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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Part I:
The Theoretical and Practical Foundations of Theater
Chapter 1: From Storytelling and Ritual to Theater
Chapter 2: From Theater to Drama
Chapter 3: From the Page to the Stage: Theater Artists at Work
Part II: An Anthology of the World’s Drama
Chapter 4: The Theater of Greece and Rome
Chapter 5: The Theater of Asia
Chapter 6: The Early Modern Theater
Chapter 7: The Modern Theater
Chapter 8: The Theater of Africa and the African Diaspora
Chapter 9: The Contemporary Theater
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3
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17
25
27
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69
101
151
177
Answers to Examination Items
219
Appendices
Appendix A: An Extensive Bibliography
Appendix B: A Selected List of Videos
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Part I:
The Theoretical and Practical Foundations of Theater
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PART I
THE THEORETICAL AND PRACTICAL
FOUNDATIONS OF THEATER
CHAPTER 1
From Storytelling and Ritual to Theater
GOAL: To identify some of the human impulses that create theater.
KEY POINTS:
1. Theater is among the oldest, most instinctive art forms.
2. Theater developed from:
•
•
•
•
the innate human impulse to imitate;
the innate human impulse to tell and act out stories;
rituals, especially those related to spiritual needs, the agricultural calendar, and rites
for the dead;
ceremonies that sustain cultural, civic, and institutional values.
3. Rituals:
•
•
•
are symbolic actions that satisfy the spiritual and cultural needs of a community;
are arranged in a pattern that eventually becomes precise in its repetition--this gives a
sense of order and permanency that comforts the performers and audiences;
originally seem to have been intended to produce “magical effects.”
4. There are remarkable similarities in the origins of theater throughout the world:
•
•
•
theater most often developed in conjunction with spring planting and/or harvest
rituals;
theater often dealt with a “slain god-king” who restores life and vitality to the land and
its people;
theater involves a spiritual dimension, i.e., the recognition of a power or force greater
than that of human beings.
5. Masks are a ubiquitous symbol of the theater and a global cultural phenomenon.
6. Master Pierre Pathelin is a play that embodies many of the concepts discussed in
Chapter One.
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TERMS, CONCEPTS, PEOPLE
Balinese Barong dance
ceremony
Feast of Fools
The Ion
mask
mimesis
ritual
story tellers
griot
sutradhara
shaman
rhapsode
sympathetic magic
Robert Edmund Jones
Aristotle
Plato
Victor Turner
ACTIVITIES AND TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION
1. Describe a storyteller at work, emphasizing how s/he uses theatrical elements such as
gesture, voice, body attitudes, bits of clothing and props to embellish the story. Discuss
how storytellers from early cultures may have used the same elements to enhance their
tales.
2. Describe a “ritual” at your school/university or in your community. Identify and discuss
in particular those elements that are theatrical in nature. If possible, trace the history and
evolution of this rite. Discuss the needs it satisfies within your community.
3. Visit a museum and investigate rituals and ceremonies devised by earlier peoples of the
region. Note also any tales that may have become mythologized. Describe and discuss
those elements that are theatrical.
4. Collect pictures of masks. Discuss their common characteristics and purposes, as well as
those things that make the masks distinctive.
5. View the Jim Carrey film, The Mask: analyze it as it relates to the ideas discussed in
Chapter 1.
6. Discuss how one functions in the daily world by knowing how to play roles, wear masks,
and participate in rituals.
7. Collect and discuss some of the terminology we use in daily discourse that is drawn from
the theater. Why do these words serve us well?
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8. Read some popular folk tales drawn from various world cultures. Discuss how they
reflect the needs and cultural concerns of the people who created them. Also, discuss
how they could serve as useful material for plays. For instance, look at some of the tales
of Coyote drawn from Native Americans or any of the delightful animal tales from
Africa.
GENERAL EXAMINATION ITEMS
1. Which of the following is not an example of a Story Teller:
A. the West African griot
B. the German kleinswertz
C. the Brahman sutradhara
D. the Pueblo shaman
E. the Greek rhapsode
2. The characteristics of Rituals may be characterized by all of the following except:
A. they are symbolic actions developed by and performed for a community, usually to
satisfy its spiritual or cultural needs
B. they are arranged in patterns that eventually become precise in their execution
C. they are not necessarily synonymous with ceremonies
D. they are believed to have originally been performed to achieve “magical” effects
E. they are vitually indistinguishable from ceremonies
3. Which of the following aspects of American football are characteristics shared with
rituals:
A. the recitation of incantations in support of the favorite combatants
B. the use of elaborate costumes
C. the “battle” between the combatants which ends with the vanquishing of one by the
other
D. all of the above
E. none of the above
4. All of the following are examples of the evolution from rituals to theater except:
A. the Greek springtime rituals in honor of the god Dionysus
B. the inspiration of the Hindu priest Bharata by the gods Brahma, Vishnu and Siva
C. the Nordic celebrations in honor of the gods Thor and Valkrie
D. the creation of the art form by Ogun as a means of bridging the gap between humanity
and the gods
E. the religious and agricultural festivals sponsored by Buddhist monks in ancient Japan
5. Masks, the quintessential symbol for the theater, serve many functions; among these
functions are all of the following except:
A. they have power to transform individuals into something more than they are in the
ordinary world
B. they empower, embolden, and permit us to do things we would not ordinarily do
C. they discourage or stifle imagination because they supply an objectified symbol
D. they are metaphors which symbolize something else
E. they are appealing to us aesthetically
TRUE/FALSE
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6. Most people demonstrate an innate theatricality when they embellish their daily activities
with symbolic gestures and visual symbols like “costumes” which are appropriate to the
activities in which they are engaged.
7. Story telling, rituals, ceremonies, pageants, and carnivals, along with the basic human
impulse for imitation, are among the cornerstones of the theatrical arts.
8. Because the contemporary theater often addresses various sociological, political, and
aesthetic needs of its audience, it does not depend on commercial success.
9. Because the particulars of ritualistic events vary from place to place as a result of cultural
influences and differences, the impulses to use theatrical means to engage the participants
and audiences have very little in common.
10. Among the common characteristics of the theater in nearly all cultures are facts that we are
mimetic and communal beings who seeks order and employ “masks” throughout our lives.
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Master Pierre Pathelin
1. In Master Pierre Pathelin, Pierre's profession is:
A. merchant
B. carpenter
C. lawyer
D. we are not told his profession
E. he has no job but lives only by his wits and cunning
2. The title character in Master Pierre Pathelin is one of the prevailing stock characters in
world theater called the:
A. witty fool
B. con artist
C. trickster
D. unscrupulous lawyer
E. country bumpkin
3. Master Pierre Pathelin contains which of the following Aristotelian qualitative elements
of drama:
A. diction
B. spectacle
C. thought
D. all of the above
E. none of the above
4. In Master Pierre Pathelin the literary term for the scene in which the shepherd outwits
Pierre to keep the money is:
A. exposition
B. climax
C. crisis
D. denouement (falling action)
E. point of attack (inciting moment)
5. In Master Pierre Pathelin one of the tricks Pierre and his wife use to convince the cloth \
merchant that Pierre is ill is:
A. Pierre speaks "in tongues" by using a combination of languages and gibberish
B. Pierre pretends to see demons
C. Pierre feigns blindness and swears he cannot see the merchant
D. Pierre’s wife administers huge quantities of medicine (actually it is ale) to Pierre
E. Pierre pretends he is paralyzed and cannot get out of bed to walk
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TRUE/FALSE
6. The climax in Master Pierre Pathelin occurs when the shepherd cheats Pierre out of his
money.
7. Music is a significant element in Master Pierre Pathelin.
8. Master Pierre Pathelin displays similarities to a popular medieval festival called the Feast
of Fools.
