American Theater: Early Twentieth Century

Pre-Twentieth Century Most American plays of the 18 th and 19 th Centuries strongly reflected British influence. –Plays copied British models. –The reasons for this include the common language and the availability of British plays and British actors. Melodrama dominated the scene during the 19 th Century. However, after the Civil War, a move towards greater realism took place. Emerging conventions: three-dimensional settings, characters speaking authentic-sounding dialogue As the Twentieth Century dawned, experimentation in both the content and the production of plays became more important.

Influences History of modern world drama can be traced to two Scandinavian playwrights. –Henrik Ibsen, a Norwegian playwright, provided realism. –August Strindberg, from Sweden, provided expressionism. Americans quickly learned from these writers, and a new generation of playwrights was born.

Before World War I Realism –Refers to the use of ordinary people, in ordinary settings, using commonplace dialect –Stage props represent a camera photograph –Shows aspects of real people involved in conflicts customary of American middle class life –Characters display ordinary strengths and weaknesses –Became the dominant form of American theater in the years leading up to World War I –Examples of realism in American drama: David Belasco The Girl and the Golden West (1905) Clyde Fitch The City (1909) Dominating themes of this era included social tensions and family issues. (The American family and its dynamics, a theme becoming popular during this time, would continue to retain a large role in American drama for the rest of the 20 th Century.) –Examples: William Vaughn Moody The Great Divide (1906) Langdon Mitchell The New York Idea (1906)

World War I: A Turning Point At the beginning of World War I, European developments in American drama were strongly manifested onto the American stage From then on, the influence that Britain had on American drama dwindled significantly EXPRESSIONISM** had a huge influence on American theater during this time. –Developed in Germany in the early 20 th Century, in part as a reaction against realism –A form of drama in which the characters and their environment may be realistic, but their presentation onstage is controlled by the writer’s personal biases and inclinations –Emphasized subjective feelings and emotions rather than an objective depiction of reality –Dream-like

After World War I American expressionism started to develop a distinct identity –Characterized by a searching focus on the inner life of the central character, whose detailed portrayal contrasts dramatically with all other characters **Some critics claim that American drama was not born until the end of World War I. The Adding Machine –Written by Elmer Rice in 1923 –Most famous example of American Expressionism –Focuses on the emotional journey of the main character, Mr. Zero, after he is replaced at his job by an adding machine Some expressionist experiments employed conventions such as collage-like scenic effects and jarring musical and sound techniques to probe social issues.

Provincetown Players One of the first groups to promote new American drama Founded in 1915 in Provincetown, Mass. Devoted to offering only works by American writers Opened the Playwrights’ Theatre in Greenwich Village in the fall of 1916 Presented works by Susan Glaspell (Trifles) and Eugene O’Neill, among others Their fame is partly tied to their support of young O’Neill

Eugene O’Neill Often regarded as America’s premier playwright, O’Neill is credited with raising American dramatic theater from its narrow origins to an art form respected around the world. A leader of the expressionism movement Born in a Broadway hotel room on October 16, 1888 His father, James O’Neill, was one of the most popular actors of the Nineteenth Century in America, and Eugene would often accompany him on national tours. Enrolled in Princeton University at age 18, but was expelled soon after Came down with tuberculosis in 1912, and during his recovery, was inspired to become a playwright Influenced by Henrik Ibsen –In 1907, O’Neill saw his first Ibsen play, Hedda Gabler, and went back 9 times –He said that it opened up, “an entire new world of the drama for me” and gave him his “first conception of a modern theater where truth might live.”

Eugene O’Neill Early in his career, O’Neill wrote realistically, utilizing his own life experiences. Then, in the 1920’s, he rejected realism in an effort to capture on the stage the forces behind human life, and wrote in the style of expressionism. –Influences during this time include the philosopher Freidrich Nietzsche, psychologists Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung, and August Strindberg. The Hairy Ape (1922) –One of the first plays to introduce expressionism into America –Tells the story of a rejected ship laborer who feels he belongs nowhere until he confronts an ape in a zoo –He sets the caged ape free, only to be destroyed by it. –Scorching psychological investigation of the main character O’Neill’s plays were written from an intensely personal point of view, originating from the scarring effects of his family’s tragic relationships

The Hairy Ape

“Glory Days” American drama experienced a boom in the 1920’s due to the experimentation in drama and new areas of theater that were being explored. Called the “glory days” of early drama O’Neill reached new heights in his writing with vast, five-hour plays. –Strange Interlude (1928) Revolutionary in style and length Introduced technique of spoken asides or soliloquies to the modern theater, allowing the expression of the character’s inner thoughts –Mourning Becomes Electra (1931) Based on the Oresteia trilogy by Aeschylus Showed influence of Greek tragedy –Both demonstrated his examination of the human condition and the trials of mankind. African American characters became more visible in plays of this time, although African American playwrights remained on the fringes of the theater until the 1950’s. Musicals were rethought and revamped in this era. –Showboat (1927) was a collaboration between Oscar Hammerstein II and Jerome Kern and was the first American musical to fully blend a musical score with realistic and consistent dialogue and lyrics

O’Neill’s Impact First American dramatist to regard the stage as a literary medium Because of his efforts, during the 1920’s, the American theater grew into an important cultural medium. Saw the theater as a valid forum for the presentation of serious ideas Set the pace for the flourishing of the Broadway theater Only American playwright to ever receive the Nobel Prize for Literature (1936)

Shrinking Audiences American theater attendance declined harshly in the 1930’s and after. –Reasons: The economic collapse of the Great Depression –Many theaters were closed permanently. Rise of motion pictures –New sound technology gave a voice to films. In the 1930’s, a new trend surfaced of hard-edged dramas about the working class and everyday life. Plays were used as forms of propaganda. –Waiting for Lefty (1935) by Clifford Odets told the story of taxi drivers who go on strike. Under the surface, it served as a debate over the pros and cons of capitalism. Some plays around this time began predicting catastrophes such as another World War.

American Theater as a Way of Confronting Social Issues As the century advanced, the number of topics deemed suitable for drama expanded to include: –Race –Gender –Sexuality –Death Broaching these subjects through drama boosted both the suffragette and the civil rights movements by making people better aware of the problems in society. –During the 1930’s, Langston Hughes helped pave the way for African American drama with his play, Mulatto (1935), exploring the complexities of race relations. Theater was often used as a way of reaching out to people.

Theatrical Roots of Modern Feminism Theater proved to be a new form of cultural authority and visibility for women in the early years of the Twentieth Century. Female performers portrayed some of the critical themes that would become central to the feminist ideology. – Individualism, self-development, strong personalities, sexual expressiveness, economic independence, use of humor as a form of social criticism Popular theater helped bring new ideas about women into the mainstream. These theatrical women prompted the American suffrage movement to turn to “theatricality” and “spectacular” protest methods.