UNIT-6
Recent trends in staging: traditional vs non-traditional:
Regietheater. Deconstructionist theatre. Minimalist staging. Baz Luhrmann
Regietheater (German for director’s theater) is the modern practice of allowing a director freedom in devising the way a given opera or play is staged so that the creator’s original, specific intentions or stage directions (where supplied) can be changed, together with major elements of geographical location, chronological situation, casting and plot. Typically such changes may be made to point a particular political point or modern parallels which may be remote from traditional interpretations.
Examples found in Regietheater productions may include some or all of the following:
· Relocating the story from the original location to a more modern period (including setting in a totalitarian regime)
· Modifications to the story from the original script
· Interpretative elements stressing the role of race/gender/class-based oppression are emphasised. In his 1976 staging of the Ring Cycle at the Bayreuth Festival, Patrice Chéreau used an updated 19th century setting that followed the interpretation of George Bernard Shaw who saw the Ring as a social commentary on the exploitation of the working class by wealthy 19th century capitalists.
· Abstraction in the set design
· An emphasis on sexuality
· Costumes that frequently mix eras and locales. Examples include the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis’s 2010 production of Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro and its 2011 Don Giovanni which portray some characters in 18th century attire and others in mid-20th century clothing.
What is Deconstruction?
Deconstruction is an approach to understanding the relationship between text and meaning. It was originated by the philosopher Jacques Derrida (1930–2004). Deconstruction involves the close reading of texts in order to demonstrate that any given text has irreconcilably contradictory meanings, rather than being a unified, logical whole. Deconstruction is not a dismantling of the structure of a text, but a demonstration that it has already dismantled itself. Its apparently solid ground is no rock but thin air.
Deconstruction was both created and has been profoundly influenced by the French philosopher Jacques Derrida. Derrida, who coined the term deconstruction, argues that in Western culture, people tend to think and express their thoughts in terms of binary oppositions (white / black, masculine / feminine, cause /effect, conscious /unconscious, presence / absence, speech writing). Derrida suggests these oppositions are hierarchies in miniature, containing one term that Western culture views as positive or superior and another considered negative or inferior, even if only slightly so. Through deconstruction, Derrida aims to erase the boundary between binary oppositions—and to do so in such a way that the hierarchy implied by the oppositions is thrown into question.
Although its ultimate aim may be to criticize Western logic, deconstruction arose as a response to structuralism and formalism. Structuralists believed that all elements of human culture, including literature, may be understood as parts of a system of signs. Derrida did not believe that structuralists could explain the laws governing human signification and thus provide the key to understanding the form and meaning of everything from an African village to Greek myth to a literary text. He also rejected the structuralist belief that texts have identifiable “centres” of meaning–a belief structuralists shared with formalists.
What is Deconstructionist Theater?
Deconstructionist theater is a term covering a wide variety of theatrical styles, determined to examine situations from a different or unusual point of view. Based on the theories of French philosopher Jacques Derrida, among others, deconstructionist theater is complicated and difficult to define as any one thing. The goal of the concept is to challenge established assumptions about a subject, but the method for doing so is a wide open field.
The theory of deconstruction as it is today was formed in the 20th century, partially as a reaction to authoritarian censorship and realism. Instead of agreeing that there is one set definition or interpretation of a concept, deconstructionist theory argues that there are no set definitions. Instead, interpretation is reached on an individual basis, as each person comes to a viewpoint from a unique background of their own experience. Because of this, not only are all interpretations equally right, they are also often entirely contradictory. Basically, any theatrical production that challenges an established concept in some way can be classed as partially deconstructive. The philosophy shows the contradictions that are inherent and accepted in deconstructionist theater, and emphasizes the importance of multiplicity of interpretation.
Deconstructionist theater is notorious for being a slippery concept. It is impossible to get a consensus from experts on what it means and what it is supposed to look like, because definitions are the very heart of what it fights against. According to some theater critics, it is the search for connection between individuals by fully realizing personal interpretation, rather than cementing down a falsely universal view by parroting it over and over.
What does minimalist mean in drama?
Minimalism is defined as a movement of the 1960s that focused on simplest form and design, particularly in the arts. An example of minimalism is a stage set with only a chair for a theatrical performance.
What is a minimalist set in Theatre?
Minimalist sets use pieces of stage furniture or props to indicate a setting or location. For example, a table and two chairs could indicate a kitchen, dining room, or even a café. The specific identity of the space is determined by the way in which the actors behave. This process is called minimal signification.
What is a minimalist style?
