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Here's the Renaissance Google Slides.

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Expressionism/Theatre of the Absurd Vocab

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Expressionism/Theatre of the Absurd Vocab

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EXPRESSIONISM
Existentialism

theory highlighting the existence of the individual person as a free and responsible agent determining their own development through acts of will

Elmer Rice

Wrote famous plays including The Adding Machine, Street Scene, and Dream Girl

Introduced the concept of flashbacks in his plays

The Adding Machine

Published in 1923

Follows the life, death, and afterlife of Mr. Zero

Focuses on value based on wealth

Bertolt Brecht

Playwright

Started the theatre movement known as epic theatre

series of loosely connected scenes that interrupt the story to address the audience and analysis what is going on

THEATRE OF THE ABSURD
Eugene Ionesco - Romanian-French playwright whose plays depicted the solitude and insignificance of human existence. He wrote Rhinoceros and The Bald Soprano
Rhinoceros - follows Bérenger, a semi-autobiographical figure that was used by Ionesco to express his wonderment and anguish at the strangeness of reality. In Rhinoceros, Bérenger watches his friends turn into rhinoceroses one by one until he is the only one left unchanged. This was Ionesco's way of confronting the horror of ideological conformism.
Samuel Beckett Waiting for Godot - French playwright, his most famous play, Waiting for Godot became known for "being a play in which nothing happens". Two characters in the play wait for the arrival of someone named Godot, who never appears, and while they wait, engage in different discussions and meet three other people.

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Pageant Wagons - A moveable stage/wagon used to accommodate mystery and miracle play cycles of the 10th through 16th century.

Mystery plays -Popular medieval plays often focused on biblical stories or the lives of the Saints

Morality plays - a kind of drama with personified abstract qualities as the main characters and presenting a lesson about good conduct and character, popular in the 15th and early 16th century

Miracle plays - A mystery play (the mystery was redemption in the church).

Everyman -Late 15th century morality play about what a man must do to attain christian salvation.

Mouth of Hell - (hellmouth) A prop supposed to simulate the entrance to hell and used to scare the audience with heaven looking beautiful on the other side of the pageant.

The Chanson de Roland - An epic poem based on the Battle of Roncevaux Pass in 778 during the reign of Charlemagne.

The Feast of Fools - popular festival held on or around the 1st of january and its purpose was to mock the new coming bishop or pope, the regular rituals are changed and the low and high officials change places. Also altar boys would plays these roles of mockery. (Feast of Fools- large scene in The Hunchback of Notre Dame).

Stock characters (names and descriptions and pictures) - (SHOWN IN SLIDES!!)

Scenario - can be defined as a short description of the plot in a play, those actions that move the plot forward, scene forscene, while a script has the lines and pronounced stage directions written down. A scenario is always written for the actors.

Slapstick - is a club-like object composed of two wooden slats, and produces a loud smacking noise when struck, though little force is transferred to the person being struck.

Zanni - is a character type of Commedia dell'arte best known as an astute servant and trickster. The Zanni comes from the countryside and is known to be a "dispossessed immigrant worker". Through time, the Zanni grew to be a popular figure who was first seen in commedia as early as the 14th century. The English word zany derives from this persona.

Lazzo -  (a joke or witticism) are stock comedic routines that are traditionally associated with Commedia dell'arte.

burla -  a musical composition or movement of a humorous or playful and often boisterous character.

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Years: 1562-1642
THEATRE HISTORY

Terms, Playwrights, Plays, Actors, Technical innovations

RENAISSANCE

Ralph Roister Doister

Written by Nicholas Udall (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Roister_Doister).

Thought of as first comedy in the English language (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Roister_Doister)

Uses stock characters from the ancient Greeks and Romans (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Roister_Doister)

Five act play (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Roister_Doister)

Plot: Ralph Roister Doister is convinced by Matthew Merrygreeke to pursue Christian Custance (engaged to Gawyn Goodluck). After this fails, Doister, along with some of his companions, attempts to kidnap Christian (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Roister_Doister).

Gorbuduc

A.K.A. Ferrex and Porrex.

From 1561.

English language’s first verse drama to use blank verse.

Plot: Gorboduc, king of Britain, says that he is going to split the kingdom between his two songs (Ferrex and Porrex). He is advised not to do so by his advisors. Gorboduc goes against their advice. However, Ferrex plans to take control of the whole kingdom. When Porrex finds out about this, he decides invade Ferrex’s territory. When Gorboduc hears of this, someone tells him to fight the invasion. However, before Gorboduc has the chance to do this, Ferrex is killed. Porrex defends his decisions to Gorboduc. Later, Videna, mother of Ferrex and Porrex, kills Porrex in an effort to avenge Ferrex. Out of exasperation, certain citizens kill Videna and Gorboduc. The rebellion is put down by the nobles, but then they find out that Fergus (Duke of Albany) has plans to seize the throne.

