Theatre History III
Terms
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- Brecht epic theatre techniques
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⬢ Narrative acting
⬢ Episodic plots
⬢ Overt narrative devices
⬢ Non-unified production and fragmented sets
⬢ Historification- set in past to talk about the present - Brecht plays
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• Concerned w. socioeconomic implications of peoples actions
â—‹ Major plays
§ Mother courage- economic decision have personal consequences
§ Galileo
§ Good Woman of Setzuan
§ Caucasian chalk circle - Pirandella
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â—‹ Six characters in search of an author
â—‹ Henry IV
§ Appearance vs. reality
â—‹ His philosophy will influence post-WWII theatre
§ Truth is personal and subjective
§ Relativity of perception
§ Unstable nature of human existence and identity - France
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• Giradoux: often uses myths and legends
â—‹ Tried to reconcile antithesis
• Anouilh: conflict btw. Integrity and compromise= Antigone - British theatre= 1915-1940
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- End of actor-manager system and pictorial illusion
â—‹ Producer
- Old Vic: English classics
â—‹ T. Guthrie= novel inspiration
â—‹ John gielgud: top actor and director; faithful tot ext
â—‹ Barry Jackson: 1920s; starts vogue of modern dress Shakespeare
- Playwrights
â—‹ Noel coward: sophisticated, witty comedy
§ Private studying
â—‹ TS Elliot: poetic drama
§ Murder in the cathedral
â—‹ Sean O'Casey- Irish
§ June and paycock -
--European trends skip U.S.
--The Syndicate (1896-1916)
Monopolizes American theatre; control touring circuits via exclusive contracts
Cutthroat strategry -
1) control key routes
2) build rival theatres (and undercut prices)
3) “blackball†uncooperative producers and actors - Result: By 1900 monopolize U.S. theatre
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1) mass appeal plays
2) emphasize stars
3) 1900-1915 U.S. theatre = conservative and commercial
Main figure = Charles Frohman
Opposition to Syndicate - David Belasco: producer and playwright
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1) star-maker
2) naturalist staging of melodrama
(Peak of illusionistic detail in U.S.)
3) opposition to Syndicate; his popularity forced concessions; start to crack Syndicate’s power
Other major opposition = The Schuberts
--rival chain of theatres
--after 195, seize dominance
(as monopolistic and dictatorial as Syndicate)
--control “the road†till 1956
(broken by anti-trust rulings)
--still a major force - c. 1900 Clyde Fitch starts trend of
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playwrights publishing plays
1915 theatre starts to decline in pop.
(Sports, film, and higher prices) - c. 1930 film overtakes theatre
- (Sound films and depression)
- U.S. Theatre 1915-1940
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--catch-up with European trends and start international reputation
--“little theatres†(1912-1920)=U.S. version of ITM
--1900s-1910s=start of university theatre
--popularized by Robert Edmond Jones
(Also Norman Bel Geddes) - Innovative Producers
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1) Provincetown Players (a “little theatreâ€â€™ 1915-1929)
2) The Theatre Guild
3) Arthur Hopkins (1918-1925=peak)
4) The Group Theatre - Players (a “little theatreâ€â€™ 1915-1929)
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--1st to stage O’Neill and Glaspell
--1920s professional branch for non-commercial plays and experimental designs - The Theatre Guild
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--best U.S. company of 1920s
--produce plays of artistic merit with new stagecraft - Arthur Hopkins (1918-1925=peak)
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Most adventurous commercial producer
Ex. Expressionistic Macbeth (1921)
By 1930, new stagecraft=norm - The Group Theatre
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Best U.S. company of 1930s
--modeled on MAT: stress Stanislavsky method and leftist politics
--stage Clifford Odets’ plays
Waiting for Lefty (1935)
Federal Theatre Project (1935-39)
--1st fed. Govt. support of the arts
--helped revive professional theatre outside NY
--“Living Newspaperâ€
documentary-like productions that deal with contemporary social issues -
Orson Welles
Decline of theatre -
1920=1500
1930= 500
1940= 200
Causes: Depression, sports, movies, radio
Actors: tour starts in New York; ends in California; they have to pay for their way back home
Costs up due to rise of unions and restrictive building codes - Playwriting
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--borrow European techniques
--1918- 1st Pulitzer prize - Eugene O’Neill (1888-1953)
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--1st to get international reputation
--experimented in different forms -
Iceman Cometh
Major themes: - compelling characters struggling to escape despair and find meaning in seemingly meaningless world
- Lillian Hellman
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The Children’s Hour (1934)
The Little Foxes (1938)
Overall: melodramas where weak, good people get trampled by evil people - Thornton Wilder
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Our Town (1938) – possibly the most produced play
The Skin of Our Teeth (1943)
Overall: non-realistic theatricality applied to understandable subject matter; optimistic faith in humanity - Musical Theatre
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--Most popular theatrical form in U.S.
