Exam 2 Flashcards
1 Rule of Improv
yes and
Aristotle on Comedy
comedy represents men as worse than they are
tragedy represents man as better than they are
Henri Bergson’s observations on comedy
Fresh philosopher
comedy is inherently human
insensibility accompanies laughter
laughter needs company
comedy is culturally specific
comedy superimposes the mechanical on the living
Two comedy psychological theories
- establishment of superiority: humor from the weakness of others
2.incongruity: surprising, illogical, unexpected
- release (Freud): laughter released unconscious turmoil/cathartic
farce
extravagant plots, exaggerated characters, slapstick, sexual
EX. RPDR acting challenges
high comedy
upperclass, life is a game and the best player (not person) wins, witty and articulate, sexual tension
melodrama
emotional appeal, virtuous hero hounded by evil villain, music, happy ending, spectacle
realism
lifelike dialogue, inhabitable scenery (box set), actors speaking to each other not audience, social concern
A DOLLS HOUSE by Henrik Ibsen
naturalism
realism subset, effects of environment (meat set), dramatizes social determination
Darwin (biology), Marx (economics), Freud (past)
David Belasco &
Andre Antoine
Greek tragedy
festival of Dionysus, descended from dithyrambs
dithyrambs
narrative poems sung for Dionysus
(3 tragedies, 1 satyr play)
1. masks (3 actors)
2. Greek stories
3. Off-stage violence
4. music & dance
tragedy vs comedy
fate/order/cosmos/love hero/suffering/nobility of humanity/individuals
VS
chance/fortune/chaos/the body/ pleasure/ detached from hero/ faults of humanity/society
Futurism
energy and speed, reject the past
Marinetti
ended bc of the depression from WWI
Afrofuturism
reimagines the future of black experience through a fusion of sci-fi, fantasy, and history
unique innovations of black culture
techno, color, African iconology
expressionism
inner emotions externally, characters are types, compressed dialogue
EX. Machinal
dadaism
SHOCK the audience
senseless, uncivilized
disgust with society
surrealism
are made with thought not reason
DREAMS
surrender to the dark forces of the mind
theatre of the absurd
After WWII Absurdism
a world with no meaning or rules
EX. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead
happenings
no audience everyone participates
performance art
public form of artistic expression
EX. Marina Abramovic (endurance art)
1 rule of stage violence
the victim is always in control
minstrelsy
only American contribution to theatre
TD Rice (Thomas Daddy)
white minstrel actor who created the character jim crow
Stephen Foster
wrote famous American songs for minstrel shows