9. In Master Pierre Pathelin, the title character promises to get cloth for his wife because it is
their anniversary and he needs a gift for her.
10. In productions during the fifteenth century, Master Pierre Pathelin most likely would
have been performed on a bare stage with a few simple props.
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PART I
THE THEORETICAL AND PRACTICAL
FOUNDATIONS OF THEATER
CHAPTER 2
From Theater to Drama
GOAL: To identify and define the elements and performance modes that make drama and
theater “art.”
KEY POINTS
Theater and Drama
1. Theater refers to those elements that bring drama—a play script—to life before an
audience.
2. Drama is a specialized, highly organized, and compressed form of literary expression;
conflict is central to the dramatic experience.
3. The term playwright denotes a conspicuous and conscientious attempt to craft a story to
meet the demands of the theater.
4. Aristotle identified and defined six elements that are common to drama and theater: plot;
character; thought; diction; music; spectacle.
Genre
1. Genre classifies literary works into specific types (i.e., tragedy, comedy, and
tragicomedy) each of which has its own subsets (farce, melodrama, etc.).
2. Genre frequently reflects the author’s world view and may determine the degree of
audience involvement with or distance from the subject matter.
3. Aristotle offers the first—and still the most influential—analysis of tragedy in The
Poetics.
4. Tragedy stems from an optimistic premise that we are essentially admirable beings who
are flawed and therefore susceptible to misfortune.
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5. The tragic action traces “the fall” of an essentially good individual from prosperity to
misery, generally as the results of an error in judgment (hamartia) and/or an excess
(hubris). Such a fall usually depends on a reversal and a recognition and arouses “pity”
and “fear,” which contribute to the tragic effect.
6. There is less consensus about the nature and impact of comedy than that of tragedy.
7. Comedy stems from the essentially pessimistic premise that humans are weak and follyridden.
8. Comedy, of which there are many sub-sets, has been used as a social corrective that
attempts to laugh human weakness out of existence.
9. Tragicomedy is an essentially twentieth century genre (with antecedents in classic
literature) that reflects a bleaker world view in which individuals are trapped by their
existence.
Style and Conventions
1. Style involves the manner of presentation and is determined by the degree of artificiality
with which the artists wish to treat the subject.
2. Style is often determined by a culture’s philosophy, aesthetics, and tastes, as well as the
theater space and other variables.
3. Conventions are theater’s “rules of the game” which determine the actor/audience
relationship and the degree of artificiality of the performance.
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TERMS, CONCEPTS, PEOPLE
genre
comedy
farce
melodrama
tragedy
tragicomedy
hamartia
hubris (hybris)
Kadensho
mythos
The Natyasastra
playwright
The Poetics
praxis
recognition (discovery)
reversal (peripeteia)
stock characters
style
presentational
representational
text/subtext/intentional text
theatron
Tractatus Coislinianus
Aristotelian elements of drama
plot
climactic plot
episodic plot
cyclic plot
character
archetypal characters
stock characters
thought
diction
dialogue
monologue
soliloquy
music
spectacle
antagonist/protagonist
agon
catharsis
character
conflict
convention
dramatic structure
exposition
point of attack (inciting incident)
complication
crisis
climax
denouement
Aristotle
Bharata
Horace
Northrup Frye
Tao Ching-hsu
Zeami
drao
ACTIVITIES AND TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION
1. List/discuss the ways a play script differs from: a novel; a television script; a film script.
2. Apply what you learned about the elements of drama and the structure of a plot by
analyzing an episode of a television show or a film.
3. Identify and discuss the stock characters in a popular TV sit com or popular comic or
melodramatic film.
4. Define archetype and discuss archetypes in non-theatrical works such as George Lucas’
Star Wars trilogy or other “pop-entertainment” media (e.g. video games, pop music,
etc.).
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5. Discuss the O. J. Simpson trial, the John F. Kennedy, Jr. plane crash, or some similar
event as a “tragedy.” What elements of Aristotle’s analysis of the tragic experience are
present and/or absent? How do we use the term “tragic?”
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GENERAL EXAMINATION ITEMS
1. The most notable means a playwright uses to focus a story is:
A. through the use of dialogue
B. through the use of dialogue mixed with narration
C. through the use of the representation of conflict or the clash of opposing forces
D. through the use of rituals which are used in the story
E. through the use of spectacle such as scenery, costume and lighting
2. All of the following are true according to Aristotle’s Poetics except:
A. plot, which is the soul of dramatic poetry, is the arrangement of the incidents
B. character, in addition to being the people in the drama, also refers to that which
reveals moral purpose
C. thought refers to the ideas or themes expressed by the playwright
D. diction refers to the way the words are articulated by the actors as opposed to language
and words chosen by the playwright
E. spectacle, which Aristotle refered to as the least artistic of the elements of drama,
includes such things as costumes, makeup, scenery, and the stage composition and
pictures
3. In examining the plotting of most plays in Western theater it is clear that:
A. the exposition and climax usually follow the complication
B. the climax and the denouement are essentially synonymous terms
C. the exposition and the complication are essentially synonymous terms
D. the complication and the climax are essentially synonymous terms
E. the point of attack usually precedes the complication
4. Archetypal characters are those agents of the action that:
A. transcend the particulars of a given story and become universal symbols of such things as
vice, virtue, and human dilemmas
B. are easily recognizable characters like the bragging soldier and the conniving trickster
C. exist only in Western drama
D. all of the above
E. none of the above
5. The terms comedy, tragedy and tragicomedy are:
A. stylistic classifications of dramatic literature
B. generic classifications of dramatic literature
C. mutually exclusive terms used to describe the basic tone of all dramatic literature
D. Aristotelian terms commonly used throughout The Poetics
E. all references to the basic structure of dramatic literature
6. Among the key characteristics in Aristotle’s description of tragedy is (are) the following:
A. a tragedy is serious, complete and of a certain magnitude
B. a tragedy is the imitation of a noble individual rather than a specific action
C. a tragedy usually, but not always, includes a “reversal” and “recognition”
D. A and B
E. A and C
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7. All of the following are key characteristics of comedy except:
A. like tragedy, it usually includes a hero of sorts
B. unlike tragedy, which is viewed as being serious and of magnitude, it deals with the
ludicrous
C. like tragedy, it has little to do with the here and now and translates well to all generations
D. unlike tragedy, which displays the select few who possess a truly noble spirit, it displays
virtually all people as candidates for comedy
E. like tragedy, it usually includes reversals and recognitions
8. Tragicomedy is characterized by:
A. more than the simple blending or fusion of comedy and tragedy
B. the lack of or very subtle recognitions and reversals
C. an ambiguity of character
D. all of the above
E. only A and B
9. Which of the following are terms which refer to style:
A. tragedy and realism
B. tragedy and comedy
C. presentational and representational
D. comedy and farce
E. representational and melodrama
TRUE/FALSE
10. One of the distinctions between the dramatic and the epic is that the dramatic is usually
more selective in the events that it imitates or portrays.
11. According to Thornton Wilder narrative form (i.e., the epic) is what one person tells us
took place and dramatic form (i.e., a play) is what takes place.
12. Aristotle’s Poetics is unique in that the non-Western world has no similar early treatises
to be used as guides to understanding drama.
13. Plato’s and Aristotle’s views regarding the value and good of drama coincide with each
other because, as Aristotle’s teacher, Plato passed on his view of the theater which
Aristotle accepted and refined.
14. In contemporary drama it is not uncommon for playwrights to create characters that are
fragmented beings rather than fully developed individuals.
15. When discussing drama, style and genre are usually used interchangeably because they are
synonymous.
16. In terms of Western drama, comedy and tragedy are the oldest and most elemental
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generic classifications of dramatic literature.
17. Because they are different styles, comedy and tragedy are usually analyzed or interpreted
according to different sets of dramatic elements.
