Theatre

Notes Chapter 1 Performance tradition: staging, music, dance, characterization, masks, and acting are passed from generation to generation as a totality of expression -rooted from values and beliefs (religion ritual and community participation Play text: not tied to original concepts, time, or place and can be passed down for reinterpretation by future generations of performers Theatrical Convention: behavioural norms of social values (movement, speech, appearance) Style: the manor in which a performance depicts the world Universal Properties of Theatre 1) Theatre is live in the present moment and requires the presence of a live actor and an audience 2) Theatre is ephemeral in that no performance can ever be totally duplicated or captured 3) Theatre is collaborative: it requires the efforts of many people working together 4) Theatre is a synthesis of many arts Postmodernism: late 20th century ideas and trends impacting theatre -poses world of contradiction (no universal understanding) -truth of past is people in power (Eurocentric, white male) -considers construction of equal validity (openness to other cultures) Globalization: traditional theatre adapts or does not survive if cultural values change and audience can no longer relate. Ancient forms forced to adapt -others became more aware and appreciate the theatre created by others Multiculturalism: Pride in identity= expression (Women, elderly, sex preference) -allowed all voices to be heard. Postcolonialism: seeking understanding of ones indigenous culture Interculturalism: blending of traditions -ex: orientation= exoticizing of Asian Arts in Western Culture Performance Studies: expansion of narrow view of theatre -construct/deconstruct identity Chapter two The House: theatre term for collective audience -no two performances are exactly alike -Each audience perceives theatre differently (Age, culture, gender, education) Empathy: the capacity to identify emotionally with characters on stage Convention of audience Response= cues of actors, special arrangement, directional concept, lighting, set design -In Western culture: expect silence, hold applause until the end -Once-Active Audience= outdoor performance, social interaction, eating/drinking (ancient Greece) -you could walk out whenever

 -Middle Ages: people gathered around players (community Affair) Catharsis: emotional release others may adapt (Aristotle) Agitprops: early form of political theatre (1920s) in Russia- living newspaper -models for political theatre -combination of the words agitation and propaganda Bertolt Brecht: playwright and director -Distancing or alienation effect: separation of audience emotionally from the dramatic action Augusto Boal: Brazilian theatre theorist and practitioner (Barriers are destroyed) -theatre of the oppressed= forum theatre, invisible theatre, legislative theatre Martin Esslin: coined the term theatre of the absurd =his way of criticizing theatre was understood by the public Jan Katt: wrote book Shakespeare Our Contemporary -illuminated hidden meaning of play text Antonin Artaud: The Theatre and Its Double-collection of essays -theatre of cruelty=awareness -a dynamic poetic world of images, sounds and movement Chapter 3 Story: includes all the events that happen or are mentioned in the text Plot: the ordering or structuring of the events that actually take place on stage -conflict (struggles and obstacles) -Euripides (Hippolytus) and Jean Racine (Phedre) -used some story and change plot Dramatic Structure: the scaffolding on which a playwright plots a tale to frame or shape the action (Score and progression) Climatic Structure: form that limits the scope of events, the time they transpire and the number of characters -Aristotelian Plot -Point of attack: place where action begins -Exposition: where events are revealed (soliloquy and monologue) -complication: cause and effect leading to climax Climax: point of highest emotional intensity -Denoument: resolution -Deus ex machina (a god from the machine): used to bring play to resolution Well-made play: Scribe and Sardou -variation of Aristotalian PlotEpisodic Structure: early point of attack in the story and a proliferation of characters and events -when there is one main plot, less important action is called SUBPLOT -Parallel Plots: action of main plot echoed by a minor plot that gets across the central idea the first time it was started Circular Structure: Albert Camus- made from Greek Mythology of Sisyphus -Ex. The Bald Soprano Sensua Structure: composed of scenes that dont follow one story line or characters -flashbacks

