Reading...
Play button
Play button
Use LEFT and RIGHT arrow keys to navigate between flashcards;
Use UP and DOWN arrow keys to flip the card;
H to show hint;
A reads text to speech;
130 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
|
Theatre of Cruelty
|
Antonin Artaud’s visionary concept of theatre based on magic and ritual which would liberate deep, violent, erotic impulses. He wanted to reveal the cruelty which he saw as existing beneath all human action—the pervasiveness of evil and violent sexuality. Reality=people drowning in society; need to return to primal self-civilization deadens us—theatre must rip off those bandages of civilization—theatre should be transformative. Examples: Artaud’s Jet of Blood and Theatre and its Double
|
|
|
Symbolism
|
late 1800s to early 1900s, the important aspect of reality are the metaphysical, spiritual,or indictable but there parts. In general 5 senses reality is only part o the picture. Intrusion Hyper reality or supernatural may intrude upon 5 senses reality Transcendence: experiences may transcend the 5 senses Ex: Madame Rachilde ( The Crystal Spider) Maurice Materlinck (The Interder) and Strindberg (A Dream Play)
|
|
|
Futurism
|
Early 1900s Cult of speed and technology; fascination with movement, Art that is action; art and politics are indistinguishable, Big Name Marinetti
|
|
|
Expressionism
|
1910's-1920s manifesting a person's inner reality and perspectives in an outward reality. Characters names for what they are, non linear, exaggerated or nightmarish, value of humanity in the face of an uncaring world. Ex Georg Buchner and Eugene O'Neill
|
|
|
Dada
|
1910s-1920s, rationality = horror, hurrah for non-since, randomness, parody, destruction of since but not violently. ex; Tristan Tzara, The First Celestial Adventure of Mr. Antipyrene Fire Extinguisher
|
|
|
Surrealism
|
1910's- 1920s, Andre Benton, "Surrealist Manifesto" Reality = subconscious/dream, Stage Techniques, dream logic not real logic, fascination with technology and reality intruded or altered by dream images. Outgrowth of Dada Ex; Alfred Jarry ( King Ubu) Ubu Roi) Jean Cocteau (Wedding on the Eiffel Tower)
|
|
|
Absurdism
|
Martin Esslin—describes the works of certain playwrights of the 1950s and 60s who expressed a similar point of view regarding the absurdity of the human condition. Rational languages is debased and replaced by clichés and trite or irrelevant remarks. Realistic psychological motivation replace by automatic behavior which is often absurdly inappropriate to the situation. Tone is usually comic and ironic. Abstract situation/setting, little/no direct link to specific reality, common references but exhausted of significance or power, distrust of language, situation is the theme, circular structure, funny and sad at once
|
|
|
Existentialism
|
set of philosophical ideas whose principal modern advocate was Jean-Paul Sarte. The term applied to plays by Sartre and others that illustrate these views. Sartre’s central thesis was that there are no fixed standards or values by which one can live, and that each individual must create his or her own code of conduct regardless of conventions imposed by society. Existence precedes essence, you may merely exist or you can choose to live, to live is the bravest thing. Albert Camus’ The Myth of Sisyphus and Caligula. Sartre’s No Exit and The Flies
|
|
|
Postmodernism
|
theory that division of artworks into modernist categories, such as realism and departures from realism, is artificial. Postmodernist works mix realistic and nonrealistic elements as well as techniques from both “high” and “low” art.
|
|
|
Epic Theatre
|
20th century form of presentation associated with the German dramatist Bertolt Brecht. Aimed at the intellect rather than the emotions, seeking to present evidence regarding social questions in such a way that they may be considered objectively and an intelligent conclusion may be reached. Reality is showing the changeable injustice in the status quo. You should have emotions but no purge them all out—you should leave the theatre wanting to change the world. The Exception and the Rule; The Measures Taken; The Good Person of Setzuan; Mother Courage and her Children; Galileo
|
|
|
Thingspielen
|
In Nazi Germany, massive propagandistic theatrical spectacles staged outdoors.
