Stylization of Theatre – ISMS of the 1920s PDF

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These are notes about theatre in the 1920s from Fall 2016 when the course was taught by Natalie Tartiere....

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Stylization of Theatre – ISMS of the 1920s (LOOK AT PREZI – DIDN’T GET ALL NOTES) World War I Russian Revolution World War II & Holocaust US Stock Market Crash of 1929 & Depression Nuclear Weapons & their use Cold War (especially US vs. Soviet Union) Anti-Realism Movement Expressionism (?) Play centered around theme, idea or motif Distortion Cyclical action = pessimistic world view Nightmarish images and sharp angles Short, simple, staccato dialogue Moody, atmospheric lighting Characters = types, no individuals Protagonist’s quest EX: Sophie Treadwell’s The Machinal Symbolism Poetic, dreamlike theatre seeks the profound or mysterious in life Repeated symbols: water, light, dark, juxtaposed images, projected light, mood music Suggestion Symbols of the author’s consciousness Dreamlike, larger-than-life acting Poetic and rhythmic Eugen O’Neill – The Hairy Ape, Emperor Jones August Strindberg – The Bream Play Alfre Jarry – Ubu Roi Maeterlincks – The Intruder Futurism Simultaneous action Filippo Tomasso Marinetti’s – Futurist Manifesto The actor is a machine subjugated to totally integrated theatre Reject past; glorify progress and young (male) warrior Macho-mechanical look Actors move among audience Dadaism Infuse art with madness Anti-art Nothing is sacred Spontaneity

Confrontational, defiant acting style to humiliate oneself and/or audience and invoke obscene and sacrilegious Inspired by Franz Kafka Abstract space Acting based on improve Dialogue – laughing at audience; nonsensical words and phrases Epic Theatre Didacticism – narrative theatre for the intellect, rather than the emotions AKA Epic or Brechtian Theatre Delight Gestus = concept Dispassionate objectivity Alienate Images, signs, lights left on, reminder that the event is theatrical Harsh, distinct language – dialogue mixed with Narration and musical interludes Movement either realistic or highly stylized Berliner Ensemble Impressionism Theatre should capture the moment through feeling, mood and atmosphere Constructivism Bare bones Strip away illusion No place for sentimentality Surrealism Insanity – true sanity Spontaneous Creation Absurdism or “Theatre of the Absurd” Late 1940s – Present An irrational world where truth is unknowable and life is nonsensical Human existence has no meaning or purpose Sets can be realistic Speech is rambling and disconnected Quick-changing mood Small, minimal casts Acting: clowning, high energy, acrobatics, real and unreal, quick changes, pauses and silence...