Shakespeare

Born in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1564.

Many think of Shakespeare as the greatest writer in the English language.

Known as England’s national poet and the Bard of Avon.

Married Anne Hathaway at age 18.

With Anne Hathaway, he had a set of twins and and another daughter.

Wrote about 37 plays and was a collaborator on others.

Ben Jonson

English playwright, poet, actor and literary critic.

Major impact on poetry and stage comedy.

Best known for his satirical plays:

Every Man in His Humour

Volpone

The Alchemist

Bartholomew Fair

In general, he is thought of as the most important English playwright during the reign of James VI and I after William Shakespeare.

Volpone, Every Man in His Humour

Volpone:

Written by Ben Jonson in 1606.

Volpone is Italian for sly fox.

Christopher Marlowe

Tamburlaine the Great, Doctor Faustus

Cassandra

Blank verse-verse without rhyme, especially that which uses iambic pentameter; Shakespeare uses blank verse

Christopher Wren- often referred to as the greatest English architect of all time, designed 53 London churches including St. Paul’s Cathedral, he was also an astronomer, geometrician, and designer

The Globe- theater in London, built in 1599 by Shakespeare’s playing company, it is open to the sky and has a thrust stage

The Swan- theatre in built in Southwark, London, England in 1595, on top of a previously standing structure, during the first half of William Shakespeare's career

The Rose-built in 1587 by Philip Henslowe and  John Cholmley, first purpose-built playhouse to ever stage any of Shakespeare's plays, built on land called the "Little Rose," which Henslowe had leased from the parish of St. Saviour, Southwark in 1585.

The Fortune- the concept of the unpredictable nature of fate

James & Richard Burbage-

James Burbage was an English actor, and theatre builder during the English Renaissance theatre. He built The the first permanent dedicated theatre built in England, The Theatre, since Roman times.

Richard Burbage was an English stage actor, and he was one of the most famous Globe Theatre actors during his time. He also was a theatre owner, entrepreneur, and painter. Will Kempe

The King’s Men, The Lord Chamberlain’s Men- acting troop that William Shakespeare was a part of, first known as The Lord Chamberlain’s Men (Queen Elizabeth I), then The King’s Men (James I)

Blackfriars- Dominican friars that established themselves throughout Europe in the early 13th century

Whitefriars- members of the Order of the Carmelites

ITALY- many of Shakespeare’s plays have been set in Italy

Commedia-form of theatre characterized by masked "types" which began in Italy in the 16th century

Melodrama- exaggerated emotion, tension or excitement

Opera- Many operas have been derived from Shakespeare’s plays

Stage machinery

Cannons

Trapdoors

Wires, ropes and harnesses

Fireworks

Flowers and petals

Music

Live Animals

Bones, intestines and blood of dead animals

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(quizlet is linked so it's easier to study) :)

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Oliver Cromwell: Instituted the 18 year ban of theatre. He was a dictator and had strict rules under Puritan rule.

Charles I & II: They

George Etherege**mentioned above

William Wycherly: William Wycherley was an English dramatist of the Restoration period, best known for the plays The Country Wife and The Plain Dealer.

William Congreve  Love for Love, The Way of the World ***mentioned above

Drury Lane Theatre & Covent Garden

Thomas Killigrew & William Davenant

Margaret Hughes: Margaret Hughes, also Peg Hughes or Margaret Hewes, is often credited as the first professional actress on the English stage. Hughes was also famous as the mistress of the English Civil War general and later Restoration admiral, Prince Rupert of the Rhine.

Nell Gwyn***mentioned above

Thomas Betterton***mentioned above

Alphra Behn-The Rover: The first professional woman writer. She wrote coarser plays than men. Her most notable play was “The Rover” which depicts the amorous adventures of a group of Englishmen in Naples at Carnival time:
A Short View of the Immorality and Profaneness of the English Stage

Moliere: Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, known by his stage name Molière, was a French playwright, actor and poet, widely regarded as one of the greatest writers in the French language and universal literature. His extant works includes comedies, farces, tragicomedies, comédie-ballets, and more.

