Theatre Final – Flashcards

Background on the playwright her identity, values, and mission Metatheatre: theatre about theatre

August Wilson was an American playwright whose work included a series of ten plays, The Pittsburgh Cycle, for which he received two Pulitzer Prizes for Drama -Fences -Joe Turners Come and Gone -Realism and Naturalism influences -10 play dramatic cycle (had to do with african american culture)

Wilson's achievements The pittsburgh cycle: series of 20 plays that revolved around the african american lifestyle. Fences: plot, themes, context, in the civil rights movement Tragedy/the tragic hero Two broadway plays: one with denzel which is more joking while the other shows a very aggressive father.

Lloyd George Richards was a Canadian-American theatre director, actor, and dean of the Yale School of Drama from 1979 to 1991, and Yale University professor emeritus. - first black director in American theatre mainstream

originally a term for musical theatre but in the 19th century this became a suspenseful, plot-oriented drama featuring all-good heroes, all-bad villians, and simplistic dialogue.

Chicano Theatre often dealt with the subject of self-identity and Huerta discusses the differences between the term Mexicans, Mexican-American and Chicano. the Chicano Movement's interest was in its indigenous roots and its impact on Chicano theatre. Valdez was particularly invested in using his plays to educate Chicanos about their spiritual roots and Huerta talks about the spiritual implications of his play "La Carpa de los Rasquachis" which blended Mayan and Christian cosmographies.

one-act play by Chicano playwright Luis Valdez, a founding member of El Teatro Campesino. He wrote it in 1967, and it was first performed at the Brown Beret junta in Elysian Park, East Los Angeles. The play examines stereotypes of Latinos in California and how they are treated by local, state, and federal governments.

theatrical troupe founded in 1965 as the cultural arm of the United Farm Workers with the "full support of Cesar Chavez."[1] The original actors were all farmworkers, and El Teatro Campesino enacted events inspired by the lives of their audience. Early performances were on flat bed trucks in the middle of the fields in Delano, California, and the theater is now located in San Juan Bautista, California. Currently, El Teatro Campesino's mission is "...to create a popular art with 21st century tools that presents a more just and accurate account of human history, while encouraging the young women and men of a new generation to take control of their own destiny through creative discipline, vibrant education, economic independence, and artistic excellence

one-act plays, which were usually around fifteen minutes long. The plays were used to educate and inform not only the farm workers, but also the public (valdez used them)

political (originally communist) propaganda, especially in art or literature.

Influences: commedia dell'arte and agitprop theatre Valdez, El teatro compesino & " actos" Genre classification/ what they are/intentions About the play: one act- about the first mexican model(the farmer)

play written by Luis Valdez, featuring incidental music by Daniel Valdez and Lalo Guerrero. Zoot Suit is based on the Sleepy Lagoon murder trial and the Zoot Suit Riots. Debuting in 1979, Zoot Suit was the first Chicano play on Broadway. In 1981, Luis Valdez also directed a filmed version of the play, combining stage and film techniques.

Zoot Suit tells the story of Henry Reyna and the 38th Street Gang, who were tried for the Sleepy Lagoon murder in Los Angeles, during World War II. After a run-in with a neighboring gang at the local lovers lane, Sleepy Lagoon, the 38th Street Gang gets into a fight at a party, where a young man is murdered. Discriminated against for their zoot suit-wearing Chicano identity, twenty-two members of the 38th Street Gang are placed on trial for the murder, found guilty, and sentenced to life in San Quentin prison. Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, Henry's brother Rudy is beaten and stripped of his zoot suit during the Zoot Suit Riots. Through the efforts of George and other lawyers, as well as activist-reporter Alice, with whom Henry has a brief romantic encounter, the boys win their court appeal and are freed. The play ends with a Renya family reunion as Henry returns home and Rudy is about to leave to join the Marines. The scene suggests that it is not the happy ending we expect, however, as multiple endings of Henry's story are suggested: that he returned to prison and drug abuse, died in the war in Korea and was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously, or married Della and had five children.[

The name of the dance, which has no direct English translation, is presumably connected with the Spanish verb bambolear, meaning "to shake" or perhaps "to stomp". A traditional huapango song, "La Bamba" is often played during weddings in Veracruz, where the bride and groom perform the accompanying dance.

