THEA 2010 10-8 Realism - Naturalism Announcements Great Job on the Exam Scores posted by this afternoon Enemy

emy of the People Quiz Remember your discussion questions

A Historical Leap (of sorts) After Hugos success in France the theatrical door is thrown open

Realism gains popularity in France throughout the 1800s So now lets talk about REALISM

Realism: Historical Context Industrial revolution great advances in technology, steam engine, locomotive development of the factory system, mass production replacing individual craftspeople, increase in urbanization, development of cities

Communist Manifesto ideas opposing religious dominance religion the opiate of the masses (1848)

Geological/scientific discoveries advances in germ research illness tied to germs led to new standards of cleaning ALSO (re)discovery of new territories and regions colonialism in Africa, Caribbean

Darwin The Origin of the Species (1859)

Heredity - humans dont have individual control, we inherit traits from our relatives a certain amount is biologically determined so we must look to society as at least partially responsible for human behavior Nature vs Nurture . Heredity and environment . also, humanity a part of nature stressed progress through concept of evolution.

Freud Environmentright and wrong dont come from God, but are relative, learned

Scientific Outlook the need to understand human behavior in terms of natural cause and effect

Realism: Basic Principles of the movement

Real and truthful depiction of life The five senses the way to determine or find truth

Contemporary- focus on current time, current social ills and problems, not historical, dealing with serious issues like poverty, disease, prostitution, and orphaned children Impersonality and objectivity objective up to a point to allow the audience to make up their own minds about the issue being presented force audience to extract meaning

Thoughts and Ideas - No simple good/bad, no face value, motivations come from different places

Playwriting - Contemporary subjects, realistic Acting - 4th Wall, Training, Different blocking Design - Setting as environment, Contemporary costumes, Box

set

Realism: Henrik Ibsen (1828-1906)

Father of Modern Drama? Norwegian 3 phases of writing melodramatic verse dramas (based on Scandinavian folk tales like PEER GYNT) , Realism, Symbolism

Ghosts (syphilis ), A Dolls House, Hedda Gabler, Enemy of the People (community comes together to solve a town issue involving corruption)

Controversial Figure his plays did not reaffirm accepted values and were often denied production in many places because they were thought to be immoral or corrupting many critics hated them An open drain; a loathsome sore unbandaged; a dirty act done publicly Garbage and offal Ahead of his time, his thoughts on women A woman cannot be herself in the society of the present day, which is an exclusively masculine society, with laws framed by men and with a judicial system that judges feminine conduct from a masculine point of view

QUIZ TIME Realism: Other important figures

Anton Chekhov Russia Moscow Art Theatre The Seagull, The Cherry Orchard Constantin Stanislavski new psychologically based acting techniques not presentational Although Chekhov thought he had written comedies, it was Stanislavski's dramatic direction that made them famous.

Inner struggle, individual characterization no stereotypes

Georg II, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen talked about him on Directing Day Germany German Duke, liked having massive amounts of people on stage, strove for historical realism large crowd scenes that had historically accurate costumes

George Bernard Shaw wrote comedies, challenging societal values, believed in the perfectability of human beings wrote Pygmallion, Major Barbara. England Playwright also a novelist and critic

Naturalism: Basic Principles and Players

France

Emile Zola stress on the truth of life not theatrical effectiveness He compared naturalist theatre to medicine, and said that just as a medical pathologist seeks to discover the cause of a disease so it can be treated, the dramatist should expose social ills so their causes can be corrected. Therese Raquin about a woman who, with her lover, kills her husband and then suffers with her lover through many year of regret.

a slice of life demonstrated the inevitable laws of heredity and environment

Extreme realism Emphasis on povertyshocking audience Did not work why?

Realism and Naturalism:The Independent Theatre Movement

A way around censorship

private performances not public, as a way of getting around censorship Membership system people had to join the theatres as Members pay a membership fee and all that and then they could see the performances. Subscription services

New dramas and new staging techniques performed plays of Ibsen, Shaw, and the like all throughout Europe

Theatre Libre Paris, France Andre Antoine originally a clerk at a gas company, he wanted to perform plays though but was denied a license.he then created his own theatre the Free Theatre and won the support of Zola. A major performance space for Naturalism.

The Butchers used new staging techniques for Naturalism plays he hung real carcasses of beef on stage to get the real feeling of being in a butcher shop stressed environment.

Realism and Naturalism: The Independent Theatre Movement cont. The Freie Buhne fostered the development of a native German drama Berlin, Germany

The Weavers Hauptmann a play about a weavers strike that had a group-protagonist no single person.

The Independent Theatre London, England Major Barbara by Shaw upholds a munitions manufacturer as a greater humanitarian than an officer in the

Salvation Army, because the Salvation Army prolongs an inequitable system by caring for victims whereas the manufacturer provides his workers with the means whereby to help themselves.

The Moscow Art Theatre that Jeremy mentioned Moscow, Russia perhaps the longest lasting, still in existence today

Plays of Chekhov

Enemy of the People Discussion How is this interpretation similar or different from your reading of the play?

Impressions What about the ending? How is this play avant garde?