THTR125 Final Study Guide PDF

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Final Study Guide Notes...

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10 SA (1-2 sentence answers) 1 short essay: apply concept to a passage ○ talk about ⅔ plays

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understand what each character wants ○ think about why it’s important to them, why they might want it know the plot of each story (Hamlet, AMSND, Belle’s Stratagem) ○ find a detailed summary

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highlight concepts that you don’t know

Midterm review according to Nahal · · · · · · · · · · ·

Stasis

/ New Stasis (new world order after resolution) Exposition Intrusion (trigger) (interruption) Action Objectives Obstacles Resolution: resolution leads to the new stasis… Character analysis : look at bits of dialogue to find the intention of the character in the play Dramaturgy Importance of history/ what the history reveals about the play Theatricality

Midsummer: Short answers: No more than 3 sentences 1. What was the immediate trigger that leads Oberon to want to torment Titania and discuss it with Puck? · Early in the play, in the woods · Oberon and Titania fighting over custody of the child · Oberon wants to get the child form her · How is placing a spell on Titania going to help him get the child? o Wants her to fall in love with something so her priority is love rather than the child o Distracts Titania with the spell o Why? Oberon is jealous of the child, Titania gives more attention to the child than him · Oberon wants to humiliate Titania · Immediate trigger is 1) Titania keeping the kid 2) Titania wins the argument against Oberon 3) Action is Oberon tells Puck to get the flower to put a spell on Titania 2. What do Oberon’s actions directly trigger?

· Humans become involved and propels the rest of the play into action, including Hermia and Lysander and the rest of the characters in the forest. 3. What is Oberon’s objective? a. Get the kid, get back at Titania 4. What are the obstacles to that objective? a. Puck is incompetent, and all the humans become involved, and Titania won’t give up the child. That leads to the initial trigger

5. What actions does he take to overcome the obstacle? 6. What are some of the images Oberon uses to tell Puck what he wants Puck to do and what is some of the significance? a. Beautiful imagery or full moon, cupid, added to the mystical atmosphere and illusion of the woods. Beauty of the other worldly creatures. First time we see the world of the woods b. Separating the world of the humans c. Language helps distinguish the difference between this mystical world and reality 7. Does this passage “mirror” any character relationships, actions, language, ect from any other place in the play? a. Mirrors Hermia and Demetrius because he wants love and she won’t give it to her b. Lots of parallels of characters in this play…. Mirror of real world vs the mystical world of the play c. Lots of characters acting deceivingly

Essay Question Review Notes for Discussion class: Historic research to understand text of a play. Choose Hamlet or Midsummer and discuss what kind of historical research might be useful to make the play more accessible to the audience. · Hamlet · Ball breaks it into 5 parts · Class system, other plays by the author. Ect…. · Background info: monumental moments in Shakespeare life that relate to Hamlet (class system) · Written during early 17th century and major world events · Look at artistic movements (enlightenment) Look at other plays written by Shakespeare to know his sty/.le and tendencies · TODAY: few theatre companies do Shakespeare authentically. Instead, they try to make a unique choice. (setting/character)

· If you know the history you can intentionally manipulate to highlight certain components

1. How working backwards makes clear what happens in Act V · Ends with wedding between Doricourt and Leticia because he’s now in love · Wedding prompted by Leticia’s unmasking · She’s informed by Mrs Racket that he won’t marry her otherwise · Doricourt tells saville that he will call of the engagement · Continue working backwards from there

2. Pick a character and show how it’s actions help to flesh it out 3. How do specific “theatrical moments” work to create a relationship with the audience? Theatrical moments: Novelty/ change. Grabs the audience's attention. Discussion examples: · State of confusion of characters in act I is a novelty. · The audience being ahead of the curve in knowing that Kitty is dressed up as Lady Frances in Courtals apartment, and waiting for that reveal holds the audience's attention · Seville and Courtal dressed up as Sir George at the masquerade. · Leticia singing at the masquerade

*Things to remember: STRAIGHTFORWARD: DNA TO HELP ANALYZE THE TEXT *AVOID RETELLING PLOT SUMMARIES. LOOK AT CHARACTER MOTIVATION. WHAT PROPELS A CHARACTER TO DO AN ACTION AND WHAT PROPELS OTHER CHARACTERS IN RETURN.