Protagonist: lead role Antagonist: desires to be the protagonist Archetypal Characters: speaks across culture and centuries Psychological Characters: character s in depth we understand emotions and what they do Stock Characters: defined by externals (ie. status) rather than individual characteristics Dominant trait, Depersonalized characters, Deconstructed characters Advancing the Plot: how each line shows how plot develops Expressing Character: way f using voice to express thoughts and emotion (subtext) Provoking and Embodying Action, Compressing Emotion, Setting Mood, Tone, Style Chapter 4 Tragedy -documents the struggle between our desires and the necessities of conscience -embodies a moral lesson Satyr: a burlesque of mythic legends-provides comic relief after a day of tragedies Ancient Greece and Rome -tragedy grew from conflict between duty to society and duty to family and self in a world governed by Gods who decided destiny -Hubris: describes the overwhelming pride that leads a character to believe triumph over a God is possible -Prologue: provides exposition, parados (entrance of dance and chant by chorus) -5 episodes punctuated by choral odes, and exodus (exit of chorus) -Chorus: provides exposition, comment on action, engage with characters, represent the citizenry Aristotles Poetics: describes tragedies from 5th century B.C.E. and model for a tragedy Revenge Plays: ghosts demanding vengeance for their death with murder and mayhem (Seneca) Neoclassical Tragedy: -starts in 14th century -political and economic changes in Europe -Renaissance (rebirth)- brought to Italy -limited 3 unities to 1 day, one location, one climatic plot -introduced verisimilitude: the appearance of truth (idealized truth) -elimination of chorus (replaced with characters that speak inner thoughts) Elizabethan and Jacobean -England -Combination of renaissance questioning human responsibility and medieval ideas and expansive theatrical forms -Era of William Shakespeare -Natural phenomena and God, monarch, patriarch

 -usually effects political and family order -focus on characters of high status elevated poetic language Bourgeois and Romantic: middle and lower class characters are central (not people of high rank) -The London Merchant (first one) -Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: German Romanticism and Weimar Classicism Modern Tragedy: no fixed value system -Arthur Miller said tragic experience= independent from morals European Medieval -Church banned theatre but used the elements -Liturgical drama: teaches religion -Mansions-scenic structure -Cycle Plays: Mystery plays -Took place on pageant wagons -Passion plays (passion of Christ) -Saint Plays and Miracle Plays: lives of saints -Morality Plays: moral lesions Spanish Golden Age: genero chico (one-act plays) -Eventually became comedies: cloak and dagger) -Autos sacramentales= Christian religious drama -Contains elements from cycle and morality plays Comedy: serves as a social function -Greek old Comedy -Surprise, Exaggeration, obsession, slapstick, transgression language -Satire (always topical) -Situation Comedy: eternal social problems (business) -Farce- slapstick humour, superficial characters, extreme situations -Romantic Comedy: Sympathetic young lovers overcoming obstacles -Comedies of Manors: makes fun of social moves (Moliere) Tragicomedy: basically breaking neoclassic genres -Modern Tragicomedy -Existentialism= senseless world, no communication, meaningless Melodrama: emotions and simplistic moral world (Characters not complex) Chapter 5 Natyasastra: means authoritative text on the theatre Rasa: tastes or flavours that contrast and complement each other -each rasa represents a different mood/feeling -Sanskrit play offers all 8 (love mirth, sadness, anger, heroism, fear, disgust, wonder, and sometimes peace -one should, however, dominate -Natyasatra says best theatrical events= combination of text, acting, music, and dance to reach emotional experience Sanskrit Performance Conventions: -benediction to a god

 -body into parts- eyes, head, hand, limbs (with positions)= emotional states -Dance= drums, cymbals, flutes= mood characters -3 kinds of stages=square, rectangular, triangular Sanskrit Plays -written in poetic verse -main action= heros struggle to attain an object of desire and leave audience with sense of well-being -dharma (duty), kama (controlled sensual pleasure), artha (wealth) Ex. The Little Clay Cart Kutiyattam= oldest continuous performance traditions in India (10th Century) -Direct descendent of Sanskrit play Kathakali= vigorous, performed by members of the warrior class -own language of hand gestures, vibrant stage make-up and costuming Mime: 200 years before the first written ancient tragedy -is a popular unscripted theatrical performance form of Ancient Greece -were a spoof/comic relief of intensity of rituals honouring the god Dionysus -Atellan farce: resembles Greek mime with masks and stock characters -Roman pantomime: resembled silent story telling dance (distinct from mime) -Mime driven underground due to making a farce of Catholic church in Middle Ages Commedia dellarte (16th Century) form resembling Ancient Mime and Atellan Farce (masks, stock characters, improvisation) -was first called commedia allimproviso -used scenarios (outline and description of scene) that are simple -Iazzi: an actor turning for comic effect (across, poems, speeches, slapstick) -used leather half-masks and language is secondary to expression -women and young lovers not representation by masks -travelled from town to town in a wagon -Catherine de Medici brought the show to France (Moliere) -Was not liked in England at first (Popular in Europe 17-19 centuries) Evolution of the Commedia -1760: no Italian born commedia players in France (therefore French refinement) British descendents loved it 100 years after its emergence -English pantomime form (18th century) -2 story lines= traditional commedia or narractive dancing of mythological tale -popular for a century= liscensing Act of 1737- restricting plays but did not apply to pantomime -Greatest English pantomime= Joseph Grimaldi (clown)- traditional circus clown -French Revolution= liscensig low prohibits spoken word on stage (where MIME started) -Jean Gaspard Deburau= hero of working-class -White chemise, loose pants, fitted hat, white make-up

