETHE travels to Italy & becomes a classicist (complete opposite of STURM UND DRANG) EGMONT/IPHIGENIA IN TAURIS→ classicist plays by GOETHE
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YE BARE AND YE CUBB
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-1st American play? -Only record of this play is from 1665 lawsuit; sued 4 licentious behavior
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THOMAS KEAN & WALTER MURRAY
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-Leader of the Virginia Company of Comedians, a massive success -Got a monopoly (patent) from the VA Governor, set up stages in empty warehouses -Came into cities & set up for performance before anyone could stop them -Made bootlegging successful & profesh
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THE NASSAU STREET THEATRE
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-2 story home that KEAN & MURRAY used as a theater; in NY -rebuilt later by LEWIS HALLAM
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LEWIS HALLAM
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-Hallam Company acted in Williamsburg -By public demand, he rebuilt the NASSAU STREET THEATRE -Set ticket prices as they were in London -legitimizing US T
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DAVID DOUGLASS
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-Married Mrs. Hallam after Lewis Hallam died -1st Actor-Manager to brave the colonies -Performed in Newport, RI; advertised shows as "series of moral dialogues"→ was just Othello -Moved l8r to a schoolhouse in Providence -An Act ordered shortly after this forbade Theatre
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ENGLAND T DURING INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
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-Theatre in tandem with Industrial Revolution→ new economic priorities→ profits means expansion of T enterprise as a whole & exciting ways to revive classics (not new plays) -Theatre as a bizness→ advent of new technologies→ able to capitalize on new tech 4 gr8r spectacle! -People moving from countryside to city→ bigger audience for Theatre and culture
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THE NEOCLASSICAL SCHOOL OF ACTING
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-Revival of old school of Declamatory Acting -New architecture of building needed new style of acting
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RICHARD BRINSLEY SHERIDAN
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-Best playwright of 18th C England -going back to style of Restoration -Manager of DRURY LANE; p bad manager
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TEAPOT SCHOOL OF ACITNG
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-The derided "acting pose" with one hand on hip and the other posed in the air -"Teapot" Derogatory term for KEMBLE style of acting -Spawned of the Neoclassical Style, modeled on performance style of JAMES QUIN; acting equivalent of SHERIDAN's playwriting style—modeled on style of Restoration Drama -This rigid, mechanical style allowed KEMBLE's company (including MRS. SARAH SIDDONS) to produce highly detailed acting editions of their plays with specific stage business→ allowed T professionals to successfully imitate their productions -This acting style shows how theatrical enterprise was, in the wake of the industrial revolution, looking to the past for inspiration (DECLAMATORY STYLE) -As stage technology advances, writing & acting went the other way, allowing ever-evolving designs to take center stage
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OLD PRICE RIOTS
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-At DRURY LANE in 1794, audience rioted shouting "OLD PRICES!!" protesting KEMBLE's price increases -Went on for 67 nights until original prices were restored by KEMBLE
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EDMUND KEAN
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-Chief adherent to new acting style; The Romantic School of Acting -"BROKEN TONES OF UTTERANCE"→ rapid shifts between tones and vocal varieties -People liked this new style more than Declamatory; was v popular
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WILLIAM CHARLES MACREADY
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-Lead actor of Melodramatic School of Acting -Naturalistic detail, no pantomime -Manager of COVENT GARDEN and then DRURY LANE→ inherited KEMBLE's revival bizness -Rival of Edwin Forrest--> bloodiest riot!!
