Some 20th Century Theatre Innovations

Slides:



Advertisements
Similar presentations
Absurdism a philosophy based on the belief that the universe is irrational and meaningless and that the search for order brings the individual into conflict.
Advertisements

ABSURDISM AND THEATRE OF THE ABSURD
Introduction to theatre styles!!!!
Death and the Maiden Style and Form.
The Structure of Drama Readings:
SURREALISM, FREUD AND THE WORLD OF DREAMS By Deano Andrico.
ELEMENTS OF A PLAY YOU CAN WRITE YOUR OWN PLAY. PLOT The action in the story!
Twentieth Century Theatre & the Theatre of the Absurd Photos in this lecture come from the film version of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead.
3 3 Alternative Spaces. The Modern Approach Throughout theatre’s history, the physical dimensions of the space have affected the performances held in.
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead
Jeopardy Theatricalism Existentialism/ Epic Theatre RomanticismTheatre of the Absurd Symbolism $100100$100100$100100$100100$ $200200$200200$200200$200200$
Existentialism Expounded
Primitive Theatre *Write down anything underlined on each slide.
The “isms” Drama 1 Europe in the 19th Century n From the Italian Renaissance on, pictoral illusion (“make it pretty”) dominated. n Melodrama and Romanticism.
Jerzy Grotowski Poor Theatre.
Chapter 1: The Nature of Theatre Origins in ritual practices Theatre as a form is at least 2500 years old It has been as varied as the cultures in which.
ABSURDISM AND THEATRE OF THE ABSURD. ABSURDISM A philosophy born out of the existential movement and prompted by writers like Albert Camus. A philosophy.
SURREALISM, FREUD AND THE WORLD OF DREAMS Digital Design for the Web.
M.Rathor. Chapel en le Frith High Blood Brothers and Brecht Today’s lesson Objectives: To understand the intention of Brechtian Theatre To make links between.
Theatre of the Absurd Absurdism and Existentialism.
American Drama Lit Books pg Novels vs. Plays A novel is… – Meant to be read – A personal experience for the reader – Finished once it’s published.
By Raymond Lanza and Brandon Vierra
Surrealism PROJECT The point at which the waking state joins sleep -André Breton DATE DECEMBER 14, 2011 CLIENT LEE HONORS COLLEGE SENIOR THESIS.
Major Perspectives in Psychology
Artaud ( ) Artaud believed that ‘man was savage under the skin’ What do they think of the idea that you can release the audience’s pent-up.
With Oliver Folaranmi & Rhys Marks Youth Wave
Introduction to the novel The Stranger by Albert Camus
SOCIAL INTEGRATION OF IMMIGRANTS STUDENTS BY USING DRAMA APPLICATIONS
Albert Camus: The Smiling Sisyphus
Introduction to Theatre
Grotowski’s Poor Theatre and Its Relevancy with Asian In-body Training
Existentialism.
The Theatre of Absurd Samuel Beckett ( ).
Existentialism.
Introduction into Epic Theatre
Early Alternatives to Realism (Nonrealistic Theatre and Drama in Germany) Virtually all of the ideas and innovations introduced between 1875 and 1900.
Psychoanalytic Therapy
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead
THEATRE OF CRUELTY ANTONIN ARTAUD
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead
Good afternoon 10/25/2017 Tutorials Today!!.
“A candid presentation of the natural world” Eric Bentley
English 3044 Late Modernism
Anton Artuad Simeon evanson.
Introduction to the novel The Stranger by Albert Camus
Twentieth Century Theatre & the Theatre of the Absurd
Introduction to Existentialism
Theatre of The Absurd.
ANALYSING DRAMA “Drama is something intended specifically for performance on stage in front of an audience”
The events that took place during these tumultuous times had a deep and wide-ranging impact on aesthetic sensibility. Artists felt that traditional art.
The Theatre of the Absurd
Elements Of Drama/Theatre
The Theatre of Absurd and
THEATRE OF THE ABSURD.
Modern American Drama “A Streetcar Named Desire” By Tennessee Williams
Metamorphosis By Franz Kafka.
Edgar Allan Poe American Romanticism.
Anti-realistic Theatre
Constantine Stanislavski
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead
Aristotle’s Poetics Deciphering one of the Quintessential Works Written about Theatre and Acting.
existentialism + symbolic satire
Albert Camus.
EXISTENTIALISM A complex philosophy emphasizing the absurdity of reality and the human responsibility to make choices and accept consequences!
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead
The Theatre of Absurd and
THEATRE OF THE ABSURD.
Robert Frost
A Level Drama & Theatre Transition work: Year 11 into Year 12
The Theatre of Absurd and
Presentation transcript:

Some 20th Century Theatre Innovations

Many innovators of modern drama were too confronting and different to be accepted and understood in their own life time This was certainly the case with people such as Brecht, Artaud and others Their ideas have now been accepted and allowed to influence many directors, designers and actors

Theatre Styles Theatre of Cruelty Poor Theatre Theatre of the Absurd

Theatre of Cruelty Antonin Artaud French 1895 – 1948 He was writing at the same time as Brecht was writing his Epic, political plays

Artaud used the term “Theatre of Cruelty” to define the style of work he believed was needed to revitalise the theatre His theories were based around utilising a physical theatre language He believed text provided nothing more than a starting point

Sound, space, movement, light, spectacle and non verbally based acting would combine, in Artaud’s view, to excite, shock and enthral audiences, forcing them to confront the inner, primal self

Artaud proclaimed that theatre should return to its primitive roots and aim to provide an experience of communal ritual Artaud was interested in exploring the human mind