|
|
|
Lehristücke
|
“Learning pieces”: short dramas written by Bertolt Brecht in the early 1930s; in them Brecht attacked theatrical works created purely for mass consumption and entertainment
|
|
|
Verfremdungseffekt
|
distancing or alienation effect; associated with Brechtian theatre
|
|
|
Anti-hero
|
Anti-hero: can’t be totally for or against them. Brecht, Epic Theatre.
|
|
|
Living Newspaper
|
The Federal Theatre Project’s dramatizations of newsworthy events in the 1930s—dramatizations of current events, such as bread lines and rising unemployment
|
|
|
Agit-prop
|
agitation/ propaganda—presents an obviously warped version of reality in order to provoke social change
|
|
|
Happening
|
: form of theatrical event that was developed out of experimentation by certain American abstract artists in the 1960s; Nonliterary, replacing the script with a scenario which provides for chance occurrences, and are performed (often only one) in such places as parks and street corners. Performance events involving elements of structure, improvisation, and audience participation.
|
|
|
Environmental Theatre
|
A type of theatre production in which the total environment—the stage space and the audience arrangement—is emphasized; elimination of the distinction between audience space and acting space, a more flexible approach to interactions between performers and audience, and substitution of a multiple focus for the traditional single focus.
|
|
|
Method acting
|
advocated by Lee Strasberg—actors draw upon their own emotions and memories in their portrayals, aided by a set of exercises and practices including sense memory and affective memory; techniques by which actors try to create in themselves the thoughts and emotions of their characters in an effort to develop lifelike performances
|
|
|
Globalization
|
: US-style democratic capitalism becomes the local norm
|
|
|
Performance Art
|
alternative form of theatre; often uses elements of the visual arts, dance, and popular entertainment in unique configurations. Personal, individual, autobiographical presentations.
|
|
|
Camp
|
attitude combining two levels of awareness: pastiche and parody.
|
|
|
Pastiche
|
recreation, imitation, homage, literal representation
|
|
|
Little Theatre
|
AKA, Art Theatre, 1910s. interest in art beyond entertainment. Jane Addams Hull House was a co-op community that put on plays as a community lifting activity/education. Provincetown Players: people trained by George Pierce Baker, Eugene O’Neill & Susan Glaspell
|
|
|
Poor Theatre
|
coined by Jerzy Grotowski; theatre stripped of extraneous elements, to its barest essentials—the lavish sets, lights, and costumes usually associated with theatre reflect only base, materialistic values and must be eliminated.
|
|
|
Civic Drama/Pageantry
|
: (1900s-1920s) Percy MacKaye Pageant and Masque of St. Louis’ (1914); Star of Ethiopia (1913)—Duboise
|
|
|
Theatre of the Oppressed
|
Augusto Boal—became a dominant manifesto for revolutionary and socially conscious theatre; at its conception, theatre was a form shared by all people; called for simultaneous dramaturgy; image theatre, forum theatre, games for audience (spect-actors), workshop facilitated by “joker”
|
|
|
Guerilla Theatre
|
: “hit-and-run” theatre event; associated with Living Theatre and Julian Beck and Judith Malina
|
|
|
Off-Broadway
|
1950s—primary goal was to provide an outlet for experimental and innovative works, unhindered by commercial concerns; dedicated to introducing new playwrights and reviving significant plays that had initially been unsuccessful on Broadway. Tennessee William’s Summer and Smoke (1952), Eugene O’Neill’s The Iceman Cometh (1956)
|
|
|
Off-Off Broadway
|
1960s—dedicated to introducing and showcasing new talent, experimenting with new styles of production, and avoiding the limitations of commercialism; many groups performed in found spaces which are spaces not originally intended for theatre (churches, warehouses, etc)
|
|
|
Direct Action
|
activity undertaken by individuals, groups, or governments to achieve political, economic, or social goals outside of normal social/political channels—can be violent or nonviolent (sit-ins, strikes, assault, vandalism)
|
|
|
Chautauqua
|
an adult education movement in the US in the late 19th, early 20th centuries. Spread through rural America until mid-1920s; brought entertainment and culture for the whole community; “the most American thing in America”
|
|
|
Applied Theatre
|
theatre for social good rather than for profit; not necessarily political/activist; educational theatre (in elementary education and in sub-literate communities); theatre in crisis and post-crisis situations (theatre in prisons, conflict zones); community-based theatre
|
|
|
Globalization
|
Neither all good or all bad, mixing local and global ideas, can inspire fear/violent backlash. World growing closer together through communication an influences by societal interaction.
