Overhead Information

Expressionism

A form of art in which the artist depicts the inner essence of man and projects his view of the world as colored by that essence.

Lorraine Hansberry

Author of A Raisin in the Sun. •A Raisin In the Sun was the first play that she wrote. Many consider this play to be a turning point in American theatre. •To quote James Baldwin, "Never before in the entire history of the American theatre has so much of the truth of Black people's lives been seen on the stage." •Hansberry was born into an upper middle-class family in Chicago. •She first wanted to be a painter and studied at the Chicago Art Institute, the University of Wisconsin, and in Guadalajara, Mexico. While in Wisconsin she saw a production of Sean O'Casey's play Juno and the Paycock.She was so inspired by O'Casey's ability to "universalize a specific people and their culture - the Irish - that she decided to become a playwright." •In 1952 she went to New York City and joined the staff of Freedom, a Harlem-based journal founded by Paul Robeson. Reacting against what she called "a whole body of material about Negroes: cardboard characters, cute dialect bits, hip-swinging musicals from exotic scores" Hansberry set out to write a "social drama about Negroes that will be good art." The play she wrote, of course, was A Raisin In the Sun. •Hansberry's second play was produced in 1964. The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window was in Hansberry's own words about "the Western intellectual poised in hesitation before the flames of involvement." It had the support of the artistic community but it ran for only 101 performance, closing on the day of Hansberry's death, January 22, 1965 •To Be Young, Gifted, and Black was produced after her death. It is a "theatrical collage based on her writings" and was the longest-running drama of the 1968 - 1969 Off-Broadway season. •A renewed interest in her work began at the end of the 20th century. Her work was praised by August Wilson. "The Black Arts Movement of the 1960s seemed to burst on the American theatrical scene with no warning . . . Few had recognized the strains of militance in the earlier voice of Lorraine Hansberry. Only in hindsight do we now realize that Hansberry heralded the new movement and, in fact, became one of its major literary catalysts. The commercial success and popularity of her first play blinded some to her vision of light; suppression of her other works robbed the public of her insights and her warnings of the cataclysmic civic revolts to come. Only now, in retrospect, do we begin to comprehend her significance as an American and a Black writer." "Moving to New York City, she took a job as a journalist on the Black paper FREEDOM. Here she began to refine her writing skills and came to know some of the greatest Black literary and political figures of her time, among them W.E.B. Du Bois, Paul Robeson, and Langston Hughes. They became the artistic and philosophical reference points for her later works." "The question is not whether one will make a social statement in one's work - but only what the statement will say, for it is says anything at all, it will be social." Hansberry " . . . I say all of this to say that one cannot live with sighted eyes and feeling heart and not know and react to the miseries which afflict this world." Hansberry "Hansberry defined realism as 'not only what is but what is possible.'" "The theatre was a working laboratory for this brilliant woman whose sighted eyes and feeling heart caused her to reach out to a world at once cruel and beautiful."

"Futurism and the Theatre" by F.T. Marinetti

"Futurism and the Theatre" by F.T. Marinetti We have a profound disgust for contemporary theatre (verse, prose, and music) because it wavers stupidly between historical reconstruction and the photographic reproduction of our daily life. We exalt the variety theatre of music halls, cafe-chantants or equestrian circuses.

F.T. Marinetti

"Futurism and the Theatre" by F.T. Marinettiu Filippo Tommaso Marinetti (1876 - 1944) (F.T. Marinetti) distinguished by scenes that are only a few sentences long, an emphasis on nonsensical humour, and attempts to examine and subvert traditions of theatre via parody and other techniques. Creator of the Futurist Movement in Italy. Called himself "the caffeine of Europe" because of the energy he put into promoting Futurism. Futurists gave performances during which they read their manifestoes, gave concerts, read poems, performed plays, and exhibited works of visual art - sometimes simultaneously. They advocated a "synthetic" theatre of short, seemingly illogical dramatic pieces. Believed that audiences should be confronted with no separation between audience and performer. "We are deeply disgusted with the contemporary theatre because it vacillates stupidly between historical reconstruction and photographic reproductions of our daily life; a finiky, slow, analytic, and diluted theatre worthy, all in all, of the age of the oil lamp." He proposed a type of theatre which he called "Variety Theatre". Born from electricity. Has no tradition, no masters, no dogma. Fed by swift actuality. "Marinetti was a prophet of globilazation."

"Criteria of Negro Art" by W.E.B. Du Bois

"I do not doubt but there are some in this audience who are a little disturbed at the subject of this meeting . . . Such people are thinking something like this: 'How is it that an organization like this, a group of radicals trying to bring new things into the world . . . Struggling for the right of Black men to be ordinary human beings - how is it that an organization of this kind can turn aside to talk about Art? After all, what have we who are slaves and Black to do with Art?" "What do we want? What is the thing we are after? . . . We want to be Americans, full-fledged Americans, with all the rights of other American citizens. But is that all? Do we want simply to be Americans? . . . We who are dark can see America in a way that white Americans cannot. And seeing our country thus, are we satisfied with its present goals and ideals?" "There is in New York tonight a Black woman molding clay by herself in a little bare room, because there is not a single school of sculpture in New York where she is welcome. Surely there are doors she might burst through, but when God makes a sculpter He does not always make the pushing sort of person who beats his way through doors thrust in his face. This girl is working her hands off to get out of this country so that she can get some sort of training." "We can go on the stage; we can be just as funny as white Americans wish us to be; we can play all the sordid parts that America likes to assign to Negroes; but for anything else there is still small place for us." ". . . Suppose the only Negro who survived some centuries hence was the Negro painted by white Americans in the novels and essays they have written. What would people in a hundred years say of Black Americans?"

"No More Masterpieces" by Artaud

"Masterpieces of the past are good for the past: they are not good for us. We have the right to say what has been said and even what has not been said in a way that belongs to us, a way that is immediate and direct, corresponding to present modes of feeling and understandable to everyone." "And if, for example, a contemporary public does not understand Oedipus Rex, I shall make bold to say that it is the fault of Oedipus Rex and not of the public." "Far from blaming the public, we ought to blame the formal screen we interpose between ourselves and the public, and this new form of idolatry, the idolatry of fixed masterpieces which is one of the aspects of bourgeois conformism." ". . . It is because we have been accustomed for four hundred years . . . To a purely descriptive and narrative theatre - storytelling psychology; it is because every possible ingenuity has been exerted in bringing to life on the stage plausible but detached beings, with the spectacle on one side, the public on the other - and because the public is no longer shown anything but the mirror of itself." "Shakespeare himself is responsible for this aberration and decline, this disinterested idea of the theatre which wishes a theatrical performance to leave the public intact, without setting off one image that will shake the organism to its foundations and leave an ineffaceable scar." "Psychology, which works relentlessly to reduce the unknown to the known . . . Is the cause of the theatre's abasement and its fearful loss of energy . . . I think both the theatre and we ourselves have had enough of psychology." "Enough of personal poems, benefiting those who create them much more than those who read them." "Once and for all, enough of this closed, egoistic, and personal art." "That is why I propose a theatre of cruelty. With this mania we all have for depreciating everything, as soon as I have said "cruelty" everybody will at once take it to mean "blood". But "theatre of cuelty" means a theatre difficult and cruel for myself first of all. And, on the level of performance, it is not the cruelty we can exercise upon each other by hacking at each other's bodies, carving up our personal anatomies, or, like Assyrian emperors, sending parcels of human ears, noses, or neatly detached nostrils through the mail, but the much more terrible and necessary cruelty which things can exercise against us. We are not free. And the sky can still fall on our heads. And the theatre has been created to teach us that first of all. ". . . And I propose to treat the spectators like the snake charmer's subjects and conduct them by means of their organisms to an apprehension of the subtlest notions." "That is why in the "theatre of cruelty" the spectator is in the center and the spectacle surrounds him." "In this spectacle the sonorization is constant: sounds, noises, cries are chosen first for their vibratory quality, then for what they represent." "Light which is not created merely to add color or to brighten, and which brings its power, influence, suggestions with it." "A violent and concentrated action is a kind of lyricism: it summons up supernatural images, a bloodstream of images, a bleeding spurt of images in the poet's head and in the spectator's as well." •"I propose, then, a theatre in which violent physical images crush and hynotize the sensibility of the spectator seized by the theatre as by a whirlwind of higher forces." •"A theatre which, abandoning psychology, recounts the extraordinary, stages natural conflicts, natural and subtle forces, and presents itself first of all as an exceptional power of redirection. A theatre that induces trances, as the dances of Dervishes induce trance, and that addressed itself to the organism by precise instruments, but the same means as those of certain tribal music cures which we admire on records but are incapable of originating amoung ourselves. •"I do not believe we have managed to revitalize the world we live in, and I do not believe it is worth the trouble of clinging to; but I do propose something to get us out of our [malaise[] instead of continuing to complain about it, and about the boredom, inertia, and stupidity of everything." •To watch a short clip, click on this link: (Crash Course Theatre Antonin Artaud and the Theatre of Cruelty). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DK_vZuLYHcw

