Theatre History Midterm Terms

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Aristotle

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wrote Poetics in 335 BCE, 1st time Western theatre written down

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Aristotle

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wrote Poetics in 335 BCE, 1st time Western theatre written down

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Aristotelian drama

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-According to Aristotle, "the ultimate purpose of theatre was to have emotional effect on us"

-elements of drama v important

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Non-aristotelian drama

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plays whose structure departs from the features of classical tragedy (whose elements of drama set by Aristotle) in favor of the features of the epic

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catharsis

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-translated as “purging or purification or outpouring of emotion”

-connection to/identification with the characters via empathy theory is “we see someone suffering, think "that could be me!" then through PITY AND FEAR you imagine it happening to you, then--outpouring of emotion

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hamartia

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related to hubris but not synonymous; instead means "missing the mark" or "error of judgement"

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hubris

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excessive pride toward or defiance of the gods, leading to nemesis

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Elements of drama

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plot

character

theme

language/diction

music

spectacle

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Elements of plot

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exposition

climax

resolution/denouement

complication

perepetia

recognition

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perepetia

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sudden reversal of fortune or change in circumstances

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Neoclassicism

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created standards for drama & art--stressed verisimilitude, decorum, purity of form (you can be a tragedy OR a comedy, not both) & the unities

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Verisimilitude

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realism, esp. in neoclassicism. (no soliloquies! no fairies! no ghosts! no death scenes! etc)

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decorum

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etiquitte; in neoclassical theatre everyone was categorized & ranked, they had to conform to age, gender, class norms & etc

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Neoclassical unities

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action (no subplots!)

time (no time lapses! 24 hours ok but 12 hours or less is ideal!)

place (don’t move! one space!)

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19th Century political background

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Napoleonic wars, industrial revolution, Charles Darwin, Karl Marx

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Romanticism

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(most influential period 1800-1850)

"the highest truth is always just out of our grasp, even w/ great imaginations--the realities of physical world make it impossible for us to reach our real potentials!"

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"sturm and drang"

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means "storm and stress"

German precursor to Romanticism

importance of individual subjectivity stressed

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19th Century Romantic playwrights: Germany

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Goethe

Schiller

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Victor Hugo

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important playwright of the Romantic era

wrote Hernani (1830)

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Hernani

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The Cenci

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Melodrama/"melos"

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Notable melodrama playwrights

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Pixerecourt

Dion Boucicault

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Types of melodrama

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domestic, crime, aquatic, equestrian, etc

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The Well Made Play

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Piece Bien Fait Playwrights/plays

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Eugene Scribe

A Glass of Water

Alexander Dumas fils

The Lady of the Camelias (Camille)

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Pixérécourt

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French theatre director & playwrite in 19th century. Popularized melodrama as a form; said, "I write my plays for people who cannot read." Pissed off Goethe.

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Dion Boucicault

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19th Century melodrama actor, playwright & producer, worked mostly in Bristol. Most successful dramatist of the time, was on the edge of technology.

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Sarah Siddons

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Best-known actress of late 18th century & early 19th, trained classically. Most famous for portrayal of Lady Macbeth.

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Edmund Kean

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Celebrated Shakespearean actor of 18th/19th centuries. Romantically trained.

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Ira Aldridge

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African-American actor of early-mid 19th century, gained fame on stage in England. Played Othello.

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Sarah Bernhardt

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Incredibly famous French stage & silent film actress of late 19th/early 20th century. Played Hamlet. Starred in Camille.

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Eleanor Duse

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Italian actress of late 19th/early 20th century. Claimed to use no technique but was still highly methodical & sought to "eliminate the self" & become the characters she performed.

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combination company

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Theatrical touring company that only performed one play (usually using more elaborate & specialized scenery) and contributed to the decline of the repertory system. Used big stars to fill houses.

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moving panorama

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Exactly what they sound like. Not true panoramas but painted views of passing scenery, rolled up on huge spools. Often used in melodramatic plays.

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Eugene Scribe

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19th Century French Dramatist who perfected the art of the "well made play". Wrote "A Glass of Water".

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A Glass of Water

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piece bien fait by Eugene Scribe

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Alexander Dumas fils

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19th c French dramatist best known for "Camille"

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The Lady of the Camelias

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Novel written by Alexander Dumas fils then adapted for the stage a few years later, in 1852.

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Realism

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Characterized by verisimilitude in production values, climactic structure of the well made play, adherence to the 4th wall, direct speaking style, moral ambiguity, etc.

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Henrik Ibsen

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19th c Norwegian playwright and director known as the "father of realism"

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Miss Julie

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Naturalistic play by August Strindberg.

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George Bernard Shaw

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Author of Pygmallion

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indirect action

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In Chekovian drama, "tragedy happens in everyday moments of daily life--there’s no great cause necessarily"

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Emile Zola

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Author of "Naturalism in the Theater"

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“Naturalism in the Theatre”

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Emile Zola book which called for theatre to adopt “a more lifelike and specific style by applying the perspectives of the natural sciences”. Said Naturalism should “depict social ills on stage accurately so they can be corrected.”

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Maxin Gorky

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The Lower Depths

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Théâtre Libre

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French theatre associated w/ Naturalism movement. Had very real sets and small houses, which resulted to a movement for smaller spaces that gave more intimate setting and allowed for more intimate acting styles. One of the first subscription theatres.

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Andre Antoine

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Founder of the Theatre Libre. Wanted to create art for the common person, one of the 1st people to do Ibsen & Zola, and used amateurs instead of trained actors.

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The Moscow Art Theatre

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Theatre company that began in late 19th century dedicated to search for “truth in art”. Associated people: Stanislavsky, Chekov. Discouraged star system & focused on acting.

