ADA4MI – Mr. Furmaniuk
Theatre Styles COMMEDIA DELL’ ARTE
Provided much of the new interest in theatre from the 16 th through the 18th centuries Performed by professional troupes specializing in comic improvisations Troupes mastered the art of playing out their comic scenarios No fully composed play scripts – just plots based on comic intrigue Lazzi were special humorous bits of stage business, usually set apart from the main action Actors memorized set speeches, such as declarations of love, hate and madness mad ness – they also learned stock jokes, songs, exit speeches and comments All characters were stock characters representing representing two social classes: the upper class and the servant class. Characters were identified by their costumes and by their masks; the innamorati and innamoratae did not wear masks.
KABUKI From 17th Century Japan -> Spectacular costuming and makeup Initially borrows plots and scripts heavily from existing puppet theatre (joruri) Popular with the common people Focus on historical events, moral conflicts, love relationships Unique staging including a footbridge through the audience and after 18th C. rotating stage and trapdoors
RESTORATION DRAMA After the Elizabethan Era that ended with the formation of a republican government 1600’s and 1700’s Women appeared as players for the first time Theatre buildings had roofs Audiences were seated on level floors Stage floor was raked (sloped upward away from the viewers) Elaborate scenery and mechanical equipment came into use in England
ROMANTICISM Cultural movement during the 1800’s Rejected neoclassical rules and suggested that genius creates its own rules Focused on emotions, sentiment and imagination Elaborately staged and used supernatural su pernatural elements Heroes were independent and defended individuality
Common theme was the gulf between human beings’ spiritual aspirations and their physical limitations
SYMBOLISM Anti-realist movement between 1880-1910 Writers believed that drama should present the mystery of being and the cosmos —the infinite qualities of the human spirit and inner meaning of life Symbolic images rather than concrete actions would be the basic means of communication and represented emotions, ideals, and values Characters were figures representative of the human condition Stage pictures had only the bare essentials necessary to evoke the dramatic universe Themes were chosen from myth or fairy tales and used poetic language and a deliberately artificial style of staging
NATURALISM Mid-19th Century Based views on contemporary scientific theory Aimed to present ordinary life as accurately as possible – no theatrical sense – in the extreme “slice of life” and “real flies on real meat” Showed how human beings act in response to forces of nature and society that are beyond their control Subject matter emphasized the boredom, depression, and frustration of contemporary contemporary life
REALISM Late-19th Century movement Replaced the artificial romantic style with accurate depictions depictions of people in plausible situations Writers refused to make simple moral judgments or to resolve dramatic action neatly Presents life as it actually is; characters talk, dress, and act as people in ordinary life do Actors attempt to become their characters; living their lives in real room with the audience spying on them through the invisible fourth wall Ushered in modern theatre and revolutionized contemporary theatre in every aspect, from scenery, to styles of acting, from dialogue to makeup
EPIC THEATRE Began by Bertolt Brecht Reactions in the 1920’s and 30’s to an over -emphasis on artistic illusion and aesthetic emotion in theatre Believes that theatre should serve a social purpose of educating audiences Narrators are often used to comment on the dramatic action Political drama intended to appeal to reason rather than emotions that uses a journalistic, non-emotional style that incorporates signs, projections, films, etc.
Attempts to distance the audience from the action and characters —“alienation effect”— in order to allow them to concentrate on a play’s message Epic theatre usually deals with history or foreign lands, covers a long time, shifts s hifts locale frequently, has intricate plots, and includes many characters
THEATRE OF THE ABSURD Genre of the 1950’s and 60’s Stage conventions were abandoned abandoned in order to present a view of the world as meaningless and incomprehensible incomprehensible Believe that much of what happens in life cannot be logically explained; it is ridiculous and absurd and presents human existence as futile Plots do not have h ave traditional structure Characters are not realistic and they usually fail to communicate Setting is frequently a strange, unrecognizable unrecognizable locale Dialogue seems to make little sense and the language is unreliable Writers are highly individualistic
THEATRE OF CRUELTY Based on the theories of Antonin Artaud, a French actor and critic Artaud wanted to revolutionize theatre – to free it from the “tyranny of text” and focus on sound, gesture, movement Connected to the primal, ritualistic elements of theatre Artaud believed that the “reality” of everyday life just co vered up the animalistic nature of humans “Cruelty” refers to the actors forcing the audience to face a reality they do not want to understand Performances often featured shocking images and sounds without a clear story Artaud was unsuccessful in starting a theatre movement, but his ideas influenced artists such as Peter Brook, Jerzy Grotowski, Heiner Muller
SOURCES Theatre: Art in Action – secondary school theatre textbook Stage & Screen – secondary school theatre textbook