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ASTLEY'S AMPITHEATRE
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-Given patent and established 1st modern circus -Very popular with industrial working class -Patent house monopoly deflated
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MINOR HOUSES
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-Restoration era patents of 2 Theaters still held→ only COVENT GARDEN & DRURY LANE had sole right to produce spoken English plays -Could produce pantomimes of musical variety
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THE THEATRE REGULATION ACT OF 1843
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-Abolished existing monopolies→ complete freedom for minor houses -Censored by Lord Chamberlain -New stars arise from MINOR HOUSES --> changing demand of Industrial England
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THE STAR SYSTEM
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-Accommodated leading actors who weren't attached to a company -Local Theatre managers would create a company of supporting actors & Star would come in with their parts memorized and no rehearsal -Developed from practical need for touring -Star would perform downstage center, with supporting actors keeping out of their way around them --> Theatre more accessible bc of Industrial Revolution
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CHARLES FLETCHER & TOMMASSO SALVINI
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-Most popular touring actors of the time
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HENRY IRVING
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-Touring actor known for peculiarities & attention to detail -Most important actor-manager -Realism over convention
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AMERICAN THEATRE IN THE 19TH C
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-Theatre not as an art, but commercial product -English stars found US very lucrative for touring -Star system in US created an audience & fueled the development of "show business" -Huge expansion of Theatre between 1800 & 1835 -Theatre spreads with Westward Expansion -Development of the Manager
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THE KEAN RIOTS
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-EDMUND KEAN toured the US in 1825; led to an adultery scandal -Great anticipation for his US arrival→ "Kean Fever" -Exposure of adultery scandal led to riots -Brought idea of curtain call to US
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EDWIN FORREST
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-1st Great American Star -Had a rivalry with WILIAM CHARLES MACREADY -Physical & spontaneous acting style
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COPYRIGHT LAW OF 1856
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-Work of DION BOUCICAULT; an Irish playwright -BOUCICAULT lobbied 4 playwrights, stopped piracy of scripts & got copyrights for playwrights -Law was to ensure royalty payments 4 playwrights, but enforcement of the law was tough
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BRONSON HOWARD
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-Set out to prove American dramatists could be great -Founded THE AMERICAN PLAYWRIGHTS' CLUB; a union to protect the rights of Dramatists
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AUGUSTIN DALY
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-Led an ensemble company of versatile stars -Model for the modern producer & director -Strict leadership, abolished practice of type-casting bc it resulted in virtuoso performances; felt it ruined show -1 person in charge
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DAVID BELASCO
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-Hired as a stage manager for Actor-Manager STEELE MACKAYE at the MADISON SQUARE THEATRE -Brought electric lights (limelights) -Developed 1st spotlight -Remodeled THE REPUBLIC THEATRE in 1902, set it up as a lighting laboratory -Moved to THE BELASCO THEATRE in 1910; became most famous for his light lab, which featured a model of the stage with mini lights to test out effects -His shows were so dependent on tech for success that they ultimately grew stale
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THE WELL MADE PLAY
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-Particular type of serious drama with meticulously constructed & highly fabricated plot -5 Act Structure: 1.Mechanical exposition, conflict between hero & antagonist, introduction of a piece of dramatic irony 2.Turn of fortune for hero through new info 3.Quid Pro Quo 4.Act of the Ball; all characters onstage together; the secret from Act 1 is revealed 5.Logical unraveling of all of plot→ JUSTICE! •BOULEVARD THEATRES were commercial theatres in France that produced these Well Made Plays
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ANDRE ANTOINE
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-Directed plays at LE CERCLE GAULOIS, an amateur T group His rules: 1.Sets should be built, not painted 2.No footlights, bc unnatural 3.Walls should be made of Wood 4.Exteriors represented in 3 dimensions 5.Actors should follow the text 6.4th wall is absolute 7.All props should be real oWas Manager-Director at LE THEATRE LIBRE, LE THEATRE ANTOINE & LE THEATRE DE L'ODEON