|
|
|
Community-based Theatre
|
theatre to, for, and with a community; outside of the US called “Community Theatre”; example: Cornerstone Theatre Company
|
|
|
Edward Gordon Craig
|
o English theatre practitioner
o Directed Hamlet at Moscow Art Theatre o Moved to Italy and opened theatrical design school |
|
|
Adolphe Appia
|
o Swiss theatre designer: lighting and sets
o Mise en scene: o Dynamic, 3d movements by actors o Perpendicular scenery o Using depth and horizontal dynamics of playing space |
|
|
F.T. Marinetti
|
Furthest, Originated Futurism and the Futurist manifesto in italy in 1909, Wrote They're Coming (1915)
|
|
|
Tristan Tzara
|
Created Dada in Switzerland in 1916 with several manifesto's,
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Ernst Toller
|
Expressionist, Post WWI Revolution of Spirt, Ex Transfiguration (1919) and Masse Mensch (1920)
|
|
|
Andre Breton
|
Surrealism, Surrealist Manifesto, 1924 Linked surrealism to Freud
|
|
|
Irwin Piscator
|
Notable artist for Epic theatre, staged plays in overtly politically way, focused on social/political contexts. Ex. Good Soldier of Schweik (1928)
|
|
|
Eugene O'Neill
|
o Worked with Provincetown Players in 1915
o Wrote The Hairy Ape and Emperor Jones |
|
|
Susan Glaspell
|
o Worked with Provincetown Players in 1915
o Wrote Trifles and The Verge |
|
|
Helene Weigel
|
o Brecht’s wife
o Noted actress (Mother Courage) o Helped Brecht write |
|
|
Percy MacKaye
|
o Wrote Civic Drama/pageants, like Pageant and Masque of St. Louis in 1914
o Hallie Flanagan Davis o Head of Federal Theatre Project (FTP – 1935-1939) o FTP put people to work doing theatre during Great Depression |
|
|
Hallie Flanagan Davis
|
o wrote The Cradle Will Rock an agit-prop musical in 1936 as part of Federal Theatre Project.
o Antonin Artaud o Founder of Theatre of Cruelty o Wrote Jet of Blood (play), Theatre & Its Double (theoretical work) |
|
|
Marc Blitzstein
|
o wrote The Cradle Will Rock an agit-prop musical in 1936 as part of Federal Theatre Project.
o Antonin Artaud o Founder of Theatre of Cruelty o Wrote Jet of Blood (play), Theatre & Its Double (theoretical work) |
|
|
Antonin Artaud
|
Began as Surrealist, influenced by asian art and broke away wrote un-produceable plays. Theatre of Cruelty (1920-30s) Thought people were drowning in society and needed to return to a primal self, Total Theatre an experience that should surround the spectators. Ex: Jet of Blood, Theatre and its Double (theoretical works)
|
|
|
Bertolt Brecht
|
o German
o Worked in Epic Theatre o Early works: expressionist plays, Lehrstucke (teaching plays) o Wrote longer plays. Difficult questions, often with no answer o Brechtian theatre: alienation.isolation o Nothing is inevitable: “to make the familiar strange and the strange familiar” o No linear plot leading to catharsis o The Exception and the Rule, The Measures Taken, Mother Courage, Good Person of Szechwan |
|
|
Alfred Jarry
|
o Surrealist French writer
o King Ubu (Ubu Roi) 1900s |
|
|
Frederico Garcia Lorca
|
o Spanish non-realist
o Marionette plays, farces, tragedies o Gay, killed by fascists o Blood Wedding, Yerma, House of Bernarda Alba |
|
|
Martin Esslin
|
o Critic, wrote The Theatre of the Absurd in 1961 before “absurdism” was a common term
o The name “absurdism” stuck afterward |
|
|
Richard Schechner
