Final Flashcards
What aspects of French Theater influenced the English Restoration?
- Woman on the stage
- Stock characters and domestic situations (money, love)
- Political aspects
- Molière use verse in comedy (not suppose to)
How would you define the difference between Realism and Naturalism? Give examples of both. (this is where Chekhov comes in)
- Naturalism – about characters and environment
- Realism – all about truth
- Chekhov (Naturalism)– Characters who do make lengthy speeches, about the environment, or the problem of work, or the future of Russia.
- Ibsen (Realism) – Considered to be the father of modern realistic drama. His plays attacked society’s values and dealt with unconventional subjects within the form of the well-made play.
What aspects of the well-made play are evident in A DOLL(S) HOUSE? Which title would you use and why? How was Ibsen “revolutionary”?
- antagonist – more human, less stereotypical character types (over all) – villous compassion. (Krogstad and Nora)
- discarded soliloquies, asides.
- Ideas in the plays was motivated.
- there were causally related scenes.
- inner psychological motivation was emphasized.
- the environment had an influence on characters’ personalities.
- A Dolls House over any of them, because “A” is specific to Nora. Therefore, it is she who is trapped in the house in the endless cycle.
How do Strindberg’s theories of “nyanaturalism” and “characterless character” manifest in MISS JULIE?
- Julie from miss Julie has all the combinations of all the characteristic that make up a person from moment to moment – these are all the things that make her who she is.
- You have stock characters that only act a certain way because they were suppose to. SO, all everything in the play happens and those things are what makes up her character in the moment.
o This is Nyanaturalism – how we think about it now. Taking situations and environment and reacting and that is what makes you.
Would you agree with Oscar Wilde’s claim in The Decay of Lying that “Life imitates Art”? Or do you agree with the Realists that “Art imitates Life”?
- Art doesn’t imitate life, life imitates art. I agree with Oscar Wilde. “There is a self-conscious aim of Life is to find expression, and that Art offers it certain beautiful forms through which it may realise that energy.”
- Because everything is art, and so art came first. Life is art with a certain frame.
What are some elements of Romanticism? How do they manifest in specific works? What are some elements of Expressionism? Give an example of a work.
- Romantisicm - life show be portrayed as it aught to be. How life should be. Nature over man. Imagination, visions, inspirations, creation, aspirations. Ex. pictures of crashed ships. -
- Expressionism - seeing the world through ones own emotional lenses. - Woody Allen - Shadows and Fog. - Film Nior.
What are some aspects of Russian Futurism – particularly “zaum” and “biomechanics”?
- About speed , light, power, machinery, how societies and people feed into that.
- The first steps to post-modernism
- A Deconstruction of the grand narrative. No more masterpieces, throw out all the old ways.
- Zaum – is literally the deconstruction of language. Nonsense language, words that sound like other words but aren’t. Break down to create a new meaning.
- Biomechanics – the construction of the stage. Meyerhold – dolls house all crazy and weird. Psychological. (Cubism is like biomechanics)
How would you define Theater of the Absurd? What is an example from a specific work?
- Not so useless, there is a point to it
- Nonsense to interrupt, (theatre is to interrupt habit)
- Diffuses power of things or people who hold power over you
- Absurdity pushes beyond acceptance of reality so you can look back at reality from the distance absurdity takes you to
Ex. Ubu Rex (Alfred Jarry – 1913) - First word of the play is ‘shit’ - A rebellion against the constriction of what was expectable
How would you define Theater of Cruelty? What is an example from a specific work?
- Cruel to a purpose
- not about being cruel to eachother on the stage, but to the audience to be kind and inform “tough love” of other things. “slap in the face, Wake up, look around you”
- Ex. Neil Labute - His characters aren’t full people - But they represent something.
How would you define Existentialism? What is an example from a specific work?
- what is the def meaning of existence?
- Sense of self, when you’re living all you can hold true faith in is yourself
- all we have to do is decide what to do with the time you were giving
- Waiting for Godot – the wasteland – the point is that there is no point
- Looking at the individual in a wasteland
o It’s a wasteland but it is filled - That you are not important at all in the big scheme of things, and you are the most important thing.
What are some key elements you remember from the presentations of the evolution of USAmerican theater – ie anti theater sentiment, The Jonathan character, importance of Philadelphia (and Edwin Forrest) etc… NOT FROM YOUR OWN PRESENTATION!
Jonathon character – the American man – Sam from LOTR
- Kind, generous, savvy
- Not boozy intelligent like the britsh
Edwin Forrest: American Actor, success as Othello at Bowry; characterized by loyalty to lowclass, doesn’t sell out; rivalry with William Macready, English Othello, leads to Astor Place Riots
Minstrel Shows: First whites in blackface then blacks, dialect- plantation talk, stock characters like Jim Crowe and Uncle Tom; Specific structure with three acts, and MC, a semi-circle, stump speech, cake-walk, slapstick
What are some core elements of Postmodernism? What is an example of a specific work?
- anything you can name – constructs, objects, art – it isn’t what you think it is. - Time, Money
- There is no ultimate truth, only the construct you set for yourself
- Feminism – somewhat postmodernism
- Antihero – hamlet – the graduate – does not play the narrative
o He examines every moment that he is in. - Morgan’s life - Do not except others narratives
o Had to reconstruct her own narrative
• But first had to know: Who she was, who she wants, what she believes in - We have our own reality, within a shared reality
- ex. Hamletmachine - characters know what happens and truly speak their minds - less intellectual
There are a number of steps for empowerment of a culture/group of people existing within a dominant culture…what are they and what works are representative of these steps (don’t all have to be from one culture)
- Locate self in culture in a way that empowers you (dominant culture patronizes this and defines you by your relationship to them)
- Now you have your culture, but you’ll always be outside dominant one (let’s define our own culture, separation strengthens us)
- Take dominant culture trophes and imitate them (August Wilson’s Fences imitates Death of a Salesman)
- Minority culture tries to explain itself to dominant culture (come learn about us, how were the same & different, A Raisin in the Sun)
- Fear & Rebellion (who I am has nothing to do with you, you should fear my power, The Dutchman)
- Back to own culture (why do we need to define ourselves at all?, go back to roots, (Black Arts Movement takes african names again, Leroi Jones now Amiri Baraka), Susan Lori Parks Death of the Last Black Man
- Minority culture starts to get strong (accepts negativity put on them, negative stereotype becomes incorporated into own identity, dominant culture begins to adopt and appropriate these)
- Cultures merge
What are some of the axioms of Environmental theater? How are they applied?
- Transactions: The theatrical event is a set of related transactions; among performers, among members of audience, between performers and audience (secondary deals with production elements)
- Space: All the space is used for performance, all the space is used for audience
- Transformed or Found Space: Theatrical event can take place in totally transformed space or a found space
- Focus: Focus is flexible and variable
- Production Elements in own Language: All production elements speak in their own language
- Text (Important or Unimportance): The text need be neither the starting point nor the goal of the production, there may be no text at all
How would you differentiate Performance Art from Solo Performance?
- Performance art with frame, plays with focus (meaning and art behind it)
- Two strands of performance art: movement and dance bases (body is medium); art based (installation, performer is component)
- Solo Performance about the performer, can be performance art but can also be just a solo show
