DRAM 1101 1st Edition Lecture 6 Outline of Last Lecture I The role of the playwright II Dramatic Action III Qualities of a fine play IV Current American playwrights V The playwright s process a Dialogue b Conflict c Structure Outline of Current Lecture I Melodrama a Conventions b Characteristics c Legacy II Origins of modern theatre III Realism a Ibsen Chekhov IV Naturalism a Slice of Life Current Lecture I Understanding Melodrama as a pretext to realism a Melodrama 19th century i Heightened reactions ii Emphasized morals and suspense elaborate stage spectacles b Became prominent because the social and economic conditions of the 19 th century lent themselves to its popularity i Industrialization meant large concentrations of workers that formed potential audiences who needed entertainment c Conventions of melodrama i Musical score 1 Means music drama 2 Enhanced emotional tone ii Simple powerful stories iii Set pattern of action iv 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 II III v Urgency vi Spectacle vii Poetic justice good triumphed over evil d Characteristics i Variety because the pattern of the events in melodramas is often the same it achieved variety through 1 Exotic locales 2 Special effects 3 Use of latest inventions 4 Dramatization of popular novels crimes a Example Raiders of the Lost Ark e Melodrama is still actively being used as a genre f The complexity of the spectacular effects in melodrama contributed to i The development of the role of the director 1 Someone to coordinate all the separate pieces of the play ii The role of realistic spectacle iii The rise of mass popular entertainment g Melodrama s legacy i Shapes contemporary entertainment 1 From soap operas to action movies like Spiderman Transformers and Eagle Eye ii Stereotypical good v evil iii Special effects music and exotic locations Origins of Modern Theatre a Modern theatre was a reaction to social and political changes at the turn of the 19 th century i Intellectual and scientific developments led to massive change 1 Marx Darwin Freud a Suggested that humans change and that concepts of good v bad are not absolutes b Suggested that conscience is a product of socialization and therefore is also relative i Melodrama was built on the premise that conscience is innate and Freud challenged this c The notion of relativity shifted the focus of the theatre Realism 1850 s a The most pervasive influence on contemporary theatre b It was an attempt to present reality without any traditional dramatic convention i Based on the idea that a person s environment shapes their character and motivations ii Truth can only be understood by using the senses c The objective is the realization of life and based their ideas in the approaches of science i The stage was perceived as a laboratory 1 The Scientific method drama involved the observation of human behavior 2 Through this observation we would get an objective representation of relationships and societal ils d Launches with plays of Henrik Ibsen 1879 A Doll s House and Anton Chekhov IV i Chekhov The Three Sisters e Accurate authentic and verisimilitude i The appearance of being real or true Naturalism 1870 s a Attempted to destroy all dramatic conventions i Rejected traditional theatrical tools such as climaxes and conclusions b Led to a way of thinking of humans as biological phenomena whose actions were determined by their environments and genes i Think Charles Darwin c An attempt to create life itself on stage i Replicate real life exactly ii Using the authentic thing instead of recreating it with a set or props d Naturalism on stage i Costumes setting decor are all real materials ii The language is everyday vernacular iii Natural staging acting and diction iv Realistic characteristics v How the environment affects us vi Simple plot construction vii Contemporary subjects e An unmodified Slice of life Emily Zola i 1849 1902 ii Head of Naturalist movement iii Interested in exposing social ills iv Wants to show subjects not frequently shown f Hyper realism g What is naturalism s legacy i Method acting ii Reality T V iii Naturalism died out because it was so difficult at the time 1 Harder to uphold than realism so it was not as popular iv Contemporary examples of naturalism s legacy 1 Documentaries on location real people capturing genuine emotion