|
o Environmental Theatre
|
|
|
Allan Kaprow
|
o Happenings in the 60s
o Performance events o Art is not just an object, for the museum: it should encompass environment o 18 Happenings in 6 Parts |
|
|
Vsevolod Meyerhold
|
o 1874-1940
o Biomechanics, constructivism o “Outside-in” acting o Successor to Stanislavski o Murdered by Stalinist forces |
|
|
Lorraine Hansberry
|
o African-American female playwright
o A Raisin in the Sun, 1954 – first Broadway play by a black female playwright with black director |
|
|
Luis Valdéz
|
o Chicano playwright, Zoot Suit
o Worked with San Fran Mime Troupe for a short period |
|
|
Holly Hughes
|
o One of NEA Four
o Lesbian o Wrote World Without End, Preaching to the Perverted (both autobiographical) |
|
|
Karen Finley
|
o One of the NEA Four
o The Constant State of Desire |
|
|
John Fleck
|
o One of the NEA four
o Blessed Are All The Little Fishes |
|
|
Tim Miller
|
o One of the NEA four
o My Queer Body, Glory Box – both autobiographical o Does workshops on solo performances |
|
|
Jean- Paul Sartre
|
o Existentialist writer
o No Exit (theme: hell is other people) o Existential themes, realistic conventions |
|
|
Albert Camus
|
o Existential writer
o Caligula (play), The Myth of Sysyphus (essay) o Existential themes, realistic conventions |
|
|
Samuel Beckett
|
o Existentialist writer
o Waiting for Godot, Endgame, Happy Days, Not I o Life after apocalypse of meaning o Unrealistic conventions |
|
|
Eugene Ionesco
|
existentialist playwright, breakdown of language, Bald Soprano, The Lesson.
|
|
|
Jerzy Grotowski
|
• Poor Theatre, Polish Laboratory Theatre, hand exercises on youtube.
|
|
|
Tadeusz Kantor
|
• Impossible Theatre, creating thought on stage, CRICOT 2, dead classroom.
|
|
|
Lee Strasburg
|
part of Group Theatre, professional theatre company in 1931-41, started Method acting and founder of Actor’s Studio.
|
|
|
Harold Clurman
|
• director of the Group Theatre.
|
|
|
Stella Adler
|
• actress in the Group Theatre, disputed Strasberg on his take on Method acting from Russia.
|
|
|
Jean Genet
|
• existentialist playwright, reality of fantasy, The Maids, The Balcony.
|
|
|
Harold Pinter
|
existentialist playwright, dark pauses, interruptions in reality, Homecoming, The Dumbwaiter, Betrayal.
|
|
|
Edward Albee
|
• existentialist playwright, corruption and lies sustain life, The Sandbox, Three Tall Women.
|
|
|
Maria Irene Fornes
|
• Cuban playwright. Lead workshops in the WOW Café. Gender and sexuality are turned on their heads.
|
|
|
August Wilson
|
• Realistic 10 play cycle, African-American playwright, Fences, King Hedley.
|
|
|
Augusto Boal
|
Theatre of the Oppressed, Invisible Theatre, workshops, games, Image and Forum Theatre, Cop-in-the-Head.
|
|
|
Adrian Piper
|
• 60s-70s performance art, Calling Card No. 1.
|
|
|
Yoko Ono
|
• 60s-70s performance art, Cut Piece.
|
|
|
Marina Abromovic
|
• 60s-70s performance art, Rhythm O.
|
|
|
Carolee Schneeman
|
60s-70s performance art, Interior Scroll.
|
|
|
Chris Burden
|
• 60s-70s performance art, Shoot, Doomed.
|
|
|
Judith Malina
|
• 1948, Living Theatre, politically engaged radical theatre, Environmental Theatre, Guerilla Theatre, hit and run.
|
|
|
Julian Beck
|
1948, Living Theatre, politically engaged radical theatre, Environmental Theatre, Guerilla Theatre, hit and run.
