THAR 281 1st Edition Lecture 16 Outline of Last Lecture I George Bernard Shaw II Oscar Wilde III Operetta IV Gilbert and Sullivan V Emerging American Theater VI Minstrel Shows VII Burlesque VIII Vaudeville Outline of Current Lecture I General Information on Emerging American Drama II Eugene O Neill III Long Days Journal Into Light IV Thornton Wilder V Other Voices VI Little Theaters VII Provincetown Players VIII Washington Square Playhouse IX The Group Theater X Lee Strasberg Current Lecture I General Information on Emerging American Drama a Broadway is where commercial American theater began i Largest theater district in the country ii only place where you could make a living as an actor without traveling b The Shubberts i Disagreed with monopoly in theaters ii Owned 75 of theaters c The Great White Way i Theater district that was VERY lit with lights due to all the marketing ii Now called Times Square II Eugene O Neill a Great American playwright born into a theatrical family b Son of James O Neill who was famous for playing in Count of Monte Cristo c Mom addicted to drugs brother addicted to alcohol d Spent youth traveling with father and in boarding schools e f g h i Attends Princeton but gets kicked out so becomes a sailor Develops tuberculosis and then a nerve disorder that made it hard for him to write Died in hotel room in Boston in early 1940 s Suffered from depression and suicidal thoughts Known for realism experimented with expressionism Henry VIII mask work Great God Brown and Greek tragedy j Won Pulitzer 4 times k Famous Works Moon for the Misbegotten The Ice Man Cometh Long Day s Journey Into Night III Long Day s Journey Into Night a Last play O Neill won Pulitzer for b Considered one of the greatest American plays c Kind of like an autobiography of O Neill s life IV Thornton Wilder a Won Pulitzer 3 times i 2 for plays and 1 for a novel b Famous Works Our Town Matchmaker By the Skin of Our Teeth c Matchmaker is the redo of a previous play d Our Town is concerned with i Life marriage and death of George and Emily Webb ii First Act introduces audience to town and townspeople iii Second Act shows the day they get married iv Third Act reveals death of Emily and a recap of her life v Takes place in town called Grovers Corners vi Often seen as the ionic American small town V Other Voices a Lillian Helman i The Children s Hour 1934 ii Little Foxes 1939 iii Works often involve children b Clifford Odets i Member of the Group Theater ii Awake and Sing 1936 iii Waiting for Lefty 1935 iv Golden Boy 1937 v Known for gutsy red blooded realism vi Street poetry is a term often associated with his name c Kaufman and Hart i You Can t Take It With You 1936 ii The Man Who Came To Dinner 1939 iii Wrote a bunch of American comedies VI Little Theaters a American version of the Independent Theaters in England i Small theaters not concerned with making money but to push boundaries of theaters b Inspired the off Broadway movement c Famous Little Theaters i Provincetown Players ii Washington Square Playhouse VII Provincetown Players a Boyce Crem Cock and Cslospell tried to get involved b Founded in 1915 but then burned down a few years after so the movement moved to New York c Ide of selective realism in staging things i Focuses audience attention on acting actors rather than the setting VIII Washington Square Playhouse a Showcased plays for emerging playwrights b Evolves into The Theater Guild c Attempt to start on acting company in addition to producing American European works d Begin to work for profit because of the low economy in the 1930 s IX The Group Theater a Producing entity acting ensemble training program etc b Big goal was to introduce Stanislavski s work to American theater c Very political in nature left leaning d Harold Sherman was one of the founders e Sheryl Crawford was a co founder f Lee Strasberg was a co founder and theater teacher g Stella Adler was a theater teacher h Elias Kazan was a theater teacher i Clifford Odette was one of the playwrights j Strasberg splits from the group because of a dispute over an acting technique X Lee Strasberg a Founded The Actor Studio b Trained people like Marilyn Monroe and many other big name people c Stella studied with him i Eventually she founded the Stella Adler Studio for the same purposes that Strasberg opened up his own place
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