1 / 10

HISTORY OF THEATRE: The Rise of Modern Theatre

HISTORY OF THEATRE: The Rise of Modern Theatre. Wayne Davidson M.Ed Theatre Arts Director Da Vinci School for Science and the Arts. Lesson Objectives. To consider some of the major influences on Modern Theatre To understand the origins of naturalistic theatre

stillman
Download Presentation

HISTORY OF THEATRE: The Rise of Modern Theatre

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. HISTORY OF THEATRE:The Rise of Modern Theatre Wayne Davidson M.Ed Theatre Arts Director Da Vinci School for Science and the Arts

  2. Lesson Objectives • To consider some of the major influences on Modern Theatre • To understand the origins of naturalistic theatre • To experiment practically with a variety of styles

  3. Starter( 5 mins) • Brainstorm in pairs everything you know about the following types of theatre: • Melodrama • Farce • Naturalism

  4. 19thCentury Theatre • The main types of theatre during the later part of the 19th Century were: • Melodrama • Farce • Main characteristics of melodrama • Stock (Typical) characters • Stock storylines • An exaggerated acting style (grand gestures, dramatic voices and emotions)

  5. Main characteristics of Farce Slapstick style of comedy Stock storylines Stereotypical characters Emphasis on action rather than dialogue Farce

  6. Naturalism/Realism • Towards the end of the 19th Century, there was a reaction to the popular styles of theatre (melodrama and farce) across Europe. • These practitioners wanted to create ‘real’ Drama dealing with everyday life and real issues • They also wanted to create staging techniques that reflected this style. This included settings, props, lighting etc that reflected real places instead of painted on backdrops and fake props • Their innovative plays and staging techniques were not initially well received by a British audience who were used to light hearted escapist drama

  7. KEY PEOPLE • Henrik Ibsen (Norway) • ‘A Doll’s House’ • Anton Chekhov (Russia) • ‘The Cherry Orchard’ • August Strindberg (Germany) ‘Miss Julie’ • Konstantin Stanislavski (Russia) practitioner, director, Actor Anton Checkov Henrik Ibsen Konstantin Stanislavski August Strindberg

  8. Konstantin STANISLAVSKI • An actor who was frustrated by what he considered to be ‘mechanical acting’ – a performance which was learned by the actor and repeated night after night • He believed that an actor needed to ‘live’ the role in order to keep his/her performance fresh and spontaneous • Developed a system of training for the actor and for rehearsing a production. • Believed that the creation of a role should be actor led and not director led • Many of his techniques are still used for training actors today

  9. PRACTICAL ACTIVITY • Group Work • Task 1: Create a short scene which should last approximately 5 minutes entitled “The murder of sweet Sarah and the crooked finger Mystery” using the stock characters and style of Melodrama. • Task 2. Adapt this scene in the style of modern Naturalism . This scene should last 5 minutes. • Perform the work in both styles

  10. PLENARY • Discussion Question: • What have you learned today about modern theatre and its influences? • What are the major differences between early 20th century theatre and theatre of today? • What is your view of modern theatre today in relation to theatre through history ? • What influences still survive today?

More Related