"Colored Men and Women on the Stage" by Aida Overton Walker

"This essay is one of the first theoretical attempts by a Black woman to justify a life on the stage." "Minstrelsy, which had dominated American entertainment in the 19th century, left a residual scar on the representation of African Americans. The notion of performing became something shameful for the Black middle class, which viewed the theatre as a place where Blacks in blackface maintained the derogatory appearance in perpetuity. Walker defended her position against Blacks who demurred from the stage, arguing that her work was professional and honorable." "While Williams and Walker did perform in blackface, Aida refused to play Mammy stereotypes." Quotations from the Essay by Walker "In the past the profession which I am now following may have merited severe criticism, but like every other call or profession, the Stage has improved with time, and I am proud to say that there are many clever, honest and well deserving men and women of color in professional life who will compare favorable with men and women of other races in the profession or in other professions." "In this age we are all fighting the one problem - that is the color problem! I venture to think and dare to state that our profession does more toward the alleviation of color prejudice than any other profession among colored people. The fact ot the matter is that we come in contact with more white people in a week than other professional colored people meet in a year and more than some meet in a whole decade." "As yet our profession is young and as yet we have been permitted to do but little. We are often compelled by sheer force of circumstance to work at a disadvantage, but I think the time is fast approaching when talent will speak for itself and be accepted for its real worth. White people used to allow us and say 'that is good for a colored person', but today we are criticized as severely as white actors who have every advantage. This is rather a strange fact: the only time white newspaper men speak of us as the equal of white people is when they are severely criticizing us and our ability to act well; when we fall short they cry out and think it strange that our acting is inferior; of course there is a method in all this we know." "By carefully studying our own graces we learn to appreciate the noble and the beautiful within us, just as other people have discovered the graces and beauty in themselves . . . Unless we learn the lesson of self appreciation and practice it, we shall spend our lives imitating other people and depreciating ourselves. " "Our stage work is grand and our lives can be made beautiful." "When we look at the Stage from this standpoint, we can appreciate how much it means to ourselves and others. It is rather easy to stand the harsh things some people may say about us when we can feel that besides doing good for ourselves and our race, we are using the gifts that God has given us to a good purpose. With this view before us, we are bound to succeed." "Remember this fact: good men help women to be good; and remember also, that in helping women you are really helping yourselves. We must work together for the uplift of all and for the progress of all that is good and noble in life."

Realism

A 19th century artistic movement in which writers and painters sought to show life as it is rather than life as it should be Drama was to involve the direct observation of human behaviour; therefore there was the need to use contemporary settings and time periods, and it was to deal with a temporary life and problems as subjects. Also, the common man and common situations were subjects for drama, not just the upper classes, kings, and queens. Focus on: psychological reality, people trapped in social situations, hope in hopeless situations. 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 injustice of some kind (e.g. 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

Expressionism

A form of art in which the artist depicts the inner essence of man and projects his view of the world as colored by that essence. "Representation of the world, like the world itself, is the work of men; they describe it from their point of view, which they confuse with the absolute truth." Simone de Beauvoir "There is no such thing as a German, French, or American Expressionism! There are only young people trying to find their bearings in the world." Oskar Kokoschka "Nothing's beautiful from every point of view." Horace "You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view." Harper Lee ´An artistic movement first used in France to describe a style of painting after the turn of the 20th century. ´Expressionism developed further in Germany in 1905 as a movement of art and literature in which: ´The representation of reality was distorted to communicate inner feelings. ´For example a painting of a man may include lines on his face that are twisted to indicate his inner turmoil. ´First cousin to Symbolism. ´Characteristics: ´Highly subjective. ´Dramatic Action is seen through the eyes of the protagonist and frequently seems distorted or dreamlike. ´Themes are often rooted in opposition to society, the family, or other cultural norms. ´Protagonists in a typical Expressionistic play journey through a series of incidents that are often not related by cause and effect. ´Characters are representative types, often given titles instead of names. (Wife, Lawyer, Man, etc.) ´Language is "telegraphic"; most speeches created with one or two lines. ´Some playwrights in Expressionism were motivated by political climates. ´Many theatre artists have been inspired by Expressionism and incorporate these characteristics into their work.

Naturalism

A nineteenth-century movement that was an extension of realism and that claimed to portray life exactly as it was. Naturalism The trend during the 19th century was to present reality in as convincing and natural a way as possible so that the external details of scene setting and of character portrayal were emphasised. Much importance was given to costumes, props and make-up-getting it to look just right. But by seeking to portray the world 'naturally', however, mainstream naturalism often got tied up in the details, and lost track of the content. Structure and storyline were very important, with a focus on character allowing the audience to become emotionally involved rather than detached. In terms of style, naturalism is an extreme or heightened form of realism As a theatrical movement and performance style, naturalism was short-lived Stage time equals real time - e.g. three hours in the theatre equals three hours for the characters in the world of the play Costumes, sets and props are historically accurate and very detailed, attempting to offer a photographic reproduction of reality ('slice of life') As with realism, settings for naturalistic dramas are often bland and ordinary Naturalistic dramas normally follow rules set out by the Greek philosopher Aristotle, known as 'the three unities' (of time, place and action) The action of the play takes place in a single location over the time frame of a single day - jumps in time and/or place between acts or scenes is not allowed Naturalism explores the concept of scientific determinism (spawning from Charles Darwin's theory of evolution) - characters in the play are shaped by their circumstances and controlled by external forces such as hereditary or their social and economic environment Often characters in naturalistic plays are considered victims of their own circumstance and this is why they behave in certain ways (they are seen as helpless products of their environment) Characters are often working class/lower class (as opposed to the mostly middle class characters of realistic dramas) Naturalistic plays regularly explore sordid subject matter previously considered taboo on the stage in any serious manner (e.g. suicide, poverty, prostitution)

Symbolism

A person, place or object which has a meaning in itself but suggests other meanings as well Departures from realism and naturalism 0 the historical avant-garde begins •Symbolism uses metaphor, allegory, and images to release the subconscious . . . To unleash the mystery of a world beyond realism. •Symbolists in theatre often use ritual . . . Stress rhythm, evocative sounds, scrims, and shadows. •Symbolists are searching for an encounter with spirituality. •Began in France by a gathering of poets at the turn of the 20th century. •It was a reaction against Realism and Naturalism. •Symbolism is a gateway to an audience's perception. •Opens a sort of parallel world in which things have multiple meanings. •Symbolists believe in a higher spiritual existence that can be explored on the stage through emotion. •Closely linked with a sense of spirituality. •Symbolism on the stage turns away "action". •Replaces action with situation, stillness, and reflection. •Can be explored on the stage through dramatic structure as well as design choices. Symbolists believed that the Actor's Body destroyed the "purity of the Moment Onstage" : •Similar to the feeling that if you were staring at a painting and suddenly a person in the painting walked out of the painting. •When this happens the mysterious and the elusiveness become flesh and blood . . . •The symbolic then becomes concrete. Real. •Thus performance of an actor eradicates the symbolic. THE ACTOR in Maeterlinck's Symbolism: •Suggested that the live actor be replaced with a shadow, a reflection, a sculpture or a puppet. •He wrote that the key to his theatre is, "dread of the unknown that surrounds us." •What's the biggest unknown? . . . . Death •Maeterlinck laid the foundation for conceptual theatre. •Influenced Antonin Artaud, Samuel Beckett, The Wooster Group, etc. EXAMPLE - The Blind

Paul Robeson

African American actor and singer who promoted African American rights and left-wing causes Born in Princeton, NJ in 1898. Died in 1976. Internationally known as an actor, singer, athlete, scholar,and political activist. He was the son of a runaway slave who became a Presbyterian minister. Paul went to Rutgers University on an academic scholarship. Rose to national prominence as a college athlete, winning 12 athletic letters in four different sports. Named an All-American in football in 1917 and 1918. Graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Rutgers. Robeson then attended Columbia University and earned a law degree in 1923. Eugene O'Neill saw Robeson perform in an amateur production and offered him the lead in his play The Emperor Jones. Robeson initially turned down the role because he had other commitments, but did play Brutus Jones onstage in 1924 and in the film version in 1933 The Emperor Jones also launched Robeson's career as a singer. In one scene in the play, he was supposed to whistle, but he chose to sing instead. His incredible singing voice was heard on stage. In 1926 Robeson presented a concert of spirituals and works songs in Town Hall in NYC. This was the first program of all-Black music ever sung on a New York stage by a solo artist. Robeson moved to London and lived there from 1927 - 1939. Appeared in many productions, including the musical Showboat. He introduced the song "Ol Man River" the song that was to become his trademark. He played the title role in Othello, heading a cast that included Dame Peggy Ashcroft and Sir Ralph Richardson. He repeated this success on Broadway in 1945 with Uta Hagen playing Desdemona. Play ran for 296 performances, a record for any Shakespeare play on Broadway. Robeson was outspoken about the racial situation in the U.S. Because of this and his affection for the Soviet Union, the state department took away his passport in 1950, effectively denying him the right to leave the country. He was blacklisted and denied the use of recording studios and concert halls. His annual income fell from $104,000 to $16,000 because much of his livelihood came from performing in Europe. In 1958, after an eight year worldwide campaign led by his supporters, Robeson regained his passport. He gave a triumphant concert at Carnegia Hall and then he left the U.S. In 1959 Robeson appeared as Othello in Stratford and then travelled to the Soviet Union to received the Stalin Peace Prize. In 1963, Robeson returned to the U.S. He spent the rest of his life in seclusion, making only a few public appearances. He died on January 26, 1976. •Some links: https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/paul-robeson-about-the-actor/66/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DF7YQrC7HM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eh9WayN7R-s

August Wilson

African American poet •Son of a White father and a Black mother. Grew up in a two-room apartment behind a grocery store on Bedford Avenue in the Hill District of Pittsburgh, PA. •Attended Catholic schools until he was 15 when he left school after a teacher accused him of plagiarism. She refused to believe that he wrote a paper. To keep his mother from worrying about him, he spent his afternoons in the public library. He completed his education on his own. During his hours at the library, he developed a love of poetry - especially the poems of Dylan Thomas. •He briefly enlisted in the army then moved into a boarding house and decided to pursue a life as a poet. •In 1968 Wilson helped found the Black Horizons Theatre Company in Pittsburgh. •In the late 1970s and early 1980s he moved to Minneapolis where he struggled to establish himself as a poet and held various odd jobs. •He became interested in playwriting and wrote a number of plays including Jitney in 1982. (revived on Broadway in 2017). Wilson submitted a draft of his play Ma Rainey's Black Bottom to the Eugene O'Neill Playwriting Center. It was accepted for development by artistic director, Lloyd Richards. The play opened in April of 1984 at Yale Rep directed by Richards and six months later it moved to Broadway. Wilson borrowed a tuxedo for opening night. Wilson said, "In order to know who you are now, you must know who you were in the past." His characters are universal figures, standing for "everyone who has ever struggled with himself or herself and with social forces." Wilson once said, "I know best those things which are common to all cultures." He died of liver cancer after completing his play cycle on October 8, 2005. The Virginia Theatre in New York's Broadway district was renamed in his honor soon after his death. He is the first African American theatre artist to receive this honor August Wilson chronicled the African American experience in a ten play cycle - writing one play for each decade of the 20th century. The plays are listed in order of the time period with production dates are in parenthesis. •1900s Gem of the Ocean (2003) set in 1904. •1910s Joe Turner's Come and Gone (1984) set in 1911. •1920s Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (1982) set in 1927. •1930s The Piano Lesson (1986) set in 1936. Won the Pulitzer Prize •1940s Seven Guitars (1995) set in 1948. •1950s Fences (1984) set in 1957. Won the Pulitzer Prize. •1960s Two Trains Running (1990) set in 1969. •1970s Jitney (1979) set in 1977. (First play written in the cycle but the last to premiere on Broadway.) •1980s King Hedley II (1991) set in 1985. •1990s Radio Golf (2005) set in 1990.

