World European Theatre & Between the Wars Theatre France
❖ Jacques Copeau ❖ 1879-1949 ❖ Naturalism denies “essential theatricality” of Theatre ❖ Theatre should focus on the play- the words ❖ founded the Vieux Colombier Theatre ❖ focused on training the actor ❖ ensemble, theatre games, improvisation ❖ interested in breaking down the barrier between audience and actor Italy
❖ Luigi Pirandello ❖ 1867-1936 ❖ experimented boldly ❖ “deception, illusion, and the subjectivity of truth” concepts explored in his plays ❖ Six Characters In Search of an Author (1921) -six characters (actors) show up for a rehearsal and have been abandoned by their author- each demanding their story be told- ❖ philosophical and aesthetic exploration of reality, relativity, and fiction Spain
❖ Frederico Garcia Lorca 1898-1936 ❖ poet and playwright ❖ killed in the Spanish Civil War by the Fascists ❖ his plays were banned in Spain until 1975 (death of Franco) ❖ plays were “protest” against oppression of the Spanish people ❖ strong female characters ❖ The House of Bernarda Alba (1936)- Bernarda is a widow.. and locks her 5 grown daughters up- to keep them away from men… imprisoned… jealousy, competition, etc.. plays out… Great Britain
❖ Tyrone Guthrie ❖ Laurence Olivier - https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=5ks-NbCHUns ❖ Ralph Richardson - https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=OP_QYfODjW0 ❖ John Gielgud- https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=zGi41QK7tdk International Theatre
❖ Mei Lanfang (1894-1961) — modern performer of Peking Opera - preserved and expanded traditions- influenced Brecht ❖ Rabindranath Tagore (1st non- European to win the Nobel prize in literature in 1913) ❖ Kishida Kunio (1890-1954)- Japanese writer, dramatist- founder of Modern Japanese Drama- influenced by Copeau American Commercial Theatre
❖ Ziegfeld - Broadway producer ❖ Oscar Hammerstein’s Show Boat (1927) ❖ Jerome Kern ❖ Irving Berlin ❖ George and Ira Gershwin ❖ Cole Porter Eugene O’Neill
❖ 1888-1953 ❖ one of the most celebrated American playwrights (Modernism) ❖ introduces realism to the American form ❖ Long Day’s Journey Into Night (1941), Ah, Wilderness!(1933), The Iceman Cometh (1939) Non-commercial Theatre
❖ The Group Theatre https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=NMIHm8OncbQ ❖ The Federal Theatre Project (1935-1939) A New Deal program to fund theatre (jobs) and live performance during the Great Depression ❖ https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=-c7CPvoMKnU ❖ https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=PlUvXKvgDpk African American Theatre
❖ Federal Theatre Project ❖ Paul Robeson ❖ https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=BUki-v-NvoE Jean Genet
❖ 1910-1986 ❖ The Balcony (1956) ❖ Read for Next Week- Thursday, March 31st