Visibility and focus are the primary considerations of lighting design: visibility ensures that the audience sees what it's meant to see and focus ensures that it sees this without undue distraction.

Intensity--The intensity of a light source can vary from near total darkness to painfully bright. Color--Nearly any color you can think of can be created through the use of lighting gels or electronic means. Color can be a major player in creating a mood. However, the lighting designer must be careful in choosing colors so that they coordinate with the colors chosen for costumes and set pieces as well. Direction--This is the area from which the light approaches the stage. This is a major contributor to the function of modeling. Light can come from below, directly above or anywhere in between. They can also originate from in front of the actors, behind them or off to a side. Each combination of directions has its unique effect on the highlights and shadows produced. Movement--refers to the changing in the lights whether it be a change in intensity, color or direction of origin.

Functions of light: Visibility is the primary function of stage lighting: making sure the audience can see the part(s) of the stage that the director and/or the lighting designer want them to see. The modeling function includes creating a realistic (or intentionally non-realistic) view of the world of the play. This is done by strategically placing lights above, below, to the side, in front and behind the actors. Through the use of the placement of the lights, you can create different types of highlights and shadows on the actors, props and set pieces. Selective Focus is the function of "forcing" the audience to look where it is desired for them to look through the use of high/low intensity and changes in intensity. The function of Mood is both one of the most difficult and at the same time the easiest function to maintain. It is the easiest because it can be done very simply through the use of colors. However, it can also be overdone to the point of becoming cliche instead of allowing the actors and other aspects to contribute to the overall mood of the play.

responsible for implementing the lighting design for a production drawn up by the lighting designer. This involves overseeing the preparation, hanging, connection and focusing of stage lighting fixtures

The Technical Director has the daily responsibility for the technical operations of a theatre or performing arts center, including lighting, sound, set design and construction, and coordinating necessary maintenance.

• Reflect mood and atmosphere • Establish a particular style • Reflect a formalized convention • Alter and actor's appearance • Enhance or impede movement • Underline development of the dramatic action • Create both variety and unity -time period -gender

All the scenery, furniture and props the audience sees at a production of a play make up the set design. The set designer's job is to design these physical surroundings in which the action will take place. The creation of theatrical, as well as film or television scenery. Scenic designers come from a variety of artistic backgrounds, but in recent years, are mostly trained professionals, holding a B.F.A. or M.F.A. degrees in theater arts. Scenic designers design sets and scenery that aim to fully immerse the viewer in the production.

the stage of an ancient Greek or Roman theater the part of a modern stage in front of the curtain the wall that separates the stage from the auditorium and provides the arch that frames it

surrounded on three sides

surrounded on all sides

flexible, can be arranged, smaller audiences

sketches, drawing, drafting, rendering, models, elevation, section

set: object used on stage or on screen by actors during a performance or screen production. In practical terms, a prop is considered to be anything movable or portable on a stage or a set, distinct from the actors, scenery, costumes and electrical equipment hand: A hand prop is anything carried or handled by an actor. It often helps define an actor's specific character such as a cane, cigar, liquor flask, lipstick, feather duster, floral bouquet, or sword.

Critic, advisor, text support, research, and new play development Dramaturgy background: Gotthold E Lessing, 18th c German playwright • Father of Dramaturgy • Authored 100's of essays, Hamburg Dramaturgy Three Aspects of Dramaturgy: 1. New play development Literary Managers: -read new plays, evaluate scripts - Help artistic director plan season - write publicity materials & grants Production dramaturg assists the director by supplying information and asking critical questions

German writer, philosopher, dramatist, publicist and art critic, and one of the most outstanding representatives of the Enlightenment era. His plays and theoretical writings substantially influenced the development of German literature. He is widely considered by theatre historians to be the first dramaturg in his role at Abel Seyler's Hamburg National Theatre Hamburgische Dramaturgie ran critiques of plays that were performed in the Hamburg Theatre, but after dealing with dissatisfied actors and actresses, Lessing redirected his writings to more of an analysis on the proper uses of drama. Lessing advocated the outline of drama in Aristotle's Poetics

