Theatre styles

Theatre Styles,[object Object],1,[object Object]

Contents,[object Object],Classical,[object Object],Commedia dell’Arte,[object Object],Theatre of Cruelty,[object Object],Symbolism,[object Object],Naturalism,[object Object],Realism,[object Object],Expressionism,[object Object],Absurdism,[object Object],Modernism,[object Object],Postmodernism,[object Object],Physical,[object Object],Verbatim ,[object Object],2,[object Object]

Classical,[object Object],origins lie with the Greek theatre, through to Roman, Medieval, Elizabethan, Jacobean, Restoration,[object Object],first use of mask and chorus,[object Object],themes reflect period of the play,[object Object],relies upon imagination (limited props) to convey setting/atmosphere of play.,[object Object],actors must physically/vocally train their body to needs of larger theatres,[object Object],key characteristics: heightened language, using verse and prose,[object Object],larger movement to fill bigger theatres,[object Object],aim: hear a play, enjoy language, wit and humour, moralistic,[object Object],3,[object Object]

Commedia dell’Arte,[object Object],originated in Italy in the 1560s ,[object Object],neither professional nor open to the public. Only required actors, no sets and very few props,[object Object],key characteristics: plays came from scenarios,[object Object],dialogue and comedic interludes were improvised,[object Object],based around stock characters, the lovers, masters, and servants,[object Object],no female performers,[object Object],paid by taking a share of the play's profits equivalent to the size of role,[object Object],at its peak from 1575–1650,[object Object],aim: entertainment, comedy,[object Object],improvisation today originates from Commedia,[object Object],4,[object Object]

Naturalism,[object Object],originated: late 1800’s made famous by Stanislvaski,[object Object],classic texts performed in realist settings. ,[object Object],plays that reflect real life,[object Object],key characteristics uses natural forms of speech and physical expression,[object Object],actor attempts complete identification with the role, understood in terms of its 'given circumstances',[object Object],aim: audience as onlooker through the ‘fourth wall’, see great acting in the re-creation of character,[object Object],5,[object Object]

Theatre of Cruelty,[object Object],originated from surrealist movement in 1931 expressed by Antonin Artaud "Without an element of cruelty at the root of every spectacle, theatre is not possible.,[object Object],key characteristics: dance and gesture can create deeper meaning than words,[object Object],extreme emotions and actions result as a lack of control,[object Object],plays are a release for dreams and hidden emotions,[object Object],there are no limits to how theatre can stimulate an emotion or how to bring this about,[object Object],aim: to be moved, shocked and involved in the performance ,[object Object],6,[object Object]

Realism,[object Object],originated from naturalism and superseded it,[object Object],portrays characters on stage that are close to real life, with realistic settings /staging,[object Object],direct attention to the physical and philosophic problems of social and psychological existence ,[object Object],key characteristics: victims of forces larger than themselves, individuals confronted with a rapidly accelerating world.,[object Object],playwrights unafraid to present characters as ordinary, impotent and unable to reach answers to their predicaments.,[object Object],aim: identify with plot/situations,[object Object],7,[object Object]

Symbolism,[object Object],late nineteenth-century art movement of French & Belgian origin,[object Object],a backlash to naturalism and realism,[object Object],key characteristics: emphasis on internal life of dreams/fantasies/spirituality,[object Object],highly metaphorical and suggestive,[object Object],Eg: Auguste Villiers de l'Isle-Adam's drama Axël (rev. ed. 1890) is a definitive symbolist play. In it, two aristocrats fall in love while trying to kill each other, only to agree to mutually commit suicide because nothing in life could equal their fantasies ,[object Object],Chekhov’s later works identifiedas being influenced by symbolist pessimism,[object Object],aim: audience to interpret imagery and ideas to their original absolute truth,[object Object],8,[object Object]

Expressionism,[object Object],a cultural movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Germany at the start of the 20th century,[object Object],anti-realistic in seeing truth lying within man. The outward appearance on stage can be distorted and unrealistic to portray an eternal truth,[object Object],dramatises spiritual awakening/sufferings of central character & the struggle against social class values/established authority,[object Object],key characteristics: to present the world in an subjective perspective, distorting it for emotional effect, evoke moods/ideas,[object Object],movement/speech is heightened, expansive, or clipped/telegraphic,[object Object],aim: spectacle, illusion, experience,[object Object],9,[object Object]

Absurdism,[object Object],originated in 1940’s – 60’s expresses belief that human existence has no meaning/purpose, therefore all communication breaks down,[object Object],logical construction and argument gives way to irrational and illogical speech and to its ultimate conclusion: silence,[object Object],Key characteristics: broad comedy, mixed with horrific/tragic images; characters caught in hopeless situations forced to do repetitive/ meaningless actions,[object Object],dialogue: clichés/wordplay/nonsense,[object Object],plots: cyclical or absurdly expansive; either a parody or dismissal of realism and the "well-made play",[object Object],aim: createsubversive/anarchic view of society,[object Object],10,[object Object]