18. A tragic hero usually is defeated not because of some evil aspect of character, but because
of some error or frailty.
19. While there is a good deal of controversy over the general definition of tragedy, the
general interpretation or definition of catharsis is rarely argued.
20. While the general definition of catharsis is hotly debated, nearly all would agree that is
has to do with the emotions of pity and fear.
21. Comedy and tragedy are equally dependent on the specific customs and mores of the
particular culture which produces them.
22. While the term tragicomedy was coined hundreds of years ago and examples of it have
been in existence for hundreds of years, it is most often associated with the modern
drama.
23. As its name implies, tragicomedy is little more than the fusion or blending of comedy and
tragedy.
24. Style refers essentially to the playwright’s point of view or perspective on the conflict
that is presented in the play.
25. Although it is logical to assume that presentational and representational are antithetical
styles, there is really very little difference between them.
26. While examples of representational style can be found elsewhere, it is essentially a style
which is peculiar to the late nineteenth century and twentieth century Western drama.
27. Conventions are the “rules of the game”--the basic agreements between the audience and
the performers to “accept” or “believe in” what appears on the stage.
28. The history of both Western and non-Western drama is filled with plays which are
essentially presentational in their writing and performance.
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PART I
THE THEORETICAL AND PRACTICAL
FOUNDATIONS OF THEATER
CHAPTER 3
From the Page to the Stage:
Theater Artists at Work
GOAL: To define the contributions and responsibilities of the various theater artists who
produce a script.
KEY POINTS:
Theater and Drama
1. Theater is a collaborative art in which artists (playwrights, actors, directors, and
designers) work together to present a play to an audience.
2. Understanding the kinds of choices theater artists make—and the rationale for those
choices—enhances our understanding of the theater event.
The Actor
1. The actor—the only indispensable theater artist—is the “first artist” of the theater.
2. There are three approaches to the craft of acting:
•
•
•
the external approach, which relies primarily on voice and body to create the role, is
largely a pre-twentieth century approach;
the internal approach, which relies primarily on personal experience (emotion
memory) and psychology to create the role, is essentially a late-nineteenth/twentieth
century approach;
the integrated approach which synthesizes the external and internal approaches.
The Playwright
1. The playwright is responsible for taking an idea and realizing it through plotting,
characterization, and the written word.
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2. The playwright is bound by the demands of the theater:
•
•
•
a play must appeal to a group rather than the individual;
a play is written for a collection of theater artists;
a play is bound by time and space.
The Director
1. Although the director was among the last artists to enter the theater, s/he has become a
powerful force.
2. The director has several functions:
•
•
•
•
to develop and articulate an interpretation (concept) for the play;
to coordinate the work of all artists involved in the production;
to provide an aesthetically pleasing experience for an audience;
to assist the actors as they prepare their roles.
The Designer
1. The scenic, costume, lighting, and sound designers contribute to a production by:
•
•
•
•
developing design elements which support and extend the directorial concept;
providing a workable space and environment for the actors to do their work;
creating an emotional atmosphere for the play;
engaging the audience visually and aurally by providing the audience with
information about setting, locale, time period, etc.
The Critic
1. There are two primary types of critics in the theater:
•
•
the reviewer, who describes and evaluates the elements of the theatrical
production;
the critic-analyst who describes, interprets, and evaluates the artistic choices
manifested in the play.
2. The reviewer and critic serve useful purposes in the theater experience when they:
•
•
•
encourage excellence and weed out incompetence;
promote originality;
provide insight and understanding for audiences.
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TERMS, CONCEPTS, PEOPLE
text
scripted text
subtext
intentional text
actor
actor/manager
actors studio
auteur
didaskalos
critic
directorial concept
emotion memory
external acting/internal acting
Hamburg Dramaturgy
the “method” or “system”
maitre de jeaux
paradox of acting
reviewer
scenario
scenography
Adolph Appia
Peter Brook
Denis Diderot
Georg II, Duke of Saxe Meiningen
Horace
Gottholt Lessing
Jo Mielziner
Caroline Neuber
Sebestiano Serlio
Constantin Stanslavsky
Julie Taymor
Thespis
Thornton Wilder
ACTIVITIES AND TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION
1. Compare the acting styles of an “external” actor (e.g., Jim Carrey) and an “internal”
actor (Tom Hanks). Is one necessarily better than the other?
2. Based on your experience at a play, concert, or some other spectacle, discuss the impact
inventive scenic, light, and sound designs can have on a theatrical event. Is it possible
that design elements can overwhelm the actual performance? Cite examples from your
experience.
3. Read Julie Taymor’s discussion of the problems she encountered while directing The
Lion King for Broadway. Enumerate and discuss the kinds of decisions required of her.
What does this tell you about the tasks confronting a stage director?
4. Collect five or six television, and/or movie reviews from your local paper and/or
magazines (such as Time and Rolling Stone). What criteria concerning the art of criticism
can you establish by looking at the work of professional critics?
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GENERAL EXAMINATION ITEMS
1. All of the following are true about acting and/or actors except:
A. in the simplest terms an actor is one who performs or impersonates
B. actor training and acting styles have undergone considerable changes over the last 2500
years
C. actor training and acting styles vary little throughout the contemporary world
D. actor training and acting styles exhibit a wide variety throughout the contemporary
world
E. none of the above
2. Of the following statements, which accurately reflects the work of the actor:
A. while it is essentially a modern approach, both Aristotle and Shakespeare pointed the way
to internal acting
B. for centuries theorists have debated the question of whether actors should actually “feel”
the emotions they are portraying
C. external actors work essentially “from the outside in”
D. all of the above
E. none of the above
3. Because language of the text is of utmost importance to actors, it is necessary that they
understand all the levels of texts which exist in a play, including:
A. the “scripted text” which is the purpose, objective, or intention of the text as it is
printed
B. the “subtext” which is the meaning of the text or what is implied in the text
C. the “intentional text” which is the actual words as they are printed on the actors’
scripts
D. the “external text” which is the way the actor would deliver the text in “real life”
E. the “authorial text” which includes the playwright’s directions on how to deliver the
text
4. In general, playwrights:
A. are among the latest additions to the list of the artists involved in the theater
B. are among the most solitary of the artists involved in the theater
C. have always included a great deal of stage direction in their texts so that actors and
directors know how and where to move and speak.