It concerns what characters do and why they do it. How is dramatic action organized? There are two common ways that playwrights can structure the events of a play: 1) chronologically—in a linear cause-effect relationship, continuous ordered fashion (also called climatic plot structure) 2) nonlinear or discontinuous (also called episodic plot structure) The first moves from point-to-point to tell the story and forms the basic structure of much modern drama The second, non-linear, can be found in plays that use theatrical conventions such as flashbacks, time shifts and shifts in style, dream sequences, stream-of-consciousness. For example, Adaptation (Spike Jonze, 2002), Kill Bill (Quentin Tarrantino, 2003), Gone Girl (David Fincher, 2014).

criticism occurs on amatuer and professional levels Amatuer: blogs, conversations Professional: Newspaper reviews Immediate response Scholarly reviews More historical and theoretical response Reviews analyze structure, meaning, and significance of play We are the critics: audience members offer real, knowledgeable reactions. As observant critics with open mind. As informed critics with contextual knowledge As sensitive critics receptive to experience As demanding critics with high standards

engage discussion by revealing complexity of social or political issues, focusing, debate, prompting conversations.

transcend social/political issues to present hopes/concerns/ conflicts

how work defines the theatre and makes us reconsider the possibilities of the theatre

subjective response to play's aesthetic vision that meets and/or exceeds our ideals of what a play should be. Realized through synthesis of multiple elements: playwriting, design, direction acting.

A literary manager is an industry representative who works with writers (as talent managers work with directors, actors, and actresses) to develop their careers, both creatively (through consulting on story development, time-management, and prioritizing) and financially (through marketing the client's products)

The Black Crook is regarded as the first American Musical

The text of an opera or other long vocal work

the musical is set on the bare stage of a Broadway theatre during an audition for a musical. A Chorus Line provides a glimpse into the personalities of the performers and the choreographer as they describe the events that have shaped their lives and their decisions to become dancers. A celebration of those unsung heroes of the Musical Theatre, the chorus dancers, valiant, over dedicated, underpaid and highly trained troopers who back up the star and often make them look more talented than they are. The characters portrayed in "A Chorus Line" are, for the most part, based upon the lives and experiences of Broadway dancers. This show is dedicated to anyone who has ever danced in a chorus or marched in step .. . anywhere

operetta; a short opera usu. of a light and amusing character.

a light play or movie with songs, dialogue, and dancing, connected by a plot (libretto) Anything Goes is set aboard the ocean liner S. S. American, where nightclub singer/evangelist Reno Sweeney is en route from New York to England. Her pal Billy Crocker has stowed away to be near his love, Hope Harcourt, but the problem is Hope is engaged to the wealthy Lord Evelyn Oakleigh.

First book musical: showboat

Disney Theatrical Productions Limited (DTP), also known as Disney on Broadway, is the flagship stageplay and musical production company of the Disney Theatrical Group, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Studios, a major business unit of The Walt Disney Company. Founded in 1993 by longtime Disney Entertainment veteran Ron Logan as Walt Disney Theatrical, the division has gained a reputation within the industry for creating professional and popular (both critically and financially) performances, starting with the acclaimed Beauty and the Beast in 1994 and most recently with Aladdin in 2014. The company is a division of Disney Theatrical Group, led by Thomas Schumacher.

American composer and lyricist whose musicals include Company (1970) and Sweeney Todd (1979). He won a Pulitzer Prize in 1985 for Sunday in the Park with George. Into the Woods is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine

plot /characters How it was staged by CRT- design elements(from colors of the set ; costumes to distinct images ; special effects) bryce's abs

Stage managers typically provide practical and organizational support to the director, actors, designers, stage crew and technicians throughout the production process. They also are the director's representative during performances, making sure that the production runs smoothly. The assistant stage manager is a catchall, a go-to person who answers all calls for help. During the run of the show, the ASM is assigned a specific track that may include performing pre-show checks and setting props or costumes.

background

consists of a simple, somewhat unadorned performance space, usually a large square room with black walls and a flat floor. It is a relatively recent innovation in theatre.

Piece of MASKING that runs above the SCENERY horizontally, across the stage. Usually made of black velour.

in theatre, a box set is a set with a proscenium arch stage and three walls. The proscenium opening is the fourth wall. Box sets create the illusion of an interior room on the stage, and are contrasted with earlier forms of set in which sliding flats with gaps between them create an illusion of perspective.

Once the house opens for a performance, the stage manager controls all aspects of the performance by calling the cues for all transitions (this is known as "calling the show") and acting as communications hub for the cast and crew.

