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theatre history final

Terms in this set (41)

surrealism
(20th century): diverted from the traditional conception of reality, claiming that the subconscious was the highest source of truth. They attempted to emulate the dream world, mixing recognizable events with fantastic happenings.
On stage, impossible creations and symbolic, bizarre object juxtapositions emulated the dream state.

founder: Andre Breton, prominent: Jean Coucteau, Artaud, for a period
Laurence Olivier
greatest English 20th century actor, was equally acclaimed in Shakespeare and modern roles and known for his versatility of talent in both drama and comedy; Old Vic Company; became a theatre director (then later both a stage director and film director. He brought Shakespeare to a wide audience through film versions. He was knighted and became the first actor to be made a life peer in Britain.
Federal Theatre project
(1935-1939): An experiment with noncommercial American theatre between the wars. During the depression, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt established the WPA, which organized agencies to put the unemployed back to work. The Project, supported theatre in the US for 4 years, helping to revitalize interest in theatre outside NYC. The living newspaper dramaticized current events like breadlines and unemployment. In 1939, the project was discontinued because it was said to have been sympathetic with Communism. It was the closest thing the US has come to establishing a national theatre.
Peter Brook
English producer director whose daring work contributed significantly to the development of 20th century theatre. He introduced the plays of Jean Paul Sartre and Jean Cocteau to England. He was highly influenced by Artaud's theatre of cruelty and was known for his unconventional style and staging. His pieces are eclectic, ranging from his critically acclaimed version of Marat/Sade to a stripped down version of the opera Carmen. reflects the influence of Growtowski's innovations. They both were concerned more with the "process" of theatre rather the the end result. also tries to avoid commercial theatre, which he believes does not allow for experimentation.
David Mamet
20th century playwright who has written more than 20 full length plays including Oleanna and the Pulitzer Prize winning Glengarry Glen Ross. This play brought international attention. highly influenced by Harold Pinter, with his naturalistic language style and down-and-out characters who have clearly recognizable struggles. However, they do not provide clear cut exposition or the dramatic resolutions of traditional realism. plays question the ability of humans to communicate and interact honestly.
Anne Bogart
20th century American director known for collaborative works, which use highly vocal and physical techniques. artistic directors of the regional Trinity Repertory Company as well as co-founder with Tadashi Suzuki of the Saratoga International Theatre Institute, in an effort to revitalize contemporary American theatre through international collaboration. She is also well-known for her viewpoints, her theoretical approach to acting. Viewpoints was inspired by avant grade choreographer Merce Cunningham and the experiments of Jerzy Growtowski and they combine elements of dance and stage movement with concepts of time and space. It mixes many different acting techniques and refuses to suggest one is more powerful than another.
Mei Lafang
the most renowned performer of the Chinese Peking opera who was acclaimed internationally for his portrayal of female characters and the expansion of their roles in Chinese opera. He is also one of the first eastern artists to influence the development of Western theatre. He was known for technical perfection and precise characterizations and notably, his performances were one of the most important influences on Brecht's theories of acting.
egungun
part of the Yoruba pantheon of divinities. In the indigenous religious system of the West African tribe of that name, the spirit is of central importance. It is the eventual end of all living beings, and as such is regarded as the ancestral "collective".
Tadeuz Kantor
a 20th century Polish director and avant grade scenic designer who founded the Independent Theatre. In the 60s, he became widely known for staging happenings and traveled widely with his theatre. He was particularly interested in the work of the absurdists and Polish surrealist Stanislaw Ignacy Witkiewicz. His work became highly known and influential in the United States through Ellen Stewart's Cafe La Mama in the 1980s.
Elia Kazan
began his career as an actor in the Group Theatre and later rose to be one of the most influential directors in 20th century America; collaborated with playwrights on pieces he directed; directed Tennessee Williams and Arthur Miller
Tadashi Suzuki
one of the world's most famous international directors. he is well-known for combining stories and traditions from various cultures to create unique theatre pieces that still retain a strong Japanese identity. He is also recognized for developing an acting system called the Suzuki method, which combines elements of traditional Japanese theatre techniques with the experimental theatre techniques of international theatre in the 60s and 70s. Actors focus on building strength, flexibility and balance through a physical connection to the earth.
Antonin Artaud
from France. was interested in surrealism for a time before being expelled by Breton. He was co-founder of Theatre Alfred Jarry; His theories became a major influence on the experimental theatre of the 1960's. through his theatre of cruelty.
Eva Le Galliene
A well known British theatrical actress, producer, and director during the first half of the twentieth century. Made many significant contributions to American theatre. She was a supporter of non-commercial theatre in America, dedicated to making serious drama for American audiences. ran the Civic Reparatory Theatre. She also co-founded the short-lived American Reparatory Company.