D. are the oldest artists in the theater and most indispensable
E. have always been the most important artist in the theater
5. All of the following are true of playwrights except:
A. they are first and foremost story-tellers who present their work in the form of the
dramatic rather than the narrative
B. part of their job is to keep people interested and in the theater for a couple of hours
C. they nearly always work according to a prescribed formula so that their plays will meet
the public’s expectations
D. their methods of working and creating plays are as varied as the cultures that have
produced them
E. a significant portion of their job is rewriting, reworking and polishing their script
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6. In addition to the artistic problems and the other challenges contemporary American
playwrights face, another pressure they encounter is:
A. the rapidly declining interest in and popularity of theater throughout the United States
B. the freedom to deal with politically and sociological innovative subject matter
C. the availability of well trained directors to stage their plays
D. the lack of interested and highly trained actors to play the roles in their plays
E. the financial pressures of a very commercially orientated theater
7. Among the most important and influential individuals involved in the evolution of the
director in the Western theater during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries were:
A. George II (the Duke of Saxe Meiningen), Peter Brook and Konstantin Stanslavsky
B. David Garrick, Caroline Neuber and George II (the Duke of Saxe Meiningen)
C. George II (the Duke of Saxe Meiningen), William Shakespeare and Moliere
D. David Garrick, Caroline Neuber and William Shakespeare
E. George II (the Duke of Saxe Meiningen), Peter Brook and Julie Taymor
8. The most important and rewarding, but also the most difficult task, a director undertakes
is:
A. the development of the directorial concept
B. casting the play
C. handling the financial and business arrangements before staging the play
D. securing designers
E. securing the rehearsal and performance spaces suitable for the play
9. Among the four primary tasks facing a director are:
A. devising a directorial concept and coordinating the other artists’ contributions
B. coordinating the other artists’ contributions and creating an aesthetic experience
C. creating an aesthetic experience and helping the actors
D. all of the above
E. none of the above
10. All of the following are true of the designer or of theatrical design in general except:
A. the Greeks included elements of design and spectacle in their plays
B. unlike their Western counterparts, the court theaters of Japan and China minimized
extravagant scenery
C. the Renaissance brought the scene designer to the forefront of theatrical activity
D. scenic design world-wide has been and continues to be realistic rather than symbolic or
abstract in nature
E. the design elements of a play or production evolve out of the style of the production
and the directorial concept
11. Among the common requirements for scenic, costume and lighting design are which of
the following:
A. the design elements should be consistent with the directorial concept but need not
complement each other
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B. the design elements should support the work of the actor but aesthetically draw focus to
themselves
C. the design elements should establish the degree of reality or theatricality demanded by
the production but need not provide relevant information about the historical period or
character relationships
D. the design elements should be consistent with the directorial concept but should also
reinforce the emotional atmosphere of the production
E. the design elements should reinforce the emotional atmosphere of the production,
but needn’t be a visual metaphor for the production because that would interfere with
the acting
12. Which of the following are tasks performed by designers:
A. meeting with the director and the other designers to discuss and develop a design concept
B. researching the plays and its historical, political, and social milieu to develop a visual
metaphor for the production
C. select the line, mass, forms, colors, textures, etc., that are appropriate for the production
and which help to express the production concept
D. all of the above
E. none of the above
13. In addition to transforming the performance space into an appropriate environment for the
play’s action, a good scenic design:
A. should have great aesthetic appeal even at the expense of the actors
B. should have a single playing area or level even at the expense of variety in stage
pictures
C. should provide strong focal points for key moments of the action, even at the expense
of being practical in terms of entrances and exits
D. should have great aesthetic appeal while taking into account the practicality of entrances
and exits
E. should provide a stunning visual metaphor so that if the actors are weak the audience will
feel that it has got its money’s worth
14. Among the valuable functions of good criticism are all of the following except:
A. it encourages excellence in the theater by providing and sometimes raising standards
B. it provides insight and understanding of the art in general and may also help to “weed
out” incompetence
C. it provides a context within which to appreciate a particular work and theatrical work
in general
D. it encourages self-satisfaction and helps to develop the self-exhibitionist flair which is
a prerequisite for a good actor
E. it promotes originality, encourages good work, and challenges the artists involved
15. A good critic or critic-theorist:
A. possesses a thorough knowledge of the technical and theoretical principles of theater and
drama along with an open mind
22
B. possesses an awareness and acceptance of one’s own limitations and an ability to point
out the same in others
C. possesses an ability to think analytically, and to write clearly and vividly along with an
inquisitiveness and willingness to learn
D. A & B
E. A & C
TRUE/FALSE
16. While theater is produced by numerous artists including playwrights, directors, and
designer, the actor is the oldest and most indispensable of the artists involved.
17. Many Asian theater traditions, including the essentially external style of their acting,
have been incorporated into the training programs of American acting schools and
training programs.
18. External based acting precludes any incorporation of strongly felt emotion.
19. While the actor was the first artist in Western theater, the playwright was the first to
attain “star” status.
20. Because the theater is first and foremost a collaborative art, one of the primary demands
on playwrights is that their work is “playable”--it should inspire and interest both
participants (actors and directors) and the recipients (the audience.)
21. Because the theater is universally subsidized by governments, the business aspects of
playwriting are low on the list of the playwright’s concerns and worries.
22. Although the director is one of the most recent artists of the theater, the role of the
director has evolved slowly as the theater has developed.
23. As directors have become increasingly more involved in the presentation of plays over
the last century and a half, their names and reputations have become nearly as widely
known as those of playwrights and actors.
24. The rise of the popularity and importance of the director in the theater is a phenomenon
that is essentially Western and has gone almost unnoticed in Asia and Africa.
25. Devising a directorial concept and coordinating the work of the other artists involved in
a production are among the primary tasks of the director in the contemporary theater
26. The use of scenery, costumes, masks, props, sound, and lighting effects, albeit sometimes
in rudimentary form, has been a part of the theater from its earliest moments
27. Playwrights can rightly be considered among the first designers of the theater.
28. Historically accurate costumes and scenery have been a staples of theatrical presentation
in nearly every style and genre of theater and drama, and in nearly all cultures.
29. Because they are not a part of the production team or company, critics are not an
23
integral part of the process involved in theater.
30. Good theatrical costume, scenic, and lighting designs complement each other and the
directorial concept, as well as provide the right visual metaphor for the particular
production of a particular play.
31. The art of theater criticism is essentially the process of identifying the weak aspects of a
production, pointing them out and giving the production a “thumbs up” or “thumbs
down” verdict.
32. As much as actors, directors, and designers dislike and are uncomfortable in the presence
of critics, there is much to be learned from perceptive criticism.
33. While the terms “critic” and “reviewer” are used to identify those who see and respond in
writing to a production, there is little difference between the two terms and they can be
used interchangeably.
24
Part II:
An Anthology of the World’s Drama
25
26
PART II
AN ANTHOLOGY OF THE WORLD’S DRAMA
CHAPTER 4
The Theater of Greece and Rome
GOAL: To understand the development, major styles, distinctive characteristics and
conventions of theater and drama in classical Greece and Rome.
KEY POINTS
Greece
1. There are several theories concerning the origins of theater in ancient Greece, including
the ideas that Greek theater evolved out of :
•
•
•
•
•
•
spring time festivals and ceremonies in honor of Dionysus, the god of wine, passion,
the creative urge (Aristotle);
rites of passage involving puberty and/or changes in the agricultural calendar (Murray
and Harrison);
tomb, hero-cult worship, and other ceremonies honoring the dead (Wm. Ridgeway);
shamanistic practices (Kirby);
dances performed by women on the threshing floor;
the storytelling inventions of Thespis and Aeschylus (Else);
2. Greek drama festivals were civic, military, and spiritual events in which the entire free
male populace of the city state participated.
3. The Greeks were humanists who valued human achievement, harmony, order, and justice,
ideals that are reflected in the structure of the plays and dramatic festivals.
4. There were three principal tragic playwrights (Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides) and one
primary comic playwright (Aristophanes) who wrote during the golden age of Greek
drama.
5. The Greek physical theater was constructed to house the populace of a city state and its
design reflected the classical ideals of harmony, balance, and beauty.
27
6. Greek actors used many non-realistic techniques, most of which were dictated by the size
of the theaters and the larger-than-life qualities of the characters portrayed in the dramas.
7. Greek Old Comedy was satiric and addressed particular social and cultural issues of the
time; the plays were carefully structured and included a debate of the central idea
examined by the playwright.
Rome
1. Theater in Rome evolved from ludi (games) held in conjunction with civic ceremonies
and from the work of histriones (story tellers), which became the name associated with
actors.
2. Seneca was Rome’s principal tragic playwright, while Plautus and Terence were its
principal writers of comedy, the dominant genre produced by Rome. All three influenced
Renaissance dramaturgy.
3. Rome introduced popular entertainment as a staple of the theater--gladiatorial contests,
sea battles, circuses, and other spectacles typify Roman popular entertainment.
4. Of the many philosophies followed by Romans, Stoicism—the acceptance of life’s
hardships—had the most lasting influence, especially on Christianity.
