Theater Final Cards

Front 1

Existentialism as a Philosophy

Back 1

It stresses the idea that each person determines his or her existence through acts of free will.
• Life is not defined by reason
• God is no longer the source of meaning – meaning is subjective for each individual

Front 2

Theatre of the Absurd

Back 2

Plays focused on the alienation of man and his plight within an illogical, unjust, ridiculous world.

Front 3

Theater of the Absurd - Samuel Beckett: Waiting for Godot

Back 3

Godot is anything and everything that human beings wait for during their lives – and our lives are thus defined by absurd waiting rather than by our actions.

Front 4

Theater of the Absurd - Absurdity located in both structure and ideas

Back 4

• Absurdist plots: illogicality
• Absurdist language: nonsense and non sequitur
• Absurdist characters: existential beings

Front 5

Happenings 1960s and 1970s

Back 5

Art shouldn’t be restricted to museums, galleries, theatres or concert halls – it can happen on a street corner, in a grocery store, at a bus stop.

Front 6

Happenings 1960s and 1970s description

Back 6

Non-structured events • Minimum of planning and organization • A situation was set up, then acted out in an improvisatory fashion • Took place only once

Front 7

Multimedia

Back 7

Joins theatre with other arts – especially dance, film and television, often live performers interacting with sequences on film or television. Still used today.

Front 8

Jerzy Grotowski (August 11, 1933 - January 14, 1999)

Back 8

Polish theatre director and a leading figure of theatrical avant-garde of the 20th century

Front 9

Jerzy Grotowski - Poor Theatre

Back 9

The fundamental concern was the work of the actor with the audience, not the sets, costumes, lighting or special effects.

Front 10

LIVING THEATRE

Back 10

America’s first avant-garde theatre company
– wanted a revolution
• Preached anarchy for the theatre – Should be about sending a message, not entertainment

Front 11

OPEN THEATRE

Back 11

Used movement and sound to express emotion and content

Front 12

Feminism

Back 12

A critique of prevailing social conditions which have excluded women from dominant male cultural, social, sexual, political and intellectual discourse and pursuits. In theatre: distinguish between historical women and the cultural fictions of “women.”

Front 13

Radical feminism

Back 13

Based on the belief that patriarchy, or all systems of male dominance, is the primary source of the oppression of women.

Front 14

Lesbian feminism

Back 14

Resists patriarchy and compulsory heterosexuality. Acknowledges the invisibility or unmarked identity of women in modern cultures and social groups.

Front 15

Material feminism

Back 15

Elements of Marxism and socialist feminism, underscores the role of class and history in the oppression of women. The primacy of class and socioeconomic factors are considered the exploitative forces among women, not gender.

Front 16

Hrosvitha

Back 16

Early Women Playwright, German mid-10century nun and dramatist,her plays were not produced, but designed for reading aloud

Front 17

Aphra Behn, (1640-1689)

Back 17

first professional woman playwright whose struggles and commercial successes set a model for future women dramatists.

Front 18

Lillian Hellman’s The Children’s Hour

Back 18

1930s - Very controversial due to her frank treatment of women’s lives. Dramatized oppressive attitudes, now dated, towards lesbianism. urged a social conscience on the theatre.

Front 19

Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun

Back 19

1950s - Education important to her family while growing up – father a Harvard professor. First black play to be produced on Broadway with the first black director on Broadway.

Front 20

María Irene Fornés

Back 20

Cuban-American playwright. Works with dramatic structure that is not based on words or plot, but simply taking the audience from one thing to another. Sees traditional linear structure as “male” and her work to be more circular in structure.

Front 21

Suzan Lori-Parks

Back 21

Writing deals with issues of racism and feminism. Won the Pulitzer Prize

Front 22

August Wilson

Back 22

Wilson’s major plays, set in different decades of 20th century America, are a series. He has written a history of African-Americans, writing in the realistic tradition of the modern American theatre, with eight plays on Broadway.

Front 23

Contemporary Hispanic American Theatre

Back 23

Chicano Theatre Originated in the west and southwest. Came to prominence during the civil rights movements 1960s.

Front 24

El Teatro Campesino (“Farmworker’s Theatre”)

Back 24

produced actos, which were “agitprop” plays that dramatized the lives of workers – agitprop stands for “agitation propaganda,”a term from the 1930s that means a play with a strong political or social agenda.

Front 25

Cuban American Theatre

Back 25

Developed chiefly in Florida. Fourteen Cuban American plays were produced through The Federal Theater Project in the 1930s.

Front 26

Puerto Rican (or Nuyorican) Theatre

Back 26

Nuyorican is a term that refers to Puerto Rican culture, mostly in New York. Puerto Rican plays began to be produced in the 1960s and 1970s.