|
|
|
George Pierce Baker
|
• : offers “47 Workshop” at Harvard, trains playwrights and makes theatre study respectable, Yale School of Drama, theatre education spreads.
|
|
|
W.E.B. Du Bois
|
• Negro theatre is for, of, by and near African-Americans, his Krigwa Players sponsor playwright contest, Harlem Renaissance 1919-30s.
|
|
|
Adrienne Kennedy
|
Funnyhouse of a Negro (1962), The Owl Answers (1965)
Absurdist/Postmodern style |
|
|
Alice Childress
|
Trouble In Mind (1955), Wine in the Wilderness (1969)
Realistic—deals with Black representation in art |
|
|
Ntozake Shange
|
for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf (1975). “choreopoem” – nonlinear, combines dance, poetry, music, text
|
|
|
Anna Deveare Smith
|
Ex: Fires in the Mirror, Twilight: Los Angeles
One-person documentaries |
|
|
August Wilson
|
Ex: Fences, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone
Realistic 10-play cycle |
|
|
Suzan-Lori Parks
|
Ex: The America Play, Topdog/Underdog
Absurdist/postmodern, repetition and revision |
|
|
Georg Büchner
|
• Sturm und drang, Woyzeck
|
|
|
Peggy Phelan
|
author of Unmarked, liveness is what makes theatre unique, performance is ephemeral, never the same twice, live performance is co-existence with audience
|
|
|
Phillip Auslander
|
• author of Liveness, feeling of theatre is more important than liveness, liveness isn’t end-all, be-all.
|
|
|
Berliner Ensemble
|
Brecht and Helene Weigel theatre company, lots of notes and details from original productions still available
|
|
|
Federal Theatre Project
|
1935-1939, Hallie Flanagan Davis, created jobs after Depression, in small towns everywhere, used people from Workers Theatre, retains labor/socialist critique, HUAC shuts it down.
|
|
|
Harlem Renaissance
|
1919ish-1930s. Growth of African-American writing. Centered in NYC. Black people appear on Broadway around 1916, often type cast in musicals like Shuffle Along. Big names: W.E.B. Du Bois, Zora Neale Hurston, Langston Hughes.
|
|
|
Black Arts Movement
|
1. 1960s, linked with Black Power Movement, develop distinct black culture, separatist, not aimed at white culture, art as violence, militant movement, “poems like fists”, LeRoi Jones (Amiri Imamu Baraka), mean towards gays.
|
|
|
El Teatron Campesino
|
“Farmworkers’ Theater”
Luis Valdez (and others) 1960s: “truck theatre” agit prop actos 1970s: mitos (re-creating myths) Zoot Suit (1979)—first Chicano play on Broadway |
|
|
Actor's studio
|
A non-profit organization for professional actors, directors, and playwrights founded in 1947
|
|
|
Performance Groupe
|
1. Richard Schechner, move away from traditional text/stage, Environmental Theatre, Dionysus in 69.
|
|
|
Provincetown Players
|
1. 1915, part of Little Theatre/Art Theatre movement, people trained by George Pierce Baker, Eugene O’Neill, Susan Glaspell.
|
|
|
Polish Laboratory Theatre
|
1. Jerzy Grotowski’s lab type theatre of movement, poor theatre.
|
|
|
CRICOT 2
|
: Tadeusz Kantor’s impossible theatre, Polish, The Dead Classroom.
|
|
|
Lafayette Players
|
1. Anita Bush, African-American company, mostly Broadway plays, some originals with alterations to minstrel shows or vaudeville.
|
|
|
Angry Young men
|
: British anti-establishment playwrights. Dealt with class conflict and political disillusionment
|
|
|
Ridiculous Theatre Co.
|
1. 1967-80s, Charles Ludlam, high camp and drag, Bluebeard, Mystery of Irma Vep.
|
|
|
Theatrical Syndicate
|
1. monopoly on theatre in the late 1800s, broken in 1900s-10s.
|
|
|
NEA Four
|
1. Tim Miller, Holly Hughes, Karen Finley, John Fleck, grant rejected from NEA for indecency, John Frohnmayer vetoes funding.