5. The Romans imitated the Greeks in their dramaturgy and in the construction of their
theaters, although they added distinctly Roman touches.
6. Roman theater declined because of the over-all decline of the Empire, the invasion of
northern tribes, and the rise of Christianity, which had an anti-theater bias.
28
TERMS, CONCEPTS, PEOPLE
parados
parabisis
polis
prologue
proskenion
pulpitum
satyr
skene
skena frons
stasimon
strophe
antistrophe
stoicism
tetralogy
theatron
trilogy
agon
agora
ananke
cavea
Circus Maximus
City Dionysia
deus ex mechane
dike
dithyramb
dominus gregis
dromenon
ekkyklema
exodos
gamos
the happy idea
histrioines
humanism
koryphaeus
kothornoi
hypokrites
logeion
ludi
maenads
New Comedy
Old Comedy
onkos
orchestra
Oresteia
Aeschylus
Aristophanes
Euripides
Menander
Plautus
Roscius
Seneca
Sophocles
Terence
ACTIVITIES AND TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION
General
1. Identify and visit buildings in your community and/or campus that have been influenced
by Greco-Roman (“classical”) architecture; your campus may have an outdoor theater
modeled after those of the Greeks. Discuss how these spaces reflect the values of the
Greeks, especially their harmony, balance, proportion, symmetry, etc.
2. Develop more fully the argument that we have started in this chapter: a Greek play
retained its ritual qualities long after ancient rituals gave way to the development of
drama as an art form.
3. Identify and discuss some contemporary entertainments that are modern equivalents of
the ancient Roman popular entertainments, e.g., an air show, a rodeo, professional
wrestling.
29
30
Prometheus Bound
1. Is Zeus a completely unsympathetic figure? Defend, if you can, Zeus's actions.
2. Discuss the character of Hermes, the messenger of Zeus. Describe some of the ways an
actor might portray him? Is it possible that he is meant to be a comic character?
3. What "secret" does Prometheus know that terrifies Zeus? What is symbolic about this
secret? That is, what does it suggest about the human-god relationship?
4. In 1911 T. S. Eliot wrote "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock," an indictment of
modern civilization. Its character asks the question, "Do I dare disturb the universe?"
What if Prufrock were chained to the mountain beside Prometheus? Write a short scene
in which Prometheus and Prufrock discuss "daring."
5. Discuss other Promethean figures with which you may be familiar in literature or film.
6. We learn something about Prometheus' character from each of his visitors: how do
Hephaestus, Oceanos, Io, and Hermes help define Prometheus?
Oedipus the King
1. Select one of the other characters in the play and compare and contrast that character
with Oedipus. In particular, how does the character act in times of crisis?
2. Write an essay comparing your religious beliefs--or lack thereof--with those of the
characters in Oedipus the King.
3. Staging a modern production of Oedipus the King is a challenging task. Select a venue
on your campus (especially outdoors) and describe how you would stage the play. Pay
particular attention to how you would use the chorus.
4. Oedipus is a character who exhibits excessive pride. Identify some modern individuals
who exhibit the same characteristics. How have they dealt with the world? How has the
world dealt with them?
5. Taking the well-known story of some other historical figure (e.g., Bill Clinton, Richard
Nixon or O. J. Simpson), outline a synopsis of a "tragedy" that you might write. Try to
use Sophocles' method of simultaneous forward and backward movement to shape your
tragedy.
Medea
1. Twentieth century American newspapers are filled with example of individuals who
have murdered their children. Select one story and develop a scenario of how it might be
written as a Greek tragedy.
31
2. Compare the character and actions of Medea to those of Oedipus. How are they similar?
How important is pride to the understanding of each character?
3. Contemporary films are filled with violence which many argue is gratuitous. Is the same
true of Medea? How might a filmmaker of today script/plot the story?
4. With which character in the play do you empathize the most? The least?
5. Compare Medea to your favorite character in a novel or short story; in a play; in a film.
How would Medea have to be changed to be presented in a different form?
Lysistrata
1. Analyze Lysistrata's arguments to the Athenian Commissioner in the agon in which she
justifies the women’s innate abilities to rule. Look especially at the examples she draws
from daily life and comment upon the effectiveness of her argument.
2. Other than the Viet Nam War era (which is an obvious choice), describe how you might
stage Lysistrata in an historical period other than Greece. Be sure to discuss any textual
revisions and rewrites that such a transposal would dictate.
3. Identify the sources of humor in the characterizations of Lysistrata's three principal
cohorts: Kalonike, Myrrinhe, and especially the Spartan, Lampito. What makes each of
them distinctly funny? Which three modern actresses would you cast in these roles?
4. Shortly after World War II the Los Angeles police department actually issued a warrant
for the arrest of Aristophanes for writing an indecent play! What if he were brought to
trial? Play his attorney and defend the use of the phalluses, sexual innuendoes, and
other ribaldry in the play on artistic merits rather than purely on "freedom of speech"
grounds.
5. Read Luis Valdez's short play, No saca nada de la escuela. Compare it to Lysistrata. In
what ways are Aristophanes and Valdez kindred spirits?
Brothers
1. Reversal and recognition are as important to comedy as they are to tragedy. What are the
major reversals and recognitions in Brothers? What do the fathers learn about
themselves? About their sons? What do the sons learn about themselves?
2. Discuss how the women of the play are viewed and treated. How might they be
interpreted and played today to take into account our contemporary view of women?
3. Modern newspapers, magazines, radio and TV are filled with information on “good
parenting” and “problem children.” As your favorite columnist or talk show host,
respond to a letter written to you by Micio, Demea, Aeschinus or Ctesipho.
32
4. Identify popular TV “sit coms,” past and present, and find counterparts for the
characters in Brothers.
5. As the casting director for a forthcoming film based on Brothers, cast it with your
favorite film actors.
33
GENERAL EXAMINATION ITEMS
1. Among the following, which has been cited by scholars as one of the most likely origins of
Greek theater:
A. the ceremonial worship of the Titans, especially Zeus and Hera
B. the celebration of the Greek victory over the Persians
C. the theata-celebrations in honor of the Greek gods of agriculture
D. the dithyrambs- improvisational songs and dances in honor of the god Dionysus
E. the sacrifices and celebrations of the spring equinox
2. All of the following are true of Greek tragedy except:
A. the plays were written in the form of a tetralogy and were presented at sacred festivals
B. while they are referred to as tragedies, these plays contained a great deal of levity and
humor
C. in their original form the tragedies were usually followed by a humorous play
D. they were originally presented at a religious festival known as the City Dionysia
E. while we know the names of a many Greek tragedians, we have complete plays by only
three of them
3. In describing the Greek mind, all of the following are accurate except:
A. the Greeks were humanists who believed that the human being was the “measure of all
things”
B. the Greeks believed that there was a universal justice that “ruled” the world and kept
order
C. the Greeks appreciated the complexity of life and enjoyed debate
D. all of the above
E. none of the above
4. From what we can gather from written records and archeological evidence, it appears that
Greek acting was:
A. an early form of realistic presentation in which great attention was paid to life-like detail
B. an essentially stylized form of presentation
C. done only by men
D. A&C
E. B&C
5. Similar to Greek theater and drama, Roman theater and drama:
A. had its roots in the worship of Dionysus
B. in its early years was performed at religious and civic festivals and celebrations
C. has supplied the Western world with a number of great classical tragedies which are still
produced today
D. limited the number of stage performers to 3, excluding the chorus
E. was supported almost exclusively by what we would call the “box office”
6. As we view the Roman theater in retrospect, it is generally conceded that:
A. its tragedy was superior to its comedy
B. it has served as a much greater influence on later theater than its Greek counterpart
C. its origins and development were much more closely tied to the gods
D. its comedy was superior to its tragedy
E. the overall quality of its drama was far superior to that of its Greek counterpart
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TRUE/FALSE
7. The roots of theater can usually be traced to storytelling, shamanistic ritual and other sacred
rites; however, it gradually becomes dominated by secular concerns.