--Considered U.S.’s most significant contribution to world theatre - MT Style
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1) Presentational
2) High energy and heightened emotion
3) Themes: love, faith and dreams, community
4) Written element = music, lyrics, and libretto - MT Development
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--early musicals (Black Crook (1866)) focus on song, dance, and beautiful women
1) Birth of Modern Musical (1927-1943)]
2) Golden Age (1943-1968)
3) Alternative Forms (1960-1980)
4) Stephen Sondheim - 1) Birth of Modern Musical (1927-1943)
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Showboat (1927): start to emphasize storyline and psychologically motivated characters
Musicals are art, not just entertainment - 2) Golden Age (1943-1968)
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--upbeat, life-affirming, and sentimental
Rodgers and Hammerstein most successful
Oklahoma! (1943): primacy of story and fully integrates story, music, dance, and visual
- 3) Alternative Forms (1960-1980)
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The Fantasticks (1960)
Hair (1968)
A Chorus Line (1975) - 4) Stephen Sondheim
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Most critically acclaimed
Bridges old and new
Ironic views of human behavior and social values; avoids happy endings
Sweeney Todd (1979) - 5) The British Invasion
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Andrew Lloyd Webber: most commercially successful
Cats (1981) and Phantom of the Opera (1986)
French team: Les Miserables (1985) and Miss Saigon
Major producer: Cameron Mackintosh
Sondheim/Webber vs. Golden Age
Less dance and Opera-like (no dialogue)
- 6) 1990s: Disney and New Alternative
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Rent
The Lion King - 7) 2000s: Movies
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Ex. The Producers
Existentialism
--Post-WWII (holocaust/atomic bomb) -
Nuremberg War Crimes Trial
Themes of Existentialism -
1) Existence precedes essence
2) Freedom
3) Meaninglessness
4) Self-definition thru moral choices/actions - The British Invasion
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â—‹ A.L. Webber: most commercially successful
§ Megahits: Cats (1981) + Phantom of the Opera (1986)
§ French team: Les Mis (1985) and Miss Saigon
â–¡ Shows ran for at least 10 years in NY and London
â—‹ Major producer: Cameron Mackintosh- produced all for
â—‹ Sondheim/Webber vs. Golden age
§ Less dance and opera-like ( no dialogue)
§ Spectacle- helicopter, chandelier - 1990s- Disney and new Alternative
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â—‹ Rent
â—‹ Lion King - 2000s- movies
- â—‹ The Producers, the Fully Monty
- Existentialism
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â—‹ Post- WWII holocaust/atomic bomb
â—‹ Jean-Paul Sartre= main philosopher
â—‹ Nuremberg War crimes trial - Themes of existentialism
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â—‹ Existence precedes essence
â—‹ Freedom
â—‹ Meaninglessness
â—‹ Self-definition thru moral choices and actions - Existential drama
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â—‹ Sartre: The Flies 1943
§ No Exit 1944
â—‹ Camus: Caligula 1938
§ The Just Assassins
â—‹ Influence- ideological not artistic
â—‹ Plays are linear and rational