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take responsibility for your actions, despair = lack of hope
God is dead, humans have no meaning, pieces get their point across in form as well as text
Sartre was a big advocate |
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| existentialism, no exit is about a valet leading 2 women and a man into a room that’s supposed to be hell, Victorian style, “hell is other people”, realize they’re there to torture everyone |
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| Eugene Ionesco, absurd=out of harmony with reason, cyclical, incoherent, inconsistent characters, essence over imitation, endless plot, spare/telegraphic dialogue, a post-apocalyptic landscape, a space that evokes the idea of the play i.e. Picasso, Pollack – not a clear picture but an essence, anti-literary as abstract art is anti-pictorial |
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| created term “theatre of the absurd” –describe sense of senseless, abandon rationality |
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| Samuel Beckett/Waiting for Godot |
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| four leaves indicate progression-headed towards spring, time passes rapidly, during beating of Lucky, play seems slower when talking about boots, time gets messed with by theatrical devices, Christian references, asks boy: You do see us? Questioning existence, my existence dependent on what people think of you? Vladimir changes from Act 1 to Act 2, tell him you saw us/saw me, Samuel Beckett is Irish, lived in France, Krapp’s Last Tape |
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| Eugene Ionesco/The Bald Soprano |
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| becomes more abstract through play, Martins -> recognition and discovery, search for identity, leads to climactic moment and hug, Aristotle says characters have to be consistent, deductive reasoning – piecing things together to identify, representational-then Mary addresses audience, ionesco’s fascination of puppet theatre, watching puppets-they’re controlled by outer force, layers social critique with roles with metaphysical, fireman’s stories-illogical, what is a story? Causality, we bawk because of causality, “Bald soprano” was accident by actor – Ionesco kept it, not just nonsense – there is an idea, end-peaks into chaos, everyone has a syllable at end, he calls this an anti-play, Aristotelian structure in play-martins-entire play, Ionesco born in Romania, raised in Paris: speaks French, returns to Romania:learns Romanian: teaches French in high school, back in Paris at Sorbonne, ph.d candidate re Baudelaire, while working at legal publishing firm in Paris, learns English |
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Born in Rzeszow, Poland before Nazi invasion of 1939
1951: studies Stanislavski and Myerhold and Brecht; later Noh drama and Beijing opera
1959: director of Polish Laboratory Theatre
1962-67: Akropolis
1969: NYC production
didactic quality
• Poor Theatre – Grotowski’s theatre as a lab, less focus on set pieces-more connection w/ audience and actortheatre as a lab (viewed it as an experiment), poor theatre (focuses on the relationship w/ audience, not sets and costumes ) Akropolis-the essence of the Holocaust |
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Allan Kaprow’s 18 happenings in 6 parts
Michael Kirby: It is not true that things just happen-more structure (confluence-rivers coming together)
Jackson Pollack-action painting
Collage- bits and pieces from different media put together on one canvas or box
Putting distinctly different art together in one collection
Antonin Artaud-french director-theatre of cruelty
Attack, bombard the audience’s senses-bombard all of them
Try to shake you out of your pictoral reality
Connect with you on a different plane
Ex. Flash mob
It’s everywhere-no separation between performing space
Must be preplanned according to Kirby
Should be performed only once
Shouldn’t last for a designated time
Audience should be eliminated entirely but not excluded
-you do it if no one shows up |
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| • Poor Theatre – Grotowski’s theatre as a lab, less focus on set pieces-more connection w/ audience and actor |
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| ed the term environmental theatre in the 1960s, the performance group (you do the play where its set) would perform in a remodeled garage called the performance garage. Did not think script sacred or even essential. Allows improvisation, Autere-author and director |
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reshape the space and relationship between audience and performer, conform space to ideas/shape of play
Plays as text: subject to change
Auteur director=author director ex. Woody Allen
Writing and directing |
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| son or prostitute, jail time, foreign legion, openly gay, The Maids (1947) black actors in white face, role reversal- ppl cast in social roles and they’re questioned by play itself. why are these people in charge or viewed as inferior). |
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| “Comedy of Menace”, the pinter pause-interested in language->subtext – pause-not finding words/inarticulate, won Nobel Prize – used speech to critique war in Iraq, presence in status quo world throws off equilibrium, he writes love triangle in reverse in play, “Betrayal” – who knows what and when do they know it. Feels no need to explain why something happened, existence within the world of the play should be sufficient. Many plays fit realism but often feature one absurdist character |
