DRAM 1101 1st Edition Lecture 6 Outline of Last Lecture I. The role of the playwrightII. Dramatic ActionIII. Qualities of a fine playIV. Current American playwrightsV. The playwright’s processa. Dialogueb. Conflictc. StructureOutline of Current Lecture I. Melodramaa. Conventionsb. Characteristics c. LegacyII. Origins of modern theatre III. Realisma. Ibsen & ChekhovIV. Naturalisma. “Slice of Life”Current LectureI. Understanding Melodrama as a pretext to realisma. Melodrama (19th century)i. Heightened reactionsii. Emphasized morals and suspense, elaborate stage spectaclesb. Became prominent because the social and economic conditions of the 19th century lent themselves to its popularity i. Industrialization meant large concentrations of workers that formed potential audiences who needed entertainmentc. Conventions of melodramai. Musical score1. Means “music drama” 2. Enhanced emotional toneii. Simple, powerful storiesiii. Set pattern of actioniv. Stereotypes 1. i.e. hero/heroine These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor’s lecture. GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes, not as a substitute.v. Urgencyvi. Spectaclevii. Poetic justice—good triumphed over evild. Characteristics: i. Variety—because the pattern of the events in melodramas is often the same, it achieved variety through:1. Exotic locales2. Special effects3. Use of latest inventions4. Dramatization of popular novels, crimesa. Example: Raiders of the Lost Arke. Melodrama is still actively being used as a genref. The complexity of the spectacular effects in melodrama contributed to: i. The development of the role of the director1. Someone to coordinate all the separate pieces of the playii. The role of realistic spectacleiii. The rise of mass popular entertainmentg. Melodrama’s legacyi. Shapes contemporary entertainment 1. From soap operas to action movies like Spiderman, Transformers, and Eagle Eyeii. Stereotypical good v. eviliii. Special effects, music, and exotic locationsII. Origins of Modern Theatrea. Modern theatre was a reaction to social and political changes at the turn of the 19th centuryi. Intellectual and scientific developments led to massive change1. Marx, Darwin, Freuda. Suggested that humans change and that concepts of good v. badare not absolutes b. Suggested that conscience is a product of socialization and therefore is also relativei. Melodrama was built on the premise that conscience is innate and Freud challenged thisc. The notion of relativity shifted the focus of the theatre III. Realism (1850’s)a. The most pervasive influence on contemporary theatreb. It was an attempt to present reality without any traditional dramatic conventioni. Based on the idea that a person’s environment shapes their character and motivationsii. Truth can only be understood by using the sensesc. The objective is the realization of life and based their ideas in the approaches of sciencei. The stage was perceived as a laboratory 1. The Scientific method—drama involved the observation of human behavior2. Through this observation, we would get an objective representation of relationships and societal ilsd. Launches with plays of Henrik Ibsen, 1879 (A Doll’s House) and Anton Chekhovi. Chekhov The Three Sisterse. Accurate, authentic, and verisimilitude i. The appearance of being real or true IV. Naturalism (1870’s)a. Attempted to destroy all dramatic conventions i. Rejected traditional theatrical tools such as climaxes and conclusionsb. Led to a way of thinking of humans as biological phenomena whose actions were determined by their environments and genesi. Think: Charles Darwin c. An attempt to create life itself on stage i. Replicate real life exactlyii. Using the authentic thing instead of recreating it with a set or props d. Naturalism on stagei. Costumes, setting, decor are all real materialsii. The language is everyday vernaculariii. Natural staging, acting, and dictioniv. Realistic characteristicsv. How the environment affects usvi. Simple plot constructionvii. Contemporary subjectse. An unmodified “Slice of life”—Emily Zolai. 1849-1902ii. Head of Naturalist movementiii. Interested in exposing social illsiv. Wants to show subjects not frequently shown f. Hyper-realism g. What is naturalism’s legacy?i. Method actingii. Reality T.Viii. Naturalism died out because it was so difficult at the time1. Harder to uphold than realism so it was not as populariv. Contemporary examples of naturalism’s legacy: 1. Documentaries, on location, real people, capturing genuine