Theatre Final Review Richard Wagner a master artist who controlled every aspect of production He came up with the word Gesamtkunstmerki which means complete or total artwork Georg II the Duke of Saxe Meiningen FIRST DIRECTIOR o He created crowd scenes as he wanted people to stand out and consequently create reality on stage o 3D sets actors were a part of the scenery o He had actors interact with each other and not just the audience Contemporary Directing o Primary goals of unification and interpretation o Worshipful VS Heretical Worshipful Zeffirell s Romeo and Juliet Honors the text guidelines Traditional A dramatic single kiss Soft music Heretical Luhrmann s Romeo and Juliet Not traditional but Americanized Modern Dress Demonstrates more loving multiple kisses Lines seem rehearsed The Directing Process o Production Concept the Director s approach to the play An execution of a central theme or idea o Coordinate the production team designers dramaturgy stage manager o Actors casting is 90 of directing Monologues actor performs a speech individually Cold readings short scenes performed without rehearsal Rehearsals blocking actor coaching pacing timing of the show o Outsiders Tech acting design long rehearsals 10 of 12 rule put in place by the Actors Union states that for every 12 hours of work actors have to work only 10 hours Blocking the movement and positioning of actors on stage Dress rehearsals Preview show may change afterwards the time to get cheap seats as an audience member no press Performance Director OFFICALLY let s go PRESS comes Acting o Building a character o Interpretation and analysis o Physical and emotional psychological Acting requires o Discipline Concentration a trained instrument Imagination Playfulness Given Circumstances things events background and what the information they GIVE us We know the facts but not HOW they happened Imagined Circumstances the things they create o Objective what they are trying to make happen o Tactic strategies to overcome an obstacle o Obstacle challenge o Text black and white on a page o Subtext interpretation how you say something shows different meanings Representational Acting Inside Out o Characteristics Emotional first Physicalization emerges naturally from the emotions Problem can be inconsistent o Konstantine Stanislavski Associated with representational acting Redefined acting Established the acting system Objective what the character tries to achieve Relax you cannot act when stresses he designed special exercises Private moments makes actors feel like the audience disappears and that they are in an intimate space Emotional recall remember an experience in life and how it felt Magic IF where the power rests Allows the actor to ask themselves questions internally This is where the system takes off This method acting depends on emotional recall which sometimes causes actors to relive moments It can cause emotional trauma Presentational Acting Outside In o Characteristics Physical first Emotions appear to form the physicalization Technical approach requires intensive training Problem can appear mechanical o Modern Physical Theatre Conveys messages physically Blue Man Group Stomp Mime Clowning o Bill Irwin Famous physical actor The Regard of Flight CLIP lots of movement corrections The Clown Prince dramatic speaking directing another man in front of the audience playful o Cirque du Solei Spectacle Music Dance Puppetry Mime Acrobatics and more Debate as to whether it is theatre Social Drama theatre for social change o Characteristics Individual VS Society Addresses social ills Question of morality Realism a movement that sought to demonstrate reality upon the stage o Industrial Revolution steam powered ships railroads electricity urbanization o Iconoclasts Marx Freud Darwin o Sociology Auguste Comte founded the school of Sociology o TRUTH is shown on stage o 4th Wall wall in front of stage which serves as a barrier to actors and the audience o Middle class o Social Problems Questions Nature VS Nurture o Henrik Ibsen Father of Realism A Doll House the door slam heard around the world as the wife walks out on her family Responses to Realism begin with social and economic disaster o WWI war to end all wars Economic Depression U S and Europe WWII war to end all wars only worse Responses to Realism o Dada Zurich Switzerland Ex Urinal art Characteristics Mockery of High Art who is to say what is art Chance and silliness Meaningless words and actions Rejection of WWI pacifism Tristan Tzara The Gas Heart Most famous Dada play o Absurdism Paris France Myth of Sisyphus man rolling a rock up a hill forever Characteristics Repetition Meaninglessness Cause does not equal effect Violence and pain o Epic Theatre Germany Bertolt Brecht an the Berliner Ensemble Mother Courage and her Children The Three Penny Opera Characteristics Didactic teaches a lesson Alienation effect eliminates illusion No empathy o Melodrama U S Characteristics Character types Clear cut morality Good VS Bad Poetic justice Action and spectacle disguise abduction battles floods earthquakes murder The Federal Theatre Project o AgitProp Agitational Propaganda used to excite the audience to act o Living newspapers o Only National Theatre in the U S o The Cradle Will Rock Marc Blitzstein o On the Road A Search for American Character She finds people interviews them and uses them as characters in Luis Valdez o Father of the Chicano Theatre o Actos supposed to inspire the audience o Wrote Los Vendidos Anna Deavere Smith the show She plays all the roles Fires in the Mirror Twilight Los Angeles Moises Kaufman the Tectonic Theatre Company o The Laramie Project o Interviewed friends and strangers o Structured not in scenes but moments o Related to Matthew Shepard s murder Ford s Theatre o John Wilkes Booth a famous actor who assassinates Abraham Lincoln o Our American Cousin Theatre is a powerful instrument for social change o Royall Tyler The Contrast FIRST American play Creates stage yankee a good hardworking and not especially educated man that stands for America Ex Joey in Friends Astor Place Riot One of the bloodiest days in NYC history 1 First time American militia fires at American citizens when not at war 2 Shows the clarity of class divisions o Edwin Forrest Manly man American actor Strong Physical actor Bowery boys gang who supported him Working class o William Charles Macready Intellectual English actor Emotion based Famous for Hamlet portrayal Upperclass o Both