CAD (computer-aided design) software is used by architects, engineers, drafters, artists, and others to create precision drawings or technical illustrations. CAD software can be used to create two-dimensional (2-D) drawings or three-dimensional (3-D) models used by visual artists help design

#D models of stage sets on a comp that can be viewed from any angle

like a first draft for a costume, may not include intricacy or color

the process of two or more people or organizations working together to realize shared goals.

in a proscenium theatre a large piece of curved scenery that wraps around the rear of the stage and is illuminated to resemble the sky or to serve as a neutral background.

team of people who help design the different elements of a show

drop curtain: An unframed curtain that is lowered to a stage from the flies, often serving as background scenery. 2. A theater curtain that is lowered or raised vertically rather than drawn to the side.

lift; Mechanism, often found in a TRAP, used to raise and lower SCENERY into and out of the playing area.

represents walls and occasionally the ceiling of a room

fabric often black used as neutral scenery to hide actors

the idea of a sudden arrival of long-lost husband or father

fly loft; High working platform at the side(s) of the stage (above RAIL) from which the flying lines are handled. Often are also the site for socket panels for connecting flown lighting apparatus to dimmers, and also sometimes a lighting position.

It is when the actor can block out physical and mental distractions and act to the best of their abilities without breaking that mental space they've gotten into

The house manager is responsible for the smooth operation of the house (typically both the lobby and audience seating area) during the run of the show. House mangers welcome the public to the theatre and oversee their safety and well-being before, during, and immediately after the show. They answer question, listen to patrons' compliments and concerns, and make audience members feel welcome. The front-of-house staff may be the only members of the company who the audience interact with on a regular basis, so their interactions are of prime importance.

Genre: problem play- spotlights social problems Plot/characters Why significant Play about human rights No reconciliation

A spotlight operator working. The Followspot Operator, is a theatrical technician who operates a specialized stage lighting instrument known as a followspot. A followspot is any lighting instrument manually controlled by an operator during a performance.

gelatin: a sheet of colored plastic placed over a light source to color the beam emitted from a lighting instrument. You can also insert gel into the lighting instrument.

a perforated sheet of metal that, when placed in front of the lens of a sharply focused lighting instrument, projects designs on the floor or wall the light falls on.

layout on paper showing the positions where stage lights are to be hung and how they are wired into the numbered electrical circuits of the theatre facility.

favors instead visual images that look to evoke the productions intended theme, mood, or social implication. It reminds us were at a play not a bedroom or butcher shop.

form of theatre characterized by masked "types" which began in Italy in the 16th century and was responsible for the advent of the actresses and improvised performances based on sketches or scenarios The characters of the commedia usually represent fixed social types, stock characters, such as foolish old men, devious servants, or military officers full of false bravado

attempts to depict a specific time and place in the real world.

a theatrical fabric woven so finely that when lit from the front it appears opaque and when lit from behind it becomes transparent. A scim is often used for mysterious mood or surprise effects.

The Technical Director (often abbreviated TD) works in a production control room of a television studio and operates the video switcher and associated devices as well as serving as the chief of the television crew

Visibility is the primary function of stage lighting: making sure the audience can see the part(s) of the stage that the director and/or the lighting designer want them to see.

Offstage: The area surrounding the playing space not visible to the audience. Typically this refers to spaces accessible to the performers but not the audience, such as the wings, crossovers, and voms.

Offstage: The area surrounding the playing space not visible to the audience. Typically this refers to spaces accessible to the performers but not the audience, such as the wings, crossovers, and voms.

was an American playwright whose work included a series of ten plays, The Pittsburgh Cycle, for which he received two Pulitzer Prizes for Drama. Each is set in a different decade, depicting the comic and tragic aspects of the African-American experience in the 20th century.

one-person show

how the director views the show and how it si directed in order to achieve that specific vision

adaptation: material from another artistic medium, such as a novel or a film is re-written according to the needs and requirements of the theatre and turned into a play or musical. Interpretation: changing certain aspects of a play but keeping the same text and focal point

a catchphrase or slogan, especially as used in advertising, or the punchline of a joke.