Tartuffe, The Imaginary Invalid,

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Edmond Rostand- Edmond Eugène Alexis Rostand was a French poet and dramatist. He is associated with neo-romanticism (after romanticism) and is known best for his play Cyrano de Bergerac. Rostand's romantic plays contrasted with the naturalistic theatre

Cyrano de Bergerac- Fictional play written by Edmond Rostand that outlines his life (far fetched) and is written entirely in verse

Plot summary: Hercule Savinien Cyrano de Bergerac, a cadet (nobleman serving as a soldier) in the French Army, is a brash, strong-willed man of many talents. In addition to being a remarkable duelist, he is a gifted, joyful poet and is also a musician. However, he has an extremely large nose, which causes him to doubt himself. This doubt prevents him from expressing his love for his distant cousin, the beautiful and intellectual Roxane, as he believes that his ugliness would prevent him the "dream of being loved by even an ugly woman."

Pastoral- A pastoral lifestyle is that of shepherds herding livestock around open areas of land according to seasons and the changing availability of water and pasture. It lends its name to a genre of literature, art, and music that depicts such life in an idealized manner, typically for urban audiences.

Sentimentalism- the excessive expression of feelings of tenderness, sadness, or nostalgia in behavior, writing, or speech.

Sarah Bernhardt- Sarah Bernhardt was a French stage actress who starred in some of the most popular French plays of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including La Dame Aux Camelias by Alexandre Dumas, fils, Ruy Blas by Victor Hugo, Fédora and La Tosca by Victorien Sardou, and L'Aiglon by Edmond Rostand, thought to be an icon at the time

Edmund Kean- Edmund Kean was a celebrated British Shakespearean stage actor born in England, who performed, among other places, in London, Belfast, New York, Quebec, and Paris. He was somewhat notorious for his short stature, tumultuous personal life, and controversial divorce.

Charles Kemble & John Philip- an English actor. He was born into a theatrical family as the eldest son of Roger Kemble, actor-manager of a touring troupe. His elder sister Sarah Siddons achieved fame with him on the stage of the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. His other siblings, Charles Kemble, Stephen Kemble, Ann Hatton, and Elizabeth Whitlock, also enjoyed success on the stage.

John Payne- John Howard Payne was an American film actor who is mainly remembered from film noir crime stories and 20th Century Fox musical films, and for his leading roles in Miracle on 34th Street and the NBC Western television series The Restless Gun

Edwin Booth- an American actor who toured throughout the United States and the major capitals of Europe, performing Shakespearean plays. In 1869, he founded Booth's Theatre in New York. Some theatrical historians consider him the greatest American actor, and the greatest Prince Hamlet, of the 19th century

The Barrymore’s- U.S. theatrical family ( Royal Family)  Earliest actors, have a theatre named after them in NYC. A play written about them called The Royal Family

Melodrama- A melodrama is a dramatic work in which the plot, which is typically sensational and designed to appeal strongly to the emotions, takes precedence over detailed characterization. Characters are often simply drawn, and may appear stereotyped.

Pantomimes- Pantomime is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is performed throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland and in other English-speaking countries, especially during the Christmas and New Year season.

The Black Crook- The Black Crook is a work of musical theatre first produced, with great success, in New York in 1866. Many theatre writers have identified The Black Crook as the first popular piece that conforms to the modern notion of a musical, while others regard this conclusion "as something of a joke"

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REALISM-(Ibsen-1930’s)

1. (CW) Basic information about the period

Dates –when the period began and ended and why

1. 1870’s-1930’s

2. Began when Auguste Comte developed Positivism and Darwin published the Origin of Species

most influential cities

1. Moscow- The group theater

2. Copenhagen, Denmark- Henrik Ibsen premiered A Doll’s House

Historical background- social, political, religious influences

1. Auguste Comte developed a theory known as Positivism. Among the Comte’s ideas was an encouragement for understanding the cause and effect of nature through precise observation.

2. Charles Darwin wrote the Origin of Species

3. Explained how we came to be in realistic and scientific terms

4. Karl Marx in the late 1840’s espoused a political philosophy arguing against urbanization and in favor of a more equal distribution of wealth

Philosophy of the period-style, tone, conventions of the day

1. Brought real life to the stage. This was a new type of acting that replaced declamatory conventions

2. Very realistic, everyday life

3. Setting was always a real life place and plot was very realistic

Major developments/innovations of the period

1. New Philosophy

2. truth resides in material objects we perceived to all five senses; truth is verified through science

3. the scientific method—observation—would solve everything

4. human problems were the highest were home of science

5. Moscow Art theater

6. Stanislavsky started the Moscow art theater in Moscow and

7. (CW) Playwrights-at least 3 of the most influential of the period (except for Middle Ages)

