Theatre Price Paradox Examples

was speaking to a mixed audience: some bohemians and mostly bourgeoisie. This contrast between audience members shows one of the major paradoxes of the modern, which I refer to as the theatre price paradox, where the intended audience (the common man) does not attend plays originally written for their empowerment and benefit due to a lack of financial resources. This paradox still exists in contemporary times, as the high costs of tickets to today’s major Broadway shows make access difficult for most people. Lin-Manuel Miranda’s hit Broadway musical, Hamilton, stands as a prime example of this theatre price paradox, as the show preaches a message of inclusivity and incorporates diversity into the historical narrative. However, rising ticket …show more content…
Due to the high levels of industrialization during the modernist era, the definition of production itself was being challenged. Society itself became a mass produced object as access to identical copies of clothing, machine parts, and even music became readily available. Though industrialization increased product availability to more people, mass production also diluted people’s sense of creativity and individual craftsmanship. The shift to sweatshop labor made workers feel less like innovators and more like part of a machine. These changes were detrimental to the collective American psyche, which was already shell-shocked from the horrors of WWI. The beauty of modern theatre is shown by playwrights such as Brecht who analyzed these complex social undercurrents and utilized dramatics to create pieces that resonated and related with people, while inviting them to critique their own implicit bias as well as society as a …show more content…
There was a strong community of philosophically-minded individuals that did attend these plays. To appeal to these crowds, playwrights aimed to present the shocking nature of reality contrasted with scenes of surrealism. One such example of this is Henrik Ibsen’s Peer Gynt. The titular character confronted his own hubris as he interacts with characters that are metaphysical and highly symbolic, and this feature of the play connects to the prevailing themes of the modernist movement. During his travels, Peer Gynt is confronted by the troll king and prompted with a critical question: What is the difference between troll and man? (Ibsen, 33). Though this seems like a simple question that merely asks for the distinction between two creatures, this line in the play holds much more significance. What differentiates man from beast? These animalistic comparisons refer back to the psychoanalytic applications of theatre at this time. Due to paradigm shifts in biology and psychology, a stronger understanding of consciousness came about and both Henrik Ibsen and Bertolt Brecht masterfully illustrate this through their plays. From the bustling streets of New York City to the blustering winds of Norway, playwrights found ways to appeal to the artists within their own