Notes.xlsx

Sheet1 What is theatre? Communications, building, collaboration, live, storytelling, conflict and resolution, entertainment, experience, field of study, easy major, course, mirror, transfer of information, art, social commentary, timeless, learning, collection of skills, and etc. Actors, Directors, Writers, and finally Audience 2000 years ago plus Ysbal and Ordo FIRE ? Neanderthal Thag, Durf, (Boga), Gaw, Yasal, and Airh, Teig SABRE-TOOTHED TIGER ? Cro-Magnons null 10 Traits of theatre We value because we are human 1. Live event rock, religious 2. Actors no actors no action 3. Audience crowd rehearse 4. Particular place to go where 5. Particular time at what time 6. Present tense live ? don? know what happens next 7. Pre-determined structure acts, scenes, intermission 8. Understood conventions-rules of the game of theatre curtain call, SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE 19 C English poet and critic willing suspension of disbelief, 4th wall, light down, asides, 9. Communication thru all senses see, touch, hear, feel (empathy), taste, smell 10. A lasting impact Shakespeare, Chekhov, Shaw, O?Neill, Miller, Williams, Wilson (the plays of these playwrights are said to be important) null Understood conventions rules of the game of theatre, curtain call, SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE 19 C English poet and critic willing suspension of disbelief, 4th wall, light down, asides, null null A lasting impact Shakespeare, Chekhov, Shaw, O?Neill, Miller, Williams, Wilson (the plays of these playwrights are said to be important) null null null Aristotle 384-322 BC ? so many essays one in particular ? POETICS the study of literary expression, essay analyzing the form of theatre, primary purpose of theatre is pleasure and the greatest pleasure is Greatest thinker of antiquity, (Master of Those Who Know, says Dante)learning the truth null null null Three Unities Action, time, place. null null null 6 elements 1. Plot / story (life and soul of the drama) 2. Characters ? agents of action 3. Thought ? dianoia, process of thought, central idea, theme, message 4. Diction ? assembly of words, vocabulary, word choice 5. Music ? choral, voice, verse, etc. 6. Spectacle ? null null null null null null null null null null null null Genres how does the playwright feel? And how does the play make you feel? 1. Comedy ? 1. high (comedy of manners), 2. domestic (most-Friends, Seinfeld), 3. low FUNNY (Animal House, Dumb and Dumber) 2. Farce ? unbelievable things happen REALLY FUNNY (cartoons-Road Runner, NOISES OFF) 3. Drama ? from French DRAME central character struggles for something SAD (Streetcar, Fences, Glass Menagerie) 4. Tragedy ? touches you, cathartic, feel empathy & participate in others feeling CLEANSED, PURGED, EXHILERATED 5. Melodrama ? good vs. evil, most TV shows SATISFIED sympathetic (good guys win) 6. Tragic-comedy ? feel FRUSTRATED (20th C.) WHO?S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF? null null Theatrical Styles All theatre imitates reality. 6 different styles how the artist imitates reality. 6 styles into 3 related pairs 6 different perceptions of truth plays can have a style actors can have a style Objective, Subjective, Idealized null Objective apparent reality or exact replication, scientific eye Philosophical basis of Realism is Determinism 3 Q of 19 C people are determined by forces beyond our control and are a product of environment and genetic inheritance. Genes of natural parents and behavior of socio-economic circumstances Logic and Science not preordained by God, not free will and can make ourselves into whatever we want. a. Realism / Naturalism most TV shows and movies IBSEN ? A Doll House - real looking house b. Theatricalism ? Our Town, Truman Show, Life in the Theatre ? house with house sign flashing on it null Subjective the artists slant and how they feel, angry, mad, disillusioned a. Expressionism ? Freud, Sigmund, dreams Strindberg, dream plays late 19 C then German playwrights The Visit, The Killer No Exit WWI gov?t=big machine Names of what people do not real names ? distorted scary house with severe angles b. Surrealism ? yrs. after WWI France truth, beautiful, peaceful, lyrical, funny Dali and his watches Alice in Wonderland ? house with tongue hanging out and playful looking house null   Idealized a. Classicism 5 C BC belief we can learn the truth if we use our power of reason, moderation in all things, balance, reject excess, symmetry, proportion, use intellect and reason All things Greek and Roman usually. ? house with columns, symmetry, and perfectly proportioned b. Romanticism truth is shown in what perfection is and how it should be, emotion involved Man of La Mancha, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter ? an ornate house with spires and towers and extra roof parts null Goethe ? German playwright and critic a. What was the artist trying to do? b. Did he succeed? c. Was it worth the doing? null Writing about theatre: 1. Scholar ? lots of text with research and lots of time and will back up his work 2. Reviewer ? shorter and an opinion 3. Critic ? has more time and lots of text, footnotes, etc. 4. Student ? usually longer than a review but shorter time than scholars and critics null PLAYWRIGHT constructs as in shipwright, not playwrite null 3 Common Structures 1. Linear? straight line chronological beginning middle end 3 unities MOST 2. Cinematic ? film flashback out of sequence DEATH OF A SALESMAN 3. Contextual ? rare, each scene independent - revues null Tools of the playwright 1. Dialogue 2. Stage directions 3. Characters 4. Actions null MY BIG FAT CHINESE WEDDING-performed by English Language Institute (ELI) null THE SEAGULL written by Anton Chekhov also known as the master of subtext Mother-Arcadina Trepleff, Son-Constantine Trepleff, Uncle to Constantine-Peter Sorin, Girlfriend to Constantine-Nina Zaryechny, Steward to Sorin?s estate-Ilya Shamreyeff, Ilya?s wife-Pauline Andreyevna, Ilya?s daughter-Masha, Lover to Arcadina-Boris Trigorin, the Doctor-Eugene Dorn, a Schoolmaster-Semyon Medvedenko, Laborer-Yacov, cook, housemaids. null Place: Sorin?s country place null Time Between 3rd and 4th Acts, two years elapse null Themes Misplaced values, unrequited love, and unrealistic needs. null Chekhov wrote as a comedy and first production was a failure. The next production was a success at the Moscow Art Theatre directed by Constantine Stanislavski.