Minimalist fashion is defined by one major principle: keep it simple! Streamlined shapes, a small selection of colors and even a bare minimum amount of clothing in your closet. Simplicity is the key to pinpointing this style.
The great crisis of set design is that an audience usually only notices it if they dislike it. For centuries, theatre has been opulent; big settings and even larger audiences. You can’t think of the West End without productions featuring hundreds of performers and rotating stages coming to mind. With professional shows costing in the millions (Broadway’s Spider Man (2011) cost $17m, the most expensive production to date), it’s easy to see how important costume and set design are in theatre. However, is it all necessary to draw in the crowds?
UNIT 4
Elizabethan theatre:
· William Shakespeare
· Christopher Marlowe
· Ben Jonson
· Jacobean Revenge Plays.
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE AS A PLAYWRIGHT
The theatrical career
Greene’s attack is the earliest surviving mention of Shakespeare’s work in the theatre. Biographers suggest that his career may have begun any time from the mid-1580s to just before Greene’s remarks. After 1594, Shakespeare’s plays were performed only by the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, a company owned by a group of players, including Shakespeare, that soon became the leading playing company in London. After the death of Queen Elizabeth in 1603, the company was awarded a royal patent by the new King James I, and changed its name to the
King’s Men.
In 1599,
a partnership of members of the company built their own theatre on the south bank of the River Thames, which they named
the Globe.
In 1608, the partnership also took over the Blackfriars indoor theatre.
Some of Shakespeare’s plays were published in quarto editions, beginning in 1594, and by 1598, his name had become a selling point and began to appear on the title pages. Shakespeare continued to act in his own and other plays after his success as a playwright.
Actor and Playwright
By 1592, there is evidence Shakespeare earned a living as an actor and a playwright in London and possibly had several plays produced.
The September 20, 1592 edition of the Stationers’ Register (a guild publication) includes an article by London playwright Robert Greene that takes a few jabs at Shakespeare. Scholars differ on the interpretation of this criticism, but most agree that it was Greene’s way of saying Shakespeare was reaching above his rank, trying to match better known and educated playwrights like Christopher Marlowe, Thomas Nashe or Greene himself.
By 1597, Shakespeare had already written and published 15 of his 37 plays.
It was a four-day ride by horse from Stratford to London, so it’s believed that Shakespeare spent most of his time in the city writing and acting and came home once a year during the 40-day Lenten period, when the theaters were closed.
Globe Theater
By 1599, Shakespeare and his business partners built their own theater on the south bank of the Thames River, which they called the Globe Theater.
In 1605, Shakespeare purchased leases of real estate near Stratford for 440 pounds, which doubled in value and earned him 60 pounds a year. This made him an entrepreneur as well as an artist, and scholars believe these investments gave him the time to write his plays uninterrupted.
Shakespeare’s Writing Style
Shakespeare’s early plays were written in the conventional style of the day, with elaborate metaphors and rhetorical phrases that didn’t always align naturally with the story’s plot or characters. However, Shakespeare was very innovative, adapting the traditional style to his own purposes and creating a freer flow of words.
William Shakespeare’s Plays
While it’s difficult to determine the exact chronology of Shakespeare’s plays, over the course of two decades, from about 1590 to 1613,
he wrote a total of 37 plays revolving around several main themes: histories, tragedies, comedies and tragicomedies.
Early Works: Histories and Comedies
With the exception of the tragic love story Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare’s first plays were mostly histories. Henry VI (Parts I, II and III), Richard II and Henry V dramatize the destructive results of weak or corrupt rulers and have been interpreted by drama historians as Shakespeare’s way of justifying the origins of the Tudor Dynasty.
Julius Caesar portrays upheaval in Roman politics that may have resonated with viewers at a time when England’s aging monarch, Queen Elizabeth I, had no legitimate heir, thus creating the potential for future power struggles.
Shakespeare also wrote several comedies during his early period: the whimsical A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the romantic Merchant of Venice, the wit and wordplay of Much Ado About Nothing and the charming As You Like It and Twelfth Night.
Works after 1600: Tragedies and Tragicomedies
It was in Shakespeare’s later period, after 1600, that he wrote the tragedies
Hamlet, Othello, King Lear and Macbeth
. In these, Shakespeare’s characters present vivid impressions of human temperament that are timeless and universal.
Possibly the best known of these plays is Hamlet, which explores betrayal, retribution, incest and moral failure. These moral failures often drive the twists and turns of Shakespeare’s plots, destroying the hero and those he loves.
In Shakespeare’s final period, he wrote several tragicomedies. Though graver in tone than the comedies, they are not the dark tragedies of King Lear or Macbeth because they end with reconciliation and forgiveness.