BALL: BACKWARDS & FORWARDS Backwards & Forwards Part 1 Reading Backwards - exposes what is required to happen -

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Action: something happens that causes something else happen - one happening leading to another - trigger => result (new trigger) - What a character wants motivates talking Objective: what they want and also why it is important to them Obstacle: any resistance to character getting what is wanted Conflict: discrepancy between what somebody wants - occurs when want and obstacle meet - 1. me against myself - 2. me against other individuals - 3. me against society - 4. me against fate/the universe/natural forces/God/gods Stasis: - “ordinary world”, forces balancing each other - not necessarily peace - Stasis is motionless: a condition of balance among various forces, a standing still, an unchanging stability, a state in which all forces balance each other, resulting in no movement - “stasis comes about at the close of the play when the major forces of the play either get what they want or are forced to stop trying” Intrusion: - “calls to adventure”, forcing in, thrusting - one specific event steps: 1. stasis 2. intrusion 3. the battle for new stasis initiated by intrusion

Things theatrical -illicit strong audience response - why things are there - emotion Ignorance is bliss Background Information - why we should explore background information - look up words, how they were used during that time

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know the author’s background changing eras - understand the era that it was written in - e.g. the English perceived the Danish to be very barbaric & war-like (Hamlet) - what did the original audience feel & how to you recreate that with today’s audience censorship politics artistic environment - what authors were creating at the time

Backwards & Forwards Part 2: Methods - Exposition - 2 types - 1. information known to everybody on the stage - 2. information known by only one/some of the characters - information often handled by a messenger - most effective way to present exposition: use the past to propel present action - conveys info that audience needs - launches action - Forwards - “anything that arouses an audience’s interest in things yet to come” - Keep interest in the play - focuses audience’s attention where the playwright wants it - built expectation - what's the big question being asked - what's going to happen next - hints - E.g. Masquerade - Missing Persons - scripts contain ‘bones’ not ‘people’ - bones - carefully selected character traits included in the script are revealed through action - what the character does and why - Image - “use of something we know to tell us about something we don’t know.” - evoke and expand, rather than define and limit - Theme - “abstract concept which part or all of that play is ‘about’.” - made concrete by play’s action - what the play is about - what’s the bigger, overarching concept -

Ball Notes: Lecture Notes: “Things Theatrical” Theatrical: · Surprises the audience · Important info · Grabs audiences attention · Emotional reactions of audience

Belle’s Stratagem -

explain how working backwards makes clear what happens in Act 5 what do they want, obstacles, how they respond to obstacles and what that tells us about them how theatrical moments work with the audience

Background Info ● about identity, gossip, ● set in late 18th century London (same time as American Revolution) ● title pays homage to another playwright’s work (beaux stratagem) ● most of the action on the apron ● very intimate between actors & audience ● reveals society in which Hannah Cowley lived in ● masquerade: plot device & motifs in comedy (deception) ● arranged marriages: common practice, usually arranged people around the same social status to be married to each other

Act 5 Villers - ‘anti’ Flutter - cynical about society - good friend to Rackett (a pair with Rackett although they don’t get married) - has no desire to be on the ‘inside’ Flutter - wants to be the ultimate gossip teller - always wants to be the first to find out/first to chime in within conversations Racket - always wants to establish the story and take control of the conversation Plots upon Plots interweaving

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Villers, letitia, Hardy + Rackett vs Doricourt (5.1) - preparing the plan for Doricourt Doricourt + Saville against Hardy’s (5.2) - brings in Flutter to report the story that Doricourt has gone ‘mad’ Sir George vs Courtall - plan revealed to Saville, Mrs Racket prevents Saville from telling Doricourt - = Saville switches sides (only Doricourt doesn’t know what’s going on at this point) 5.5: - All characters except Doricourt know about the plan - Everything converges @ the Hardys’, taunting of Doricourt - Sir George reveals plot for Saville, very awkward conversation - Revelation/Epiphany - Letitia enters, masked, accuses Doricourt while masked - reveals identity & challenges Doricourt - Doricourt: “you shall be nothing but yourself”

Epilogue - takes the story further, says that everyone has their ‘disguise’ - applying theme of ‘disguise’ to audience