8. While we tend to perceive tragedy as a refined and lofty genre of dramatic literature which
deals with the misfortunes and catastrophes of heroic individuals, in all likelihood the term is
derived from the Greek tragoida which literally translates as “goat song.”
9. While Thespis is generally considered to be the “first actor” and Aeschylus and Sophocles
are credited with adding the second and the third actors, by the time Greek tragedy reached
its zenith most productions included the performance by nearly a dozen actors--not counting
the chorus.
10. In spite of their love for democracy, women were essentially second class citizens and that
position extended to the theater in which women were not allowed to perform.
11. It is fairly accurate to say that the Romans borrowed a great deal from the Greeks in terms of
theater, including the basic structure and arrangement of the theater and the plots of many
plays.
12. The Greek tragedians--Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides and Seneca--are generally
considered to be the fathers of Western tragedy.
13. Roman comedy is generally considered to be better than Roman tragedy.
14. While the Roman and Greek physical theaters had a similar structure, each also had a
number of distinguishing features which made them unquestionably Roman or Greek.
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Prometheus Bound
1. In Prometheus Bound, which character laments: “ I'm frightened when I see the shape of
Argos,/ Argos the Herdsman with ten thousand eyes./ He stalks me with his crafty eyes.”
A. Prometheus
B. Oceanus
C. Io
D. Hermes
E. Hephaestus
2. The chorus in Prometheus Bound is composed of:
A. the Erinyes of Zeus
B. the Daughters of Oceanus
C. Might and his Keepers
D. birds of Prey
E. the are simply referred to as "The Chorus" without designation
3. According to a prophesy, Prometheus will ultimately be freed by:
A. Zeus himself
B. his own strength and perseverance
C. Might, who overthrows Zeus
D. a child from the thirteenth generation of Io
E. no one; Prometheus is doomed forever
4. Scholars believe that Prometheus Bound is part of a lost trilogy, the second play of which
is entitled Prometheus Unbound. The third play was titled:
A. Prometheus Triumphant
B. Prometheus the Fire-Bringer
C. Prometheus Resurrected
D. Prometheus the Titan
E. None of these
5. The character least sympathetic to Prometheus's plight is:
A. Oceanus
B. Io
C. Hephaestus
D. Hermes
E. all are sympathetic to Prometheus
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TRUE/FALSE
6. In Prometheus Bound, the character Io is described as wearing the horns of an ox.
7. The members of the chorus of Prometheus Bound are dressed to resemble waves of the sea.
8. Hermes is much like Prometheus because he is "full of pride."
9. While Prometheus Bound is generally considered to be among the earliest examples of
Greek tragedy, it is more narrative than dramatic in its structure.
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Oedipus the King
1. In Oedipus the King, which of the following is aware of the truth regarding Oedipus’ birth:
A. Jocasta
B. Creon
C. The leader of the Chorus
D. Teiresias
E. none of the above
2. When Oedipus confronts Teiresias about the death of Laius:
A. he has no reason to believe that Teiresias will be able to give him any useful
information
B. he does so at the insistence of Jocasta
C. he accuses Creon of involvement in Laius’ death
D. he does so alone so that no one will hear the conversation
E. he does so only after it is suggested by Creon
3. The Chorus in Oedipus the King:
A. consists of the lesser or unimportant gods from Olympus
B. sides with Oedipus from beginning to end
C. consists of the Elders of Thebes
D. consists of the Elders of Athens
E. sides with whomever is debating with Oedipus
4. In Oedipus the King, Oedipus’ sons, Polyneices and Eteocles:
A. are portrayed as dutiful sons
B. are moved to challenge each other following Oedipus’ death
C. vacillate but eventually choose Creon over their father
D. never appear in the play
E. play more prominent roles than do his daughters, Antigone and Ismene
5. When Sophocles wrote Oedipus the King, he:
A. like other Greek tragedians, based the play on a well known episode in Greek
mythology
B. adapted the play from an earlier work of Euripides
C. invented the story in its entirety
D. invented all of the story except the part dealing with his “parents”--Polybus and
Merope
E. like other Greek tragedians, adapted the story from the Roman original
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TRUE/FALSE
6. Sophocles’ Oedipus the King is an excellent example of a play that observes the unity of
time, place and action.
7. In terms of style and genre, Oedipus the King is most properly classified as a Classic tragedy.
8. The stories told by the Herdsman and Oedipus himself regarding the death of Laius are
essentially identical.
9. After hearing the story of the death of Polybus in Corinth, Jocasta is the first to realize who
the true father of Oedipus was.
10. Oedipus’ major discovery takes place early in the play when he confronts Teiresias about the
blight which is plaguing Thebes.
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Medea
1. In Medea, when the title character is carried off in the chariot drawn by dragons at the
end of the play, the device is generally referred to as:
A. ekkylema exodos
B. mechane
C. deus et dragona
D. machina in Apollo
E. exodos ex machina
2. Medea claims that she kills her sons as a means of getting revenge on:
A. Euripides
B. Jason
C. Creon
D. Aegeus
E. Agamemnon
3. All of the characters in Medea are Greek except:
A. Jason
B. Creon
C. Aegeus
D. Glauce
E. Medea
4. The Chorus in Medea is made up of:
A. men of Colchis
B. women of Athens
C. women of Corinth
D. the men of Corinth
E. men of Athens
5. The final exchange of lines, just before Medea is whisked away by the chariot, is part of
the:
A. exodus
B. parados
C. stasismon
D. parabasis
E. none of the above
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TRUE/FALSE
6. Euripides’ style of writing in Medea is very similar to that of Aeschylus and Sophocles,
especially in his use of the chorus.
7.
In Medea, Jason and Creon match wits as they seek to win the love of Medea.
8. Medea kills her children because, while she has been banished from Corinth, they have been
allowed to remain there with their father, Jason.
9. Euripides’ Medea, is accurately described as a play in which the title character appears to
have no “discovery” and experience no “reversal.”
10. In Medea, Jason shuns Medea in favor of the daughter of Creon, King of Corinth.
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Lysistrata
1. The lengthy discussion in which Lysistrata and the Athenian Commissioner debate the
merits of the play's "happy idea" is known as the:
A. parabisis
B. komos
C. stasimon
D. agon
E. antistrophe
2. The representative of the Spartan women in Lysistrata is named:
A. Kalonike
B. Myrrhina
C. Cinesias
D. Boatia
E. Lampito
3. In Lysistrata, which character speaks the following lines: “Do you really think that with
wools and skeins and just being able to spin you can end these momentous affairs, you
fools?”
A. Lampito
B. Spartan Ambassador
C. Cinesias
D. Athenian Commissioner
E. Kalonike
4. In Lysistrata, the Spartan's final speech—"Now to tread the dance"—marks a traditional
ending to classical comedies called the:
A. happy ending
B. komos
C. agon
D. exodos
E. plaudite
5. In Lysistrata it is Myrrhina who frustrates Cinesias's attempt at love-making by:
A. going to seek pillows for his head
B. flatly refusing to have sex with him
C. leading him on and then telling him "No”
D. telling him she has taken an oath to refrain from sex until the war is over
E. she succumbs to his desires and violates her oath
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TRUE/FALSE
6. Among the women in Lysistrata, Kolonike has the most difficult time swearing to accept
Lysistrata's "happy idea."
7. Aristophanes was prompted to write his play Lysistrata as a protest against the Punic War.
8. Lysistrata's name is derived from a Greek word meaning "she who stopped the war."
9. In Lysistrata, all of the women steadfastly keep their vow to abstain from sex.
10. The Athenian Commissioner is humiliated by the women who dress him in women's clothing
and shower him with vegetables.