 -Then, immersed in music halls, vaudeville, circus and silent films -Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton= heirs to commedia tradition Japense Traditions -Noh Theatre: highly ritualistic- few pages of text take hours to perform -includes dance, movement, vocal patterns, masks, costuming -poetry and distinct staging and reflects Buddhist and Shinto religions -yugen=grace, pillars= monomare (dramatic imitation) -only male actors -Ghosts in play caught between realities (living/dead or past/present) -plays= visitations from Gods, demons, or human spirits Noh Plys: 5 categories= god plays, warrior plays, women plays, demon plays, and miscellanous plays -each vary in sensibility and dynamics -each category refers to the main character -they are usually sad and involve death -Kyogen: means mad words and engages concrete world with every day issues (is comic) -usually performed between Noh plays and improvised -ordinary people= stock characters and have no written scripts originally -exclusive to male actors only -Kabuki: explicit and extroverted (men only)- goal is entertainment -centered merchant class when wealth and power became important -came from Okuni (female) who wore mens clothes and had signations with prostitutes -Kabuki original mean is tilted or off-kilter -black dressed assistance -onnagata= female role type played by a male -mie= physical poses= high points of play close association of actor and audience -hanamichi= flower path fans sit near to get close to actor Chinese Theatre: -Xiqu: theatrical forms developed in China -melody= important- lines are mostly sung -forms= Xiqu, kunqu, jingju= popular -4 basic role types= male, female, painted face, clown -sub categories: social status, age, temperament and martial skills -there is not much of a set -music and actor training -is a collection of tunes to choose from to form Xiqu -basic training of voice, foot work, gesturing and movement (starts in childhood) -cultural revolution= outlawed Xiqu -yangban xi (model opera) was created Carnival Traditions

 -Latin America means farewell meat -Christian Ritual -Challenged authority structures= choreographed mime routines -lasted from 1 day to 2 weeks -dance= semba and polka= samba (Dance, parade, and sing) -social release for the poor Puppets: hand, string marionettes, road, shadow (the kinds of puppets) -can be 4-5 feet tall and 80 pounds (found in Sicily) -began when god Shiva and wife Parvati possessed wooden figures and made them dance -Japans bunraku= combonation of puppets, manipulation, ballad singing and 3-stringed shamisen. Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Universal Qualities: energy, control, focus, purpose, dynamics, enlargement, and transformation Energy: physical, mental, and emotional -directed energy=stage presence Control: consciousness oversees emotion -do physical and vocal exercises for flexibility -mastery of components of expression= controlled performance Focus: body in on alert and attention cannot wonder -primary focus is onstage action Purpose: all action onstage is purposeful and meaningful -Acting teacher Eugenio Barba said its decided action (determined and directed) Dynamics: has dynamics, rhythm and temp (like music) Enlargement: must fill large theatre with movement, vocals, and energy Transformation: put on a mask (you can become anyone) -Western theatre=the self= body, mind, and feelings Representational Acting: the living of the emotions and is more realistically styled Presentational Acting: artificial reproduction of emotion and is more theatrical styled Denis Diderot: The Paradox of the Actor (Dual Consciousness -actor presents Ideal Model of the truth Hypocrite= original word for actor in Ancient Greece Thespis= first actor in Greece (stemmed from the word god) Holy Actor: religious inspiration-uses trance, meditation, and ecstatic dance -India= Katyasastra -Ramlila Cycle (life of Rama and Krishna) Elizabethan theatre: banned women from stage (1640-1660) Restoration period: Nell Gwynn- female actor and prostitute

Jerzy Grotoqski: Polish director with holy acting and spiritual techniques Line Of Business: actors hired to play a particular type of role Francois Delsarte: First attempt at training method (for public speaking) -gestural and vocal voce Stanislavski System Given Circumstances, Imagination and the magic, objective or task, psychophysical action, ada