Surrealism

An artistic movement that displayed vivid dream worlds and fantastic unreal images Developed out of the Dada movement in 1924. France was the center of Surrealism. Surrealism Manifesto issued in 1924 by Andre Breton. Influenced by the ideas of Sigmund Freud. Breton's definition of Surrealism: "The pure psychic automatism by which is intended to express, verbally, in writing, or by other means, the real process of thought." "Thought's dictation, in the absence of all control exercised by the reason and outside all aesthetic or moral preoccupation." "Thus, the subconscious mind in a dreamlike state represented for Breton the source of artistic truth. Surrealists argue that the subconscious was the highest plane of reality and attempted to recreate its workings dramatically. Many Surrealist plays are set in a dream world, mixing recognizable events with fantastic happenings.

"Krigwa Players Little Nero Theatre" by W.E.B. Du Bois

An attempt to establish in High Harlem, NYC, a Little Theatre for degro actors, audiences, playwrights and artists, but will also welcome all artists of all races "The Negro church gave the slave almost his only freedom of spirit and of the churches that came to proselyte among the slaves, only those were permanently successful which were strongly tinged with Puritanism, namely: the Baptist and the Methodist." "These churches frowned upon drama and the play, upon the theatre and the dance; and for this reason the American Negro has been hindered in his natural dramatic impulse." "Today . . . The theatre calls for new birth . . . The Negro is already in the theatre and has been there for a long time; but his presence there is not yet thoroughly normal. His audience is mainly a white audience, and the Negro actor has, for a long time, been asked to entertain this more or less alien group. The demands and ideals of the white group and their conception of Negroes have set the norm for the Black actor. He has been a minstrel, comedian, singer and lay figure of all sorts." "Only recently as he begun to emerge as an ordinary human being with everyday reactions. . . . In all this development naturally then the best of the Negro actor and the most poignant Negro drama have not been called for. This could be evoked only by a Negro audience desiring to see its own life depicted by its own writers and actors." "For this reason, a new Negro theatre is demanded and it is slowly coming. "The movement which has begun this year in Harlem, NYC, lays down four fundamental priciples. The plays of a real Negro theatre must be: 1.About us. That is, they must have plots which reveal Negro life as it is. 2.By us. That is, they must be written by Negro authors who understand from birth and continual association just what it means to be a Negro today. 3.For us. That is, the theatre must cater primarily to Negro audiences and be supported and sustained by their entertainment and approval. 4.Near us. The theatre must be in a Negro neighborhood near the mass of ordinary Negro people." "In the Harlem Little Negro Theatre the library authorities built the stage and dressing rooms and furnished the lighting equpment. The players group furnished the curtain, the scenery, gave the plays and secured the audiences. . . . The success of the experiment is unquestioned. The audiences were enthusiastic and wanted more." "Krigwa Players Little Negro Theatre: An attempt to establish in High Harlem, New York City, a little Theatre which shall be primarily a center where Negro actors interpret Negro life as depicted by Negro Artists; but which shall also always be a welcome for all artists of all races and for all shympathetic comers and for all beautuiful ideas"

Futurism

An early-20th-century Italian art movement that championed war as a cleansing agent and that celebrated the speed and dynamism of modern technology. Began in Italy in 1909. Glorified the speed and energy of the machine age. Saw speed as the key to the future. Loved locomotives, engines, and planes. (In the first decade of the 20th century, Italy was the least industrialized nation in Europe. This could be a reason why they were intent on getting what they didn't have.) Promised to overthrow everything academic. Believed that cherishing the past is a barrier to progress . . . To the future. Called for the destruction of all museums and libraries. Idealized war . . . Glorified militarism and patriotism as well as war as "the world's only hygiene". Launched in 1909 with a Manifesto that declared, "We intend to sing the love of danger, the habit of energy and fearlessness."

"The Ground on Which I Stand"

August Wilson Not enough people funding black theatre and acting Believes colorblind casting is bad thing "In one guise, the ground I stand on has been pioneered by the Greek dramatist - by Euripides, Aeschylus, and Sophocles - by William Shakespeare, by Shaw, Ibsen, and Chekhov, Eugene O'Neill, Arthur Miller, Tennessee Williams. In another game, the ground that I stand on has been pioneered by my grandfather, by Nat Turner, by Denmark Vesey, by Martin Delany, Marcus Garvey, and the Honorable Elijah Muhammad. That is the ground of the affirmation of the value of one's being, an affirmation of his worth in the face of this society's urgent and sometimes profound denial. It was this ground as a young man coming into manhood searching for something to dedicate my life to that I discovered the Black Power Movement of the '60s." ". . . I believe that race matters - that is the largest, most identifiable and most important part of our personality. It is the largest category of identification because it is the one that most influences your perception of yourself, and it is the one to which others in the world of men most respond. Race is also an important part of the American landscape . . . Race is also the product of a shared gene pool that allows for ground identificaiton, and it is an organizing principle around which cultures are formed. When I say culture I am speaking about the behavior patterns, the arts, beliefs, institutions, and all other products of human work and thoughts as expressed by a particular community of people." "There are and have always been two distinct and parallel traditions in Black art: that is, art that is conceived and designed to entertain White society, and art that feeds the spirit and celebrates the life of Black America by designing its strategies for survival and prosperity." "That Black theatre today (1996) comes under such assaults should surprise no one, as we are on the verge of reclaiming and reexamining the purpose and pillars of our art and laying out new directions for its expansion." "To suggest that funding agencies are rewarding inferior work by pursuing sociological criteria only serves to call into question the tremendous outpouring of plays by White playwrights who benefit from funding given to the 66 LORT theatres. Are those theatres funded on sociological or aesthetic criteria? Do we have 66 excellent theatres? Or do those theatres benefit from the sociological advantage that they are run by whites and cater to largely white audiences?" We are capable of work on the highest order; we can answer to the high standards of world-class art. And anyone who doubts our capabilities at this late stage is being intellectually dishonest." "We can meet on the common ground of theatre as a field of work and endeavor. But we cannot meet on the common ground of experience." "We need a value system that includes our contributions as Africans in America. Our agendas are as valid as yours. We may disagree, we may forever be on opposite sides of aesthetics, but we can only share a value system that is inclusive of all Americans and recognizes their unique and valuable contributions." "Colorblind casting is an aberrant idea that has never had any validity other than as a tool of the Cultural Imperalists who view their American culture, rooted in the icons of European culture, as beyond reproach in its perfection." "To cast us in the role of mimics is to deny us our own competence. Our manners, our style, our approach to language, our gestures, and our bodies are not for rent." "In an effort to spare us the burden of being 'affected by an undesirable condition' and as a gesture of benevolence, many Whites say, 'Oh I don't see color.' We want you to see us. We are Black and beautiful. . . . We are not ashamed. We have an honorable history in the world of men." "We do not need colorblind casting; we need theatres. We need theatre to develop our talents. If we cannot develop our talents, then everyone suffers: our writers, the theatre, the audience." "So much of what makes this country rich in art and all manners of spiritual life is the contributions that we as African Americans have made. We cannot allow others to have authority over our culural and spiritual products." "We can make a difference. Artists, playwrights, actors - we can be the spearhead of a movement to reignite and reunite our people's positive energy for a political and social change that is a reflection of our spiritual truths rather than economic fallacies. Our talents, our truths, our belief in ourselves is all in our hands. . . The foundation of the American theatre is the foundation of European theatre that begins with the great Greek dramatists; it is based on the proscenium stage and the Poetics of Aristotle. This is the theatre that we have chosen to work in. And we embrace the values of that theatre but reserve the right to amend, to explore, and to add our African consciousness and our African aesthetic to the art we produce." "To pursue our cultural expression does not separate us . . . We are Americans trying to fulfill our talents." "We stand on the verge of an explosion of playwriting talent that will challenge our critics . . . Theatre can disseminate ideas, it can educate even the miseducated, because it is art - and all art reaches across that divide that makes order out of chaos, and embraces the truth that overwhelms with its presence, and connects man to something larger than himself and his imagination." "I believe in the American theatre. I believe in its power to inform about the human condition. I believe in its power to heal, 'to hold the mirror as 'twere up to nature' to the truths we uncover, to the truths we wrestle from uncertain and sometimes unyielding realitites. All of art is a search for ways of being, of living life more fully."