8. Henrik ibsen

9. Anton Chekhov

10. Emile Augier

11. Clifford Odets

What were their major contributions to theatre

1. Henrik Ibsen

2. Father of Modern Drama

3. One of the first playwrights to write a realistic play

4. Anton Chekhov

5. Russian writer who is recognized as a master of the modern short story

6. Worked with Stanislavsky

7. Emile Augier

8. French Playwright who wrote a lot about Middle Class, everyday life

9. Clifford Odets

10. Socially relevant plays during the Great Depression

Their most famous plays –describe the plots and themes of 3

1. Ghosts

2. Helen Alving is about to dedicate an orphanage she has built in the memory of her late husband, Captain Alving. She reveals to Pastor Manders that her marriage was secretly a miserable one, primarily because of her husband's immoral, unfaithful behavior.

3. Theme

4. How society infiltrates everyday lives

5. A Doll’s House

6. Housewife, Nora, hides her financial problems from her husband Torvald. When Torvald learns of her deceit, he becomes angry.

7. Nora leaves him to become an independent woman.

8. Door Slam heard round the world

9. Theme

10. How society affects a women’s role in the household

11. Independent women and no relying on a man

12. The Cherry Orchard

13. After the deaths of her son and husband, Madame Lyuba Ranevskaya travels to Paris to escape her grief. Five years later, she returns to discover that her estate is deep in debt. Lyuba is faced with a decision: either sell her estate at auction (where it's sure to fetch a lower price than it's worth) or tear down her famed cherry orchard and build new summer cottages she can rent out. In the end, Lyuba refuses to destroy the orchard and loses her estate.

14. Theme

15. How money affects happiness, relationships and quality of life

16. inability of the upper middle class to CHANGE with the rising middle class

17. The three sisters

18. A year after the death of their father, an army officer, the Moscow-bred sisters Prosorov--Olga, Masha and Irina--are finding life drab and increasingly hopeless in a Russian provincial town. Only the proximity of a nearby artillery post and the company of its officers make their existence bearable.

19. Theme

20. Isolation and how loneliness can affect a person and the choices they make in life

21. Uncle Vanya

22.  County doctor Astrov, whose arrival to the estate marks the beginning of the play, is brought in to help cure the ailing professor. His presence causes a stir in the household, for he ardently loved by the innocent Sonya, Serebryakov’s daughter by his first wife and Vanya’s niece.

23. Theme

24.  the struggles of a routine existence

The Group Theatre

Formed in 1931 by Harold Clurman, Cheryl Crawford, and Lee Strasberg.

Meant to be focused around forceful, naturalistic and highly disciplined artistry

Pioneers of “American Acting Technique”, derived from teachings of Stanislavski

Called a “group” to highlight the true ensemble that it was (everyone was equal)

Produced works by many playwrights, including Clifford Odets

1. Actors-at least 3 describe their roles and their acting styles and any juicy gossip about their personalities

2.  Stella Adler

3. Studied with Stanislavski, part of the Group Theater, she left the Group Theatre because of differences with Strasberg

4. "Drawing on the emotions I experienced — for example, when my mother died — to create a role is sick and schizophrenic. If that is acting, I don't want to do it."

5. stimulate emotional experience by imagining the scene's "given circumstances," rather than recalling experiences from your own life

6. Lee Strasberg

7. “Father of method acting in America”

8. Part of the Group Theater for a time

9. Firmly believed an actor must know everything that happened to his character before the play started, all the way back to childhood, and possibly even acting out major life moments

10. Sanford Meisner

11.  Emphasized “the reality of doing”, rather than method acting

12. Part of the Group Theater for a time

13. Goal of his technique was to “get actors to live truthfully under imaginary circumstances”

1. Technical Innovations of the period.

What did the stages look like?  Lighting, sets, special effects

1. Box Sets were very common in realist theatre

proscenium arch stage and three walls

The opening is the “fourth wall”

Invisible barrier between actors and audience

Was a main feature of Ibsen and Chekhov plays

Earlier sets featured sliding flats with gaps in between them (to create perspective illusions)

Discuss influential designers and the style of their sets

The Duke of Saxe-Meiningen greatly influenced the aesthetic of sets and directing during the period.

