Lecture 15 Outline of Last Lecture I. SymbolismII. August StrindbergIII. Maurice MaeterlinckIV. The Ubu PlaysV. MeyerholdVI. BiomechanicsOutline of Current Lecture I. George Bernard ShawII. Oscar WildeIII. OperettaIV. Gilbert and SullivanV. Emerging American TheaterVI. Minstrel ShowsVII. BurlesqueVIII. VaudevilleCurrenta LectureI. George Bernard Shawa. Credited with reinvigorating English Theaterb. Outspoken, social critici. Anti-warii. Socialistiii. Rights of womenc. Works characterized as realistic comedies of mannersd. Wrote a bunch of stuff; very wordy in writinge. Famous Works: “Major Barbar”; “Candide”; “Man and Superman”; “Pygmalion”; “Arms and the Man”II. Oscar Wildea. Raised in an intellectual homeb. Heavily linked with aesthetics movementsi. Aesthetics movements focused on what is beautifulc. Wrote about philosophy, witticism, and pleasure d. Wrote many types of writingse. Eventually imprisoned for crime of gross indecencyf. Famous Works: “The Importance of Being Ernest” THAR 281 1st EditionIII. Operettaa. Originates in France in late 19th centuryb. Parody of operac. Offenbach is first person to write an operettai. “Orpheus in the Underworld”d. Light in content and tone (usually comedic)e. Becomes less popular in early 20th centuryIV. Gilbert and Sullivana. Wrote most popular operettasb. British composer and lyrist duoc. At height of popularity, they were incomparabled. They’re writing was “topsy-turvy” i. Had weird characters, plot, language, etc.e. Patter songi. Song where speakers verbal dexterity is most importantf. Famous Works: “The Pirates of Penzanze”, “The Mikado”, “HMS Pinafore” V. Emerging American Theatera. Based heavily on English theaterb. New York becoming center of American theater scenec. Group called Theatrical Syndicatei. Own theaters in NY and around the nationd. 1915 = Shubert breaks hold that only allows some people to work with Theatrical SyndicateVI. Minstrel Showsa. Began in American South in 19th centuryb. Variety shows that originally featured white in black paint and eventually blacks in black painti. Very racial towards blacksVII. Burlesquea. Becomes popular from 1860’s-1940’sb. Variety show featuring dances and comedy sketchesc. Become explicit with timed. Burlesque becoming more popular todayVIII. Vaudevillea. Variety show popular up until the 1930’sb. Declined in popularity because movies came aboutc. Features every conceivable form of talentd. Popular because it was family-friendlyi. Aimed at middle-class familiesii. Cheap to attend e. operated in circuits i. Most famous: Opera
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