Artaud was a surrealist in the 1920’s He believed many dark secrets were hidden deep inside our minds (subconscious) that we are not aware of, that caused us to do the things we did Artaud was deeply influenced by the Surrealist movement even when he left the movement

Surrealism – Salvador Dali Another member of the Surrelist movement was Salvador Dali He was famous for his dream paintings filled with objects

Salvador Dali’s paintings

Artaud belived that theatre should force people to confront and heal their inner selves or they will become negative and destructive He disapproved of the typical plays that dealt with social problems or individuals

Unlike Brecht who wanted to brainwash his audience with strong messages, Artaud thought that was a waste of time Theatre needed to be more primitive and instinctive if it was to really touch people and change them He used the term “Theatre of Cruelty” because he was forcing the audience to face itself. He was being ‘cruel to be kind’

Rituals and symbols were seen as powerful The aim of Theatre of Cruelty was to crahs through the shell of bourgeois civilisation and its cultural restrictions and to get to a deeper, more spiritual plane His quest was as much socially motivated as artistically

Theatre Spaces Artaud felt that plays should be taken out of the traditional theatre building which he rejected as being too formal He preferred large spaces such as warehouses The audience intermingled with the actors No scenery except for symbols

Lighting was to be fast and exciting Sound was also important Artaud believed that the audience could be ‘assaulted’ with a fast paced light/sound/human show He believed the audiences’ inner selves would be released and be confronted and healed

Although Artaud’s aims might seem far fetched, his ideas can be adapted into contemporary preformances These days many people use drama in Artaud’s way to heal from psychological pain and this is called psychodrama

Artaud suffered mental and emotional breakdowns This perhaps explains why he was interested in this area of drama After he died his published works inspired many dramatists In 1963 the Theatre of Cruelty was formed and Artaud’s ideas were materialised and toured

The Theatre and Its Double Artaud’s book, “The Theatre and Its Double” was originally released in 1933 It was not really influential until after his death Practioners such as Julian Beck and Judith Malina, founders of America’s Living Theatre, Joseph Chaikin and his Open Theatre, English director Peter Brook and Jerzy Grotowski, founder of the Polish Laboratory theatre, were all influenced by “The Theatre and Its Double”

Although this was not a theatre style based on text it still inspired several works in the written form The most important of these written plays was the Peter Weiss’ play “Marat/Sade”

Poor Theatre Jerzy Grotowski Born in Poland 1933 His ideas about acting and theatre have conrtibuted greatly in that they reclaimed the essential importance and role of the actor

Grotowski reminded people that one did not need expensive sets, lighting and costumes His theatre was actor based Hence his theatre was called “Poor Theatre”

When all stage elements are removed, only the essentials are left – actors and audience The relationship between actor and audience is a powerful one which Grotowski studied closely as part of his ‘laboratory’

Great demands are made on actors in Poor Theatre They are the centre of attention, the key Effective actors must work on themselves until they can give of themselves fully Grotowski worked intensely with his actors as he recognised that all individuals are unique

“Towards a Poor Theatre” Grotowski’s book “Towards a Poor Theatre” included many of the exercises that he used to free up his actors Some of his techniques included silence/inner meditation, physical endurance and training in emotional memory* *Emotional memory is reliving an event to recreate the emotion.

Theatre Spaces Plays were staged in diverse settings Ordinary rooms to warehouses Like Artaud he saw no need to separate the audience and the actors He wanted to create a dynamic audience relationship

Grotowski believed the power of the actor should be so strong that he/she could transform anything around him through the power of his/her belief In other words the floor could become the sea or a boat, etc

Grotowski’s influence came at the best possible time for it seemed to re-invent drama and the theatre t a time when dramatists had to compete with films, videos and television. The only plays at the time seemed to be lavish, expensive musicals Gortowski showed us that even a vulnerable lone actor with no props can have as much impact as any blockbuster film

Theatre of the Absurd Absurdism was a movement based on the ideas of Existentialism Existentialism was first developed by Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus They were both French According to existentialists, life is meaningless – just a series of acts - nothing

Jean-Paul Sartre

Albert Camus

Absurdist theatre rose to prominence in the 1950’s Its precursors can probably be found in the works of earlier playwrights like Kafka, Jarry and Pirandello

Kafka

Jarry

Pirandello

Famous Absurdist Playwrights Eugene Ionesco Samuel Beckett Jean Genet

Eugene Ionesco 1912 - 1994

Ionesco’s Plays Rhinoceros The Bald Soprano The Chairs

Samuel Beckett 1906 - 1989

His plays Waiting For Godot Endgame Krapp’s Last Tape

Jean Genet 1910 - 1986

His Plays The Maids The Balcony The Blacks

Absurdist Plays Absurdist plays highlight the meaningless or absurdity of life and often feature an underlying despair The fundamental belief expressed in absurdist works is that humankind is lost in a godless universe, where their actions and behaviour become absurd and useless

The illogical and the irrational are at the heart of most absurdist drama Characters tend to be archetypal Language is irrelevant in the sense that it fails to convey meaning Time and place have no real relevance either

Despite this grim outlook, Absurdist Theatre is essentially comic in nature Humankind is deluded in its belief that it is at the centre of the universe This is seen as a ridiculous proposal which warrants nothing more than laughter and derision

Features of Absurdist Plays Features may include: Non-reality No sense of time/place Unusual characters Absurd happenings Chaos Simple/minimal sets Meaningless dialogue/word games Repetition highlighting futility Humour

Some people find Absurdist plays hard to understand and cope with, however the movement produced some very impressive plays which are still staged regularly today