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| Comedy is used during a dangerous situation to cause audiences to draw judgments about a particular character or communication. One specific example from The Birthday Party is a character joking around about being in a menacing situation while cleaning his gun to deal with the threat. The goal of such works is to generate tension around the situation or to alter the views of an audience about a particular character; after all, someone joking while planning to shoot another person is generally not a trustworthy person. |
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Phase 1 Poetic Dramas
Phase 2 Artaud
Phase 3 Politics
Phase 4 Revival
The Living Theatre is an American theatre company founded in 1947 and based in New York City. It is the oldest experimental theatre group still existing in the U.S. For most of its history it was led by its founders, actress Judith Malina and painter/poet Julian Beck. From its conception, The Living Theatre was dedicated to transforming the organization of power within society from a competitive, hierarchical structure to cooperative and communal expression. The troupe attempts to do so by counteracting complacency in the audience through direct spectacle. They oppose the commercial orientation of Broadway productions and have contributed to the off-Broadway theater movement in New York City, staging poetic dramas |
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| • Judith Malina/Julian Beck |
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| Founded the living theatre. From its conception, The Living Theatre was dedicated to transforming the organization of power within society from a competitive, hierarchical structure to cooperative and communal expression. The troupe attempts to do so by counteracting complacency in the audience through direct spectacle. They oppose the commercial orientation of Broadway productions and have contributed to the off-Broadway theater movement in New York City, staging poetic dramas |
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| 4 1/2 hour show-Long Day’s Journey into night, 1912-takes sleeping pills→failed suicide, starts writing in 1913, provincetown-works with Bohemians, Pulitzer-Beyond the Horizon (1920)-career took off, 1920-23 father, mother, brother die, wrote Exorcism about his suicide→tried to destroy it-but found last year, experimental years in 1920s-interesetd in inner monologue, 1939-1944 Diversion: The Iceman Cometh-about his life in flop house (suicide)-lack of hope, Long Day’s Journey into Night-about his family-wanted released after family dead so no shame of Morphine addiction, A Moon for the Misbegotten |
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(1911-1983) Columbus, Mississippi, st. louis, Missouri, Not About Nightingales (1938)-found in’99 – set in a prison-about riot altercation, Group Theatre (award-1939) – award for playwrights given to him-got agent, wrote Battle of Angels-bombed-didn’t make it to NYC, Battle of Angels (Boston-1940), Hollywood (1943)-drafted The Glass Menagerie in Hollywood, He was always rewriting his work,
The Glass Menagerie-1945
-inspired by his sister’s lobotomy and his leaving his family-his homage to his sister
A Streetcar Named Desire-1947 (Pulitzer Prize)
The Rose Tattoo-1950
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof – 1954 (Pulitzer Prize)
Plays in 1950s made him great American playwright. Say he was openly gay-came to a gay bar in Lexington
Rel. with Frank Merlo-he was stable to fight alcoholism-to craft his plays. Frank died in 1960s-Williams’ career declined
New works being found→more experimental→ probably produced in next 15 years
He died in hotel room – drunk and cracked open aspirin bottle with mouth and cap got lodged in throat 1983 |
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(1915-2005)
Both had great hay days-then fell off map til revivals – Miller had happier ending
Child of great depression
Always said huge crisis was depression-his father’s thriving manufacturing business was lost
Realized wanted to be a playwright early
Applied to U of M, worked for year, graduated and moved to NY, quickly gets Broadway show and it flops
He writes “All My Sons” –his rise, told after WW2 – father runs factory-makes parts faulty (engine parts) – pilots have died-planes going down, one son wurvived a plane accident – comes to discussion of son and mother blaming father
Liked Ibsen-social realism
His Pulitzer prize is Death of a Salesman – head provider loses job, older son tries to make a name for himself, post depression, father wants to kill himself in basement (never know what he sells), wrecks car for life insurance-dies, play moves back and forth in time, original title was Inside His Head, Willie suffering from Alzheimers
Core-moral tale-Biff was supposed to get football test-he visited his father in Boston and saw their affair, he never told anyone about it, Neighboring family is successful
The Great American play
Does it fall into tragedy? Doesn’t involve great man with great fall according to Aristotle, it is a low man
Miller wrote argument: tragedy for common man-not a great man but great individual within family
He writes The Crucible (1953) in McCarthy era-parallel between communism and witchhunts in 1680s
Incident at Vichy-went after Nazis-allowing Jews to leave country
1955 married Marilyn Monroe
1956 HUAC testimony (communist in 1930s)
lived in 60s and 70s where news plays not being produced
wrote tv movie – Playing for Time- ppl kept alive in camps because they played music for Nazis
revival of his play After the Fall-denied it’s about Marilyn, but about star no longer famous-alcohol and drugs
Miller got standing O 6 months before death |
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(where Herman met Nancy)
Become member for 7 years
Your plays can be read there
Paula Vogel (How I Learned to Drive) – was in Herman’s class – she won Pulitzer prize |
