THAR 281 1st Edition Lecture 18 Outline of Last 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 Outline of Current Lecture I American Drama Continued a Federal Theater Project b The Cradle Will Rock II American Musical Continued a Porgy and Bess b Pal Joey III Expressionism IV Futurism and Drama V Surrealism VI Bertolt Brecht VII Epic Theater Current Lecture I American Drama Continued a Federal Theater Project i The Living Newspapers dramatized actual events going on throughout the world ii Federal government did not like Living Newspapers because stories targeted them and talked badly about the government II III iii Federal Theater Project built theaters iv NTP Negro Theater Project 1 Biggest performance was in New York 2 It used voodoo rituals and Haitian stereotypes b The Cradle Will Rock i Written by Mark Blitzstein ii Told in brechtian style iii About a mythical place called Steelstorm USA where workers are trying to unionize iv Sharply satirical 1 Very anti government 2 Targeted by government because of controversy American Musical Conitnued a Porgy and Bess i Debuted on Broadway in 1935 ii Music by George Gurgewen iii Libretto by Heyward iv Book by Ira Gurgewen v Takes place in Catfish Road fictitious place in South Carolina vi Very dramatic not a comedy vii Known for fusion of azz and classical music viii Usually performed in an opera house nowadays ix 2006 Porgy and Bess is re done and re modeled as a musical b Pal Joey i Performed for the first time in 1940 ii First musical with an antihero 1 Antihero protagonist but a bad guy iii Very unsympathetic and cynical iv Built as a musical comedy v Joey is a bigoloo and finds a rich woman vi At the end he doesn t get rich woman nor the innocent young girl vii The lyrist dies at beginning of play Expressionism a An extension of the expressionist movement in art and literature b Don to reveal the inner truth of the character story c Not concerned with reality d Structured similar to station plays from the Middle Ages i Short don t really link together but produce an overall feel IV V VI VII e Characters are often types f Dialogue often not very valued Futurism and Dada a Futurism started in Italy b Futurists were obsessed with war and the industry around it i Felt that theater should constantly reinvent itself ii Old forms of theater should die out iii Audience should be antagonized c Futurism didn t last long dad didn t last long either d Dad started in Switzerland e Dadaists were pacifists i Audience should be antagonized not as much as futurism q ii Questioned the definition of art iii Theater should constantly reinvent itself f Influential on the Avant Garde movement of the 1960 s g Both emphasized a mixing of media and style Surrealism a An extension of the art movement b Argued that the subconscious was the highest plane of reality c You can t trust what you see visually d Mixed real and imagined events Bertolt Brecht a Playwright theorist director and producer b Frequently collaborated with Edwin Piscator and Kirk Weill composer i While he was in Berlin as a young man c Converted to Marxism in Berlin d Fled Germany because of Hitler e Went back to Germany because of McCarthy crisis f Moved to east Berlin and was made head of the Berlin Ensemble g Most famous for his theory Brechtian Theory i Includes Epic Theater h Famous Works The 3 Penny Opera Mother Courage and Her Children The Caucasian Chalk Circle Epic Theater a Highly episodic b Very didactic there s an educational element to it c Very political highly theatrical d The Alienation Effect was used to give audience distance i Audience to remember they are watching a play and not become too emerged in the performance ii How Brecht accomplishes this 1 Direct address to audience 2 Visible technical elements ex no floating objects use visible ropes 3 Use placards big signs 4 Use songs where characters explain themselves 5 Use historification set current events in different time period
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