|
|
|
Living Theatre
|
1. 1960s, Julian Beck and Judith Malina did Guerilla Theatre, Environmental politically engaged radical theatre.
|
|
|
Group Theatre
|
1. : professional theatre in 1931-41, Harold Clurman, Lee Strasberg, Stella Adler, Clifford Odets.
|
|
|
Open Theatre
|
1. 1960s, Joseph Chaikin, combined training with criticism, focus on performer not character, closed with “doomed to succeed”, The Serpent (1969).
|
|
|
Guerilla Girls
|
1985, critics of sexism in visual art world, wear gorilla masks with name of female artist, produce posters and media, “Reinventing the f word: feminism”
|
|
|
Split Britches
|
1981-, Peggy Shaw, Lois Weaver, Deb Margolin, performed at WOW Café, Little Women-The Tragedy, Belle Reprieve
|
|
|
Civic Drama (Pageantry)
|
: Percy MacKaye, 1900-20s, historical story of certain places, Pageant and Masque of St. Louis, Star of Ethopia.
|
|
|
Bread and Puppet Theatre
|
1. Peter Schumann, theatre is like bread--essential for life, huge puppets, free outdoor shows, Resurrection Circus.
|
|
|
San Francisco Mime Troupe
|
1. Joan Holden, commedia dell’arte plus agit-prop, I Ain’t Yo Uncle.
|
|
|
Cornerstone Theatre Co.
|
1. community-based theatre, uses rewrites of classics. LA.
|
|
|
INTAR
|
1. International Arts Relation, Max Ferra.
|
|
|
WOW Cafe
|
Women’s One World Café for feminist playwrights and Cuban playwrights
|
|
|
Guthrie Theatre
|
regional theatre. Post WWII, Broadway model.
|
|
|
Caffe cino
|
1. Joe Cino, Off-off-Broadway venue.
|
|
|
La Mama
|
1. Ellen Stewart, Off-off-Broadway venue.
|
|
|
List and describe at least three types of applied theatre as discussed in class.
|
Applied Theatre- 3 types- list/describe
• Theatre for social good- not necessarily political/activist • Educational- TIE- thtr in education o Viola Spalin- elementary education • Creative dramatics, improvisation for the thtr o In sub-literate communities, AIDS education dramas in Africa • Theatre in crisis/post-crisis situations o Theatre in prisons (of, by, for, prisoners) o Theatre in conflict zones (Israel/Palestine) o Post-trauma performance- Rwanda • Community Based theatre o To, for, with a community- set in BR, about it, cast made up of residents. • Theatre of the oppressed- Augusto Boal- influenced by Paulo Freireis Pedagogy of the Oppressed o Chilean Farmer revolt after play • Image theatre- shape family • Forum theatre- a time when you’re oppressed- stop them and submit choices to change. • Cop-in-the-head theatre- internal cop, • Invisible theatre- guerilla- start convo about injustices |
|
|
List and explain the 6 tents of Environmental Theatre
|
Environmental Theatre Tenets
a. Coined by Richard Schechner, developed out of theories by Meyerhold and Artaud. b. Based on the idea that the entire theatre space is performance space- a concept which implies that the division between the performers and spectators is artificial. For each production, spatial arrangements are transformed. Schechner doesn’t consider the script sacred, or even essential, and he allows improvisation and reworking of the text. c. Six Axioms of Environmental Theatre • continuum of Pure/Art and Impure/Life (then there was a scale line thingy we drew) • all space is used for performance; all space is used for the audience • may be transformed or found space • the focus is flexible and variable • each production element speaks its own language o written/spoken text is not essential to performance |
|
|
Describe the events and key players of the NEA Four controversy.