Paul Robeson
Actor, singer, athlete, scholar, and political activist, Eugene O'Neil offered him the lead in The Emperor Jones after seeing him perform at an amateur theatre. In 1926, he presented the first all-black music ever sung on the NY stage by a solo artist. His greatest achievement in England was Othello. His passport was taken away in 1950 because he spoke out about the racial situation in the U.S. He was then blacklisted In 1958, he regained his passport and gave a triumphant concert at Carnegie Hall. He received the Stalin Peace Prize Award in 1959 in the Soviet Union.
The Living Theatre
Founded in 1946 by Julian Beck and Judith Malina was an influential avante-garde company in the late 1950s and 1960s. It reflected changes in American Society and experimental theatre. Experimented with production styles using masks, stylized gestures and vocalization, and theatrical conventions from the past. In 1950's the theatre became interested in Antonin Artaud's theories. In the 1960's, the theatre became nomadic; The theatre started creating play characters, where the members portrayed themselves confronting social institutions and norms. In the late 1980's evicted from this space, the theatre was in residence in Italy and toured worldwide.
The Wooster Group
grew out of the Performance Group, was under the artistic direction of Elizabeth LeCompte. Gained international renown in the 1980s and is known for "deconstructing" well-known texts. turned conventions upside down; used controversial ideas like blackface
Ariane Mnouchkine
Founder of the Avante-Garde Theatre du Soleil in Paris in 1964, she is one of the most widely admired directors in Europe. She is known for effective use of nonwestern dramatic techniques, especially those in Japan and India. She gained significant attention in the U.S. and received awards like the Ibsen Award in 2009
alienation
An aspect of Bertolt Brecht's theory of epic theatre: the concept that audiences' emotional involvement should be minimized so that they will instead be involved intellectually with the political or social message. He differed from Piscator who believed in emotional engagement. He argued that a production should actually force the audience to remain emotionally detached To prevent this emotional involvement, Brecht's works were highly theatrical. He also used a technique called "historification." He also warned actors against Stanislavski's techniques; the audiences should be aware of an actor playing a character.
The Actor's Studio
Lee Strasberg's studio to train actors, is best known for its work refining and teaching method acting. This approach was originally developed by the Group Theatre in the 1930s based on the innovations of Stanislavski. At the studio, actors work together to develop their skills in a private environment where they can take risks as performers without the pressure of commercial roles. Their goal was to develop talent by freeing actors from psychological inhibitions, encouraging imagination through "emotion memory," and increasing the actors self-understanding.It produced many of the most important American actor's in the 50's, 60's, and 70's. The American style of acting was defined through this
Caryl Churchill
late 20th century playwright born in London, Many of her early plays were created with the Joint Stock Company or the English Stage Company. Her work is characterized by unique fluidity of structure, she often mixes chronological and anachronistic events. She is good at mixing theatricality with reality to create a unique postmodernist blend in plays that are very political.
Stella Adler
One of the founding members of the Group Theatre in 1931. She was an actress with 25 years of stage experience. made her debut in 1906 as a member of her father's Yiddish company. She studies the Stanislavsky system she went with Harold Clurman to France to study with Stanislavsky himself. She was primarily interested in teaching acting and eventually opened the her Studio of Acting in NYC in 1949. Many leading American film actors studied with her throughout her career.
August Wilson
One of the major American dramatists of the twentieth century. He evokes the African American experience at various times in history through richly poetic texts. Lloyd Richards became his mentor and directed many of his plays. One of his most famous plays was Fences, which won the Pulitzer Prize.
epic theatre
style of theatre that originated in Germany in the early 20th century. One of it's earliest proponents was Erwin Piscator who used it to promote political messages. However, it is most associated with Bertolt Brecht, who developed his own form of it. According to Brecht, the goal is to instruct and create an intellectual climate for social change. Most notably, Brecht believed that the audience should distance themselves emotionally from a show and used devices like breaking the fourth wall, narrators, and non-Stanislavskian styles of acting to distance the audience.
Provincetown Playhouse
founded in Massachusetts in1915 by George Gram Cook and playwright Susan Glaspell, it was part of the "little theatre" movement of the early 20th century. It was extremely influential as a theatre dedicated to new American drama. It was the first theatre to produce the works of Eugene O'Neill, which established him as a prominent playwright. It had a commitment to innovation in staging and frequently showcased the design work of Robert Edmond Jones, a leading figure in the "new stagecraft" movement of the time.
theatre of the absurd
a theatrical approach that emerged after WWII that combined existential philosophy with revolutionary, avant-garde dramatic form. Absurdist plays vary dramatically, but they generally use untraditional, often circular plots, unrealistic characters and dialogue, and unrecognizable settings. Famous absurdists include Samuel Beckett, Eugéne Ionesco and Harold Pinter.