When Did Shakespeare Die?
Tradition holds that Shakespeare died on his 52nd birthday, April 23, 1616, but some scholars believe this is a myth.
Did Shakespeare Write His Own Plays?
About 150 years after his death, questions arose about the authorship of Shakespeare’s plays. Skeptics questioned how anyone of such modest education could write with the intellectual perceptiveness and poetic power that is displayed in Shakespeare’s works. Over the centuries, several groups have emerged that question the authorship of Shakespeare’s plays.
However, the vast majority of Shakespearean scholars contend that Shakespeare wrote all his own plays. They point out that other playwrights of the time also had sketchy histories and came from modest backgrounds.
Literary Legacy
What seems to be true is that Shakespeare was a respected man of the dramatic arts who wrote plays and acted in some in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. But his reputation as a dramatic genius wasn’t recognized until the 19th century.
Beginning with the Romantic period of the early 1800s and continuing through the Victorian period, acclaim and reverence for Shakespeare and his work reached its height. In the 20th century, new movements in scholarship and performance have rediscovered and adopted his works.
Today, his plays are highly popular and constantly studied and reinterpreted in performances with diverse cultural and political contexts. The genius of Shakespeare’s characters and plots are that they present real human beings in a wide range of emotions and conflicts that transcend their origins in Elizabethan England.
CHRISTOPHER MARLOWE AS A PLAYWRIGHT
Who was Christopher Marlowe?
Christopher Marlowe was a poet and playwright at the forefront of the 16th-century dramatic renaissance. While Christopher Marlowe’s literary career lasted less than six years, and his life only 29 years, his achievements, most notably the play
The Tragicall History of Doctor Faustus,
ensured his lasting legacy. Christopher Marlowe was an Elizabethan poet and Shakespeare’s most important predecessor in English drama. He is noted especially for his establishment of dramatic blank verse. He is second only to Shakespeare himself in the realm of Elizabethan tragic drama.
Early Writing Career
After 1587, Marlowe was in London, writing for the theater and probably also engaging himself occasionally in government service. Marlowe’s second play was
the two-part Tamburlaine the Great.
This was Marlowe’s first play to be performed on the regular stage in London and is among the first English plays in blank verse. It is considered the beginning of the mature phase of the Elizabethan theater and was the last of Marlowe’s plays to be published before his untimely death. According to the Marlowe Society’s chronology, the order of the publication of his plays was:
The Jew of Malta
,
Doctor Faustus
,
Edward the Second
and
The Massacre at Paris
, with
Doctor Faustus
being performed first (1604) and
The Jew of Malta
last (1633).
Last Years And Literary Career.
After 1587 Marlowe was in London, writing for the theatres. Marlowe won a dangerous reputation for “atheism,” but this could, in Elizabeth I’s time, indicate merely unorthodox religious opinions.
In a playwriting career that spanned little more than six years, Marlowe’s achievements were diverse and splendid. Almost certainly during his later Cambridge years, Marlowe had translated
Ovid’s Amores (The Loves)
and the first book of
Lucan’s Pharsalia
from the Latin. About this time he also wrote the play
Dido, Queen of Carthage
(published in 1594 as the joint work of Marlowe and Thomas Nashe). With the production of Tamburlaine he received recognition and acclaim, and playwriting became his major concern in the few years that lay ahead. Both parts of Tamburlaine were published anonymously in 1590, and the publisher omitted certain passages that he found incongruous with the play’s serious concern with history; even so, the extant Tamburlaine text can be regarded as substantially Marlowe’s. No other of his plays or poems or translations was published during his life. His unfinished but splendid poem
Hero and Leander
—which is almost certainly the finest nondramatic Elizabethan poem apart from those produced by Edmund Spenser—appeared in 1598.
BEN JONSON AS A PLAYWRIGHT
WHO IS BEN JONSON?
Ben Jonson was an English Stuart dramatist, lyric poet, and literary critic. He is generally regarded as the second most important English dramatist, after William Shakespeare, during the reign of James I. Among his major plays are the comedies
Every Man in His Humour
(1598),
Volpone
(1605),
Epicoene
; or,
The Silent Woman
(1609),
The Alchemist
(1610), and
Bartholomew Fair
(1614).
Jonson’s career in the theatre
Jonson started out in the theatre as an actor, but quickly moved into writing plays. His earliest surviving play,
The Case is Altered
, was performed in 1597, and his first smash hit, the sophisticated city comedy
Every Man in his Humour
, in 1598. Jonson produced the comedies for which he is now most famous in nine intensive years:
Volpone
(1606),
The Alchemist
(1610) and
Bartholomew Fair
(1614).