|
NEA 4 Controversy
a. Karen Finley b. Tim Miller c. John Fleck d. Holly Hughes Performance artists whose proposed grants to the US government’s National Endowment for the Arts(NEA) was vetoed by John Frohnmayers in 1990. Grants were overly vetoed on the basis of subject matter after the artists had successfully passed through a peer review process. They won their case in 1993, awarded amounts equal to the grant money in question. It eventually made its way to the Supreme court in Nat’l Endowment vs. Finley, causing NEA, pressured by Congress to stop funding individual artists. 2. List and describe at least three examples of ONE of the following movements/trends: |
|
|
List and describe at least three examples of ONE of the following movements/trends;
a) African-American Theatre movements b) US Social changes Theatre of the 1960s c) Preformance artists of the 1960s and 70s |
African American Theatre Movements
a. 19th century- Minstrel show b. Early 20th century- Harlem Renaissance WEB duBois- Negro Theatre Theatre of, by, for, and near black communities What role does theatre play in black politics Help blacks assimilate with mainstream white culture Help blacks develop their own separate and resistant culture Art as violence- Poems as fists Leroi Jones- Amiri Baraka- The Dutchmen 1962- militant/controversial- white Lola flirts/insults black man, he flips, they kill him Tended toward anti-gay/misogynist- identity politics c. Lorraine Hansberry- 1950s-60s- Raisin in the Sun ’54- assimilation- 1st Broadway play by black writer and directed by black director d. Realistic- deals with black representation in art e. Adrienne Kennedy- 60s/70s- Funnyhouse of a Negro-’62- Absurdist/postmodernist style f. Ntozalle Shone- 70s/80s- For Colored Girls Who Have considered Suicide- choreopoem- nonlinear, combines dacne, poetry, music, and text g. August Wilson- 80s-00s Fences- 10 play realistic decade cycle- black experience h. Suzi Lori Parkes- 90s-00s America- absurdist/postmodern, repetition, revision, jazz, inspired by A. Kennedy US Social Change Theatres of the 1960s • Political engagement • Shift away from wholesale overthrow of capitalism • Focus of minority identities • Antiwar was common theme • Social transformation=artistic experimentation Performance artists of the 1960s and 70s • Yoko Ono – Cut Piece (1967) • Chris Burden – Shoot (1971) Doomed (1975) • Marina Abromovic - Rhythm 0 (1974) • Carolee Schneeman – Interior Scroll (1975) • Adrian Piper – “Calling Card No. 1” 2. Explain “the liveness debate” as discussed in class. Identify each side’s major arguments and proponents. |
|
|
Explain "the liveness debate" as discussed in class. Identify each side's major arguments and proponents.
|
Liveness Debate
• What does theatre offer that TV/Internet does not? o Peggy Phelan- Unmarked • Liveness makes theatre unique because performance is short-lived- ephemeral- there and gone • Never the same twice- true about life as well • Live performance with a live audience- coexistence with one another Liveness can only take place when there’s no mediation, when it represents a situation in the “here and now” and only depends on the presence of the performer’s organic body. Ontological condition for the existence of a performance, performance implicates the real through the presence of living bodies. It’s experienced by the audience in the very same moment of its realization, then “disappears into memory, into the realm of invisibility and the unconscious where it eludes regulation/control. The mediatized world doesn’t place importance on the instant of performance since it’s sustained by reproductive technology. o Philip Auslander- Liveness • Liveness is only a recent phenomenon; it only exists when there’s a non-live alternative • Liveness can’t be the be-all, end-all of theatre because we expect it to be live. The feeling of liveness is more important, but movies and the internet can produce the same feeling. He disagrees with Phelan’s definition of liveness by creation another conception of presence and mediation. He believes that live and mediatized coexist in a close relationship and he notes that even the notion of liveness could only emerge after performance become mediated. It wouldn’t make sense to talk about liveness before recording technologies brought the possibility of reproducing events after they’ve been performed. o Philip Auslander- Liveness • Liveness is only a recent phenomenon; it only exists when there’s a non-live alternative • Liveness can’t be the be-all, end-all of theatre because we expect it to be live. The feeling of liveness is more important, but movies and the internet can produce the same feeling. He disagrees with Phelan’s definition of liveness by creation another conception of presence and mediation. He believes that live and mediatized coexist in a close relationship and he notes that even the notion of liveness could only emerge after performance become mediated. It wouldn’t make sense to talk about liveness before recording technologies brought the possibility of reproducing events after they’ve been performed. |
