modern story-telling

Theatre focuses on ____ stories

human

____ and ____ are built from theatre

Film and tv

Theatre can do what to the perspective  

think, question, and change the perspective

Theatre is similar to ____

Religion

____ + ____ = Theatre

Actor + Audience

Conventions

"Rules of the game" 

Contract between players and audience to agree that what going on stage is "real"

Presentational Conventions

"Non- realistic"

No fourth wall

Actors openly acknowledge audience

ex: musicals and stand-up comedy 

Representational Conventions

"Realistic"

Barrier between the actors and the audience (the fourth wall)

actors ignore the audience

The 5 Types of Spaces

Proscenium stage, thrust stage, Arena Stage, Alley Stage, Found Space

Proscenium Stage

The audience is seated in one section looking in the same direction

Gives the opportunity to use the most special effects and scenery

drawback: the audience and actors are often quite far away from each other

Thrust Stage

Audience is seated on three sides of the stage

More intimate because the audience is seated closer to the performers

Arena Stage

Also known as a circle stage

audience surrounds all sides of the stage

Alley Stage

Audience is seated on two sides of the stage

Found Stage

Any space that is confined and performed in

Example: a warehouse, the street, the oval

Theatre can happen in any space!

Plays are meant to be ____ ____

Spoken aloud

The 5 Elements of a Playscript

1.  Cast of characters

2.  Notes from the playwright

3.  Act and scene structures

4.  Dialogue

5.  Stage Directions

Elements of the Playwright:

Cast of Characters

Dramatis Personae

may be about where it should be performed, lighting, how it should move, recommended music, etc.

"acts" sometimes refer to the two halves of the performance

Elements of the Playwright:

Important to envisioning the action of the play

Definition of the Production Group

The Production Group:

How many people create a theatre production?

Many! Even if it is a one person show!

The Production Group:

Artistic Director

-oversees all artistic elements of the company

- provides the vision the company

- not all artistic directors are directly involved with the play

- suggests/determines the season

-may establish a theme for the season

The Production Group:

The Producer

- gets the money that the theatre production needs

-gathers a group of investors (Broadway) or a volunteer effort and local businesses (Community Theatre) or even departmental support (OSU)

The Production Group:

Business Manager

-handles the financial life of the production

-pays the employees, advertising, oversees the box office

The Production Group:

House Manager

-In charge of the audience space

- House refers to the audience

-In charge of the comfort and safety of the audience

The Production Group:

Stage Manager

*Maybe the most important

-oversees all aspects of production

-main information conduit

-runs/controls rehearsals

-runs the show 

The Production Group:

Dramaturg

-background research

- an assistant to the production

- serves as an in-house critic

- they need to educate the audience (write program notes/make lobby displays)

The Production Schedule:

Cattle-Call Audition

Anyone can come audtion, regardless of their experience

The Production Schedule:

Invited Auditions

The director invites

the actors to audtion

The Production Schedule:

Callbacks

Actors are invited back to read for specific roles

The Production Schedule:

Rehearsals

-Read through

-scene work

- "off book"

The Production Schedule:

Read Through

- all cast members are brought together for the first time to read the script

- directors shares his vision for the production

-designers present their work

The Production Schedule:

Scene Work

The play is worked through over and over 

The Production Schedule:

"Off Book"

- The lines of the script are memorized

-the stage manager is on book the entire time until the actors are off-line as well

The Production Schedule:

Tech Rehearsals to Opening

Technical rehearsals

dress rehearsals

final dress

opening night

strike

The Production Schedule

Pre-production

Rehearsals

Tech Rehearsals to opening

The Production Schedule:

Technical Rehearsals

Lights, sound, moving scenery, and props are added

The Production Schedule:

Dress Rehearsals

Costumes, makeup, and hair are added

The Production Schedule:

Final Dress 

(Preview)

this is the last rehearsal before a paying audience will see it 

The Production Schedule:

Opening Night

The first night a paying audience will see the production

The Production Schedule:

Strike

The dismantling of the stage after the production had closed

Sophocles & Antigone:

Sophocles

-wrote 120 plays but only 7 survive

-won Dionysus competition 18 times

- Wrote the Theban trilogy

- Added a third actor on stage

-He had unity of time/place in his plays 

(the action of the play takes place in real time in one place)

Ancient Greek Theatre:

What was the purpose of attending Greek theatre?

-Civic and ritual purpose

- going to the theatre was part of being in the community and practicing their religion

-celebrate history/religion/folklore

Ancient Greek Theatre:

Did Sophocles create the story of Oedipus/Antigone?

Nope

His writings are versions of widely told stories

Ancient Greek Theatre:

Who attended the theatre?