Front 27

Contemporary Asian American Theatre

Back 27

Comes out of a long and important heritage of the three great Asian theatre traditions: Indian, Chinese and Japanese. These traditions are thousands of years old, and created forms of theatre that combined acting, mime, dancing, music and puppetry. During the 19th and the first half of the 20th century, Asian Americans, like many other ethnic groups, were primarily represented in theatre by stereotypes, but all this changed during the coming of cultural and ethnic awareness in the 1960s and 70s and the creation of many Asian-American theatre companies on the East and West coast.

Front 28

Contemporary Gay and Lesbian Theatre
Prior to the 1960s and 70s

Back 28

Cross-dressing used to break stereotypes: The Ridiculous Theatre Company

Front 29

Contemporary Gay and Lesbian Theatre
1970s-1980s

Back 29

Complex gay characters presented unapologetically, often by gay writers.

Front 30

EASTERN EUROPEAN THEATRE: Poland Tadeusz Kantor (1915-1990)

Back 30

director, scene designer, visual artist famous for his avant-garde stage designs and use of mannequins/live actors. Toured stage “happenings.” Very personal in theme, with stunning theatrical imagery.

Front 31

(SOUTH) AFRICAN THEATRE

Back 31

African Theatre is derived from traditional performances that were connected to ceremonies and rituals. Involve music, song, dance; colorful, exotic, and symbolic costumes; importance of the group over the individual. Has anti-colonial and anti-totalitarian themes, themes of political and social equality. Debate over theatrical language, when nation is poly-lingual.

Front 32

LATIN AMERICAN THEATRE: Brazil Augusto Boal (1931-2009) •

Back 32

Theatre of the Oppressed Playwright, director, and theorist, Boal created different theatrical techniques that involved the audience more directly in the action: forum theater

Front 33

Forum Theater - Boal

Back 33

In “forum theatre” the audience is shown a scene in which the protagonist tries unsuccessfully to overcome oppression relevant to the audience. Audience members are invited to replace the protagonist at any time to try a new solution to the problem. The scene is played multiple times with multiple solutions and followed by a discussion of how to apply solutions to the problem in the real world. • Forum Theatre creates the “spect-actor”: the transformation of passive audience members “into subjects, into actors, into transformers of the dramatic action.”

Front 34

Japan Traditional theatre - Nō Theatre:

Back 34

formed in the 14th century. Unlike Western narrative drama, Nō performers are storytellers who use their visual appearances and their movements to suggest the essence of their tale rather than enact it. “Metaphor made visual.” Audience is familiar with the plot. Accompanied by four musicians (flute and three drums) and 8-10 singers.

Front 35

Japan Traditional theater - Kabuki Theatre:

Back 35

formed in the 17th century by a woman – but now women (and teenage boys) are forbidden to perform because of the history of prostitution associated with the performers. The “onnagata” are female role specialists; these highly respected artists produce a highly stylized version of femininity using refined movements and a distinctive falsetto voice. The “hanamichi” is the long walkway running from the back of the audience onto the stage, and is used as a main acting area in conjunction with the stage itself.

Front 36

Japan - Shingeki (“new theatre”)

Back 36

Began in the late 19th century, More realistic than traditional theatre, Banished the use of gods and the fantastic

Front 37

Tadashi Suzuki

Back 37

is a good example of experimental Japanese theatre
• Influenced by Grotowski • International in ideas and its reach • Director-centered • Emphasis on ensemble work, and physical movement

Front 38

China theater

Back 38

During the Cultural Revolution (began in 1966), theatrical activity was restricted and theatre artists were seen as subversive. Since the death of Chairman Mao Zedong, there has been a cross-fertilization of Chinese traditions and western drama. Traditional forms are becoming popular again.

Front 39

Beijing (Peking) Opera

Back 39

Arose in 18th century and still practiced today
Combines music, vocal performance, mime, dance and acrobatics Elaborate and colorful costumes and makeup No scenery Movements are symbolic and suggestive rather than realistic: skill of performer is evaluated according to the beauty of their movements.

Front 40

India - Kathakali

Back 40

Traditional dance-drama that began in the 16th century and still practiced today. Striking make-up, elaborate costumes Detailed gestures and carefully defined body movements Performed with music and percussion

Front 41

Postmodernism

Back 41

The current “artistic age.” Accepting the simultaneous coexistence of multiple styles. Also a condition in which we live and a way of thinking and creating. In theatre, Postmodernism is defined by: A mix of styles and traditions in single work The deconstruction of classics

Front 42

Performance Art

Back 42

• Self-expression with a particular agenda or message
• Usually solo pieces tied to expressions of art, dance, theatre – with little or no emphasis on story/character/text

Front 43

Performance Art - Shift in focus through the decades:

Back 43

• By the 1970s there were two branches of performance art
o “Body as art” performances, closely tied to painting and dance
o Site-specific performances, where the setting and context were crucial
• Currently, performance art is more autobiographical, or closer to theatrical “docudramas”