The coronation of James I in 1603 marked the beginning of Jonson’s long literary relationship with the Stuarts. Over the next four decades, often in collaboration with the theatre designer Inigo Jones, he wrote many entertainments for the royal family.
By the summer of 1597, Jonson had a fixed engagement in
the Lord Admiral’s acting company
, then performing under Philip Henslowe’s management at
The Rose theater.
By this time, Jonson had begun to write original plays for the Lord Admiral’s Men; and in 1598, he was mentioned by Francis Meres in his Palladis Tamia as one of “the best for tragedy.” None of his early tragedies survive, however. An undated comedy,
The Case is Altered
, may be his earliest surviving play.
In 1597, he was imprisoned for his collaboration with Thomas Nashe in writing the play
Isle of Dogs
. Copies of the play were destroyed, so the exact nature of the offense is unknown. However there is evidence that he satirized Henry Brooke, eleventh Baron Cobham, a wealthy and fickle patron. It was the first of several run-ins with the authorities.
In 1598, Jonson produced his first great success,
Every Man in his Humour
, capitalizing on the vogue for humor plays that had been begun by George Chapman with An Humorous Day’s Mirth. William Shakespeare was in the first cast. This play was followed the next year by
Every Man Out of His Humour
, a pedantic attempt to imitate Aristophanes.
Following the success of
Every Man in His Humour
, the same theatrical company acted Jonson’s
Every Man Out of His Humour
(1599), which was even more ambitious. It was the longest play ever written for the Elizabethan public theatre, and it strove to provide an equivalent of the Greek comedy of Aristophanes; “induction,” or “prelude,” and regular between-act comment explicated the author’s views on what the drama should be.
He made a mark second only to Shakespeare’s in the public theatre. His comedies
Volpone; or, the Foxe
(1606) and
The Alchemist
(1610) were among the most popular and esteemed plays of the time. Each exhibited man’s folly in the pursuit of gold. Set respectively in Italy and London, they demonstrate Jonson’s enthusiasm both for the typical Renaissance setting and for his own town on Europe’s fringe. Both plays are eloquent and compact, sharp-tongued and controlled.
The comedies Epicoene
(1609) and
Bartholomew Fair
(1614) were also successful.
Jacobean Revenge Plays
What is a Jacobean Play?
Jacobean drama is named after Jacobus, which is the Latin translation of James. The term is used to collectively refer to all the works of theatre created during this period. During the reign of King James I, the theatre and literature were flourishing because of the works of the popular dramatists. The plays had different genres to them like- comedy, tragedy, history, romance and so on. However, the most popular genres during the Jacobean period were tragedy, comedy and tragicomedy.
Who were the most prominent Jacobean playwrights?
The playwrights who composed plays for the stage during the era of King James I were collectively known as Jacobean dramatists. Apart from William Shakespeare, some of the greatest Jacobean dramatists of this period are – Ben Jonson, Thomas Middleton, Webster, Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher who collaborated in writing.
What is a Jacobean revenge tragedy?
Jacobean tragedy or tragedy of blood or Revenge tragedy is a drama in which the dominant motive is revenge for a real or imagined injury. It was a favourite form of English tragedy in the Elizabethan and Jacobean eras and found its highest expression in William Shakespeare’s Hamlet.
What were the famous Jacobean tragedy plays?
Jacobean Tragedy were plays which had a dark mood to the drama. Tragedy plays actually developed during the reign of King James I. Revenge Tragedy was popular during those times. Finest examples of revenge tragedy were
‘The Spanish Tragedy’
by Thomas Kyd and
‘Hamlet’
by William Shakespeare. Other famous revenge tragedies included plays like
‘The White Devil’
,
‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore’
and ‘
The Challenging’.
Jacobean tragedies were spectacular and sensational in nature. They featured sexual decadence and violence in Jacobean tragedies which were devices to attract the audience to the theatre. However, some playwrights had a great impact in the world of theatre despite great difficulties. In the Jacobean era
Macbeth, Antony and Cleopatra, Hamlet
were some of the best plays written by Shakespeare.
What is the theme of Jacobean tragedies?
In general, Jacobean tragedies were about a great man having to face downfall because of a central flaw and his fate. Most of the plays had a similar theme.
What are the Characteristics of Jacobean theatres or A Jacobean era playhouse?