Russian actor and theatre director. The Stanislavsky system would inspire numerous acting teachers in America whose teachings became a dominant force in film acting, especially in the period after World War II. Method: The Stanislavsky system requires that an actor utilize, among other things, his emotional memory (i.e., his recall of past experiences and emotions). The actor's entrance onto the stage is considered to be not a beginning of the action or of his life as the character but a continuation of the set of preceding circumstances. The actor has trained his concentration and his senses so that he may respond freely to the total stage environment. Through empathic observation of people in many different situations, he attempts to develop a wide emotional range so that his onstage actions and reactions appear as if they were a part of the real world rather than a make-believe one.

created in 1898, It was conceived as a venue for naturalistic theatre, in contrast to the melodramas that were Russia's dominant form of theatre at the time.

Reginald Edmund is a resident playwright of Chicago Dramatists Daughters of the Moon: A staged reading of Reginald Edmund's play following a young slave girl who escapes the brutality of the plantation through acts of violence of her own. Her journey towards freedom is costly for all, but survival is a must.

the creation and development of a play

Theatre begins and ends with live performance; words on a page are simply a reminder of past productions (script gives directions, but plays are meant to be seen so the actual production will be different)

speak ability, stageability, flow, richness, gravity, intensity, pertinence, characterization, economy ; compression, credibility, intrigue, intensity

Socially invested dramas examine multiple cultures and voices won Pulitzer for Ruined produced off-Broadway in 2009 "Based on real interviews conducted by Lynn Nottage . . . Ruined transports you into the Congo where the shrewd and savvy matriarch-turned-businesswoman, Mama Nadi, struggles to hold on to her one safe refuge - a brothel - as the world around her disintegrates into war; with women's bodies too often as the battleground. It explores issues of genital mutilation. One of the leading American playwrights of this era Works include: Fabulation, Crumbs at the Table of Joy, By the Way, Meet Vera Stark, and Ruined

-two time Pulitzer finalist (The Clean House ; In the Next Room...), a Tony award nominee (In the Next Room), a MacArthur Fellowship recipient, and playwright produced regionally, on Broadway, and globally (since 2009). Stage Kiss, In the Next Room: or The Vibrator Play, Dead Man's Cell Phone, The Clean House: reflect her tendency to write quirky comedies that illuminate deeper themes & subjects. Like Kushner, she writes from a non-realistic tradition. One scholar explains, "Her metamorphoses of magic uncover inner states of being in modes unavailable to the realist." (James Al-Shamma, Sarah Ruhl: A Critical Study of the Plays, 5) For example: Dead Man's Cell Phone: shows "love and death in the digital age." Ruhl observes that "cell phones, ipods, wireless computers will change people in ways we don't even understand...We're less connected to the present. No one is where they are. There's absolutely no reason to talk to a stranger anymore—you connect to people you already know. But how well do you know them? Because you never see them—you just talk to them. I find that terrifying." (quoted in William Downs, et al, The Art of Theatre: Then and Now, p. 127)

"Mamet speak" Typically features profane, foul language, broken, rapid-fire dialogue Work often centers on issues of masculinity Plays include Race, Glenngary Glen Ross, Speed the Plow, Sexual Perversity in Chicago, Oleanna Movie: Wag the Dog.

Works include: Angels in America, Perestroika (2 part series—made into HBO film): contemporary masterpiece, sprawling play with thematic depth and fantastical structure about AIDS crisis Caroline or Change

Yellow Face, semi-autobiographical, nonlinear, mock-documentary interrogating what race means in America explored against politics and the media M. Butterfly examine sexual and cultural tensions of East and West

chronologically—in a linear cause-effect relationship, continuous ordered fashion (also called climatic plot structure)

nonlinear or discontinuous (also called episodic plot structure)

Russian playwright and short story writer who is considered to be among the greatest writers of short fiction in history (plays and short stories)

Director-theorist Bertolt Brecht (on left) -One of the forces behind "Epic Theatre" movement -It rejected Aristotelian principles Specifically it rejects catharsis, which depends on audiences' empathy -Gave theatre sense of political responsibility -Founded on a notion of dialectics, or social arguments, with conflicts that led spectators to greater realization -Sought to "alienate" audience from emotional manipulation to ensure critical objectivity Used masks, songs, signs, projections, and exposed theatrical labor -Representative plays: The Good Person of Szechuan, Mother Courage, A Man is a Man

1) Credibility & Intrigue Staged world is internally consistent & compelling 2) Speakability, Stageability, and Flow Words and actions have maximum impact when staged 3) Richness Depth in language adds authority 4) Depth of Characterization Characters are differentiated and depicted compassionately 5) Gravity and Pertinence Relevance of theme(s) to concerns of audience and current events 6) Compression, Economy, and Intensity Condensing story, consolidation of event, and uniqueness of moments

