Postmodernism Notes PDF

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A comprehensive document of Dr. Jortner's lecture over Postmodernism in theatre - containing the concepts that Postmodernism entails, the people who pioneered it, and how it has been encapsulated through the medium of stage theatre. ...

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Theatre History 11/2/15 Nature of identity construction Identity is not fixed Multiple forms of identity that are constructed by sociological norms Pomo suggests that the following are all “performed” and within the realm of the theatrical! Race, Gender, Nationality, Sexuality, Religion Death of Master Narrative Jean-Francois Lyotard The Post Modern Condition: A report on knowledge 1979 Define postmodern as incredulity to meta-narratives Meta-narratives: over arching themes that define how one lives their life Christianity, Domesticity, American History, Science Used by power structures to maintain power “What, are you un-American?” Freedom History Science Religion Multiplicity of micronarratives Instead of Christianity, there’s Gabe’s version of Christianity, which is just as valid/true as Dylan’s or Garrett’s or Lauren’s Christianity Multivalence vs. Uni-valence Multi – art has many possible meanings Uni – art has one meaning, usually decided by the artist Arboreal vs. Rhizomatic Structures Arboreal – linear tree metaphor on distribution of power Rhizomatic – web metaphor, every one essentially on the same plane Value of the local Celebration of micro-narratives Throwing open the canon of literature Multiple theoretical viewpoints Shifting authoritative landscape- what the author means is amorphous Semiotics – how we read and what we perceive as language Signs – words, images, sounds, acts No intrinsic meaning Signifier – the form which the sign takes Signified – the concept it represents Reader response theory Horizon of Expectation

Why do we want to be Postmodern/study Postmodernism? Address despair/fragmentation of modernism/modernist sense of failure Moral relativism – we cannot say with an absolute what is right and what is wrong. Morality is not universal, it’s a construct. Multiplicity of social/political/cultural arrangements Removal of high/low binary Death of the author Post Modern Theatre Theatre which employs postmodern ideas or techniques Deeply concerned with identity construction – forcing us to confront the ideas behind how we define who we are. “PoMo makes the strange normal, and the normal strange.” Accepted norms differently Experimental perceptions/representations created I Won’t Let You Down – Ok Go Blending of Genre No distinct comedy/tragedy No “artistic rules” Cloud 9 Multivalent Multiple and inconsistent narratives – we don’t know who to trust. Un reliable narrator Episodic/cyclical structures – not traditional climactic play structure Imagistic – text falls out in favor of imagery Characters Fragmentary, repetitive, iconographic (like JM playing CS Lewis) – lets audience bring in cultural knowledge about characters Actor/character binary disrupted Non-Hierarchical Rhizomatic not arboreal Audience = actors = author Creation of collectives – collaborative process Theatre du’ Soleil No high/low art Binary B’way/off-B’way/Off-off B’way are simply economic indicators Theatre blends pop culture/low culture Challenges hierarchy No universalism Play does not attempt to speak for all humanity – we’re speaking to specific identities Theatre reflects only its own truth – it is what it is, and it is not greater than that Inter/cross cultural experiments Reality Fixed and fluid construct No attempt made to represent reality Play is self aware and self referential The Underpants & Urinetown Cloud 9 – Pomo or Brechtian? Yes. It’s both. Uses alienation and non-hierarchy. More complex than a modernist work. Connecting the political oppression with sexual/gender oppression. Time shift

Crossing dressing Songs Inanimate actors Leading Director: Robert Wilson Theatre and Opera Director Visual Artist Highly visual non-traditional performances – script does not have much emphasis (one or two lines maybe) Born in Waco TX 1941 Studied business at UT 1959-1963 Moves to NYC in 1963 and gets degree from Pratt Institute 1968 – finds Byrd Hoffman School for Byrds 1969 stages first major piece Life and Times of Sigmund Freud series of images, ideas, and music dealing with Freud Einstein on the Beach (1976) Opera with Phillip Glass Four acts/ five “knee plays” (occur in between the acts) Non-plot, imagistic – explore the icon of Einstein with no sense of a storyline but with no explanation whatsoever 1972 Deafman Glance 1984 the CIVIL warS: A Tree Is Best Measured When It Is Down supposed to be 12 hours long in 6 different parts life of Abraham Lincoln planned for 1984 summer Olympics but budget was cut lol 1990 Black Rider 2002 Woyzeck 2009 Shakespeare’s Sonnets Plays with style and time EX: KA MOUNTain on GUARDenia Terrace Done in Iran while ascending up a mountain 7 days a week Impossible to see the entire play Randomness, confusion, anxiety, repetition Forces spectators to open perceptions/thoughts Language Crisis of language – language changes with time and culture Opulent vs Contemporary language All experience cannot be translated into linguistic code – At some point language fails Silence Social Artifact Christopher Knowles – autistic child Wilson adopted who wrote a lot of Wilson’s work Movement Former dancer Choreography and rhythm – of both text and movement BUT not synchronized Sense of stillness Stillness counterpoints with movement Highlight somebody by keeping them still in the midst of movement or have them move in a field of stillness Awareness of how rhythm and speech move against each other in the room

Designer Lighting Light as paint – uses broad splashes of color Silhouette – the presence of an absence Sculpture Props and set units are art in their own Concerns Deep concern with beauty – almost an aestheticist Sees work as dream-like Ambivalence of ambiguity and uncertainty Creates visual of haunting visions...