These playhouses and the plays performed by Shakespeare’s company, which was known as the King’s Men, were responsible for the new surge of enthusiasm for theatres among the people of England. The plays had elaborate music and powerful dialogues.
Most popular of Shakespeare’s Jacobean Plays were
Macbeth, Hamlet, King Lear
etc., which were successful tragedies.
The Tempest
which was one of the later plays of Shakespeare was a comedy.
What are the Characteristics of a Jacobean Drama?
Jacobean dramas were usually tragedies but often contained a layer of humour. The plays were sensual and had double-meaning speeches. There were multiple murder scenes with violence being openly displayed.
The Jacobean era was not famous for its comedies and the plays lacked integrity in plot and content. They were more like farces and contained corrupt characters.
During the Jacobean era plays were usually performed outdoors, in the courtyards. It was the era when the first large and popular forum of plays was established. The two large playhouses – The Rose and The Globe were made during the Jacobean period.
UNIT 5
THE HISTORY OF STAGING AND PERFORMING SHAKESPEARE
THE HISTORY OF STAGING AND PEFORMING
William Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre
1800
During the 19th century, wooden stages were most common in theatres because they allowed for special effects like trap doors and elevators.
When electricity came about, the stage was able to be illuminated which turned theatre into an observation rather than just a social event. Both of these technological advances increased the complexity that was available for performances.
Many of the same requirements exist today but with the need to be more flexible and adapt to an ever changing audience. The new technologies, greater stage flexibility and changing tastes of today patrons are driving the need for new equipment and resources to meet the demands. Thinking through today’s and tomorrow’s events and getting the correct gear will put your facility in the position to be written about in the next century.
CONCLUSION
As we look back on how we arrived here, it’s important to remember the origins of these theatres, and more importantly, the use of the spaces themselves. Theater venues and staged events have changed a lot along the way. They are much more audience-friendly, with improved seating risers and better sight line considerations.
Advances in technology allow for the creation of better equipment, especially when it comes to flexibility. This means that we are able to do more with less. It will also make life easier for crews, performers, and guests. As the basic principles of stage and theatre design and function remain the same, we need to remember to always keep on improving to meet the desires of the customers.
RENAISSANCE ENGLAND
The Elizabethan stage was typically found in public theatres, i.e., plays were no longer performed outside. However, it was still an open-air theatre as the lack of artificial lighting made daylight necessary for performances. An exception was the Blackfriar’s theatre which was indoors and lit by candlelight. Theatre groups were now professional and mainly sponsored by wealthy aristocrats. Groups which were not under anybody’s patronage were considered disreputable vagabonds.
The most common stage form in Renaissance England was the apron stage which was surrounded by the audience on three sides and there was still a close vicinity between audience and actors. This meant that actors could not possibly ignore their viewers, and theatrical devices such as asides and monologues ad spectatores were an integral part of the communication system. The stage set was reasonably barren while costumes could be very elaborate. Since performances took place in broad daylight, the audience had to imagine scenes set at night, for example, and respective information had to be conveyed rhetorically in the characters’ speeches (word scenery). As there was barely any scenery, scenes could change very quickly with people entering and exiting. The three unities were thus frequently not strictly adhered to in Elizabethan drama. The Elizabethan theatre could hold up to 2,000 people, and the audience was rather heterogeneous, consisting of people from different social backgrounds. Plays of that period thus typically combine various subject matters and modes (e.g., tragic and comical) because they attempted to appeal to as wide an audience as possible.
RESTORATION PERIOD
RESTORATION STAGE
Theatres of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries were considerably smaller than the Elizabethan theatre (they held around 500 people), and performances took place in closed rooms with artificial lighting. In contrast to modern theatres where the audience sits in the dark, the audience in the Restoration period was seated in a fully illuminated room. One must bear in mind that people of the higher social class were also interested in presenting themselves in public, and attending a play offered just such an opportunity. Because of the lighting arrangements, the division between audience and actors was thus not as clear-cut as today. Plays had the status of a cultural event, and the audience was more homogeneous than in earlier periods, belonging primarily to higher social classes. While the stage was closed in by a decorative frame and the distance between audience and actors was thus enlarged, there was still room for interaction by means of a minor stage jutting out into the auditorium. Furthermore, there was no curtain so that changes of scene had to take place on stage in front of the audience. Restoration plays thus still did not aim at creating a sense of realism but they presented an idealised, highly stylised image of scenery, characters, language and subject matter.
HOW HAS THE DESIGN OF THEATRE BUILDINGS CHANGED OVER TIME?
