Lecture 12 Outline of Last Lecture I. General Background of the 18th CenturyII. Denis DiderotIII. Middle Class TragedyIV. Sentimental ComedyV. Ballad OperaVI. Strum and DrangVII. The Emerging DirectorVIII. Johann Wolfgang Van Goethe Outline of Current Lecture I. General Background of the 19th CenturyII. RomanticismIII. MelodramaIV. The Well-Made PlayV. DelsarteVI. TouringVII. StarsVIII. Duke of Saxe MeningenIX. Wilhelm Richard WagnerCurrent LectureI. General Background of the 19th Centurya. French Revolution (1785) and American Revolution (1775-1783) were influential to 19th centuryb. Nationalism is increasingc. Industrial Revolution = working towards becoming more mechanicald. Intellectual community focusing in on man’s rights and eventually also worker’s rightse. Marx (Communist Manifesto)f. Darwin (Origin of Species)g. Prominent Forms of Theater:i. Romanticismii. Melodramaiii. The Well-Made PlayII. Romanticism a. Like Strum and Drang theater b. Don’t follow neoclassical rulesc. Favors mood and quality over plot and characterd. Individuality and freedom are to be most valuede. It is a refutation of industrialization because people are alone instead of working as a groupf. Performance artists i. Do what they want THAR 281 1st EditionIII. Melodramaa. Music dramab. Music is very dramaticc. Vamp = woman who is rather heavy; wears revealing clothes; can’t tell who’s side she is ond. Modern equivalent of melodrama is a soap operaIV. The Well-Made Playa. Structured in an almost mechanical fashionb. Like ancient Greek dramai. Work to build into a climax (climatic form)c. Have stereotypical charactersV. Delsartea. Series of gestures and vocalizations that each indicate a particular emotional stateVI. Touringa. Becomes source of revenuei. Improved transportation networkii. Have large, urban centers so a tour goes from city to city performing (time efficient)b. Benefits:1. Allowed performers to have steady work with dates set in contract2. Allowed larger audience to see a performance 3. Allowed reputation of star performers to growVII. Starsa. National and international stars increase in popularity]b. Ira Alarrage = could not work in U.S., but was famous elsewherec. Edwin Booth = U.S. most famous actor in the 19th century (known for his Hamlet)d. Sarah Benhart = known for theatric personality on and off stage; most famous actress the world has ever knowne. Eleonora Duse = Italian; tried to disappear into character; much more realistic; shy and reserved; opposite of Sarah Benhart VIII. Duke of Saxe Meningena. Was a pre-director who insisted on historical accuracy in clothing b. Crafted intricate and crowded scenes on stagec. Formed an ensemble of actors who were familiar with his style of directing d. Recognized for ability to organize entire production IX. Wilhelm Richard Wagnera. Composer and director of operasb. Argued for a total theaterc. Controversial politics and theories at the time d. Famous Works:i. “The Flying Dutchman”ii. “Tristan and Isolde”iii. “The Ring Cycle” (4 operas totaling of 15
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