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Brothers
1. In Terence's design for Brothers, the "foil" to Micio is:
A. Cestipho
B. Geta
C. Aeschinus
D. Demea
E. Micio has no foil; he is the play's "voice of reason."
2. The character in Brothers who most closely resembles the traditional 'trickster' of the
Roman theater is:
A. Geta
B. Aeschinus
C. Sannio
D. Syrus
E. Cestipho
3. In Brothers, Terence uses the prologue of his play to:
A. pay tribute to the sources that inspired his creation
B. expound upon the moral of his play
C. provide key character and plot exposition
D. all of the above
E. none of the above
4. The major lesson that Demea learns in Terence’s Brothers is that:
A. a too-firm-hand may be more dangerous than a too-light-hand
B. his brother has erred in the way in which he has raised his son
C. he can never trust his son again
D. he was a fool in his choices and deserves the chastisement he gets from his brother
E. the ways of the country are superior to the ways of the city
5. In Brothers, Sostrata is a character well-known to Roman theater audiences as:
A. the Long Suffering Mother
B. the Domina Matrix
C. Loco Parentis
D. Muliere Privita
E. Trickster
44
TRUE/FALSE
6. The double plot, like that of Brothers, is a trademark of the comedies of Terence.
7. In Brothers, Micio is Cestipho’s father.
8. While we refer to Terence as a Roman playwright, he was in reality a Carthaginian and
thereby the first playwright of note from the African continent.
9. Brothers ends with a typical convention of the Roman theater: the plaudite.
10. Terence was the most imitated of the Roman comic playwrights during the Renaissance.
45
46
PART II
AN ANTHOLOGY OF THE WORLD’S DRAMA
CHAPTER 5
The Theater of Asia
GOAL: To understand the development, major styles, and conventions of the theaters of India,
China, and Japan.
KEY POINTS
General
1. The origins of theater throughout Asia may be traced to a variety of rites, ceremonies,
and theatrical events that are perhaps best reflected in the Japanese word for festival,
matsuri --"to be near a god or sacred thing."
2. In general, theater in Asia is less concerned with realism and psychology; it is rooted in
dance, music, and storytelling, and is presentational rather than representational.
India
1. According to legend, theater in India was created by the gods (Siva, Vishnu, Brahma) to
instruct people; The Natyasastra ("Fifth Veda") is a sacred text that prescribes the rules
of the theater.
2. Sanskrit drama, the classical and literary drama of India that thrived until c. 1000 C.E.,
may be found in two forms:
•
•
Nataka: plays based on mythology and history (e.g., Sakuntala)
Prakarana: plays invented by humans that reflect less exalted themes and characters
3. Classical drama in India reflects its origins in dance and relies on mudras (a grammar of
gestures) to instill rasas (emotions) in its audience.
4. Dance drama, such as the Kathakali, is integral to the theater of India, and it has exerted
an influence on contemporary Western theater (e.g., Arianne Mnouchkine's Theatre du
Soliel).
45
5. Contemporary, non-Western theater in India is essentially a twentieth century
phenomenon, and Rabindrath Tagore (The Post Office) is recognized as the father of the
modern Indian theater.
China
1. Although the roots of theater in China can be traced to various agricultural rites, formal
theater began when the T'ang Emperor Ming Huang (712-755) gave professional acting
troupes his royal sanction and established a training school at his palace in Chang-an
(Xian).
2. The Chinese theater, both classical and modern, is an amalgamation of dance, music,
storytelling, and martial arts; it is decidedly non-realistic.
3. China's "Golden Age" of drama occurred under the Yuans (1280-1368), a period
comparable to the Elizabethan Age; Autumn in the Palace of Han (technically a Sung
dynasty play) typifies classical Chinese drama.
4. The Ming Dynasty playwright and critic Li Yu (1611-1680) was the first to systematically
examine the art of playwriting in China; he also made it possible for women to act on
Chinese stages.
5. Begun in the late eighteenth century, Ching hsi, known by the generic term of Peking
Opera, represents the principal form of Chinese national Theatre; because of China's
enormous population, Peking Opera is the most popular theater form in the world.
6. Chinese theater uses many non-realistic conventions:
• often simple settings (e.g., a box and two chairs) are used imaginatively as the actors
transform them into a variety of objects;
• characters are divided into broad types and are recognizable by consistencies of
costume and make up; actors train for many years and specialize in a particular role;
• scripts freely mix dialogue, storytelling, and song and are bound by the Confucian
principles of justice and duty;
• all plays are accompanied by music, especially percussion, that punctuates the action.
Japan
1. The Noh theater may have evolved from two folk dances, the surugaku ("monkey dance")
and dengaku ("field dance"), each of which suggests Noh's emphasis on
seeking
harmony with the natural world.
2. The Noh theater was formalized by the father-son team of Kanami and Zeami in the
fourteenth century; Zeami is the greatest playwright of the Noh theater and the author of
its poetics, The Kadensho.
3. The Noh theater, which is more elitist and intellectual than the Kabuki, is essentially
meditative and retains its ritual aspects:
46
•
•
All Noh theaters are constructed alike and feature sacred pine trees that reflect the
obeisance of its artists and audience to nature.
The scripts and characters (shite, waki, kokata, kyogen) of Noh plays are carefully
prescribed. There are six principal types of Noh plays:
1. god (kami or waki);
2. warrior (shura-mono);
47
3. woman (kazura);
4. "living person pieces" (genzai);
5. demon (kiri);
6. farces (kyogen).
•
All roles are sung by a chorus as the actors essentially “dance” the roles.
4. The Kabuki Theatre, a popular entertainment among the masses, was begun in the
sixteenth century as part of temple dances meant to entertain middle-class merchants.
Originally it was performed by women, then young boys, and finally by men.
5. There are three principal types of roles in the Kabuki theater; each employs distinctive
make up, costuming, and movement:
•
•
•
the aragoto, or "manly" role frequently associated with the samurai code (e.g.
Kanjincho);
the wagato, or "gentle" male role, usually assigned to royalty and lovers;
the onnagata, a female role played by a man who presents an idealized view of
womanhood.
6. The Kabuki theater employs many conventions:
•
•
•
•
the stage uses an entry/exit ramp (the hanimichi) that brings actors close to the
audience;
there are many specialized movements and gestures (kata), such as the mie (a frozen
pose), a tobiroppo (an animated exit dance), and the michiyuki (a stylized “journey”);
The elaborate and colorful make-up and costumes are symbolic and quickly establish a
character's social and mental state;
inventive and spectacular scenic effects abet transformations (kiren), many of which
emphasize humanity's relationship to nature.
7. An alternative to Noh and Kabuki, Shingeki— "new/other Theatre"—has evolved
since 1868 when artists reacted to an inundation of Western influences.
48
TERMS, CONCEPTS, PEOPLE
dalang
Matsuri
Yong-go
India
China
Japan
The Natyasastra (Fifth
veda)
Indian plays
nataka
prakarana
Children of the Pear
Garden
ching hsi
Conficianism
hua lien
hua pu
Ming Dynasty
Peking Opera
roles
ching
ch’ou
sheng
tan
shu pan
Yuan drama
Benkei
Chikimatsu
Dengaku
Hanimichi
hashikagari
Kabuki
Kamachi
Kanami
kata
Keren
kyogen (clown)
Kyogen (farce)
The Kadensho
mie
mishiyuki
nagauta
Noh
Odori dances
Okuni
ran-i
roles
arragato
kokata
onnagata
shite
waki
wagato
Shingeki
Surugaku
tobiroppo
yugen
Kathakali
Mudras
natyamadandapa
rasa
Sanskrit drama
sutrudhara
Bhrata
Siva
Kalidasa
Rabindrath Tagore
Coa Ya
Li Yu
Ming Huan
Chikamatsu Monzeon
Kanami
Kobo Abe
Tadashi Suzuki
Zeami
49
ACTIVITIES AND TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION
General
1. Take a well-known Western classic (e.g., A Midsummer Night's Dream or Hamlet) and
describe how it might be staged as a Peking Opera or Kabuki piece.