EARLY THEATRES
The first buildings used for theatrical performances in Britain were amphitheatres introduced by the Romans, who copied theatres from ancient Greece. These were semi-circular structures, constructed of wood initially and later stone. They were open to the air with banked seating surrounding a raised stage.
Medieval theatre was presented on elaborate temporary stages inside great halls, barns, or in the open courtyards of galleried inns. It was from these that Elizabethan timber-framed open-air theatres took their form, such as the Globe in London. They were often multi-sided buildings, with a covered platform stage against one side. The audience sat or stood in covered galleries around the other sides or in the open courtyard. All the performances took place in daylight. Shakespeare’s Globe Image showing Shakespeare’s Globe in London, a reconstruction of an Elizabethan theatre.
SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY THEATRES
Interest in theatre increased during the Stuart period. Many rich courtiers and aristocrats hosted touring theatrical productions in their homes. Masques too were a popular form of recreation for the royal court and the very rich, often commissioned for celebrations. They would involve music, dance and elaborate costumes and scenery. The architect Inigo Jones devised the sets for several royal masques, and later went on to design theatre buildings. He had toured Italy and France and was heavily influenced by their designs. He is also attributed with introducing the first proscenium arch – a decorative architectural frame over a thrust stage.
After the execution of Charles I in 1642, theatrical performances were outlawed owing to the threat of civil unrest. Theatres closed and many were demolished.
EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY THEATRES
The Licensing Act of 1737 tightened censorship of drama, placing it under the control of the Lord Chamberlain. Only patent theatres were able to perform drama – known as legitimate theatre. Non-patent theatres performed melodrama, pantomime, ballet, opera and music hall (burlesque). As these involved music or musical interludes they could not be classed as plays and were regarded as illegitimate theatre so were not subject to the Licensing Act.
Later, a series of royal patents were granted to cities outside London. These became known as “Theatres Royal”. Many still operate and were built in a restrained neo-classical style.Truro Theatre RoyalImage showing the façade of the former Theatre Royal, Truro.
Theatres had mainly wooden interiors which were always at risk of fire. In 1794 the Drury Lane Theatre, London introduced the first iron safety curtain, which would eventually become a statutory requirement in all large theatres. It also had a large water tank on its roof – a feature that was adopted by other theatres – to extinguish fire in the stage area. The theatre also began to make its scenery more fire-resistant.
By the end of the century the façades of many city theatres were built in the more imposing classical style. Some even had porticoes, similar to those seen on the front of large city homes or country houses. They were added mainly for show, but a few enabled the rich to descend from their carriages and enter the theatre without being exposed to any inclement weather.
NINETEENTH-CENTURY THEATRES
In the early 1800s, theatre attendance lessened, owing partly to economic decline and poor standards of acting and production. Patronage by the middle classes also fell as a result of theatre’s increasingly bad reputation and raucous nature. Consequently many theatres closed or were converted to other uses.
a specific type of theatre building was developed to cater for this new form of entertainment, called a music hall. They had fewer tables in front of the stage, using the space for benched seating to accommodate more people. Hundreds were built in working class areas as money-making concerns.Wiltons Music HallImage showing Wilton’s Music Hall, London.
By the middle of the nineteenth century theatre building was becoming a specialist architectural discipline, led by architects such as J. T. Robinson and C. J. Phipps. They were tasked with building even bigger theatres, with grander front of house arrangements and more luxurious social areas.
Often, older theatres were demolished and rebuilt to accommodate larger audiences. In the auditorium, rectangular galleries began to be replaced by horseshoe-shaped balconies that enveloped the stage and provided better viewing.
Although theatre was enjoyed by much of the population, it was not always accessible throughout Britain. In rural areas of Wales the portable theatre was popular. These theatres toured the country and could be dismantled and moved easily. They were well supported in the small towns and villages which could not sustain permanent theatrical venues, and lasted until World War I.
VICTORIAN INVENTION AND LEGISLATION
The Victorian period saw a number of innovations that impacted upon theatre design. Lighting changed from candle to gas and then later to electricity as a result of stringent health and safety legislation. Both emitted a more brilliant light that enabled directors to use lighting for theatrical effect.
THEATRE-BUILDING’S HEYDAY
The period from the 1880s to World War I was the greatest era of theatre building. Over 1000 professional theatres were operating in Britain then, some built by syndicates, who created chains of touring houses. New architects such as W. G. R. Sprague and T. Verity became renowned for their work and could design theatres according to the changing stringent building regulations.
EARLY TWENTIETH-CENTURY THEATRES
The beginning of the twentieth century saw the introduction of a new component in variety bills that would eventually lead to the closure of hundreds of theatres and music halls. This was the bioscope, a forerunner of the cinema. It was so popular that new or refurbished theatres often included provision for screening films.