1) Dialogue Sometimes composed from remembrances, fueled by playwright's imagination For example, for Sarah Ruhl's The Clean House, a romantic comedy set in "metaphysical Connecticut. Or, a house that is not far from the city and not far from the sea." It's about a Brazilian maid preoccupied with crafting the perfect joke while working for a dysfunctional, obsessive family. It stemmed from a conversation the playwright overheard at a dinner party when a doctor complained that his maid was depressed and refused to clean, so he took her to the hospital and had her medicated 2) Conflict For example, in The Clean House, there are several conflicts: the husband and wife are splitting, (the husband has an affair & moves out), the maid wants to tell a perfect joke and doesn't want to clean because she's depressed about the death of her parents and has recently come to America to clean houses (she doesn't know what else to do.) Forced conflicts raise the stakes and leads to a play's climax 3) Structure Developed consciously or unconsciously, but always carefully organized The playwright may be considered most important figure in theatrical process Generates text Yet in another way, playwright is most peripheral Often uninvolved in final product • It is both literary and non-literary: the final form of a dramatic text is in performance. •The playwright must consider not only the words, but also the theatrical elements (costume, lighting, scenery, music, spectacle) as well such as movement and the use of silence. •These aspects come together ultimately in performance—the script is a blueprint for the final product • Its core is not description but action—relies on an ordering of observable, dramatizable events • Playwriting is event writing

An extreme attempt to dramatize human reality with the appearance of dramaturgical shaping. Andre Antione created it

Likeness to life is the goal of realism Pioneers of realism: Henrik Ibsen- A Doll's House

Henrik Johan Ibsen was a major 19th-century Norwegian playwright, theatre director, and poet. He is often referred to as "the father of realism" and is one of the founders of Modernism in theatre A doll's house

theatre about theatre Is a term that describes theatre's self-reflexivity, its reflection of the art and the artifice of theatre. -On the simplest level, it is theatre about theatre or when a performance calls attention to itself in a self-conscious manner. -It may show up as a device—with a play-within-a play -as in Hamlet when Hamlet directs the travelling players to perform Mousetrap for the King and Queen. -It may rely on stylistic techniques to illuminate those moments that are self-referential i.e. when a character breaks the fourth wall and calls attention to the illusion of the theater. -Metatheatre can also be identified by how the play's characters participate in their own making—acting as playwrights or actors in the play (which we see in Six Characters). -Metatheatricality "breaks the rules" of theatre by destabilizing our tacit support of the willing suspension of disbelief, our willingness to accept that this illusion is real. -That is to say, we agree to accept the fictive reality as real and go along with it, even though we know that what we are seeing is indeed, fiction.

-This was one of the leading anti-realistic movements between 1880 and 1910 -It influenced playwrights and theatre artists around the world -It was a deliberate reaction against the realistic theatre of the 1ate 19th century -It stood in opposition to the well-made play relied on suspenseful, complex plots with recognizable action and characters who seemed to walk out of everyday life -The symbolists rejected literal realism and wanted to depict inner life -It often had little or no plot action—and sometimes took the form of lyric drama -These works tended to be static, indirect, evocative, ceremonial -It tried to get at the inexpressible, the metaphor, poetry and music—those things that often can't be expressed via words -There was a sense of mysticism and spirituality Examples: -Paul Fort and his Theatre d'Art helped the movement gain greater currency and cachet in 1890s—this independent group helped to establish the symbolist works Note on part II: Moving from the late 19th century to the first third of twentieth century: characterized by an age of "isms"—there's symbolism, expressionism, Dadaism, futurism -These are movements with ideological tenets Second third of the 20th century: might be described as an age of stylization -These movements followed no single belief but mixed and matched from different styles -Did not dispense with realism, but enhanced it with anti-realistic styles. •The late 19th century theatre and much of the early twentieth century performance became preoccupied with maintaining an illusion of theatre as truth—creating mimetic illusions of reality which Luigi Pirandello upends in Six Characters in Search of An Author. •Realist theatre encouraged spectators to watch the action as passive voyeurs, as if witnessing real life through a peep-hole or window. It endeavored to imitate reality. •Melodrama was the most popular form of drama in the late nineteenth century and its influences still held ground in the early 20th century. It relies on realistic spectacle, clear plots with characters that are easily identifiable as good or evil. There is a villain vs. the hero and often includes the latest scientific invention or technology. Evil is always vindicated and justice prevails.

