6- Non-Realism and Realism PDF

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Lecture notes on non-realism and realism...

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A. Realism: A Spectrum a. We are influenced by film and TV which means most of us are implicitly expect drama to be realistic i. Trained us to think that realism is the goal b. Film and Theatre are different in the sense that theatre is metaphor i. Representation ii. Doesn’t assert itself to being real like film can iii. History of an art form distance from realism c. Some art tries to imitate life as closely as possible while others try to comment on reality in abstract ways B. Non-realism to Realism a. Theatre offers many different kinds of imaginary worlds b. Spectrum from non-realistic to realistic/naturalistic c. All drama takes liberties with reality i. Time compression - Plays last around 2-3 hours - Depict events from longer periods of times though d. We can observe non-realism and realism in different elements of theatre C. Realism in Theatre: A Bit of History a. Most past theatre (Greek, Roman, Medieval, Renaissance) was non-realistic i. Dialect was poetic ii. Theatre is a metaphorical world b. 19th Century Melodrama (aims for more realism on stage in CERTAIN WAYS) i. Clear depiction of good evil ii. Exaggerated Plot and Action - Not real life iii. But realistic sets and effects were created - Horses on stage - Impressive attempts to make things look real iv. Not everyday situations though D. Realism and Naturalism as Historical Movements in Theatre a. 19th Century Social Changes i. Artistic movement called realism (defined by content/theme and style and presentation) ii. Create story lines that are representative of life iii. Social and Political shifts that affect theatre (Industrial Revolution) - Innovations in transportation - More people living in cities so wider class representation b. Andre Antoine i. Wanted theatre to more closely reflect people’s lives ii. Employed the fourth wall - Imaginary divide between the audience and the actors - Had performers acts as if they were not being observed iii. Used real props and plots were real life stories

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c. Slice of Life i. Did not succeed financially ii. With Antoine and others, see artistic shift and proper movement towards creating lifelike plays and performances Henrik Ibsen a. Norwegian Playwright b. Associated mostly with Realism Father of Modern Drama and Realism c. Wrote many plays (Doll’s House) i. Serves as good example of what he was doing ii. Wanted to put real life problems on stage - Real problems and situations about family’s and marriages iii. Content of Doll’s House shocked people during the time d. Why bring up these things on stage? i. What should drama represent if not the truth of the struggles and experiences of real people e. Some plays were banned in certain places f. Inspired other playwrights Anton Chekhov a. Russian Playwright b. Reputation rests largely on 4 plays i. Made Chekhov one of the greatest playwrights of all time ii. Was able to capture that fine line between tragedy and comedy - TRAGICOMEDIES iii. Got the complexity of people in life and translated that complexity in real characters and situations (not heavy on plot but look at hopes and desires) - Did not judge his characters c. Was a doctor and started writing short stories (100’s) d. Wrote his plays in his later years i. Known for subtext - What is not said but is still present in communication - Unspoken but implied Constantine Stanislavsky a. Russian Director and acting teacher b. Directed Chekhov’s plays in Moscow Art Theatre c. Interested in realistic acting studied plays in detail before rehearsals i. Attention to character details Realism & Non-realism now: Story, Characters, Structure a. Story i. We can look at any play and see how realistic the story and characters are b. Language i. Some plays have very stylized or heightened language (not every day speech poetically) ii. While other plays more closely imitate how people actually speak - Ums, pauses, and cutting each other off

c. Acting i. Some plays rely on very stylized acting (song, dance) ii. Other plays call for naturalistic acting with subtle movements d. Set, costumes, make-up i. Cats: the makeup and costumes help you not confuse what the characters are (not naturalistic) ii. Once: they should look like they did their hair or picked out their clothes for them so it is very naturalistic I. Combination of non-realistic and realistic elements a. North i. Many things about it were abstract - Three swings and ladder were the set - Not representing real house ii. Charles Limburg - First man to fly across Atlantic Ocean - His first son was kidnapped iii. Play about wife Ann who was a writer and focused on a meeting that happened between Ann and Anton (author of Little Prince/also Pilot) iv. Why stage with three swings and ladder and not a living room? - Memory play (Ann’s own words and jumps around in time) - Explores what marriage, love and loss can be - Swings= regular chairs and allow them to take flight or treat them like a baby’s crib - Ladder= bookshelf, height, and memory of kidnapping v. Costumes were realistic as was the language vi. Structure not so realistic vii. Art is not usually after historical truth; attempting to get emotional truth viii. Non-realism is not about doing something weird for the sake of being weird, but it is trying to depict something that perhaps cant be shown in another way...