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American Theatre

American Theatre. By Ä nna Williams. Drama. Most difficult writing style to learn. The Great White Way. NY Theatres. Most famous group of American theatres – Broadway 4 Groups Broadway Off Broadway Off-off Broadway Regional. Broadway.

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American Theatre

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  1. American Theatre By Änna Williams

  2. Drama Most difficult writing style to learn

  3. The Great White Way

  4. NY Theatres • Most famous group of American theatres – Broadway • 4 Groups • Broadway • Off Broadway • Off-off Broadway • Regional

  5. Broadway Group of NY theatres on or near Broadway in Manhattan More than 30 theatres Ea. Seat more than 800 people

  6. Off Broadway Established in 50’s Beyond Broadway district Seat less than 300 people More experimental Cheaper

  7. Off-off Broadway Group of 125 theatres Often not-for-profit Even more experimental

  8. Regional Dramatic productions, especially yr-rd professional, outside NY City

  9. I’d like to thank all the “little people” • Small theatres produced any play, in any style, that commercial theatre won’t touch • Start new movements (realistic & absurd) • Against commercial theatre

  10. Types of Drama

  11. Comedy • The main character overcomes major conflict & makes it humorous • Happy ending • Ex: Neil Simon’s The Odd Couple (1965)

  12. Tragedy • Main character never overcomes major conflict • Sad ending • Ex: Dale Wasserman’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (2001)

  13. * Musicals * • Richard Rogers & Oscar Hammerstein • Collaborated on 10 musicals • Greatest achievement – uniting music & drama so songs advance plot & reveal characters • Hits include: • Oklahoma! (1943; Pulitzer) • South Pacific (1949; Pulitzer 1950) • Carousel (1945) • The King and I (1951) • The Sound of Music (1959)

  14. Realistic Drama “fourth wall” – wall removed so we can see the action (percenium stage)

  15. Eugene O’Neill • 1st & most important figure in American drama • Put realistic drama on the map • 1936 – Nobel Prize in Lit. • Influences: August Strinberg, Henrik Ibsen, Anton Chekov • Slice-of-life technique

  16. “People don’t go to the North Pole and fall off icebergs. They go to the office & quarrel with their wives & eat cabbage soup.” -Anton Chekhov

  17. Realism in Theatre • Seen as a revolt against crude theatricalism • Theatre goes in cycles • Realism to theatricalism & back

  18. Social Conscience Playwrights Miller & Williams

  19. Tennessee Williams (1911-1983) • Playwright of our souls • Writing – delicate, sensuous, lush imagery, evocative rythms • Characters – often women/lost laides drowning in their own neuroses • Theatricalized realism w/ “music in the wings” or symbolic props

  20. Expressionist Drama(Theatre of the Absurd) Revelation of characters’ interior consciousness w/o reference to logical sequence of events

  21. Beckett, Ionesco, & Albee • Samuel Beckett & Eugene Ionesco founders • Edward Albee – most significant absurdist in U.S. • Unsympathetic examinations of the modern condition • Mix of theatricalism & biting dialogue • Plays static • Most one act • Ex: Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot (1954)

  22. Theatre can now be simply a stage & an audience

  23. The End Thanks to: “American Drama”. Elements of Literature, 5th Course. Teacher’s Edition. Holt, Rhinehart, Winston. 2000. Pgs. 818-824 “Edward Albee”. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. September 9, 2007. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Albee “Waiting for Godot”. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. September 9, 2007. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waiting_for_Godot “Tennessee Williams”. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. September 9, 2007. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tennessee_Williams

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