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| Quintero co-founded the Circle in the Square Theatre in Greenwich Village with Theodore Mann in 1951; this is regarded as the birth of Off-Broadway theatre. José Benjamin Quintero (15 October 1924 – 26 February 1999) was a Panamanian theatre director, producer and pedagogue best known for his interpretations of the works of Eugene O'Neill. |
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| Circle in the Square Theatre |
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| Art director-Jose Quintero (1924-1999) revived The Iceman ComethJosé Benjamin Quintero (15 October 1924 – 26 February 1999) was a Panamanian theatre director, producer and pedagogue best known for his interpretations of the works of Eugene O'Neill. |
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(1921-1959) began creating theater lower east side → Shakespeare in the park
Robert Moses (1888-1981)
Responsible for constructing modern NYC
In charge of Central Park-opposed Papp from moving trucks into do theater
Jo Papp got support from wealthy donors and ppl and was given permission to build theater |
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library that Jo Papp turned into The Public Theatre
One big off broadway company
Transferred many shows to Broadway-could afford more shows |
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| • Ellen Stewart – created La Mama Experimental Theatre |
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| LaMama Experimental Theatre |
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Avant Garde
International Symposium for directors and playwrights
Sam Shepherd came through |
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Alley-Houston
Arena Stage-DC
Guthrie-Minneapolis
Long Wharf-New Haven
Mark Japer Forum
ATL
Federal Theatre Project companies |
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little theatre companies-small community theatres
Started by Quintero
The Little Theatre companies (show theatre around country)
Provincetown Playhouse (was a little theatre – Eugene O’Neill went)
The Group Theatre (1930s-all stars)
Federal Theatre Project Companies (regional theatres outside major cities for theatre-theatre started east coast in 19th century across country but in large cities-now more have) |
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| Lorraine Hansberry/Raisin in the Sun |
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moved into an all white community and was firebombed, inspired play
died of cancer at 34
wrote Raisin
Raisin tells the story of a african american family and their decision to move into an all white neighborhood |
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Founded the negro ensemble company
friend of lorraine hansberry |
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| A theater concentrating primarily on themes of Negro life, but also resilient enough to incorporate and interpret the best of world drama - whatever the source. |
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| The Slave, The Toilet, Slave Ship, Founder of Black Arts Rep Theatre in Harlem |
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| Military brat, has a holly wood acting career, Kicking a Dead Horse, Curse of the Starving Class, Rock N Roll |
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Mametese: Excessive cussing
great economic use of words
Oleanna, Glengarry Glen Ross (pulitzer), Speed the Plow |
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| kinetics: settings that change/flow |
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| : integration of performance and projection |
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| Caryl Churchill/Top Girls |
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Story of woman who take on characteristics of the men that oppress them
Top Girls, Mad Forest, Plays of the 60s
Mad Forest-Doc style theatre, went to romania to write
Feminist and very political |
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Nigerian, Activist Playwright, Nobel Prize for Lit, wrote Death and the Kings Horseman, was exiled, convicted, returned
e: the ritual suicide of the horseman of an important chief was prevented by the intervention of the colonial authorities In addition to the British intervention, Soyinka calls the horseman's own conviction toward suicide into question, posing a problem that throws off the community's balance.
Deals with Colonialism |
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| Yukio Mishima/Damask Drum |
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Samurai Life, poet novelist playwright
focused on sexuality, politics, war, committed seppaku (disembowled self)
story of old janitor who falls in love with woman who does not love him back. Kills himself, and she still cannot hear him |
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| new theatre, realism, chekhov influenced |
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Avant Garde Theatre
SITI company, Grotowski Brooks influenced, foot stomping, groundedness with floor, stylized leg movements |
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Richard Rodgers (1902-1979) music
Oscar Hammerstein II (1895-1960) book and lyrics
Oklahoma 1943, Agnes De Mille, choreographer
Carousel 1945
South Pacific 1949
The King and I 1951
The Sound of Music 1959 |
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Guys and Dolls (1950)
The King and I (1951)
The Pajama Game (1954)
Beloved Yankees (1955)
My Fair Lady (1956)
West Side Story (1957)
Gypsy (1959)
The Sound of Music (1959)
Golden Age-ish |
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Choreographer/Director
Did West Side Story |
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Started as lyricist for WSS and Gypsy
Went on to compose Funny thing happened on the way to the forum, company
Writes super hard music that I hate singing. |
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| Wrote the music to WSS, international acclaim |
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