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EMILE ZOLA
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-Naturalist playwright; primary theorist of Naturalism -Plots based on facts, not sentiments -Denounced artificial language of theatrical convention and insisted that drama should speak in the same natural tongue as the novel -ANTOINE put on his plays at LE THÉÂTRE LIBRE on March 30, 1887 in a rejection of convention→ "freedom from upholders of Theatre of the past" -Wrote "NATURALISM IN THE THEATRE" (1881) •We are all products of our environment→ make it all specific & real •The stage should be an exact reproduction of the environment •Accurate scenery immediately establishes a specific situation & tells us what world we are in, reveals the character's habits •Actors feel at home in an accurate set, so they can live more convincingly •Everything is interdependent in the theatre→Truth in costuming requires truth in setting, in diction and in the plays themselves •Increase illusion by reproducing environments for their dramatic usefulness then for aesthetic→ environment should determine character
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TRANCHE DE VIE
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-A "slice of life" play that leads to emotional catharsis
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AUGUST STRINDBERG
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-Reaches prominence though ANTOINE production of MISS JULIE @ the THÉÂTRE LIBRE -Wrote THE FATHER -Responsive to new trends, theorists & artists, relabeling his works according to latest movements of the day "PREFACE TO MISS JULIE" (1888) •Manifesto on behalf of naturalism •Dialogue, like everyday conversations should be asymmetrical •1 long act, not 3 shorter ones→ started 90 minute play trend •No intermissions bc it makes it harder for audiences to accept illusion if they have time to reflect •No footlights •Put the actual thing on stage; don't have anything as a representation of that thing •Intimacy forces audience concentration→small stage & small auditorium •ALL HE WANTS IS Theatre as entertainment for educated ppl
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HENRIK IBSEN
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oEarly plays are far from Naturalistic; closer to STURM UND DRANG -Has been called both the Father of Naturalism and of Realism -A DOLL'S HOUSE exposes polite society of a woman's place & ends (scandalously!) with a woman slamming a door -GHOSTS (1882) Pointing out hypocrisies in upper society Portrays a wife that stays in despair, represents the struggle of the individual Environment & circumstance is more important than choice→ Ex: Oswald's syphilis is from his father
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DUKE GEORGE II
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-1st director in modern sense -Military discipline in company; no stars; every rehearsal in costume & on set -Designed scenery, costumes, stage-pictures & movements of actors -Duke well known for crowd scenes; each person individual
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KONSTANTIN STANISLAVSKI
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-Inspired by the DUKE GEORGE II -Established a new understanding of Theatre -1897 met NEMIROVICH-DANCHENKO and formed the Moscow Art Theatre -Decided on things similar to ANTOINE: 1.Theatre is an art form 2.Audience must be educated 3.Reform scenery & costumes→ each must suit individual character & play 4.Staging must arise from needs of the script -Strict production discipline→ actors required to attend all rehearsals -Find the SUBTEXT→ meaning/desire behind dialogue and actions -Calls for interpretation→ STANISLAVSKI makes director ultimate interpreter→ artistic unity -Analogy between life of character & actor -Director→ teacher who releases this Truth from actor's psyche & shapes it for performance
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VLADIMIR NEMIROVICH-DANCHENKO
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-Co-founder of MAT -Critic & literary interpreter
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VIKTOR SIMOV
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-Hired to design scenery & costumes for MAT for each play
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ANTON CHEKHOV
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-STANISLAVSKI sought CHEKHOV -THE SEAGULL→ 1st play; broke all rules of Well Made Play; focus on details of life -Staged first in St. Petersburg; audience expected broad comedy, thought it was a satire of theatre people -Bad reception -NEMIROVICH-DANCHENKO loved THE SEAGULL & premiered it at the MAT -@ the MAT production, there was a hush after 1st curtain call bc audience was so moved -CHEKHOV'S plays seem without structure & theme but they do align with classical structure
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FREIE BUHNE
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-Free Stage" -German Free Theatre founded in 1889 for purpose of putting on new, naturalist plays -Supervised by OTTO BRAHM -Opened with IBSEN'S GHOSTS→ introduces Naturalism thru Europe
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GEORGE BERNARD SHAW