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Konstantin Stanislavsky

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Trained actors and directed shows for the Moscow Art Theatre. Emphasized truthfully and faithfully re-creating real emotion onstage. Method.

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Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko

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“the magic if”

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Part of Stanislavsky's System. Instead of actually trying to “become” the character, find ways to connect own experiences & resulting characterization. Given circumstances important.

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given circumstances

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Acting term that comes out of previous action; what has already happened.

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objective

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Part of Method. What does the character want someone else to do? Played out in idea that in every physical action, there is a psychological objective

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superobjective

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Part of Stanislavsky's Method. What does the character want overall in the entire play? For example, Torvald in Doll's House wants status quo to stay the same.

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emotional recall

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Part of Stanislavsky's system. Idea that we have a record of everything we’ve felt & we must find a way to tap into that for the present moment

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sense memory

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part of emotional recall & Stanislavsky's system.

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“circle of attention”

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In Stanslavsky's system, technique created to get people out of self-consciousness for focus/concentration

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“unbroken line”

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In Stanslavsky's system, idea that actor has to fill in the blanks of time even if we don’t see it onstage

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An Actor Prepares

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Stanislavsky book

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Building a Character

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Stanislavsky book

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Symbolism

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Called “theatre of the mind” by Mallarme--not the rational logical one but the irrational & mysterious

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“static drama”

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In Symbolism, notion developed by Maeterlinck. Felt it was artist's responsibility to create something not to express human emotions but rather the external forces/fate, which we are powerless against

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“total theatre”

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In Symbolism, idea that complete stage picture is very important--use all types of art, create atmosphere

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Maurice Maeterlink

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Important part of Symbolist movement. Wrote Interior.

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The Interior

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Maeterlinck play. Intended for marionettes.

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Adolphe Appia

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Symbolist set & lighting designer, known as a "we're all here to service the text!" kind of guy.

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Edward Gordon Craig

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Symbolist scenic designer, did Hamlet w/ screens, known as dictatorial.

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Alfred Jarry

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Symbolist playwright who really kicked off the avant-garde movement. Wrote Ubu Roi.

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Ubu Roi

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Afred Jarry character/play.

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Futurism

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artistic & social movement that originated in Italy in early 20th c emphasizing speed, technology, youth and violence

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Filippo Marinetti

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Father of Futurism.

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sintesi

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Short futurist drama.

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serata

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evening of futurist art

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Dada

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art movement formed during the WWI in negative reaction to the horrors of war. Anti-art. "Destruction = creation" "logic is a bourgeois value"

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Marcel Duchamp

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Father of Dada.

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Dada vs Futurism

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Dada is an art of protest, more pacifist in nature. Idea behind it is that calculated madness is only response fit for a world that has gone mad

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Cabaret Voltaire

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Part of Dada movement, Zurich theatre founded in 1916 by Hugo Ball & Tristan Zara in conscious response to war. Aim was to "annhilate language--language is what was used to justify the war."

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Hugo Ball

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German author, poet, & co-founder of Cabaret Voltaire.

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Tristan Tzara

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Romanian and French avant-garde poet associated w/ Dada, also essayist and performance artist. Co-founder of Cabaret Voltaire.

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“bruitisme”

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poems read during very loud music

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sound poems

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complete nonsense, just sounds

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chance poetry/accidental poems

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Dada poetic form

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simultaneous poetry

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exactly what it sounds like (part of Dada movement)

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The Gas Heart by Tristan Tzara

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Dadaist parody of classical drama written by Tristan Tzara.

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Surrealism

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a 20th-century avant-garde movement that sought to release the creative potential of the unconscious mind. "something needs to shut off in our analytical minds to get to place of true creativity"

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Andre Breton

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creator of Surrealism who wanted to break away from the negativty of Dada. believed in the future of “the resolution of the 2 states of dreaming and reality”

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The Breasts of Tiresias by Appollinaire

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famous surrealist play by Apollinaire. Man decides to be woman & have children by himself. Commentary on birth rate or something.

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Expressionism

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modernist movement originating in Germany at beginning of the 20th c. aims to present the world solely from subjective perspective, distorting it radically for emotional effect

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Characteristics of Expressionist drama

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Organized through idea or theme, events seen through central character, episodic structure, characters are types, & dialogue is poetic, not vernacular

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Realism vs Expressionism

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“In realism, characters sit around on chairs and talk about the weather. In expressionism, the characters stand on the chairs and shout about the world.” also, personal vision over objective reality.

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Schrei drama

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schrei = "scream". play that will build to a scream against the human condition

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ich drama

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everything is seen from one character’s point of view

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Georg Kaiser

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Expressionist playwright of Gas I & Gas II

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Gas I and Gas II

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Expressionist drama written by Georg Kaiser

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Epic theatre

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"a play should not cause the spectator to identify emotionally with the characters or action before them, but should instead provoke rational self-reflection and a critical view of the action on the stage."

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Erwin Piscator

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Known as the father of Epic Theatre, along w/ Brecht.

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Brecht & Aristotle

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Brecht hated him. thought catharsis’ encouragement of emotional release through identification was not good! it made people passive. his own theatre was political; he WANTED you to go out and change things.

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historification

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Berliner Ensemble

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Alienation/ A-Effect

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Brechtian distancing effect to keep audiences from identifying w/ what’s happening on stage & losing critical perspective

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“Verfremdung”

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German term for a-effect/distancing effect

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Bertolt Brecht

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Expressionist playwright who authored Mother Courage, Threepenny Opera & Caucasian Chalk Circle

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Mother Courage

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Brecht play

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Threepenny Opera

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Brecht play

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The Caucasian Chalk Circle

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1948 play by Brecht. parable about a peasant girl who rescues a baby and becomes a better mother than its wealthy natural parents.