Futurist Manifesto

Destroy the techniques of the Greeks which has made theatre more dogmatic, stupid, logical, meticulous, pedantic, and strangling. Therefore: It's stupid to write 100 pages when one will do. It's stupid not to rebel against the prejudice of theatricality . . . Anything of value is theatrical! It's stupid to pander to the crowd. They want the bad guy to lose and the good guy to win. It's stupid to worry about verisimilitude. it's stupid to allow one's talent to be burdened with the weight of technique that anyone can acquire by study, practice, and patience

"The sighted Eyes and Feeling Heart of Lorraine Hansberry"

She hearalded the new Black Arts Movement of the 1960s and became one of its major literary catalists

"First Black Broadway Director Lloyd Richards"

Director of the Yale School of Drama and Yale Repertory Theatre Led the summer playwright's conference at the Eugene O'Neill Theater First African American to direct a play on Broadway - Raisin in the Sun. Teamed up with August Wilson of who he directed 5 of his plays. Father died/mother became blind Swept in barber shop listening to Elders of the community talk about poetry, philosophy and sports. Planned to study law but switched to theatre Worked as radio announcer and as an actor in radio dramas and regional theatre. Directed one episode of TVs Roots.

W.E.B. DuBois on African American Theatre

During World War I, thousands of rural southern African Americans traveled north to find work in the war industries. They brought their customs, music, religion with them. They dreamed of a better life away from the Jim Crow south. At the end of the war, many remained in the north. The early 20th century saw the formation of African American stock theatre companies. Most African American performers in this era made a living in vaudeville. Most African American vaudeville acts depended on the Negro circuit - which extended from New York to Texas and from Chicago to Birmingham, AL. The Negro circuit collapsed during the Depression in the 1930s. Black performers and writers were making inroads into commercial theatre (Broadway) during the 1920s. Twenty plays with Black themes were presented in this decade. Five of them were written by African Americans. The Federal Theatre Project was the most significant development in the 1930s for Black theatre artists. In 1941 a stage adaptation of NATIVE SON by Richard Wright was directed by Orson Welles. This production helped introduce the world to Paul Robeson.

Edward Gordon Craig

English modernist actor, producer, director, and scenic designer. He built elequent and symbolic sets. •Son of Ellen Terry and Edward Godwin. Ellen was a famous actor. •Began his career in theatre as an actor. Became a designer and then a director. •Believed that the director was the "true artist of the theatre." The director would give a "single artistic vision of a play." A director would be in charge of the overall vision of the play. •Argued that people go to see a play rather than hear a play. •Said that it was best to "give a suggestion instead of reality, a symbol instead of imitation." •Famously believed that Actors weren't artists because they were unpredictable and "prey to emotion and emotion introduced the accidental, which is harmful to Art." •Loved the idea of replacing actors with puppets - Uber-Marionettes. •"The puppet can portray the more general and universal, and hence the emotional and poetic." •Believed the stage should "never attempt to reproduce nature, but to create its own forms and vision never yet seen in nature." •Felt that a "suggestion of reality could create in the imagination of the audience a physical reality." •"A single Gothic pillar designed to stand alone and carefully lit, can suggest a church more effectively than a cardboard and canvas replica faithful to the last detail." •Pushed his concept of "total theatre" in which the director alone is responsible for "harmonizing every aspect of the production - acting, music, color, movement, design, and the lighting so that it might achieve its most unified effect." •"Art as we have said, can admit no accidents . . . The actor must go, and in his place comes the inanimate figure . . . The Uber-Marionette." "To save the Theatre, the Theatre must be destroyed, the actors and actresses must all die of plague . . . They make Art impossible."

Bertoit Brecht

Father of polictical theatre Shouldn't reflect society, but should actively change it. Cared more about meaning than aesthetic. •Born on Feb. 10, 1898 in Bavaria to an upper middle-class family. His life and works were profoundly shaped by WWI. During the war, he adopted a fiercely pacifist stance. •He began to study medicine after he graduated in 1917 but was drafted into WWI. He worked as a medical orderly at a military hospital which made him confront the trauma of war first-hand. •He wrote his first play Baal in 1918. His father offered to pay to publish the play but only if the family name was not mentioned. Brecht refused. •Settled in Berlin in 1924 where he worked with directors Max Reinhardt and Erwin Piscator. •He was critical of traditional theatre as it tended to represent reality as stable and unchanging. The style of presentation limited the capability of the audience to critically think about the events they saw on stage. •Brecht said, "Our theatre must stimulate a desire for understanding, a delight in changing reality." •Brecht felt that theatre was merely a tool of the bourgeoisie and focused on the business of pleasure instead of issues. •"Much of the audience's energy was spent in an emotional engagement with the scenes and a constant desire to know what was going to happen next." •Brecht was highly critical of this approach. Instead, he intended to create something without mystery and rituals, alienating the audience in order to induce a critical response: focusing on the "why" rather than the "how". •He wanted to develop an "epic theatre" that would unfold as a narrative, encouraging the spectator to use their brains to reason instead of merely absorb. •Brecht said, "It is not enough to demand insight and informative images of reality from the audience." He wanted them to act; to do something. Brecht in Exile •Because of his Marxist beliefs, Brecht was forced by the Nazis to flee Germany in 1933. •He lived in Denmark, Sweden and Los Angeles, CA. (He did some screenwriting in Hollywood.) •During his exile he refined his ideas about Epic Theatre and wrote many of his most important plays. •Mother Courage and Her Children in 1938. •Galileo between 1938 - 39. •The Good Person of Setzuan between 1938 - 1940. •The Caucasian Chalk Circle in 1944 -45. •In 1947 Brecht was called before the US House UnAmerican Activities Committee (HUAC) during the McCarthy Era. He didn't name names . . . He returned to Germany. •When he returned to Germany after WWII he resettled in East Berlin. •Started the Berliner Ensemble with his wife Helene Weigel (1900 - 1971). Opened the theatre with a production of Mother Courage. •Brecht died in 1956 and his wife took over the Berliner Ensemble. It continues to produce today. •Brecht is considered one of the most innovative and influential dramatist and theorist of the 20th century. •He has been criticized for not credited collaborators - particularly women - specifically his wife, Helene Weigel.

Konstantin Stanislavski

Father of realism acting; founded Moscow Art Theatre; First season:Anton Chekhov's: the Sea Gull Constantin Stanislavski started working in theater as a teen, going on to become an acclaimed thespian and director of stage productions. He co-founded the Moscow Art Theatre in 1897 and developed a performance process known as method acting, allowing actors to use their personal histories to express authentic emotion and create rich characters. Continually honing his theories throughout his career, he died in Moscow in 1938.

Lloyd Richards

First black director on Broadway Born on June 29, 1919 in Toronto. Died on June 29, 2006 in New York. His father was a carpenter from Jamaica. He moved the family from Canada to Detroit to work in the auto industry. When Richards was 9 years old, his father died of diphtheria. A few years later his mother lost her eyesight. He and his brother kept the family afloat by shining shoes and working in a barbershop. "You're listening in the barbershop, and you hear poetry, philosophy, sports. You're hearing history; you're hearing the elders speak." Lloyd Richards He discovered Shakespeare as a teenager and an interest in theatre took root. Attended Wayne State University to study Law but became interested in theatre, graduating in 1944. During WWII he volunteered for the Army Air Corp and was training with Tuskegee's flight program for Black soldiers when the war ended. He returned to Detroit and worked as a radio announcer and as an actor in radio dramas and regional theatre. In 1948 he moved to New York to work in theatre. He lived at the YMCA, waited tables and acted in Off-Broadway plays. He met director, Paul Mann, and studied at his workshop where he met another struggling actor, Sidney Poitier. Sidney Poitier told Richards about a play he wanted to act in and asked Richards to direct. The play was A Raisin In the Sun. Richards and Hansberry worked together for one year on the script, refining it for production. Ruby Dee, also in the original production, said, "Lorraine was such a young, young person, and she and Lloyd seemed to connect to one another." Lloyd Richards "There are many moments, or incidents, in my career when I was discovered the first Black person to do whatever. I never did anything that I did in order to receive designation - it happened because I was attempting to do the things I wanted to do, and someone gave me an opportunity." In 1979 Richards became the Dean of the Yale School of Drama and was the Artistic Director of the National Playwrights Conference at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre Center since 1966. At the O'Neill he made changes: •Encouraged staged readings and post performance critiques of new plays in development. •Emphasized the role of the dramaturg as a kind of mediator between the playwright and director. "I try to permit the actor to arrive where I want him to arrive, without telling him where I want him to be. You feed them the right things and keep stimulating them to the point where they make choices. I would rather an actor discover it for himself than me tell him - it's his then." Lloyd Richards Lloyd Richards was a "pioneering director who brought the plays of Lorraine Hansberry and August Wilson to Broadway." In 1981 Richards selected a submission for the O'Neill Conference from an unknown writer named August Wilson. Richards and Wilson would form one of the most successful artistic partnerships in American Theatre. They collaborated on five plays. "He [Richards] was drawn to the world of Wilson's plays, set mostly in Pittsburgh, because it reminded him of his youth in Detroit. 'I knew the people in that play,' Mr. Richards told the Chicago Tribune in his first reading of Ma Rainey's Black Bottom. 'I had lived among them; I heard their voices and the rhythms of their speech. There was an authenticity of character; they were articulating my feeling, my thoughts. August's concerns were my own; they were about my life.'" August Wilson called Lloyd Richards a surrogate father. Describing their working arrangement to the LA Times in 1989, Wilson said Richards told him The Piano Lesson had one scene too many. "I found a scene that I thought was expendable. I told him I took it out, he said, 'good' and to to this day, I don't know if we were talking about the same scene." •Lloyd Richards won the 1987 Tony Award for Best Director for Fences. •"As a director, teacher, and discoverer of talent, Mr. Richards had an illustrious cast of proteges, including playwrights John Guare, Athol Fugard, Charles Fuller, Lanford Wilson, Lee Blessing, Wendy Wasserstein, Christopher Durang, and David Henry Hwang." •In 1993 Lloyd Richards was awarded the National Medal of the Arts from the National Endowment of the Arts. •"Someone once asked me, 'What's the difference between acting and directing? I said that as a director it is as if you are preparing a bird to fly. You are teaching, nurturing, caring for it. And one day the bird is ready to fly." - Richards interview with the African American Review in 2005.