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-Playwright & leading Naturalist of London -Thought Theatre of his day was 200 years behind the times and that it should be a realistic theatre of ideas & that this could be achieved thru IBSEN & new drama of this kind -Promoted IBSEN movement in England PYGMALION→ 1914 •1st big hit; public loved the language of the play→ cursing! Bloody! -However, audience responded to comedy, not politics of play -"THE QUINTESSENCE OF IBSENISM" -Shaw's essay about Naturalism; mostly concerned with SHAW himself, not IBSEN -IBSEN's greatness is that he accuses the audience "TOLSTOY: TRAGEDIAN OR COMEDIAN?" (1921) -A third kind of drama that begins as tragedy with bits of fun in it & ends as comedy without mirth in it, the place of mirth being taken by a more or less bitter & critical irony -Tragicomedy is more tragic than greatest tragedy -Comedy is higher art form -Element of accident in Tragedy has always been its weak spot -Comedy has evolved, Tragedy has remained static, never developed -IBSEN established tragi-comedy as a much deeper & grimmer entertainment than tragedy •His heroes die without hope or honor; are all heroes of comedy as their existence & their downfall are not soul-purifying convulsions of pity & horror, but reproaches, challenges & criticisms addressed to society •Looking through Naturalistic lens→ social critique
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RICHARD WAGNER
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-Opera composer & visionary→ anti-Naturalist "expressionist" -"epic tone poems"
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EDWARD GORDON CRAIG
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-Designer, began as an actor -Scenery never worked, technically impossible but wonderful to imagine "THE ART OF THEATRE"—1905 •Summed up his theories in essay that called for Super-Artists with complete control •Unified & abstract work of art is the goal •Must reduce elements of theatre to abstract sources •Uber-marrionette instead of actor •Actors can't externalize their creation
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JACQUES COPEAU
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oFrench director→ led reaction in France to ANTOINE's naturalism oTheatre should be unapologetically theatrical; artifice! LA NOUVELLE REVUE FRANÇAISE Journal critiquing Naturalism •New "pure theatre" LE THEATRE DU VIEUX COLOMBIER •T to carry out these ideas •Unifying all powerful director •Physical structure of stage affects play •Naked stage essential to theatrical art→ immediate visceral response
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BERTOLD BRECHT
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-Rejected Naturalism as ineffective; Never totally achieved what he wanted to -Theatre as a political forum: devices of Theatre shouldn't fool, but isolate & inform audience→ gives way to EPIC THEATRE -Attitude of detachment integral to Epic Theatre -Magical effect of stage illusion hypnotized spectators & put them into a state of trance -Aristotelian drama perpetuates passivity and reinforced status quo by leading the audience to identify with the characters & accept their fate rather than calling it into question
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EUGENE O'NEILL
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-America's 1st famous/serious playwright -Started with naturalistic, then "behind life" plays rife with symbolism "STRINDBERG AND OUR THEATRE" -Article by O'NEILL that identifies STRINDBERG as "the father of everything modern in our Theatre"
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"THE INFERNO PERIOD"
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-STRINDBERG begins writing expressionist plays after period of brief madness -Expression of his own damaged psyche A DREAM PLAY→ A genuine attempt at staging a dream; examination of psychic urges -Introduction to this play is a manifesto for expressionism -Subject of a play is now the mind of the playwright
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ALIENATION EFFECT
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-Use theatre as a medium to keep audience objective -Understand intellectual purpose -No devices that enable illusion -If artist can separate themselves from their art, the audience can separate themselves from the performance
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THEATRE OF THE ABSURD
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-Post WW2 reaction to world's chaos -IONESCO & BRECHT -Takes a logical premise & reduced it to absurdity
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THEATRE OF CRUELTY
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-Artaud's alternative to THE THEATRE OF THE ABSURD -Wanted to shock audiences into unwelcome truth of psycho-sexuality -Stripping away every artifice of cultural understanding & recognized truth (including language) -Use primitive mysticism -Theatre has a purpose - illicit societal change and agitate audience
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THE ANGRY YOUNG MEN
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-Britain in 50s & 60s; wrote Naturalistic Dramas -JOHN OSBOURNE, PETER SCHAFFER & HAROLD PINTER -Grouped together by angry, cynicism and aggressive response to the contemporary world