The Belle’s Stratagem: Marissa’s Notes from Class Theatre 125: 9/29/15 The Belle’s Stratagem Lecture David Ball (p. 90) “For every play from a time and place other than your own, consider what the original audience thought and felt about the world portrayed in the play. Sometimes this takes a lot of research, but the results will be worth the effort.” Mrs. Hannah Cowley: Most produced play in the 18th century The Runaway: Written by Hannah Cowley All women running theatre in London in 18th century (1778) Women were playwrights, casting, managing, and held many other responsibilities in the theatre. · Theatre stopped in England · Louis XIII brought back theatre- 1642- Said women should play women’s roles · 1642- Playwrights gained ownership of their play- you could own intellectual property · Rare income opportunity for educated women · Women became professional playwrights the same time as men · 19th Century: disappearance of women playwrights · Hannah Cowley wrote 100 years after this… women are well established playwrights · https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hannah_Cowley

Aphra Behn: · First women in England to make a living by writing. -Wrote The Forced Marriage (1671) and became most popular dramatist writing. · Spy · In prison in 1667 · Sexual freedom for women and independence · Recorded love affairs (bisexual) in her writing · Wrote The Rover  (comedy) · “Grandmother” of female playwrights · Women’s plays were seen as “boughty” · 60 years after Shakespeare · https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aphra_Behn

Hannah Cowley: (COOley) · 100 years after Behn · Contemporary to Goldsmith and Sheridan · She wrote the most frequently produced plays into the mid 19th century · 1743 born · Cowley produced 10 comedies, some tragedies, and many poems · She re-wrote her own history as “saintly” – she heavily revised her plays after she left the theatre to avoid tainting her reputation · We don’t know how she started.. but there is a myth · David Garrick : Playwright, manager, actor. Cowley sent her first play to him ·  h  ttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Garrick · Finding out about Cowley we find out about society · Hated slapstick comedy= so she retired when theatre began to change · She removed scandal from her history and her plays The Belle’s Stratagem = Cowley’s most successful play · Play about gossip, power, manipulating gossip, mask's, true identity= themes in play and Cowley life · Set in fashionable society/ time of American Revolution · Juxtaposes two story lines that run parallel and connect with each other · Both problems about men. They learned how to respect women · Lady Brilliants masquerade ball · *Proscenium theatre is a modern idea * · 18th century after restoration of theatre= audience surrounded theatre, sometimes on the stage · Most of the action set on an apron where the audience and actors met and there was a arch and scenery arch behind the arch with scenery / pivoting flaps in the wings form depth = sets mood = actors do NOT go there

· Large theatres left small space for audiences, so they shortened the apron so actors moved further back · Masks and disguises in every character in the play- confusion for audience on society · Hardy is played by Mr. Quick · Sir George describes societal fashion pure chaos · By putting on a mask the young girl is able to lift her society mask and be herself · Her play is risqué · · · · ·

BACKGROUND: How

to do the research to make the play successful for today’s audiences…. Example: Masquerade is the dramatic center of the play. All the plot lines come together. Masquerade all social classes mix and flirt. Social and sexual danger Marissa’s Lecture Notes: Oct 6 th, 2015 Theatre 125- The Belle’s Stratagem

Dramaturgical research to turn a classic play into a modern production · Staging 18th century prostitute for the 20th century audience o Dramaturge = Advocate for absent playwright, education director about historic background of the play, artistic realities of the theatre o Drama is a medium to be heard and scene (not just read) o What is the play’s relationship to the audience? · What Is not being said in the play? o Assumptions the audience needs to make? Are they culturally specific? o What are the blanks? How we choose to fill the blanks will change our interpretation of the play. · How to recognize the silences in plays… The Belle’s Stratagem o Belle’s= fashionable  society of the 18th century o Relationship between classes and money elite o 2 plots= respect women, but there are transitional scenes from servants and such who make a living off fashionable life o Transitional scenes ground the plot by showing ridiculousness of fashionable life o Auction house / role of poorer class to drive up the auction prices o London’s fashionable life based on a teetering economy o Ugly glimpses of economic reality beyond the glamor o They want to exploit their masters o Transitional scenes provide us with dramaturgical options o What transitional scenes do we give more weight?? o What’s a leve--- how is that being parodied? Role of auction classes? Where did the classes meet? These questions help shed light to the play. · A  nalyze Kitty Willis o Only 5 lines, but comes to play a major role

