Theatre Final Plays

Front 1

Agamemnon

Back 1

-Written by Aeschylus
-linear and climactic play
-few characters
-no subplots, only one plot
-Agamemnon levels Troy, show his hubris
-does not recognize his own tragic flaw
-walks on purples without shame
-starts with prologue of Watchman, gives exposition, sees beacon of light
-The Oresteia represents the move to a civil society, they vote and move to democracy because of Athena's wisdom to set up voting
-Refrain; "cry, cry upon Death; but may the good prevail."
-Clytemnestra is very angry, very smart (10 years of planning)
-Chorus not sure if Agamemnon will be thought of highly by the Gods
-he lacks balance between pride and humility
-Herald tells of the journey home from Troy
-sense of Gods being unhappy, Agamemnon's ship is spared in storm
-Chorus don't actually know who is talking ,gives effect they're unified and they're all talking
-every gesture is meaningful
-Lose emotion with mask, but gives us a definitive idea of who he is, achieve essence of character through these masks (blood-clan, man-grudge, man-lord; these terms show emotions in Greek tragedy are elemental)
-Elemental emotions are primitive, important to Ancient Greek tragedy
-Music is dissonant an jarring, almost tribal
-Clytemnestra convinces Agamemnon to walk on purple (Priam would have done it, Fear of the Gods, afraid of what the people might think, finally says it would mean so much to her)

-index is Clytemnestra, wants to kill Agamemnon because he killed their daughter

Front 2

The Importance of Being Earnest

Back 2

-Written by Oscar Wilde
-farce, satire, parody, Comedy of Manners, Dark Comedy, Tragicomedy
-play about the witty and making fun of the witless
-Gwendolyn vs. Cecily
-Gwendolyn is from city, from aristocracy, has determination, lacks the "fighter" attitude
-Cecily from country, very practical even in her romanticism, she is in control, lacks education/sophistication from not living in city
-both have determination
-Lady Bracknell asks Jack if he knows everything or nothing, he says nothing
-She thinks education is not valuable, not prized in aristocracy
-This reflects Gwendolyn's ability to get what she wants
-This comedy is about the upper-class, more physical farce
Example of "lazzi" (jokes about material, bodily functions, grotesque, physical comedy) - Algernon and Jack over muffins, but not a lot of physical comedy
-Dr. Chausable convinced by Miss Prism on thoughts of marriage
-Satire on country churchmen
-Miss Prism satires Neoclassical ideal that good are good, bad are punished (3 volume novel she writes)
-Oscar Wilde himself from wealthy Irish family ---expected to make his own living (extremely witty, married man, had 2 children, was a homosexual too, homosexual conduct was illegal in London until 1967, Algernon most like Wilde, satires himself as well as all of these in his social tier)
-Tone of this play is light and airy
Central action = Jack's search for who he is (he is the index)
-Malleability of one's identity
-Trying to become who you need to become to negotiate this world - Does identity have meaning when the world is so full of artifice?
-people in this play live a lie, live a life for benefit of public consumption
-leave this play happy for the most part