Meiningen Company, court theatre of the German state of Saxe-Meiningen

Led by Georg II (Duke of Saxe-Meiningen)

Principal director: Ludwig Chronegk

Ensemble greatly influenced Ibsen and Stanislavski

Toured Europe 1874-1890

detailed, archaeologically authentic reproductions of locations and its realistic, fully individuated crowd scenes

Photos and descriptions of costumes

Costumes during the realism period of theatre were realistic and accurate for the time period of the play, as well as the character wearing them. They demonstrated class in the same way they would have if they were clothing the characters were wearing in real life.

First: A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen

Second: Awake and Sing by Clifford Odets

Clifford Odets

Box Sets

characters are believable, everyday types

costumes are authentic

the realist movement in the theatre and subsequent performance style have greatly influenced 20th century theatre and cinema and its effects are still being felt today

triggered by Stanislavski’s system of realistic acting at the turn of the 20th century, America grabbed hold of its own brand of this performance style (American realism) and acting (method acting) in the 1930s, 40s and 50s (The Group Theatre, The Actors Studio)

stage settings (locations) and props are often indoors and believable

the ‘box set’ is normally used for realistic dramas on stage, consisting of three walls and an invisible ‘fourth wall’ facing the audience

settings for realistic plays are often bland (deliberately ordinary), dialogue is not heightened for effect, but that of everyday speech (vernacular)

the drama is typically psychologically driven, where the plot is secondary and primary focus is placed on the interior lives of characters, their motives, the reactions of others etc.

realistic plays often see the protagonist (main character) rise up against the odds to assert him/herself against an injustice of some kind (eg. Nora in Ibsen’s A Doll’s House)

realistic dramas quickly gained popularity because the everyday person in the audience could identify with the situations and characters on stage

Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen (A Doll’s House, Hedda Gabler) is considered the father of modern realism in the theatre

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GREEK
Aristotle - An ancient greek philosopher, scientist, and writer
The Poetics - The earliest surviving work of dramatic theory, written by aristotle
Thespis - Determined to be the “first actor”
Sophocles - Sophocles is one of three ancient Greek tragedians whose plays have survived.
Oedipus, Antigone - Tragedies written by Sophocles
Aeschylus - Aeschylus was an ancient Greek tragedian. He is often described as the father of tragedy.
The Oresteia -The Oresteia is a trilogy of Greek tragedies written by Aeschylus
Euripides - Euripides was a tragedian of classical Athens.
The Trojan Women, Medea, Electra - tragedies written by Euripides
Aristophanes - An Athenian comic playwright, wrote forty plays.
The Clouds, The Birds, Lysistrata - plays written by Aristophanes
Menander - Menander was a Greek dramatist and the best-known representative of Athenian New Comedy.
The Grouch - translated from “Dyskolos”; a comedy written by Menander..
The Unities - rules for drama derived from Aristotle’s poetics
Tragic hero-Tragic Flaw - A protagonist character with a noticeable flaw that causes disaster (a.k.a the source of tragedy)
Orchestra - the flat area where the chorus stood, sang, and danced.
Skene - the backdrop of the stage. First merely a tent or curtained area for actors to change costumes but later a more permanent structure which also acted as scenery for the performance.
Deus ex machina - a person or thing that appears or is introduced into a situation suddenly and unexpectedly and provides a solution to a problem
Cothurnus - a thick-soled boot or buskin worn by actors in Greek tragedy.
Chorus - Actors that commented on the main actions of the play with song and dance
Onkus - large hea.dpiece, containing a mask, worn by actors in the Greek theater.
Ekkyklema - a wheeled platform rolled out through a skênê in ancient Greek theatre
Satyr plays - Satyr plays were an ancient Greek form of tragicomedy, similar in spirit to the bawdy satire of burlesque.
Festival of Dionysus - ancient dramatic festival in which tragedy, comedy, and satyric drama originated; it was held in Athens in March in honour of Dionysus, the god of wine.
Dithrambs - an ancient Greek hymn sung and danced in honor of Dionysus
Theatres of Dionysus and Epidaurus - The "first" theater and the "best" theatre

ROMAN
Terence: a Roman playwright during the Roman Republic, of Berber descent.
Plautus: a Roman playwright of the Old Latin period.
The Twin Menachmi: considered Plautus' greatest play
Pantomime: nonspeaking dancer in the Roman theatre who performed dramatic scenes, acting using only masks, body movement, and rhythmic gestures.
Antifeatro: a type of public place of Roman civilization, used to host shows and games. The amphitheater has a circular or oval shape , while the theater is semicircular
Ludi: public games held for the benefit and entertainment of the Roman people
The Coliseum: an oval amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome

Presentation:

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Embrace your art by discovering the origins and development of theatre through the ages.