The films were silent, but accompanied by music, usually an organ. These theatres became known as ciné-varieties, because of their mixture of variety theatre and cinema. Some foresighted architects included a separate projection room in their plans. This ensured the survival of some theatres as future fire safety legislation required any building showing a film to have a separate projection room. However theatres which relied on cinema for their commercial survival, soon closed if they failed to meet new regulations.
2
Dr Monir Ahmed Choudhury Literature and Theatre HOME ASSIGNMENT
Writing the Homework: ________/ Marks 3 Date of Presentation: 25th Nov 2021
P. Point Presentation (10 slides) _______/ Mark 1
Classroom Presentation ________/ Marks 1 Total Marks______________ out of 5
STUDENT’S NAME_______________________________________________________________________
ACADEMIC NUMBER__________________________________ SERIAL NUMBER_________________
|
· The last date of submission is (25th November 2021, THURSDAY). · The total words should be 150. · After the last date, your assignment will not be accepted and you will get zero out of 5 · To get very good marks, you are advised to note (1) complete the Assignment, (2) write the answers in lucid and clear manner, (3) Hand writing should be clear, (4) the ideas and language should be original. · Two students’ answers should not be the same or both of you will get zero marks (no copying) |
A CHRONOLOGY OF 5 EVENTS FROM THE BEGINNING TILL YEAR 1000 AD
Step 1. Study the origin and the history of theatre staging and performing from my handouts and from various sources.
Step 2. WRITE A CHRONOLOGY OF ONLY FIVE EVENTS FROM THE BEGINNING TILL YEAR 1000 AD. In the chronology, write down five most important years for example 240BC (or you can add one or two periods in it for example 400BC to 250BC). Write the important events/development that took place in the year or during the period. Mention why you think the event/development/contribution/ is a very important/essential milestone in the development of the theatre.
OR
A CHRONOLOGY OF 5 EVENTS FROM 1500AD TO THE PRESENT DAY
Step 1. Study the origin and the history of theatre staging and performing from my handouts and from various sources.
Step 2. WRITE A CHRONOLOGY OF ONLY FIVE EVENTS FROM 1500AD TILL THE PRESENT DAY. In the chronology, write down five most important years for example 1599 (or you can add one or two periods in). Write the important events/development that took place in the year or during the period. Mention why you think the event/development/contribution/ is a very important/essential milestone in the development of the theatre.
Note:
1. The total words should not be less than 150.
2. Write in your own words and sentences.
3. Your selection of the five events will demonstrate the depth of your study and the degree
of your critical thinking skills on the topic. And you gain extra marks on its basis.
4. The way you defend the five events and the logic you give to show their contribution will
also help you get better marks
To get ideas on the topic, you can
1. Read the handouts,
2. Recall my lectures and revise your lecture notes,
3. Discuss with your friends/classmates,
4. Explore Google if you wish to and
5. Check videos on youtube if you like to
6. You can read many websites and watch many videos on the topic
UNIT 3
GREEK AND ROMAN THEATRE
Sophocles, Aeschylus, Euripides, Terence, Plautus and Mendander
Who was Sophocles? What was his contribution in the Greek Theatre?
Sophocles was an ancient Greek dramatist who lived from about 496 to about 406 BCE. He wrote over 100 plays and was one of the three famous Greek tragedians (along with Aeschylus and Euripides). He is credited with diverging from the typical format of a tragedy: he increased the number of speaking actors, increased the number of chorus members, and used painted scenery.
Ancient authorities credit Sophocles with several major and minor dramatic innovations. Among the latter is his invention of some type of “scene paintings” or other pictorial prop to establish locale or atmosphere. He also may have increased the size of the chorus from 12 to 15 members. Sophocles’ major innovation was his introduction of a third actor into the dramatic performance. It had previously been permissible for two actors to “double” (i.e., assume other roles during a play), but the addition of a third actor onstage enabled the dramatist both to increase the number of his characters and widen the variety of their interactions. The scope of the dramatic conflict was thereby extended, plots could be more fluid, and situations could be more complex.
Write a short note on Aeschylus. What is his contribution in Greek theatre?
