Theatre History

1. Theatre History 1800 to the Present Part 3:

2. Romance & Realism • Romanticism • Dramatic style that established itself in the early 19th century • Emotional escape into adventure, beauty, and sentimental ideals • Started in Germany and moved to France • Realism • Appeared mid-19th century • Depicts a selected view of real life • Henrik Ibsen • Father of realism • His themes completely revolutionized the theatre, shocking spectators

3. Realism • Contributors • Anton Chekov • The Cherry Orchard • Konstantin Stanislavski • Great Russian director • Contributed with his experimental Moscow Art Theatre • Trained actors in a technique of realistic acting • George Bernard Shaw • English • Satire comedy • Said to be prolific • Pygmalion

4. Realism & Romance • Many authors continued to write noteworthy romantic plays • Symbolic or mystical • Oscar Wilde • The Importance of Being Earnest

5. American Theatre pre 19th Century • Theatre was regarded as “sinful” • Theatre in America was sparse • New York colony passed an act in 1709 forbidding plays • Theatre faced better in the Virginia colony • College students performed a play in 1702 • First playhouse in America was build in Williamsburg in 1716 • First American play worthy of consideration was The Contrast by Royal Tyler in 1787.

6. American Theatre in the 19th century • American theatre blossomed in America during the 19th century • Showboat entertainment • Playhouses were built in major American cities • Followed the new trend of smaller auditoriums, narrow aprons, box settings, and incandescent lighting • Investments began to be made in actor training • Edwin Booth (1833-1893) • Considered to America’s best actor • Played Hamlet 100 nights • Touring shows did great business; more than 50 years theatre companies toured the country

7. American Theatre in the 19th century • Increased railroad rates brought a decline in traveling show business • Long-run performances on Broadway began • New York City became the theatrical center for the US • Theatre became BIG BUSINESS • Three major types of native 19th century American Theatre • Minstrel shows • Vaudeville • Melodramas

8. 19th century American Theatre • Minstrel shows • Performed in black face • Featured African-American songs and jokes • Exceptionally popular throughout America and England • Vaudeville • Variety show featuring everything: trained seals, singers, acrobats, jugglers, dancers, comedians, and animal acts • Family show • Melodrama • Sentimental theatre that really thrived during this time • “the plight of the poverty-stricken heroines in the clutches of evil villains”

9. Theatre in the 20th century & beyond • Impressionistic theatre • New stagecraft methods that revolutionized the theatre at the beginning of the 20th century • Used color and line to evoke the mood of a place rather than realistic painting • Revolving stages, projected scenery, and a variety of amazing lighting effects • Epic Theatre • Developed by Bertolt Brecht in Germany • Encourage audience members to think critically and to promote social reform through political actions • Broke the realistic illusion and stressed theatricality • Inserted narration and songs between episodic scenes • Stage light units visible to the audience • Encouraged societal changes

10. Post-War Drama & the Absurdists • Known as the time of the “angry young men” • Post WWII • Absurdism • Avant-garde theatre • Argue that all life is meaningless • Characters speak and act at random with not societal or theatrical rules • Rejected traditional plot lines • Life ruled by chance • Theatre of the Absurd proponent includes Samuel Beckett, who wrote on themes of the sense of loneliness and alienation that results when people face the task of establishing real communication with one another.

11. The American Scene • The US began developing its own unique theatre • Eugene O’Neill • The leading American dramatist in the first part of the 20th century • Realistic and expressionistic plays • Dealing with difficult psychological truths • Mastered the one-act form and then turned to longer scripts • Thornton Wilder • Our Town • Depicts American small-town life in the early 1900s and shows eternal patterns of human existence

12. The American Scene • Tennessee Williams • Southern characters that were often neurotic and nearly always desperate • Unique form of poetic realism • Universal truths • The Glass Menagerie, A Streetcar Named Desire • Arthur Miller • Wrote of the dilemma of American families and the tragedy of common citizens • Death of a salesman • Neil Simon • Remains one of the world’s most popular writers of comedy • Combines wisecracks and barbed wit with family realism and serious themes

13. American Scene • African-American theatre hs been enriched by • Lorraine Hansberry • A Raisin in the Sun • August Wilson • A history of the black America with a cycle of plays • Charles Fuller • A Solder's Play • Suzan-Lori Parks • Vibrant language • Overtly political themes • Pulitzer Prize winner in 2002

14. Beyond Broadway • Today the theatre is alive with activity • Broadway • The hub of professional theatre • Rising costs have kept producers away from newer more risky ventures • Most shows are comedies or musicals • Mass appeal • Ensure commercial hit status • New plays have had to find homes elsewhere • Off Broadway • Welcomes new names & plays • Production is less expensive- less risk to investors • Allows for experimental productions; can become hits and move to Broadway

15. Beyond Broadway • Professional theatre outside of New York City • Regional theatres were established during the 1960s in many major cities • Non professional community theatre • Usually perform New York successes several years after original run • Involve townspeople