10/23-Transition to Romanticism and RealismENGLAND(1642) Charles I beheaded by Puritans who establish commonwealth-They shut down theatre· 1660 The RestorationCharles II returns to England from France and brings with him women on stageNeoclassicism- new classics Rigid and rule based Unity of time, place and action Purity of genre- tragedy about nobility and comedy lower classesRomanticism· Values imagination and emotion over rules and order.· Rousseau (1712-1778)Nature over civilization· Revolutions1776 in America1789 in France· In literatureThe Hunchback of Notre Dame, Frankenstein, Robin Hood, Zorro· On stageVictor Hugo and Hernani (1830,)Claques- riots because the story is so unexpected and shockingMelodramaCharacteristics· Middle class or common charactersBlack and white moral universe, where good is rewarded and bad is punished Spectacle· Teach moral message· Temperance melodrama - discourage people from drinkingRealism· Late 19th century· Industrial revolution· Urban poor and slums (further down it says realism is about middle class),RealismFoundational IdeasThe artist…..Asks what happens when someone with a certain heredity exists in a certain environmentBased the work on direct observation of contemporary life which the playwright shows impartially and objectivelyBased on a A Doll's House, what are the principles of realismStories of the middle classObservation of contemporary life and mannersContemporary settings and languageContemporary social issuesNo longer living in Shakespeare--IbsenDuring women’s suffrage movementTechnology and invention· Louis Daguerre and daguerreotypes (1839)PhotographyPin-hole cameraIconoclasts (destroyers of cultural beliefs, reformers) of the 19th centuryKarl MarxStudied economic patternsCharles Darwin and Origin of the SpeciesNatural selectionSurvival of the fittestSigmund FreudHow we are as kids turn up when we become adults (nature vs. nurture)Predictable pattern of trait (id, ego, & super-ego).August ComteFather of sociologyPattern of social behaviorEmpiricism:Scientific method --the world can be explainedHeredity and environmentFoundational Beliefs of Realism and NaturalismAudience is like a doctorArt to better humansNaturalism--short lived form because life is boringRealism- still real to us todayTruth is discoverableSolutions can be found with scientific methodNaturalism: Emile Zola (1840-1902)Theatre should be a "slice of life" on stageThe playwright and audience are like a doctor who looks at maladies to find a cure.The audience should go , "oh, that's interesting. We can fix this problem if we…." Emile Zola"The Lower Depths" by GorkiNot very successful- depressingHenrik IbsenFather of realismAlternate ending to A Doll’s House (which Ibsen called a "barbarous outrage")"Oh this is a sin against myself, but I cannot leave them""A woman cannot be herself in the society of the present day, which is an exclusively masculine society, with laws framed by men and with a judicial system that judges feminine conduct from a masculine point of view"-IbsenControversial ending-leaves children and family behindWays Realism changed TheatreVoluminous stage directions and detailed set designAndre antoine and the fourth wall"the front of the stage must be a fourth wall, transparent for the public, opaque for the player"Actor trainingConstantin StanislavskiThe system or the methodDirect observation on lifeFoundation of acting"the life of a character should be an unbroken line of events and emotions, but a play only gives us a few moments on that line--we must create the rest to portray a convincing life."Naturalism: "a germ under the microscope"Realism: “a germ in a petri dish”Reactions to Realism: The Avant Garde and "The Isms"Avant garde: military; advanced guardFuturismExpressionismDadaAbsurdismBrecht and the epic theatre including the alienation effectArtaud and the theatre of crueltyCome from World War I (European movement)Bertolt Brecht and Antonin ArtaudArt is not a mirror to reflect realityThe theater of cruelty: Artaud,"like the plague, the role theatre has been created to drain abscesses collectivelyTaking the boils of lifeA confined place for human to experience all animal instinctsPurge themselves--catharsisShrill sounds, waves of light, violent physicalizationsFully immersedSensory BombardmentArtaud believed that theatre should represent reality and, therefore, affect the audience as much as possible, therefore he used a mixture of strange and disturbing forms of lighting, sound, and other performance elements. ←-Spurt of Blood is a good example for this!Bertolt BrechtThe dramatic theatre vs. epic theatreDramatic: "yes I have felt like that too-just like me-- its only natural”Epic: "I'd never have thought it--that's not the way--that's extraordinary"MarxistCapitalist systems repress peopleEvils of capitalismTheatre is didactic--teachingNot for art, for teachingMake audience think about certain social conditionsMethodicalIntellectual responseAlienation effectInterrupt audience's emotional engagementJuxtapose odd elements (feel shocked)Placards, historicized, break 4th wall (uses narrators)-->tell audience what to think aboutPlacards: signs and spoilers so that you knew what was going to happen and you wouldn’t be surprised, you could think and not feel. WHY is it happening? 11/04- Bertolt Brecht and Antonin ArtaudTheatre is didactic (intended to teach)Empathising with the characters prevents the audience from THINKING about the social causes of human suffering- Alienation Effect- juxtapose odd elements- placards; historized Break fourth wallAsian Theatre- Artaud, Brecht, and Asian Theatre- reaction to realism- alternatives to naturalistic theatre- asian theatre - non-naturalistic/stylized theatreAsia: largest continent in the world (land, population)- diversity- limitations of this lecture (diversity/culture, time, generalization)- ritualistic theatre - ex. Sanni yakuma (Sri Lanka)- religious theatre - ex. Ramlila (India)- Folk theatre - ex. Sokari (Sri Lanka) - Royal court performances - ex. Peking opera (China)Theatrical conventions- Symbolic representation- Gestures- Facial expressions- NarratorSymbolic representation- costumes- make up- charactersgestures and facial expressions- ex. hand gestures - sanskrit theatre- different theatre traditions and forms- Noh- Kabuki- Peking opera- Koodiyattam- KolamTheatre in Asia
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