Aeschylus was a Greek dramatist. Aeschylus, (born 525/524 BC—died 456/455 BC, Gela, Sicily), the first of classical Athens’ great dramatists, who raised the emerging art of tragedy to great heights of poetry and theatrical power. Aeschylus’ influence on the development of tragedy was fundamental. Previous to him, Greek drama was limited to one actor (who became known as the protagonist, meaning first actor, once others were added) and a chorus engaged in a largely static recitation. (The chorus was a group of actors who responded to and commented on the main action of a play with song, dance, and recitation.) The actor could assume different roles by changing masks and costumes, but he was limited to engaging in dialogue only with the chorus. By adding a second actor (the deuteragonist, or second actor) with whom the first could converse, Aeschylus vastly increased the drama’s possibilities for dialogue and dramatic tension and allowed more variety and freedom in plot construction. Although the dominance of the chorus in early tragedy is ultimately only hypothesis, it is probably true that, as Aristotle says in his Poetics, Aeschylus “reduced the chorus’ role and made the plot the leading actor.” Aeschylus was an innovator in other ways as well. He made good use of stage settings and stage machinery, and some of his works were noted for their spectacular scenic effects. He also designed costumes, trained his choruses in their songs and dances, and probably acted in most of his own plays, this being the usual practice among Greek dramatists.
Write a short note on Euripides. What is his contribution in Greek theatre?
Euripides was a Greek dramatist. Euripides, (born c. 484 BC, Athens [Greece]—died 406, Macedonia), last of classical Athens’s three great tragic dramatists, following Aeschylus and Sophocles. The ancients knew of 92 plays composed by Euripides. On more than 20 occasions Euripides was chosen, out of all contestants, to be one of the three laureates of the year.
Euripides’ plays exhibit his iconoclastic, rationalizing attitude toward both religious belief and the ancient legends and myths that formed the traditional subject matter for Greek drama. These legends seem to have been for him a mere collection of stories without any particular authority. He also apparently rejected the gods of Homeric theology, whom he frequently depicts as irrational, petulant, and singularly uninterested in meting out “divine justice.” That the gods are so often presented on the stage by Euripides is partly due to their convenience as a source of information that could not otherwise be made available to the audience.
Given this attitude of sophisticated doubt on his part, Euripides invents protagonists who are quite different from the larger-than-life characters drawn with such conviction by Aeschylus and Sophocles.
Given this strong strain of psychological realism, Euripides shows moments of brilliant insight into his characters, especially in scenes of love and madness. His depictions of women deserve particular attention; it is easy to extract from his plays a long list of heroines who are fierce, treacherous, or adulterous, or all three at once.
During the last decade of his career Euripides began to write “tragedies” that might actually be called romantic dramas, or tragicomedies with happy endings. These plays have a highly organized structure leading to a recognition scene in which the discovery of a character’s true identity produces a complete change in the situation, and in general a happy one.
Write a short note on Terence. What is his contribution in Roman theatre?
Terence is a Roman dramatist. Terence, Latin in full Publius Terentius Afer, (born c. 195 BC, Carthage, North Africa [now in Tunisia]—died 159? BC, in Greece or at sea), after Plautus the greatest Roman comic dramatist, the author of six verse comedies that were long regarded as models of pure Latin. Terence’s plays form the basis of the modern comedy of manners.
Most of the available information about Terence relates to his career as a dramatist. During his short life he produced six plays.
The influence of Terence on Roman education and on the later European theatre was very great. His language was accepted as a norm of pure Latin, and his work was studied and discussed throughout antiquity.
Write a short note on Plautus. What is his contribution in Roman theatre?
Plautus, (born c. 254 BCE, Sarsina, Umbria? [Italy]—died 184 BCE), great Roman comic dramatist, whose works, loosely adapted from Greek plays, established a truly Roman drama in the Latin language.
Little is known for certain about the life and personality of Plautus, who ranks with Terence as one of the two great Roman comic dramatists.
His literary and dramatic skills make his plays enjoyable in their own right, while the achievement of his comic genius has had lasting significance in the history of Western literature and drama.
Plautus did not borrow Greek elements into his dramatic theater slavishly. Although the life represented in his plays is superficially Greek, the flavour is Roman, and Plautus incorporated into his adaptations Roman concepts, terms, and usages. He referred to towns in Italy; to the gates, streets, and markets of Rome; to Roman laws and the business of the Roman law courts; to Roman magistrates and their duties; and to such Roman institutions as the Senate.
Although Plautus’s original texts did not survive, some version of 21 of them did.
Write a short note on Mendander. What is his contribution in Greek theatre?
Menander (c. 342/41 – c. 290 BC) was a Greek dramatist and the best-known representative of Athenian New Comedy. He wrote 108 comedies and took the prize at the Lenaia festival eight times. His record at the City Dionysia is unknown but may well have been similarly spectacular.
