THAR 281 Lecture 8 Outline of Last Lecture I Exam 1 Review a The Origins of Theatre b Intro to Theatre History c French Neoclassical Theatre d English Restoration Outline of Current Lecture 18th Century English and French Theatre I The age of Enlightenment II 18th Century Drama a Drame Bourgeois b Ballad Opera c Comic Opera d Sentimental Comedy e Laughing Comedy f III Tearful Comedy Acting Styles Current Lecture 18th Century English and French Theatre The Age of Enlightenment Jean Honore Fragonard The Swing 1766 A painting Lots of paintings from this time deal with leisure and happiness What happens in theatre mirrors this impression of life 18th century drama Emphasis on sentimentality Morality moral optimism These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor s lecture GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes not as a substitute Huge difference for this time period in theatre nothing like during Restoration opulence Pattern in history is like a pendulum things go to one extreme in one era in the next it swings to the opposite extreme Denis Diderot French philosopher Discourse on Dramatic Poetry 1758 Philosopher who also studied theatre wrote book discoursed saying neoclassical rules to strict and rigid don t allow enough freedom in writing we should create a new theatre type Drame Drame a type of drama that is serious AND doesn t adhere to neoclassical rules Diderot felt that in paradox of acting that the way actors move on stage was not believable or natural he called for more realistic acting styles Wrote Illegitimate son Proofs of Virtue Drame Bourgeois Bourgeois means middle class Drama that deals with the middle class Direct violation of neoclassical rules because it was not about the upper class Middle class hero heroine Appealed to the masses more this made it successful More realistic action acting More realistic scenic element Moral offered a philosophical solution Popular to have middle class the focal point of tragedy Ballad Opera From England No sung dialogue speak dialogue then sing songs Songs set to contemporary melodies made hugely popular people knew the songs this way Middle and lower class characters Satirical poking fun at social political issues Example from Beggars Opera loud short boisterous songs happy upbeat Comic Opera France No sung dialogue Songs set to contemporary melodies Characters inspired by Commedia dell arte Satirical Comic Opera developed as an outdoor fairground type of development Theatre troupes set up small musicals at fairs using stock characters and songs people already knew wrote the song on wood and actors dressed as cupid held signs while audience would sing along with the actors Sentimental Comedy England Comedy of manners with morals pokes fun at upper class scandals affairs gossip sentimental comedy similar but in the end the wicked are punished Middle class morality Sentimental Satire Laughing Comedy England Oliver Goldsmith wrote comedy of manners his plays made it where audiences were forced to laugh at themselves Oliver Goldsmith wanted the audience to cry and laugh at the same time Richard Brinsley Sheridan Best known 18th century English comic playwright Theater manager best known work School for Scandal good ex of sentimental comedy Best comedy of manners since restoration with a moral at end of the story Two brothers one good one bad greedy selfish both pursuing same girl and want to marry Charles good brother in the end marries Maria the other Joseph is punished for being wicked Tearful Comedy France Comedie larmoyante Happy endings Middle clas morality Overwrought with sentimentality so sentimental brings tears to eyes Acting Styles Bombastic standardized stage movements address the audience over the top acting David Garrick English director and management partner at the Drury lane theatre Directs crafts overall picture of play a relatively new concept at this point Most known as first instance of what we believe is a modern day director who shapes the play Called for a strict rehearsal period Started to teach his actors to move and speak more naturally Banished spectators from the stage no audience on stage Johan Wolfgang Von Goethe said actors should be highly stylized If you have a handkerchief don t use it at all gross German director at the Weimar court theatre Storm and Stress Late 18th century John Wolfgang Goethe Goetz von Berlichingen 1773 Friedrich Schiller the robbers 1782 Group of people who did something different The forerunner to romanticism Small not hugely popular Theatrical Design Mood Recognizable locations historical accuracy 3 D properties chiaroscuro Example lighting can help set the mood What we see is that they try to create mood with what they have Start to recreate historical scenes 3d properties not just painted has shape and form etc Chiaroscuro the study of light and dark Scena per Angolo Multiple point perspective o Multiple vanishing points o Makes things look huge and more elaborate Bibiena Family 1690 1787 Worked designing scenery for the stage over 100 yrs Baroque art ornate lots going on in the design angle perspective Drew scenery and used baroque art Stage Innovations o Rooms silk screens for coloring create mood color light etc oil lamps Auditorium still lit ground row introduced flat piece of landscape used for background o School for scandal example the play calls for screen for actor to hide behind