Modernism,[object Object],originated in early 20th century sees art, including theatre, as detached from life in a pure way and able to reflect on life critically,[object Object],includes the activities of those who felt the "traditional" forms of art, architecture, literature, religious faith, social organisation and daily life were becoming outdated in the new economic, social, and political conditions of an emerging fully industrialised world,[object Object],rejects the lingering certainty of Enlightenment thinking, and also that of the existence of a compassionate, all-powerful Creator,[object Object],aim: audience to question the axioms of the previous age,[object Object],11,[object Object]

Postmodernism,[object Object],superseded modernism: challenges accepted views of the world,[object Object],includes use of multiple art /media forms ,[object Object],narrative broken, paradoxical and imagistic. ,[object Object],characters are fragmented, forming a collection of contrasting / parallel ideas from a central theme or traditional character.,[object Object],each performance is a spectacle, with no intent on methodical repetition,[object Object],audience integral to the shared meaning & making of the performance process,[object Object],rehearsal process driven by shared improvisation, not scripted text,[object Object],aim : encourages audience to reach own individual understanding.,[object Object],12,[object Object]

Physical,[object Object],made prominant in the 20th Century with influences from classical and commedia,[object Object],work often devised, rather than from a pre-existing script (an exception Shared Experience, who focus on making contemporary reinterpretations of highly literary plays including Ibsen’s A Doll's House and Tolstoy’s War and Peace),[object Object],has inter-disciplinary origins - crosses between music, dance, visual art as well as theatre,[object Object],challenges the traditional, proscenium arch, performer/audience relationship.,[object Object],celebrates the non-passive audience.,[object Object],aim: combines the imagination of both the audience and the performer,[object Object],13,[object Object]

Verbatim,[object Object],documentary theatre - 20th century,[object Object],constructed from precise words spoken by people interviewed about an event/topic,[object Object],not written in a traditional sense but conceived, collected and collated,[object Object],recent example: Black Watch, a piece that integrated interviews taken from members of the Black Watch with dramatized versions of their stories and dance pieces.,[object Object],recorded voice delivery is an extension of verbatim theatre: actors have recorded interviews played back to them during the performance, allowing mimicry of the accents /manner of speech/words of those they portray,[object Object],aim: seek to achieve a degree of authority akin to that represented by the news. To give meaning/viewpoint to challenging situations,[object Object],14,[object Object]

Theatre Styles,[object Object],15,[object Object]

Quotes,[object Object],Harold Clurman ,[object Object],The stage is life, music, beautiful girls, legs, breasts, not talk or intellectualism or dried-up academics.,[object Object],Konstantine Stanislavski ,[object Object],Love art in yourself and not yourself in art.,[object Object],Michael Shurtleff,[object Object],An actor is looking for conflict. Conflict is what creates drama. We are taught to avoid trouble . Actors don't realize they must go looking for it. Plays are written about the extraordinary, the unusual, the climaxes. The more conflict actors find, the more interesting the performance.,[object Object],Sandy's favourite from Goethe,[object Object],I wish the stage were as narrow as a tight rope so that no incompetent would dare walk on it. ,[object Object],Sanford Meisner,[object Object],Transfer the point of concentration to some object outside of yourself – another person, a puzzle, a broken plate that you are gluing.” Actors that had a focus on something other than themselves were completely different in their performance from those that were ‘self’ conscious or inwardly focused. If you can do this - you have the most interesting, attention-holding thing of all, a fascinating human being playing opposite you. Let them be your focus and you’ll fly.,[object Object],Sanford Meisner,[object Object],The seed to the craft of acting is the reality of doing.,[object Object],Sanford Meisner,[object Object],Acting is not talking, it’s living off the other guy,[object Object],Acting has nothing to do with talking, little in fact to do with words. The bit of the ice berg that you CAN see is the words. The rest of your acting is why lies beneath.,[object Object],Sanford Meisner,[object Object],An ounce of behaviour is worth a pound of words.,[object Object],Oscar Wilde,[object Object],I regard the theatre as the greatest of all art forms, the most immediate way in which a human being can share with another the sense of what it is to be a human being.,[object Object],Michael Shurtleff,[object Object],Whatever you decide is your motivation in the scene, the opposite of that is also true and should be in the scene.,[object Object],16,[object Object]

Theatre styles

Theatre styles

Recomendados

Más contenido relacionado

Was ist angesagt?

Was ist angesagt?(20)

Similar a Theatre styles

Similar a Theatre styles (20)

Último

Último(15)

Theatre styles