A Doll's House is a three-act play in prose by Henrik Ibsen The significance of the title of the play A Doll's House, by Henrik Ibsen, is that it foreshadows the dynamics that take place in the Helmer household. Moreover, it also helps unveil the real role that Nora plays within her family; that of a mere entertainer to her husband and children. In the end, the title of the play becomes sort of a misnomer, since Nora actively moves away from the role of a "doll" and moves on to try to become a fully-grown, and real woman.

Luigi Pirandello was an Italian dramatist, novelist, poet and short story writer whose greatest contributions were his plays. Six Characters in Search of An Author

An absurdist metatheatrical play about the relationship between authors, their characters, and theatre practitioners

French novelist, playwright, journalist, the best-known practitioner of the literary school of naturalism, and an important contributor to the development of theatrical naturalism

demonstrated a marriage in crisis, critiqued social conventions and inequalities, failed to offer reconciliation

Irish avant-garde novelist, playwright, theatre director, and poet, who lived in Paris for most of his adult life and wrote in both English and French Waiting for Godot

pure naturalism: stage action that realistically represents an ordinary and arbitrary "slice" of the daily activity of the people portrayed

His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into American drama techniques of realism

-Representative play: Six Characters in Search of an Author by Luigi Pirandello is set on an open stage prepared for rehearsal and six characters emerge from a story and "come to life" (metatheatrical)

expressionist play by Eugene O'Neill about a brutish, unthinking laborer known as Yank as he searches for a sense of belonging in a world controlled by the rich

George Bernard Shaw, known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic and polemicist whose influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from the 1880s to his death and beyond -social criticism

Ex.: The Hairy Ape by Eugene O'Neill Bold exaggeration, overt symbols, heightened crescendo An artistic style that greatly exaggerates perceived reality in order to express inner truths directly. Notable for its gutsy dialogue, piercing sounds, bright lighting and coloring, bold scenery, and shocking vivid imagery

Chinese American theatrical set designer

-Many movements with radical dissimilarities united in opposing realism (symbolism) -First third of twentieth century: age of "isms" Movements with ideological tenets -Second third: age of stylization -Movements followed no single belief but mixed and matched from different styles -Did not dispense with realism, enhanced it with anti-realistic styles

Ex.: Man and Superman by George Bernard Shaw Elegant and brilliant dialogue transcends conventions It's about a Don Juan type character and the woman who pursues him, which reflects Shaw's idea that women are the "Life Force "and force men to get married. It's a comedy about a woman who gets her man, but it treads on deeper philosophical issues. For example, in act 3, the famous dream sequence unfolds and the main characters take on such roles as Don Juan and the Devil to further hash out the meaning of existence, the definition of the life force, and the power of the female

-Representative play: Jet of Blood by Antonin Artaud -This term was coined by Antonin Artaud who believed that the theatre's purpose was to "drain abscesses" of society -It destroys all representation; it's nearly impossible to realize in actuality -If Western theatre has been devoted to a very narrow range of human experience (primarily psychological problems of individuals or social problems of groups), Artaud thought that the more important aspects of existence are those submerged in the unconscious. -His belief: if given the proper theatrical experiences, people can be freed from ferocity and can express the joy that civilization has forced them to repress, because the theatre can evacuate those feelings -His theatre operated on the senses and endeavored to break down the audience's defensesà his "theatre of cruelty" sought the audience to confront itself -theater should be theatrical, as opposed to a place where discourse, discussion, and analysis prevail -It should consist of gesture and sound He dreamt of a theatre in which man might be restored to a primitive, mysterious sense of himself and reconnect with the cosmos Artaud's theater of cruelty is a means of "homeopathic medicine" to keep us from drowning in an infection of "societal puss" (lol ew puss)

-Motivated by sense of futility of all human action -It flaunted ridiculous aesthetics -Its leading figure: Samuel Beckett Works examine inescapable ignorance of human condition Archetypal absurdist play, Waiting for Godot (now playing on Broadway) -Two tramps wait for someone who never arrives -Offers a parable without any message Whimsical and clownish tone