Front 3

Much Ado About Nothing

Back 3

-Shakespeare
Much Ado About Nothing
• Action and movement is fluid even though there are a variety of settings
• Designing the set; unit set = one set throughout with small things brought to indicate different places
• Ballroom scene, street scene, woods; many places
• Italian countryside that is filled with sunlight, very bright and happy – nearly counterpoint to images and ideas in play
• Masquerade Ball is important to set-up theme of deception (masks), deceive others and ourselves
• Act II, scene I: Masquerade Ball
o Celebrating the victories of the soldiers coming home
o War used a s device to being the play with antic celebration
• Only lost “unimportant” people in the war
o Expressing callousness towards those outside their noble name
o Don Pedro pretending to be Claudio to woo Hero
o Margaret and Balthasar dancing, easy to get along with and loose, foil for Beatrice
o Antonio + Ursula; Antonio = older brother of Leonato
o Beatrice + Benedick
• Courtship of Hero and Claudio happens quickly
• Plot = Beatrice and Benedick’s relationship OR Claudio and Hero
o Beatrice and Benedick more important roles that are “almost better than the play”
• We know Beatrice and Benedick have had a relationship, Benedick leaves here
o Benedick says he’s afraid of being a cuckold
o Beatrice better at hiding her emotions and how upset she is
o Benedick actually afraid of being bested by Beatrice
• Never going to be able to “rule” her, but maybe that’s not exactly what he wants
o Beatrice is very witty, knows its him when they dance, she makes fun of him to his face
• Not hard at all to convince Beatrice and Benedick that one is in love with the other
• Act II, scene 3: Benedick monologue describing ideal woman that she is rich and virtuous, other extremely high standards
o He is mad that Claudio has changed from masculine to whimp
o Benedick loses Claudio as a friend to Hero
• Remember – most of this play is written in prose
o This play isn’t “romantic” love
o Powerful love is the begrudging between Beatrice and Benedick
o People convinced to fall in love, not your own feeling or manufacturing of natural love
o “No, the world must be people”
• Act II, scene 2:
• Beatrice has poem, expresses similar thoughts as Benedick
• Hero
o Obedient, innocent, naïve, dutiful, gentlewoman (Elizabethan beauty flaws: she is short, dark complexion)
• Claudio
o Suspicious, rash, shy sometimes
o Benedick points out Hero’s flaws to Claudio, she does not fit the tall, blond, fair complexion standards of Shakespeare’s time
o Claudio asks him because he knows Benedick will give him the worst of his thoughts on marriage
o Claudio never really reaches passionate love
o Publically embarrasses Hero at the wedding, humiliates her in public
• Don John
o Jealous, bitter, angry, vengeful, plays into his role, smart, opportunistic
o Bastard child, misses inheritance, compared against Don Pedro
o Refers to himself as a rebel (alluded to barely) against his brother
o Never accounts for his actions; never tells why
• Act IV resembles a tragedy: Friar asks Hero to pretend to be dead (Romeo and Juliet)
• Act IV marriage scene quick to help downplay tragedy, but still serious
• Then, Beatrice and Benedick have dialogue (Act IV, scene I)
o Important act in the play
• Dogberry and Verges – watchmen
o Very comic because of their malapropism
o Dogberry always uses wrong words for things
o In action, this low comedy is very funny
o Shakespeare writing to appeal to low class viewers (groundlings) of his plays
• Don Pedro
o Most powerful in the play
o He’s alone – needs a wife, asks Beatrice semi-seriously to get married
• Other serious moment = Claudio vs. Benedick argument
• Last lines of the play:
o We expect Beatrice to have them, but Benedick kisses her, Benedick calls for a dance, Leonato calls for marriage, then Benedick calls for the dance first
• Technically, they aren’t married at the end when they walk off stage
• Nothing = noting with British accent (title)
o What we note and perceive is important
o Nothing = vagina (slang term)

Front 4

A Doll's House

Back 4

-Henrik Ibsen
-Realism-has an open ending and we don't really know what happens
-Audience gets frustrated - women leaves her home AND kids (saw Nora as evil)
-Ending was re-written several time to please a selected audience in late 1800's
-By early 1900's, actresses idealized Nora; a completely dynamic woman
-The idea of the social ill/problem play finally caught on
-This play is more character-driven rather than plot driven (well-made play)
-Index is Nora
-A Doll House vs. A Doll's House
-A Doll House = everyone in the house is a doll, society "owns" the house by forcing everyone into roles
-A Doll's House = Nora's house
-all of these characters are dolls, structured into a rigid gender role
-Determinism - hereditary determinism; people can't help who they are by where they come from
-We see this in Nora's dad (money-spending habits)
-Also, mother responsible for kids told by Torvald
-Dr. Rank's dad had syphyllis STD and infected Rank himself
-What are we asking questions about/what is the social ill?
-Institution of marriage being called into question
-Seems to be detrimental to a lot of women
-"I am at first a human being"-Nora
-Seen as selfish, but she needs to figure herself out as to who she is as a person
-Torvald aware of social constructs; makes him more aware but not truly more enlightened
-Torvald hates the idea of forgery
-Nora contemplates suicide
-Kristine tries to put Nora into her shoes
-As an actor, how do you reconcie Act I Nra vs Act III Nora
-silly vs. serious, challenge as an actress
-Nora wants Torvald to take responsibility for her actions and calls it a miracle if he does, but she is afraid he will actually do it
-Afraid because the she won't have opportunity to prove herself
-When miracle doesn't happen, she realizes Torvald is not nearly the man she thought he was, sees no core in his being either
-Both of them need to discover what it is to be a human

Front 5

In the Blood

Back 5

- written by Suzan-Lori Parks
-Tragedy
-Can Hester be seen as tragic character
-Relates to Greek tragedy (chorus)
-Hester's ending monologue, wants more power; says it in spite towards society
-Big Hand she sees also relates to Greek tragedy (with "Five Fingers" taking place of fate in Greek tragedy)
-Idea that society wants you to be married is very strong in this play
-Chilli has romantic idea of marriage (wedding dress in picnic basket)
-Spay an animal, not a human being; international use to call her an animal
-how does audience react to this play? mainly wealthy, white play-goers
-What's the purpose of having adults playing child roles?
-adds a level of surrealism
-estrangement, does not create sympathy between audience and children
-Hester's fairy tale centers her as the princess -- reality is she can't and can not change the law
-Allusion to Mother Courage
-Won't give away her kids because they are her joys and treasures
-Marriage allows structure and organization to society
-Only letter she can write is "A" in the blood
-TITLE - refers to family themes, death at end, disease in her blood
-rep+rev = jezz influence on dialogue of play, with or without revision