Tristan Tzara

French poet (born in Romania) who was one of the cofounders of the Dada movement (1896-1963) Romanian and French avant-garde poet, writer, performance artist, journalist, playwright, literary and art critic, composer, and film director. His parents were Jews. He was often condemned because of this. He moved to Zurich in 1915 when he was 19 and then moved to Paris when he was 23. Known best for being one of the founders of the anti-establishment Dada movement. Became interested in Symbolism as a teenager. Distanced himself from the Futurists, rejecting their militarism and pro-Fascist beliefs. Tzara influenced the Beat Generation and rock music in the 1960s.

Departures from Realism / Historicl Avant-Garde

Futurism, Dada, and Surrealism Rebellion Against Realism Some felt Realism was too simplistic and too limiting. Realism is the belief that Art should represent human behavior and the physical world with scientific exactness. This is where Truth is revealed. Departures from Realism developed in Europe - the Anti-Realists asked: What about an Artists' take on the world? Instead of representation of the scientific, can't Art also be an act of interpretation? What happened to an Artist's imagination? It gets lost in replication . . . Is Truth truly scientific? Departures from Realism began primarily as movements in the visual arts and then became important in theatre. Reactions to a chaotic world scene. 1905 Expressionism 1909 Futurism 1913/1916 Dada 1920 Surrealism Expressionism will be discussed next week with the play MACHINAL. We see the influences of the movements in the historical avant-garde all around us in our Art today.

"The Actor and the Uber Marinetti" by Edward Gordon Craig

His thinking led him to a theory of the ideal performer, the "Über-Marionette" or super-puppet, since unity of style which he sought, in design, scale and acting, without the intrusion of realism or personality, was attainable only through the controllable figure rather than the wilful human

"Lloyd Richards 1987 Interview"

I like an actor do discover for himself what I intend him to discover. When he discovers it, it's his, when I impose it, its mine. Spends a lot of time around the table talking about every aspect of the play, so that people know where to go when we hit the stage marks. I have a quiet type of direction to allow people to be comfortable and to be wrong on the way to discovering what is right. Growth comes one step after failure.

Futurism vs. Dada

In Dada bitterness and farce are mixed. Like the Futurists, Dadaists were against traditional "museum" art and tried to confuse and antagonize their audiences. Unlike the Futurists, Dada did not glorify war - they were pacitists. Strongly opposed WWI. Protested from the safe haven of Switzerland Dada also presented short plays that defied rational explanation. Dada paved the way for Surrealism. Dada concentrated on nonsense and the irrantional . . . Questioned definitions of Art . . . Suggesting that anything could be art.

Futurism Influences on 1960s

Keep theatre from creating plays with a museum-like atmosphere aka boring reproductions. Encourage the intermingling of performers with the audiences. Direct confrontation broke the fourth wall. Explore technology to create multi-media performances. Challenge artists to break down barriers . . . Create Total Theatre - Asian theatre practices. Neo-Futurists, a company in Chicago, has been performing since the 1980s. Look them up! Wooster Group, a company in New York. Been around since the 1970s. Look them up! (Frances McDormand company member - in top photo).

"Organic Unity" by Adolphe Appia

Organic unity is the common thread that keeps a theme from becoming broken and disjointed as a work moves forward.

Theatre from 1915-1945 After the start of WWI Until the end of WWII

Response to the changes taking place in the world. How do we make sense of devastation? The atrocities of war . . . The realization that we did this to ourselves. We followed orders . . . We killed our neighbors . . . We believed lies . . . We didn't do our research. On the other hand, the world is brought together by radio, telephone, and movies. Political and economic changes led to instability in the world. During WWI . . . 8.5 million people died. WWI ended in 1918. Economic problems developed in Europe and the U.S. Inflation in the 1920s was followed by the Great Depression in the 1930s. Monetary systems were devalued. This unrest set the stage for the rise of Totalitarianism and Fascism in Europe. THEATRE MIRRORED THE UNREST Some artists rebelled against commercial theatre. Is artistic success dependent on financial success? Is meaning more important than money? Should the value of art and theatre be ranked only in monetary systems? What is value? What is valuable? If Art is supposed to answer questions about our lives - what are "we" doing? What are we creating? Why are we creating it? What is success? What is the value of popularity?

Black Living Newspaper

The Living Newspaper was "one of America's most ambitious theatrical efforts in the period between the world wars." "The Living Newspapers used huge casts, spectacular sets, and film, vaudeville, and agit-prop techniques to depict contemporary political and social issues in theatrical terms. In the four years of the Federal Theatre Project's existence, from 1935 to 1939, living newspapers addressed issues as diverse and controversial as agricultural reform, labor relations, public ownership of utilities, housing problems, and public health. One issues, however, that was pointedly not addressed publicly by the living newspapers was the status of African Americans." The article contains a great history of the sidestepping of racial issues in our country. Discussing the attempts that were made by some to address the idea of representation of the Black American experience and its depiction on the stage. Read to gain insight into the history of Black theatre and the history of Black Americans.

Antonin Artaud

Theatre of Cruelty Born in Marseille, France. He went to Paris in 1920 and became an actor. From 1924 - 1926, Artaud was involved with the Surrealist movement and wrote his play Spurt of Blood (also known as Jet of Blood) in 1924. He was interested in both theatre and film. Artaud suffered from physical and mental disorders. He experimented with drugs and was prescribed opium which led to an addiction. Because of his interest in Asian religions and mysticism, the Surrealists expelled him from their movement. In 1926 he founded the Theatre Alfred Jarry. He was influenced by a group of Balinese dancers he saw saw in Paris in 1931. He was struck by their use of song, dance, and pantomime in a performance that was nonverbal and very physical. Artaud traveled to Mexico in 1936 in search of an authentic primitive culture. He lived among the Tarahumara Indians. Experimented with peyote (a hallucinogenic). While there he became convinced that supernatural forces were seeking to destroy him. In returned to France in 1937 and spend nine years in mental institutions. He was released in 1945 and died of cancer in 1948. Most of his books and theories were written in the 1930s but not published until later. Though his writings were not deemed important during his lifetime, they became a major influence on the experimental theatre of the 1960s. His ideas greatly influenced Jerzy Grotowski, Peter Brook, and the Living Theatre who were highly influenced by the ideas of Theatre of Cruelty. Artaud believed that western theatre needed to be totally transformed. Believed that theatre based in a literary tradition placed too much emphasis on language, overlooking the power of physicality and sensory experiences. This made theatre the opposite of its origins which were based in ritual. (The Greeks) Hoped that western theatre artists would study Asian theatre practices which were more stylized and ritualized in movement and meaning. In his essay "No More Masterpieces" he believed that classics should be produced not for the sake of their historical significance but only if they were still relevant to contemporary audiences. He didn't not believe that the text was sacred. He felt that a script could and should be reworked in order to point up its relevance. He didn't have high regard for the playwright as the original creator of the work.

A Raisin in the Sun

Title of the play comes from the poem Harlem written by Langston Hughes which asks "What happens to a dream deferred?" The play is set in an apartment on Chicago's South side. The Younger family's home. Hansberry wrote about the Younger family -- several generations of the family living in one household. She was able to present an "across-the-board picture of the changing and conflicting ideologies, dreams, and frustrations of Black Americans in the 1950s." The play opened on Broadway on March 11, 1959 and marked several firsts in theatre history: •Hansberry was the first Black woman writer as well as the youngest American playwright at the time (and only the fifth woman) to win the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Play of the Year. •Lloyd Richards was the first African American director on Broadway. More about him later. •A Raisin in the Sun marked the beginning of an "explosion" of Black theatre in New York in the 1960s and 1970s. •In 1957 when the play began rehearsals, it was deemed to be a risky project. Theatre at the time did not offer a path for success. A few perceived reasons: •The cast was almost exclusively Black. •The play was about Black characters. •Written by a Black woman. •Directed by a Black man with no Broadway experience. •When the play opened on March 11, 1959 it became a landmark moment in American theatre and social history.

"In Defense of the Woman"

Treadwell explores in Machinal, using an expressionistic style to freely enter the subconscious mind of her subject and convey the part of Ruth's story that was not heard at the trial. Treadwell looks beyond the "events and superficial motives" that were revealed in the courtroom and questions the court's assumptions of cause and effect, asking if there might not be a more complex psychological reality involved in this case. n Machinal, surface details differ, often substantially, from the Ruth Sny-der story; this led most reviewers to write that the play was only loosely based on the Snyder case. But, just as an expressionist painting reveals the inner, rather than outer, life of its subject, so Machinal explores the subtext of the trial whose surface details were so well known to Treadwell's audience.

Dada Performance at the Cafe Voltaire

Tristan Tzara was 19 years old. He entered wearing a monocle and began to sing sentimental melodies and handing papers to his "scandalized spectators" leaving the stage to allow room for masked actors on stilts and returning in clown attire. Tzara was also known for composing poetry by pulling random words out of a bag. Hugo Ball developed "sound poetry" which focused on the sound of words and not their meaning. Dada questioned the purpose and effectiveness of arts and artists. If the world is spiraling out of control - Art has not prevented this. Art can't help this. Art is meaningless. What is culture? What is our purpose?

