THAR 281

Lecture 12 Outline of Last Lecture: Epic Theatre

I. Epic Theatre II. Erwin Piscator III. Bertolt Brecht IV. Piscator vs. Brecht & Shared Beliefs V. Brechtian techniques VI. Berliner Ensemble

Outline of Current Lecture:

I. American Theatre: a. Show Boat b. OKLAHOMA! II. NON-Commercial Theatre: a. Provincetown Playhouse b. Eugene O’ Neil c. Robert Edmund Jones III. WPA- Works Progress Administration IV. The Group Theatre V. African American Theatre a. Porgy and Bess VI. American Postwar Playwrights (post WWII) a. Arthur Miller b. Tennessee Williams

Test review Thursday

American Theatre:

Commercial Theatre:

 Between ww1& ww2 the most dominant form of theatre in America

 Theatre were you just do commercials

 Theatre for a profit, example: Broadway- produce works to make money

Non-profit theatres- theatre itself doesn’t make extra money, acters are paid, designers etc… they just break even.

These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor’s lecture. GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes, not as a substitute.  Musicals- most popular form of commercial theatre

o Most commercially successful

o Revenues

o Musical comedies

o Composers:

. Richard Rodgers

. George Gershwin

. Cole Porter

. Irving Berlin

. Jerome Kerrn

o Example: WICKED- a musical with a storyline, known as a story.

o At first not all musicals started out this way.

o The used to have comic sketches with musicals in between, and had nothing to do with the scene before or after it. Just a bunch of feel good skits and songs.

o Important after WWI because people needed fun.

 First example of an integrated musical: Show Boat

Show Boat

 1927

 Jerome Kern

 Oscar Hammerstein II

 First attempt of integrated musical

OKLAHOMA!

 Big change over to style seen today

 1943

 Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein

 Integrated Musical- next and most successful attempt

 Known for its dream scene- done through dance

o Good example of integration