Only citizens of the city-states 

(no women, servants, or slaves)

Ancient Greek Theatre:

Staging

-outdoors

-on a thrust stage often situated on hills with the town as a backdrop

-very little scenery

Ancient Greek Theatre:

Orchestra

the area where the chorus would perform

Ancient Greek Theatre:

Actors

-1 to 3 males actors involved

-chorus

Ancient Greek Theatre:

The Chorus

a group of people there to serve as corporate characters. Often military men

Ancient Greek Theatre:

Masks

- actors would often wear masks, so the audience could easily tell what character was being played

What is the earliest form of theatre?

- tragedy

-sang dithyrambs

-turned songs into plays

Tragedy:

Dithyrambs

songs to Dionysus

Tragedy:

Purposes of Tragedy

- celebrate humans' capacity to accomplish and endure

-achieve catharsis

Tragedy:

Catharsis

to purge pity and fear

Tragedy:

Elements of Tragedy

- hubris

- harmartia

-tragic hero 

Tragedy:

Hubris

excessive pride

Tragedy:

Hamartia

Error in judgment

Tragedy:

Tragic Hero

- the main character

- has a strong will

- causes suffering

- takes responsibility at the end

- gains insight at the end

Elements of a Play:

Conflict

- conflict makes storytelling interesting

-the playwright asks: what's different about this day?

Elements of a Play:

How do we respond to conflict?

- no response

- indirect response

- direct response

Elements of a Play:

Indirect Response

running away from the problem

Elements of a Play:

Direct Response

trying to overcome the conflict

Elements of a Play:

Who is involved?

- the protagonist

-the antagonist

Elements of a Play:

Protagonist

their will drives the action

of the play

Elements of a Play:

Antagonist

opposes the will of the protagonist

Elements of a Play:

3 Types of Conflict

Physical

Psychological

Metaphysical

Types of Conflict:

Physical Conflict

human vs. human

arguing, debating, fist fighting, sword fighting

Types of Conflict:

Psychological Conflict

human vs. him/herself

Types of Conflict:

Metaphysical

a human battling something that is bigger than humanity 

(i.e. gods/nature)

Elements of a Play:

Plot

the selection and arrangement of incident on stage

Elements of  Play:

Difference between plot and story

story= may be told not shown

plot= shown

Elements of a Play:

Two Types of Structure

- climactic structure

- episodic structure

Elements of a Play:

Climactic Structure

exposition, inciting incident, rising action, the climax, falling action,                          

denouement, return to balance

* TRIANGLE STRUCTURE *

-single storyline, climax, location

- small cast

-small period of time

-used by Sophocles & Ancient Greeks

Elements of a Play:

Episodic Structure

-multiple storylines

- larger cast

- longer time span

-used by Shakespeare

Elements of a Play:

The Appeal of Conflict in Storytelling

- need for tension, conflict, release

- Schadenfreude

-we get to safely and vicariously play along

Elements of a Play:

Schadenfreude

the enjoyment we get out of bad things happening to other people

Elements of a Play:

Who is the Playwright?

- the author or the play-- our initial storyteller

- sometimes called the dramatist

- builds everything through dialogue and action

Elements of a Play:

Function of the Playwright

-to create the story

- to the story into a plot

- make it appropriate for the stage

(a story that can be constructed on stage)

The Playwright's Process

- three questions

- constructing the play

- rehearsing and rewriting

- publication 

The Playwright's Process:

Three Questions

who is my audience?

what is the space or stage?

who are my performers/actors?

The Playwright's Process:

Constructing the Play

show, not tell

dramatization vs. narration

(dramatization = action)

The Playwright's Process:

Rehearsing & Rewriting

-commissions and residences 

- playwright works w/ director

- new plays given staged readings 

The Playwright's Process:

Staged Readings

The Playwright's Process:

Publication

-usually happens in conjunction w/ or after a professional performance

-professional memberships

The Playwright's Process:

Professional Memberships

-dramatist guilds

- dramatists play service

-new dramatists

William Shakespeare

-actor and playwright

- wrote 38 plays with actors in mind

- wrote three forms (comedy, tragedy, history)

- used poetic verse and iambic pentimeter

- many of his plays were performed at the Globe Theatre

Context of 

Elizabethan Theatre

- Renaissance England

- Focused on London

- Rowdy audience of mixed classes

- the purpose of performing a play was for entertainment and money

Elizabethan Theatre:

Staging

- outdoor circular theatres

- thrust stage

- little scenery

- lavish costumes

- presentational actor interacted with the audience

Elizabethan Theatre:

Actors

- only male actors were allowed onstage

- young men played female characters

-performed as a company

- each actor learned many roles

Comedy:

Introduction and Purposes of Comedy

- our basic instincts

- survival of the underdog

- balance, faith in the future, renewal, hope

- often portrays young vs. old and individial vs. society

Comedy as a Serious Business

- characters take themselves too seriously

- people acting out of place

- comedy vs. "social corrective" (how you should behave)

-good vs. bad behavior

Tools of Comedy

- repetition

- mistaken identity

- exaggeration

- violence

- scatology

Tools of Comedy:

Repetition

"rule of threes"

things that come in groups of 3 seem funnier

Tools of Comedy:

Scatology

body humor

(i.e. sex jokes/fart jokes)

Comedic Character Types

-buffoon

- clown

-dupe

- rascal

-scoundrel

Comedic Character Types:

Buffoon

dumb and loveable

(i.e. Homer Simpson)

Comedic Character Types:

Clown

makes fool of himself

actually the smartest one

Comedic Character Types:

Dupe

picked on and tricked by others

Comedic Character Types:

Rascal

not viscious but mischievious

(i.e. Bart Simpson)

Comedic Character Type:

Scoundrel

viscious and threatening

Branches of Comedy

- Farce

- Satire

- Tragicomedy

Brances of Comedy:

Farce

- extreme physical humor

- action over thought

- slapstick

(people getting slapped, sounds loud & realistic to audience)

Branches of Comedy:

Satire

- extreme intellectual humor

-wit, wordplay, parody

-exposes hypocrisy, vice

-Society's safety value

 ( examples: The Colbert Report, SNL)

Society's Safety Value

way to say things we have been thinking, but couldn't say

Branches of Comedy:

Tragicomedy

- a funny and sad at the same time

- a serious play with a happy ending

- "Dark Comedy"

The Function of the Director

- to provide a unified vision for the play

- to communicate the vision to the audence through production choices

The Director's Preparation

- approaches the text

- conducts research

- creates a concept/approach

The Director's Preparation:

Approaches the Text

-starts with the text and asks:

what was the playwright trying to say?

what might it mean for audiences today?

The Director's Preparation:

Conducts Research

-historical context/historical figures

- critical: what do reviews say

- biographical: looking at the life of the playwright of any historical figures

-literary: looking at the script as a piece of literature

The Director's Approach:

Creates a Concept/Approach

The director's concept

and

infinite variations

The Director's Preparation:

The Director's Concept

aka the production concept

a central idea that unigies all elements of the production to make it unique

The Director's Preparation:

Infinite Variations

- emphasizes themes/ideas

-important words, phrase, or image

- reset the play in a different time/location

- small adaptations but not rewriting

- concept affects everything!

The Director in Rehearsal:

Making the Concept Live and Breathe

- coaching (encouraging)

- experimenting (try different ways)

- create environment 

The Director's Tools

picturization

stage movement

stage business

line-reading

emotional key

tempo & rhythm

The Director's Tools:

Picturization

- create "still pictures"

- what does it look like to the audience

- reveal character / relationships

The Director's Tools:

Stage Movement

- movement and action tell the story 

- almost like a choreographer

The Director's Tools:

Stage Business

small gestures

use of props

reveal character

The Director's Tools:

Line-Reading

how the lines are spoken

emphasis, meaning, delivery, tone

The Director's Tools:

Emotional Key

Intensity of emotion

scale of emotion (small vs large theatre)

suppression of emotion

The Director's Tools:

Tempo & Rhythm

 rate of speech and movement

pause in speech and action

Origins of Early Realism

advances in science, industrial revolution 

(realism in photography, novels, paintings)

playwrights, directors decided to be "scientific" or realistic

What is Realism?

stage is made to resemble observable everyday life

Realism on Stage

typical use of proscium stages-- audiences on one side

- to show the ordinary rather the the extraordinary

-protagonist = common person

Important Early Realists

Henrik Ibsen

Constantin Stanislavsky & Moscow Art Theatre

Important Early Realists:

Henrik Ibsen

- "father of realism"

- used realistic dialogue

- used characters from the middle class

Important Early Realists:

Constantin Stanislavsky & Moscow Art Theatre

- Director that shaped modern acting

- ensemble- based

- characters' psychology

Other Forms of Realism

naturalism

Kitchen Sink Realism

Realism in America

Magic Realism

Other Forms of Realism:

Naturalism

- extreme early realism

- attempts to create perfect illusion of reality

- influence of Darwinism (heredity/ soc. env.)