Amiri Baraka
a prominent 20th century African American dramatist who changed the shape of the protest drama and inspired a new school of writing. Previously, black protest drama had been solely realistic but he infused allegory and lyricism into his protest dramas. One of his most notable plays was Dutchman which is credited with inspiring a renaissance of African American theatre in the 1960s and 1970s. He also formed his own performing arts company in the black community, called The Black Arts Repertory Theatre and School in Harlem
Robert Wilson
a late 20th century American experimental director who often creates huge, extremely long epic productions, which revolve around intensely theatrical images and are frequently accompanied by music in an operatic style. However, Wilson's work has found more critical and financial support in Europe, as opposed to America
poor theatre
late 20th century concept of Polish director Jerzy Growtoski developed while working with the Polish Laboratory Theatre. It stemmed from Growtoski's attempt to define what theatre is. He believed that there are only two things necessary for theatre: the actor and the audience. Script, sets, and other elements were less important, hence the term poor.
post modernism
a late 20th century movement originating in America that seeks to question the position of power in art and the idea of an accepted "canon" of classics by experimentation with striking theatrical images, physical performance techniques, improvisation, texts created by performers and directors, mixture of popular and high art, and environmental staging. Notable groups that developed under post-modernism are the Performance Group, the Wooster Group, and Mabou Mines.
Anna Deveare Smith
the most prominent 20th century African American performance artist in the United States. Besides her film work, Smith is best known in the theatrical community for her series of one-woman works in which she portrays real people she has met and interviewed. As a performer, she crosses racial and gender lines to represent all the people with who she has talked and to ask pointed questions about racial and gender identity.
Lee Strasberg
one of the founders of the Group Theatre in the early 20th century and an acting teacher who revolutionized theatre. created the concept of method acting, and had disagreements with Stella Adler regarding his overuse of the "emotional recall" aspect of Stanislavski's technique. He eventually left the Group Theatre and started his own acting school.
Ellen Stewart
an influential 20th century off-off Broadway figure who founded the La Mama Experimental Theatre Club (also known as Café La Mama) in the 1960s which was instrumental in introducing new play writes and directors like Sam Shepard, and Andrei Serban as well as actors like Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino.
Federico Garcia Lorca
possibly the most important Spanish poet and playwright of the twentieth century.
director "La Barraca," the traveling theater company (sponsored by the government)[Bernarda Alba]
killed in the Spanish civil war
plays were banned in Spain because they were seen as protest of oppression against the Spanish people
developed own plays based on traditional Spanish stories, themes, and characters intended for popular audiences
Group Theatre
Harold Clurman, Cheryl Crawford and Lee Strasberg recruited 28 actors to form a permanent ensemble dedicated to dramatizing the life of their times.
response to what they saw as the old-fashioned light entertainment
Based on the innovative techniques of the Russian master Constantin Stanislavsky, Lee Strasberg came up with "the method." The method, or "method acting", as it has come to be known, proposed a series of physical and psychological exercises.
has been called the bravest and single most significant experiment in the history of American theater, and its impact continues to be felt.
Jerzy Growtowski
Polish theatre director and a leading figure of theatrical avant garde of the 20th century.
admired Stanislavsky method
felt that he had unique perspective on acting
director of Polish Laboratory Theatre
undertook a series of paratheatrical experiments in which the company organized communal events; interested in the nature and form of theatre rather than it as a social/political instrument
Sam Shepard
prominent late 20th century playwright who was involved in both the rock'n'roll community and the avant grade theatre scene. His best known works include Curse of the Starving Glass, Buried Child, and True West; frequently explored themes of death of the traditional family structure, inability to establish lasting relationships, violence of American society, and longing for a simpler time
Peter Sellars
20th century American director; by the time he was 27 he directed over 100 plays; worked for American Repertory Theatre, Boston Shakespeare Company, American National Theatre at Kennedy Center; international recognition for opera productions; used classical texts to comment on contemporary political and social issues in the 1980s
symbolism
a movement of the late 19th and early 20th century that sought to replace realistic representation of life with the expression of inner truths; used myths, legends and symbols to reach beyond everyday reality
Maurice Maeterlinck
the most successful symbolist dramatist; from late 19th century to early 20th century; believed theatre should not present outward reality, but symbolic forms
Luis Valdez
prominent figure in Chicano theatre; joined Cesar Chavez in organizing farmworkers in California; wrote acts, short pieces dramatizing the lives of workers and later formed El Teatro Campesino
Richard Schechner
formed the post modernist, The Performance Group in the 20th century; company was known for environmental stagings and innovative staging techniques. ex. in one performance of Mother Courage, he had the audience move around, so their perceptions of staging were always changing; after group disbanded, he remained and important theorist, educator, and practitioner; commented on gender stereotypes by gender-blind casting; grotesque and outrageous devices; worked for East Coast Artists
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