Jo Mielziner

U.S.'s most prolific and respected designer after 1945. Eliminated nonessential features. Created "theatrical realism" actors moved towards the psychological truth based on the character's inner motivation "Literalism has no place in theatre" Death of a Salesman Cat on a Hot Tin Roof •Joseph "Jo" Mielziner was born in Paris to American parents. He father was a painter and his mother was a writer for Vogue Magazine •His family returned to the US in 1909. His older brother was an actor and he encouraged Jo to pursue a career as a set designer. •Worked as an apprentice to Robert Edmond Jones and Lee Simonson. •Believed in scenic metaphor. •His career lasted more than five decades. Between 1924 and his death in 1976, he designed 270 plays, musicals, revues, operas, movies, and ballets. Original designs for: Guys and Dolls, Gypsy, The King and I, Annie Get Your Gun, Carousel, Death of a Salesman, and Tea and Sympathy. •His aim was "to design with an eraser" to create "elliptical stage pictures that would stimulate the spectator's imagination." •Wanted to create "an emotional representation of the world" of the play. •Designed original productions of A Streetcar Named Desire and Death of a Salesman. •During WWII he joined the air force and designed camouflage. •Died at 75 of a heart attack in a NYC cab. At the time, he was designing The Baker's Wife. His concepts were completed by his protegee Ming Cho Lee. (We will discuss him a bit later in the semester.) •He won five Tony Awards and an Academy Award for art director for Picnic.

"Lloyd Richards Impact of a Raisin in the Sun"

Walked into Sardies and people stood and applauded. When we were in Philladelphia for the first half of the week we had hardly any black audience, after that first half the theatre was filled. Black people saw that they were represented in the theatre so they started to come to the theatre.

"Dada Manifesto" by Tristan Tzara

Written in 1918, it repetitive, contradicting and very hard to read. It explains that art is simply novelty; it is not meant to be beautiful, and it is not meant to be praised

Vsevolod Meyerhold "On the Theatre"

a Russian and Soviet theatre director, actor and theatrical producer. His provocative experiments dealing with physical being and symbolism in an unconventional theatre setting made him one of the seminal forces in modern international theatre. Meyerhold's acting system relied on motion rather than language or illusion. Opposing the Stanislavsky System, which Meyerhold believed overemphasized the spirit and psychology, biomechanics emphasized elementary laws of reflexes. Basic Skills of Biomechanics Precision - based on the development level of precision. He looked to the practice of circus performers and acrobats who depend on it for their own safety. Balance - A balanced actor is a confident actor and a confident actor is someone who wants to share their talents with the audience. Coordination _ You need to mater your own individual moving parts. from a group perspective your individual movements need to operate in harmony with the rest of the ensemble. Efficiency - Never waster energy on stage. Rhythm - Rhythm was the glue that held everything together. He used a tripartite rhythm made up of three parts: otkaz -preparation; posil - action; and tochka - end point. Expressiveness - is the means by which the actor communicates with the audience. Responsiveness - An actor needs to be permanently switched on or responsive to what is happening to you. Playfulness and Discipline _ two sides of the same coin, in a delicate balance with one another.

Post Modernism

a late-20th-century style and concept in the arts, architecture, and criticism that represents a departure from modernism and has at its heart a general distrust of grand theories and ideologies as well as a problematical relationship with any notion of "art."

New Stagecraft

a term used for an approach to scenic design featuring simplicity, avoidance of detail, and reduction of a location to its most significant elements •The popularity and acceptance of Realism and Naturalism on the stage made the box set and historical accuracy the norm in theatrical design in the early 20th century. •Some considered this obsession with authenticity in detail a "cluttering up of the stage". •Do we have to have rows and rows of pews to create the interior of a cathedral? Do we have to have trees and bushes to create the wilderness or a forest? •The ideas of simplicity and even an "austere" approach to design began to gain notice. •This alternative approach to Realism in design was based on the idea that we could create "the true spirit of a play rather than provide merely superficial dressing". •Is the minutiae of realistic details the only way to express the lives of characters in a play? •Two voices said No . . . Other options are available . . . Meet Adolphe Appia and Edward Gordon Craig.

Dada

artistic movement in which artists rejected tradition and produced works that often shocked their viewers

Dada

artistic movement in which artists rejected tradition and produced works that often shocked their viewers Originated in Switzerland in 1916 with a series of manifestos written by Tristan Tzara (1896 - 1963) Dada was a short-lived movement that never really caught on. Formed by a group of painters, poets, filmmakers and performers. When WWI broke out in Europe, many artists escaped to Switzerland which was neutral. Believed ideas such as Capitalism led to the horrors of war. insanity, according to them, was the state of the world. They sought to replace logic, reason, and unity with chance and nonsense, to better reflect what they felt and experienced. Some called them anarchists. They met at the Cabaret Voltaire in Zurich in February 1916. Named after the French satirist, Voltaire, whose play, CANDIDE, mocked the idiocies of his society. Dada offered no answers. Deliberately contradicted itself. Dada also forshadowed Performance Art Famous Dada art Marcel Duchamp: Toilet Mona Lisa with a moustache In 1916 Dada replaced Futurism as the leader of Modernism.

Modernism

characterised by a rejection of history and tradition and by the belief that the world had to be fundamentally rethought in the years between the First and Second World Wars.

Futurism

early 20th century Italian art movement that emphasized the machine as art

Maurice Maeterlinck

symbolism •Born in Belgium. He was a playwright, poet, and essayist. •Leader of the European Symbolist movement. •Won the Nobel Pirze in 1911. •He advocated a theatre of mood over action. •Considered action fruitless. •His plays emphasized blindness, shadow, and illusion. •Maeterlinck believed that the theatre's obsession with Realism was a barrier to deeper expression •His most famous play, THE BLUEBIRD, was produced by Stanislavski in 1908. It ran at the Moscow Art Theatre for over a year. •Maeterlinck's brank of Symbolism intrigued both Anton Chekhov and Henrik Ibsen. •He inspired Samuel Beckett's ideas about inertia . . . The idea that we as humans are often stuck and lack agency. •Maeterlinck and eventually Beckett wrote plays about waiting and inactivity.

Machinal

expressionism ´Written in 1928. Machinal means mechanical in French. ´Based on the life and execution of convicted "murderess", Ruth Snyder. ´Written in the Expressionistic Style. ´Premiered on Broadway in 1928 with a young Clark Gable. ´Treadwell's Mission Statement at the beginning of the Machinal Script ´THE PLOT: is the story of a woman who murdered her husband - an ordinary young woman, any woman. ´THE PLAN: is to tell this story showing the different phases of life that the woman comes in contact with, and none of which she finds any place, any peace. The women is essentially soft, tender, and the life around her is essentially hard, mechanized. Business, home, marriage, having a child, seeking pleasure - are difficult for her - mechanical, nerve nagging. Only in an illicit love does she find anything with life in it for her, and when she loses this, the desperate effort to win free to it again is her undoing. ´The story is told in nine scenes. In the dialogue of these scene there is an attempt to catch the rhythm of our common city speech, its brassy sound, its trick of repetition,etc. ´THE HOPE: is to create a stage production that will have "style" and at the same time, by the story's own innate drama, by the directness of its telling, by the variety and quick changingness of its scenes, and the excitement of its sounds, to create an interesting play. ´We see the world through Helen's eyes. ´We experience each scene from her point of view. ´Expressionism is subjective . . . Literally trying to step into someone else's shoes.

Robert Edmond Jones

father of American scenic design; brought new stagecraft to America from Europe •"I read the play carefully and I have tried to do with colors and design what the actors do with speech. I have tried to catch the spirit of the work even as the actors by voice inflection convey a subtle meaning." •Born in Milton, New Hampshire. Went to Harvard and graduated in 1910. •Moved to NYC in 1912 and began to work as a designer. •In 1913 he went to Europe to study with Edward Gordon Craig in Florence, Italy. •In 1915 he designed the set for THE MAN WHO MARRIED A DUMB WIFE. This design introduced New Stagecraft to Broadway. •His design was less realistic and more suggestive. •Jones integrated the scenic elements into the storytelling instead of having them stand separate from the play's action. •His style is often called "Simplified Realism" •He also brought Expressionism in design to productions produced by the Theatre Guild in NYC. •In 1918 he began to work with Arthur Hopkins. He designed the original production of MACHINAL on Broadway. •Wrote the book The Dramatic Imagination in 1941. •Design for Hamlet from 1922. This is a rendering for Act V Scene 1. Ophelia's funeral. •Used a "wavering light to represent the ghost of Hamlet's father instead of an actor. The voice was heard offstage."