o What does text reveal about her? o Find given  circumstances: Facts author has provided us with. Themes and characters of the play o Kitty has a distinct name o Reputation cannot be hurt o Women can’t contain virtue in a masquerade o She’s in the plot for reward o Able to deceive Court that she is Lady Francis o Gets attention of all the men when she undresses o Teases Court on former admiration o All the men call her Kitty o Publicly known, reputation cannot be damaged o Sexuality, lack of will o Suggested she is a prostitute or actress.. but what kind? o Provides us with different staging options for Kitty o (Related to Kim Kardashian)= brothel to celebrity . Using what she has to succeed o OR Kitty is a victim. No other options for success but prostitution o Whore with a heart of gold= still present in themes today= big topic in the 18th century o Willis (will-less) fell into her lack of work for lack of fortitude o Description of a family at the masquerade o Costumes: Domino=unisex cloak so you can’t see anything about the person. Unoriginal way to go to a masquerade. Kitty is wearing one because she know Lady Francis is wearing one o Do we see Kitty’s own clothes underneath when she unmasks? – make a choice o Easy to substitute the lady of virtue for the whore ON BLACKBOARD by SUSAN JONAS – adaptation of Measure for Measure The Belle’s Stratagem · We know they are in Lincoln’s inn: No fashionable person would be seen there unless on legal business · Courts in first scene is with Kitty? Nothing prevents such a meeting · Does he owe her money? · Kitty at auction in masquerade = is Kitty pickpocketing? are they successful in imitating the richer class? · What is Kitty’s relationship to Saville (man of virtue) · Dwelling in these hidden areas will bring story alive today….. Brecht Alienation techniques o M  ight we see reacting to the stratagems living the high life o Should be expand on meta theatrics? o Track down music, cultural references= understanding what connects audience to a play

SHAKESPEARE Historical background of Shakespeare: ● 1564-1616 ● Born in Elizabethan England to a family of modest means ● First plays written (supposedly) around 1592 and encompassed all three major genres of the time: Tragedy, Comedy, History ● Shakespeare spent time as an actor ● Helped establish Globe theatre in 1599 ● Wrote 37 of the most famous plays of his time (and today) between 1590’s-1612 ● His play’s themes often include moral ambiguity, drastic shifts in tone, parallels, love triangles, death, play within a play, etc... ● He was also a poet (a master with words and imagery that was incorporated into all his plays) ● He attended grammar school ● Was married with three children, left them for London to become an actor and playwright ● Shakespeare became wealthy and renowned ● Uses sounds to great advantage: Consonants. Voiced. Unvoiced. Aspiration. Continuants. Non-Continuants. Plosives (uses air) etc... Hamlet Historical background ● First performed 1602 ● He could have taken the story of Hamlet from several possible sources, including a twelfth-century Latin history of Denmark compiled by Saxo Grammaticus and a prose work by the French writer François de Belleforest, entitled Histoires Tragiques ● Shakespeare modified these classic stories to make Hamlet focused on Philosophical depth rather than a simple revenge story. ● He took a revenge story and made it resonate with fundamental themes and problems of the Renaissance ● The Renaissance: A cultural phenomenon in fifteenth-century Italy that recovered classic Greek and Latin texts that were lost to the Middle Ages. ● “ The play as a whole chiefly demonstrates the difficulty of knowing the truth about other people—their guilt or innocence, their motivations, their feelings, their relative states of sanity or insanity” A Midsummer Night’s Dream History: ● Written as Shakespeare was exploring a more creative style of his writing, stepping away from shallow character plots and themes.

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Believed to have been written and performed for an aristocratic wedding that Queen Elizabeth I was attending. Written in 1595(6) when Shakespeare was 32 Written around the same time as Romeo and Juliet and Richard II Plot links between Romeo and Juliet and AMSND (Pyramus and Thisbe play) -Appear to be Shakespeare mocking his own work Both Drama’s show a conflict of love and social convention

The story of "Pyramus and Thisbe" was originall...