- Emile Zole and Andre Antoine

Emile Zola

used a scientific approach to the world 

he was a realist-- observed people to recreate it in his novels

representational acting style

naturalistic use of space

created "fourth wall"

Other Forms of Realism:

Kitchen Sink Realism

British style of realism, 1950s-1960s

depicts working class struggles

often set in industrial cities

"look back in Anger" was one of the first

Other Forms of Realism:

Realism in America

showing family stuggles

characters are struggling with identity, tragedy

exploring roles of men & women

wrestling with the American Dream

Other Forms of Realism:

Magic Realism

abide by conventions of realism

employ fantasy elements ghosts, supernatural, myth

use of fantasy to comment on reality

August Wilson

American playwright

often uses magic realism

heavy use of music

focuses on hometowrn of Pittsburgh

known for Pittsburgh Century Cycle

ten plays about African Americans

The Century Cycle

Theatre and Race:

How have various identities been treated by American theatre?

positive and negative images

"melting pot" difficult work of creating

Theatre and Race:

What 3 things can theatre do with identity?

1. reflect a culture's view of a group

2. reinforce a particular view of a group

3. remake a culture's understanding of a group

Theatre and Race:

Roots on Sources

African performance

Adaptation of European Theatre

Blackface minstelsy

Theatre and Race:

African Performance

- came to America with slaves

- brought: storytelling, song, dance, and joke-telling

- performed for black & white audiences

- basis for jazz, ragtime, rock, and tap dance

Theatre and Race:

Adaptation of European Theatre

- African Grove Playhouse-- William Henry Brown

staged Shakespeare

Theatre and Race:

What was the first play by an African-American?

King Shotaway

about a rebellion in Haiti and modeled on Shakespearian tragedy

Theatre and Race:

Ira Aldridge

famous African-American actor

moved back to Europe and was very famous there

Theatre and Race:

Blackface Minstrelsy

- started with the song "Jump Him Crow" by T.D. Rice

-white performers who painted their faces black and acted as slaves 

-white men put on black cork

-performed songs, skits, monologues

Minstrel Show

a variety show

Racial Caricature

thick accent, "lazy negroes"

Theatre and Race:

What other racial identities parodied in minstrel shows?

Germans

Polish

Irish

Resistance and Remaking:

The Black Musical

- invented by the black community

- popular with all audiences

- "A Trip to Coontown" by Cole & Johnson

- Black character in white face-- turning the tables

Resistance and Remaking:

Reawakening and Renaissance

Harlem Renaissance 1920s and 1930s

Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston wrote plays that explored America's racial hybridity

Celebrated Black Culture

Resistance and Reawakening:

Shuffle Along

(1921)

important early black musical

Resistance and Reawakening:

The Black Arts Movement

(1950s-1970s)

Raisin in the Sun

and

Dutchman 

Resistance and Reawakening:

Raisin in the Sun

- written by Lorraine Hansberry

- youngest person to present a play on Broadway

-family problems complicated by race 

-reconciliation

Resistance and Reawakening:

Dutchman

- Written by Amiri Baraka in 1964

-Questions how whites & blacks stereotype each other

- focus on injustice and racism

-theatre as a weapon

Synthesis:

August Wilson

-son of German father and black mother

- felt his "between-ness"

- uses European tradition of realism + politics of Amiri Baraka

- argued for theatres dedicated to produce plays by African-Americans

- argued against color-bling casting

Synthesis:

Color-Blind Casting

Race isn't a consideration when casting. Only abilities are considerred

Communal Response

actors will respond to the overall response 

of the audience

Are the audience members passive observers?

No, they are active participants

The audience _____ & _____

fills in the blanks & provides a response

How does the audience make demands?

-vote with attention & $$$

- demands ultimately decide what is performed

- audiences can and will change their minds

Empathy

audience should feel for the characters

Pro of empathetic audience

they care about the characters or situation

Con of empathetic audience

absolute absorption

(can't differentiate between reality and fantasy)

Seperation/Alienation

the audience should think about the characters critically

Brecht's Epic Theatre

denied the audience emotional attachment to the characters

Pro of seperation of audience

critical & intellectual engagement

Con of separation of audience

audience is dispassionate

Aesthetic Distance

Separation needed to perceive & appreciate a work of art

- This is the happy medium. Suspends disbelief, not taste or judgement

A critically engaged audience: 

(3)

1. assume everything was a choice

2. analyze what they see

3. reserve judgement until the end

Theatre Critics

- review, criticize, and recommend shows

- serve as a stand-in for the audience

- sometimes controversial

Why is the topic of critics controversial? 

artists argue critics have too much power to make or break a show

How are some critics different from others?

some are more descriptive, and let the audience decide. Some make strong judgements about which plays will be successful