Epic Theatre

form of episodic drama associated with Bertolt Brecht and aimed at the intellect rather than the emotions "Art is not a mirror with which to reflect reality, but a hammer with which to shape it." Bertolt Brecht "The theatre work of Bertolt Brecht reminds us that Art must find a way to not only confront, but also challenge reality." •Epic Theatre, a term Brecht borrowed from the director Erwin Piscator, refers "to the movement in Germany that emerged in the mid 20th century to respond to the changing political climate after Germany's defeat in WWI." •Epic Theatre was used by Piscator, Vladimir Mayakovsky, Vsevolod Meyerhold, and most famously by Bertolt Brecht. •Brecht (and others) believed that dramatic theatre lulled the audience into a hypnotic state, limiting their ability to critically think about the events that were happening on stage. •"Epic Theatre, as Brecht saw it, used tools such as alienation, music, disruption, and placards to keep the audience from empathizing with the characters on stage, allowing them to remain distanced enough to make decisions on their own." •"Epic Theatre is drama that contains episodic scenes fashioned after Shakespeare, with each scene a kind of mini-play of its own." THE Alienation Effect: •Brecht wanted to interrupt the narrative flow of the play; take away the plot chain of cause and effect. He believed this "flow" dulled the audience's ability to be alert and reactive. •He wanted spectators to reflect on the events happening on stage -- see the events as reality and develop a plan to change the outcome of the events. •To achieve this end, Brecht required theatre artists to "isolate or frame specific moments onstage and subject them to analysis." •"Brecht nullified empathy by estranging the audience. i.e., encouraging them to resist identifying with the protagonist." •Instead Brecht wanted to stimulate awareness over identification. (The actor is not Lear . . . The actor presents Lear.) •He called for audience detachment, saying, "If we observe sorrow on the stage and at the same time identify ourselves with it, then this simultaneous observing is a part of our observation. We are sorrowful, but at the same time we are people observing a sorrow - our own - almost as if it were detached from us." •Brecht created what he called the "Alienation Effect" - also known as Verfremdungseffekt. •Brecht said, "If empathy makes something ordinary of a special event, alienation makes something special of an ordinary one." •The "effect" Brecht sought was meant to stir reflection •The process of making the familiar strange through childlike naivete, can also apply to absurdism, surrealism, and the grotesque. •The Alientation Effect "places the material in an artificial framework , and represents it from various angles, but keeps an undistorted, realistic image. •Brecht wanted audiences to observe the power dynamics of authority, how it imposed its will through illusion, empathy, and charm. •Epic theatre is "disjunctive, deliberately lurching from one scene to another. It is meant to replicate the circus." He advocated for a dissonance in music: notes should contrast the mood of a scene, not sentamentalize it. •Instead of a unified production, Brecht preferred to separate the components of "acting, directing, and set design rather than unifying them." This pushed audiences further into alienation because everything doesn't fit seamlessly together. •"Brecht's overarching goal was to cut against the grain by employing what he called "gestus". This describes an actor's gesture that distills the social heirarchy of the haves and the have-nots" Didacticism: •Epic Theatre is a form of Didacticism or Didactic Theatre. •Its primary aim it to teach and instruct. This makes it political. Often meant to instigate social change. Can sometimes seem like propaganda. •Explored ways of changing the traditional actor-audience relationship. Challenged the fourth wall. •Germany was the birthplace of not only Expressionism but also of Epic Theatre. •The Expressionists looked for a revolution, but believed it must first take place in the human soul. Brecht believed that the Expressionsists were too indulgent and too subjective to look at true issues. LINKS https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-828KqtTkA (An Introduction to Brechtian Theatre - National Theatre) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7fqMPDcKXM (Bertolt Brecht and Epic Theatre: Crash Course Theatre) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWApVvqM-W0 (Meryl Streep - Mother Courage 2006) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Mz5I1LmLLw (Mother Courage - Meryl Streep)

W.E.B. DeBois (1868-1963)

founded the NAACP

Adolphe Appia

replaced flat scenery with three dimensional structures like steps platforms and ramps, light used to chape angles and reveal dimension of stage, used first lamp without a open flame Adolphe Appia "Is it a forest with characters, or rather characters in a forest?" "We no longer seek to give the illusion of a forest but that of a man in the atmosphere of a forest." •Believed that artistic unity is the fundamental goal of theatrical productions. •Used the latest technologies (electric lighting) to take design into the world of the imagination. (Less literal . . . More suggestive.) •Believed that the "setting should serve to focus attention on the actor, not drown him in two- dimensional pictorial detail." (Like painted backdrops) •"So it is the actor who is the essential factor in staging; it is he whom we come to see, it is from him that we expect the emotion, and it is for this emotion that we have come." •Ideas led to a new use of lighting in order to imaginatively light a simplistic set: simple platforms, flights of steps, that were able to convey the changing mood of a play. •Questioned the possibility of having a living actor surrounded by objects in an "inanimate" setting. Is the really believable? •Believed that "the ideal theatre should be totally flexible (even its floor, ceiling, and walls) behind the proscenium arch so that every drama can be developed in its own unique performance space." His ideas are in conflict with the practice of stock scenery. He believed that each play had its own unique set of given circumstances that must be considered. •"Our modern staging is entirely the slave of painting - the painting of sets - which purports to give us the illusion of reality. But this illusion is itself an illusion , because the physical presence of the actor contradicts it."

Aida Overton Walker

sang, acted, and danced as part of the Williams and Walker Act Born Feb. 14, 1880 in Manhattan, New York Died Oct. 11, 1914 in Manhattan, New York. She was 34 years old. "At the tender age of 15 she joined John Isham's Octoroons, one of the most influential black touring groups of the 1890s, and the following year she became a member of the Black Patti Troubadours." In 1898, she joined the company of the famous comedy team Bert Williams and George Walker. Within about a year of their meeting, George Walker and Aida Overton married and became two of the most admired African Americans on stage. Aida refused to comply with the plantation image of Black women as plump mammies, happy to serve. Like her husband, she viewed the representation of refined African American types on the stage as important political work. They gained international careers and were able to cross racial and social divides. In 1903, the Williams and Walker Company performed before King Edward in Buckingham Palace. They staged "In Dahomey" which was the first full length musical written and played by Blacks. After her husband became ill, Aida continued performing in Vaudeville to support the family. She was at times a male impersonator, stepping into the roles performed by her husband. Aida began touring the vaudeville circuit as a solo act. Less than two weeks after her husband's death in January 1911, Aida signed a two-year contract to appear as a co-star with S.H. Dudley in another all-black traveling show. Aida was named "The Queen of the Cakewalk". The cakewalk dance originated pre-Civil War on plantations and mimicked white slave owners unbeknowst to them. The couple that performed the most entertaining or amusing dance would win a cake as their prize. The Cakewalk became a part of minstrel and vaudeville routines. In the 1910s, Aida developed medical problems that limited her ability to tour and perform. As early as 1908, she organized benefits to aid insititutions such as the industrial Home for Colored Working Girls. Aida took an interest in developing the talents of younger women, hoping to pass along her vision of Black performance as refined and elegant. She produced shows for two such female groups in 1913 and 1914. When she died suddenly of kidney failure, the African American entertainment community in New York went into deep mourning. . . Hundreds of shocked entertainers descended on her residence to confirm a story they hoped was untrue. Walker left behind a legacy of polished performance and model professionalism. Her demand for respect and her generaosity made her a beloved figure in African American theater circles.

Sophie Treadwell

wrote Machinal ´Sophie Treadwell grew up on her family's ranch in Stockton, California. ´Her father was a Mexican-American lawyer. Her cultural identity strongly influenced her artistic vision. ´Studied French at UC-Berkley in 1902. She was also interested in acting and writing, as well as being an advocate for the rights of women. ´Treadwell wrote over 40 plays and was one of the first women to direct her own plays. ´During WWI she was one of the first women war correspondent for the State Department. ´She was the only journalist allowed to interview Pancho Villa during the Mexican Revolution. ´Her first Broadway play was called GRINGO and premiered in 1922.

"Postmodern Design" by A. Aronson

•". . . A key characteristic of modernism as 'the invention of a personal, private style, as unmistakable as your fingerprint . . . Which can be expected to generate its own unique vision of the world'". •"Modern design functions by visually and metaphorically placing the specific world of the play within some sort of broader context of the world of the audience; it is a kind of meta-narrative that attempts to encompass the world within a unified image." •". . . The spectator of postmodern design is constantly made aware of the experience of viewing and, at the same time, in the most successful examples, made aware of the whole history, context, and reverberations of an image in the contemporary world." •"Postmodernism shifts the basis of the work of art from the object to the transaction between the spectator and the object and further deconstructs this by negating the presence of a representative objective viewer." •"For all intents and purposes modern design began with the theoretical writings of Adolphe Appia and Edward Gordon Craig . . . Appia and Craig called for a theatricality characterized by simplicity, suggestion, abstraction, and grandeur within the context of a three-dimensional sculptural setting that would unify the performer and the stage space." •"Craig wrote, 'because the question here is not how to create some distracting scenery, but rather how to create a place which harmonizes with the thoughts of the poet'. The scenic artist responds intuitively to the ideas evoked by the playwright; the result is a visual image at one with the playwright's thoughts." •"A more theoretical framework, however, can be found in the work of Bertolt Brecht, whose maxim, 'show that you are showing', articulated the scenographic approach to this alienation effect." •"The basic aim of [Brecht's] alienation technique was to distance the spectator from the event in order that the viewer might reach decisions about the problems raised in the play. 'It's more important these days,' wrote Brecht in the mid 1920s, 'for the set to tell the spectator he's in a theatre than to tell him he's in, say, Aulis.'" •"Scenographically, this was achieved through techniques that would prevent the spectator from becoming enmeshed in the illusionistic world. The lighting instruments, the scenic elements, and the structures were to be shown."

Where to play Epic Theatre

•"Stylistically speaking, there is nothing all that new about the Epic Theatre. Its expository character and its emphasis on virtuosity bring it close to the Old Asiatic theatre." •"Didactic tendences are to be found in the medieval mystery plays and the classical Spanish theatre, and also in the theatre of the Jesuits." •"Most of the great nations today are not disposed to use the theatre for ventilating their problems. •"In Berlin Fascism put a very definite stop to the development of such a theatre." •"The Epic Theatre is the broadest and most far-reaching attempt at large scale modern theatre, and it has all those immense difficulties to overcome that always confront the vital forces in the sphere of politics, philosophy, science and art." •(Pics from UTC Theatre production of Good Person of Setzuan)

Epic Theatre on Morality

•"The Epic Theatre was likewise objected to as moralizing too much. Yet in the epic theatre moral arguments only took second place. Its aim was less to moralize than to observe." •"It is not only moral considerations that make hunger, cold and oppression hard to bear. Similarly, the object of our inquiries was not just to arouse moral objections to such circumstances but to discover means for their elimination. •We were not in fact speaking in the name of morality but in that of the victims. These truly are two distinct matters, for the victims are often told that they ought to be contented with their lot, for moral reasons. •Moralists of this sort see man as existing for morality, not morality for man. At least it should be possible to gather from the above to what degree and in what sense the Epic Theatre is a moral institution."

Theatre for pleasure or for Instruction

•"Thus even by Aristotle's definition the difference between the Dramatic and Epic forms was attributed to their different methods of construction, whose laws were dealt with by two different branches of aesthetics." •"The stage began to tell a story. The narrator was no longer missing, along with the fourth wall. Not only did the background adopt an attitude to the events on the stage . . . but the actors too refrained from going over wholly into their role, remaining detached from the character they were playing and clearly inviting criticism of him." •"The spectator was no longer in any way allowed to submit to an experience uncritically by means of simple empathy with the characters in a play." •The production took the subject-matter and the incidents shown and put them through a process of alienation: the alienation that is necessary to all understanding. •The Dramatic Theatre's spectator says: Yes, I have felt like that too - Just like me - It's only natural - It'll never change, etc. •The Epic Theatre's spectator says: I'd never have thought it - that's extraordinary, hardly believable - it's got to stop - the sufferings of this man appal me - I laugh when they weep, I weep when they laugh."

Alienation Effect in Chinese Acting

•"Traditional Chinese acting also knows the alienation effect and applies it most subtly. It is well known that the Chinese theatre uses a lot of symbols." •"Poverty is shown by patching the silken costumes . . . Characters are distinguished by particular masks. . . The stage itself remains the same, but articles of furniture are carried in during the action.." •"Above all, the Chinese artist never acts as if there were a fourth wall besides the three surrounding him. He expresses his awareness of being watched. •"The audience can no longer have th illusion of being the unseen spectator at an event which is really taking place."

Ellen Stewart "Obituary"

•The most influential Off-Off Broadway figure/producer in the 20th century. •Born in 1919 she famously never gave out too much personal information. She once said that some of her ancestors were involved in vaudeville and burlesque. •She said she loved theatre as a child, playing with spools of thread as actors in her shoebox theatre. •In Chicago she managed Boss Slim's Nightclub. She booked artists such as Billie Holiday and Cab Calloway. •She decided she wanted to be a fashion designer. NYC was only one of two cities with design schools that accepted Black students. Before being accepted, however, she got a job designing at Saks Fifth Avenue. She designed bathing suits and day dresses. •She was the only American designer to have two dresses at the coronation pf Queen Elizabeth II. •She didn't consider herself a theatre artist. She told the NY Times, "I can't write myself, and I can't act." She later began to support directors. She moved away from script-based theatre and towards director-centered works. Elen's work as an artist and artistic director earned her a MacArthur Genius Grant in 1985, the National Endowment for Arts and Culture, a Tony Award and 15 honorary doctorates. In 1993 she was inducted into the Broadway Theatre Hall of Fame becoming the first Off-Off Broadway producer to ever receive this honor. At the time of her death is in estimated that Ellen Stewart presented more than 1900 productions. Josh Greenfield of the NY Times wrote: "her success represents both a rare act of faith and an unflinching confrontation with the mechanics of moving mountains." Her biographer, Barbare Lee Horn stated that," •"She was one person that insisted that the United States have an international profile, certainly in experimental theatre. She went out there with a machete and cut through the undergrowth and prepared the way for many others. And it is not that she has made it easier for others, she has made it necessary - something that could not be avoided . . . She had immense courage and commitment to her vision of what theatre could be." From an interview in 2004 •Q: Why do you like to do classical plays so much? •E: In my heart, I wanted to do something that a Black could play that was not with a needle in the arm, or in a jail cell, or cleaning house for a White woman, or gein in the morgue - this was what you saw in the stage in the 60s or in the 70s From writer and actor Harvey Fierstein Vanity Fair interview in 1994 •"Eighty percent of what is now considered American theatre originated at La MaMa." Ellen Steward founded Café La MaMa in 1961 in a basement in the East Village of NYC. After some trouble with the fire inspectors, she created the La MaMa Experiemental Theatre Club with functioned as a private organization and was therefore exempt from the regulations that governed public spaces. In the 1969 - 1970 season, La MaMa produced more plays than were seen on Broadway in that entire season. La MaMa's 11th production was The Room which introduced Harold Pinter to American audiences. Home of the original production of Hair. Then it moved to Off-Broadway and eventually to Broadway. In the early 1960s La MaMa launched a new type of theatre that created experimental ways to work. They refused to state standards to judge this new type of work. Other groups that were working in this vien included Judson Poets Theatre, Caffe Cino, and Theater Genesis. These four theatres started the Off-Off-Broadway movement. La MaMa is the only one of these theatres that still suvives. Ellen considered La MaMa to first be a playwright's theatre. She nourished talent. She has been influencial in introducing new playwrights and directors. She gave everyone a change to hear their words. Jean-Claude van Itallie said of meeting Ellen in the early 60s, "I said to her, I am a playwright, and she said, Welcome home, honey." Established La Mama Experimental Theater Club

Instructive Theatre

•The stage began to be instructive. •"Oil, inflation, war, social struggles, the family, religion, wheat, the meat market, all became subjects for theatrical representation." •"And the 'background' came to the front of the stage so people's activitiy was subjected to criticism. Right and wrong courses of action were shown." •"The theatre became an affair for philosophers, but only for such philosophers as wished not just to explain the world but also to change it." •"So we had philosophy, and we had instruction. And where was the amusement in all that? Were they sending us back to school, teaching us to read and write? Were we supposed to pass exams, work for diplomas?" •Theatre remains theatre even when it is instructive theatre, and in so far as it is good theatre it will amuse.

"Theatre of Cruelty Conventions:

•Theatre for Artaud was not a literary event but a sensory experience. •The emphasis on the sensory is what characterizes Theatre of Cruelty. •He chose the word "cruelty" after he considered and rejected the words "absolute", "Alchemical" and "metaphysical". •He didn't use "cruelty" to mean that theatre artists should literally assault their audience - although some avant-garde theatre artists did think of cruelty as actual physical confrontation with spectators. •Instead . . . He meant that the viewers' senses should be BOMBARDED. To involve the senses . . . To ignite the bodies and give the audience a sensory experience. •He argued that productions could be staged in found spaces - such as warehouses or airplane hangars. •Attacked Stanislavsky's acting techniques because he believed it was too narrowly focused on a range of human experience, primarliy the psychological problems of individuals or the social problems of groups. •He felt that the more important aspects of existence are those submerged in the unconscious - those things that cause division within people and between people that lead to hatred, violence and disaster. •He believed that our natural inclination toward violence and aggression - by the rise of fascism and totalistarianism - could be purged in Theatre of Cruelty. Theatre could act like a "plague" cleansing modern society of all that was ugly. He believed that theatre was the salvation of mankind. Catharsis. •Artaud was the most radical and innovative theorist in France. Like Appia and Craig he had few opportunites during his lifetime to put his theories into practice, but his ideas were extremely influential in the decades that followed.

New Stagecraft Questions to Ponder

•What is New Stagecraft? •What are the elements and ideas of New Stagecraft? •What was New Stagecraft challenging? What was the norm before these new ideas changed the status quo in theatre design? •How did the ideas of New Stagecraft change theatre design? •How did Appia and Craig's ideas affect design? •How did these ideas make their way to America? •What impact has New Stagecraft had on 21st century theatre?

Appia vs Craig

•While these two men shared many of the same ideas, they differed on several important issues. •Appia believed that theatre artists, including actors, were primarily the interpreters of a playwright's work. •Craig believed that the director was the main focus and interpreter. •Appia was okay with having a different setting for each location in a play while Craig believed that one single setting should be capable of "expressing the spirit of the entire work." •Together they forced their peers to reconsider the "nature of theatre as an art, its function in society, and its elements." •They influenced the trend toward a more simplified décor, three-dimensional settings, directional lighting . . . A move "toward evocation rather than literal representation."

The Blind

•Written in 1890. •What does this play symbolize? •What symbols did you respond to in the play? •What does the Priest symbolize? •What does the setting symbolize? •What about the other characters?

Mother Courage and her Children

•Written in 1939 when Brecht was in exile from Germany. •Set in the historical period of the Thirty Years' War (1619 - 1648). It deals with the war not in religious or social terms but focuses on the economic equations driving war. By placing the characters in the past. Brecht urges the audience to contextualise their actions." •"War is a lot like love: it always finds a way," carrying a premonition of the devastating WWII that was to come. •"Even as she loses all of her children one by one, Mother Courage remains determined to carry on her business, even if it means carrying on the wagon by herself." •Brecht, however, seems to point out that no one can get through war without loss, not even the bourgeois class." •Mother Courage is a character full of contradictions, stuck in a dilemma fuelled by her identity as a woman and a mother, choosing to survive in the most difficult of circumstances. •Placards used to describe the events in the upcoming scene, making no attempt to build suspense. •Use of songs is an interruptive device to alienate the audience from getting drawn into an emotional whirlwind. •Brecht's theatre reminds us that in the most difficult of times, art must find a way to not only confront but also challenge reality.

Brecht as a Playwright

•Wrote play that are episodic in structure. •Usually set his plays in some era of history or in a foreign land (not Germany). •Plays usually cover a long period of time and have a lot of location shifts, lots of characters, and intricate plots. •Brecht believed that theatre could create an intellectual climate for social change. •He argued that the effect of Naturalism is to "naturalize the unacceptable." •Often attacked theatrical works that were created purely for mass consumption and entertainment. Referred to them as "culinary art". •He felt that if theatre was to succeed at teaching, the audience had to be involved - not emotionally - but intellectually. •To prevent emotional involvement, Brecht chose the highly theatrical. •He used narrators to comment on the action; audiences were always made aware that they are in a theatre. Lighting instruments were not hidden but were clearly visible; used multimedia elements such as projections and film. •Warned actors against Stanislavsky's techniques. •Used a technique in his writing called Historification. Contemporary events parallel historic ones. Placing events in the play in the past a way to alienate the audience.