2. Take a play from Asia (e.g., Sakuntala or Autumn in the Palace of Han) and discuss how
a major Western playwright (e.g., Shakespeare) might have treated the story.
3. Write an essay entitled: "The Peking Opera [or Kabuki Theater, Noh Theater, etc.]
Provides a Case Study in Theatrical Conventions." Look at illustrations—or better yet,
videos—of one of these theater forms for specific examples.
4. Read about the painted faces and masks employed by Asian theater artists and discuss
how they are indicators of character and mental states as much (or perhaps more ) as the
masks used in the ancient Greek theater.
Sakuntala
1. What rasa dominates each of the seven acts of Sakuntala? Explain your
choices by citing specific lines or events from the text.
2. Compare the dramatic and thematic function of the King's jester, Madhavnya,
with that of the Fool in Shakespeare's King Lear or any of the other "wise fools"
popularized in Renaissance dramatic literature.
3. How would you stage King Duhsanta's chariot trip through the celestial regions
at the beginning of Act Seven? Try it on a large budget and on a very skimpy
budget.
4. Identify some of the common elements in Sakuntala and other romances with
which you are familiar (e.g., the Arthurian legends, The Tempest, Calderon's
Life’s a Dream, or such films as Star Wars or The Princess Bride). Is there
anything unique about Kalidasa's treatment of the romance?
5. What is Aristotelian about the narrative structure of Sakuntala? Note especially the
elements of reversal, recognition, and catharsis.
The Post Office
1. Discuss The Post Office as a symbolist drama in which all characters and objects become
poetic symbols that transcend their ordinary reality. Focus especially on those persons
and things that are not discussed in the essay accompanying the play.
2. What keeps The Post Office from being a sentimental drama about a dying/sick child?
What sets it apart from such sentimental films and TV shows as Simon Birch?
50
3. Relocate the play by setting it in "small town America" (or your country of origin).
What character types would you use to achieve the thematic and dramatic effects Tagore
intends? What objects would you substitute for those that are specific to India? What is
gained/lost by this transformation?
4. Compare Tagore's play to such well-known works as The Wizard of Oz or The Lion King
in which a young person learns about life from a group of colorful characters. What does
this suggest about the archetypal nature of such stories and characters?
5. Discuss the Gaffer/Fakir as a variant on the shaman and storyteller discussed in this text.
Autumn in the Palace of Han
1. Is the portrait of Emperor Han particularly flattering? Is he "heroic" or rather weak and
vacillating? Discuss the depth of the Emperor's character.
2. Komachi at Sekidera and Autumn in the Palace of Han both deal with loss and looking
back on one's life. Compare the two plays for theme and style. How does each playwright
induce a mood of melancholy? How does each offset the somber tone with lighter,
perhaps more optimistic touches?
3. Compare the relationship among Han, Chao-chun, and Mao Yen-shou to that of Othello,
Desdemona, and Iago. What is archetypal about these characters?
4. What if Shakespeare had written Autumn in the Palace of Han? Other than the obvious
stylistic differences, how might Shakespeare have treated the plot and characters? What
characters (or character types) might he have added?
5. Try staging a short scene from the play, using some of the conventions described above.
Use only a table and two chairs for your scenery.
The Qing Ding Pearl
1. The Qing Ding Pearl is, paradoxically, both Confucian and anti-Confucian. Which
elements are Confucian and which run against Confucian teaching? (See the discussion of
Confucian thought on Chinese culture on.)
2. Although the point has been made that character development is secondary to plotting and
situation in Peking Opera, there are some distinguishing traits of the principal characters
in The Qing Ding Pearl. Choose a character and discuss his or her personality. Take the
exercise a step further, and write a profile for the character that might be used in a
realistic version of this play.
3. Recast Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream as a Peking opera; how would you use
the traditional characters of Chinese theatre to tell Shakespeare's story?
4. Take a scene from a well known American play such as Uncle Tom's Cabin or West Side
Story and stage it using the conventions of the Chinese Theatre. (You may recall that The
51
King and I actually uses techniques from Eastern Theatre to tell the story of "The Little
House of Uncle Thomas.")
5. Get a clear plastic mask and paint it a` la the "painted face" roles of Chinese opera;
create your own "character" by combining some of the common color symbols associated
with the Chinese opera. If you're especially patient and don't mind the clean up, you may
want to try to paint your own face or that of a friend's.
Komachi at Sekidera
1. Compare the particulars of Komachi at Sekidera with Beckett's Rockaby: both are about
old women near death, both are poetic, even static, dramas in which the characters reflect
on their lives. Why do we feel differently about the outcome of each?
2. Substitute a well-known Western poet, such as Elizabeth Barret Browning or Emily
Dickinson, for Komachi. Revise the play by placing the action in a nineteenth century
setting. Extract lines from her works and put them in the play. What is gained by the
revision? What is lost?
3. Is the play gender specific? What if Komachi were a male poet? Would anything be
gained or lost by making the shite a male?
4. Suppose you were the musical composer for a contemporary production of the play.
Discuss the music you would write to score this play for a modern Western audience. In
particular, what would the music for the two major dances (the child and the butterfly)
sound like? What moods would you hope to evoke. You may want to tape some music
that you think is especially appropriate for the play.
5. Would this play work effectively only as a "poetry reading?" Even though Noh theater
seems static, what is important about the visual elements of this play?
Kanjincho
1. In what ways is Abraham and Isaac (see Chapter 6) a play about the conflict between giri
(obligation) and nanjo (human feeling)? Could that play be adapted for the Noh and/or
Kabuki repertory?
2. Though Benkei and Togashi are the focal characters, Prince Yoshitsune is on stage
throughout the play. Is he more than just a catalyst for the action? Discuss his personality
and importance to the drama. Could he be excluded from the play and treated as an offstage presence who is only talked about?
3. Nietzsche wrote that the best tragedies were about the opposition of "conflicting goods."
Apply this to your understanding of Kanjicho.
52
4. Togashi's soldiers and the Prince's servants seem to function very much like the chorus in
a Greek drama. Discuss them as a chorus, such as those in Prometheus Bound or Oedipus
the King
5. The Japanese love to take Western works, particularly those of Shakespeare, and recast
them as samurai epics which often use Kabuki elements. Watch the Kurosawa films Ran
(King Lear) and Throne of Blood (Macbeth). Discuss any Kabuki influences you
recognize. Discuss how Shakespeare's themes and characters are adapted to the samurai
code. Discuss how the films reflect Eastern thought.
53
The Man Who Turned into a Stick
1. What other object might Abe have used other than " a stick?" (See the Stick's final
speech; it raises this question.) What would be gained/lost by changing the stick into
another inanimate object?
2. Read Osvaldo Dragun's short play The Man Who Turned into a Dog (Chapter 7), then
compare the thematic and stylistic choices of Abe and Dragun.
3. Discuss Abe's play as a "modern morality play" for the working man/woman.
4. Design costumes for the play, and—in particular—defend your choices for the Man from
Hell and the Woman from Hell. Also, discuss how you would costume the two Hippies
for a contemporary audience.
5. Who are the "Gypsies"/"Hippies" of the new century in our society? Discuss how you
might change the political implications of Abe's play by assigning the role of "the
Hippies" to marginalized people such as immigrants or the mentally ill.
54
GENERAL EXAMINATION ITEMS
1. Which of the following are forms of Sanskrit drama, the classical and literary drama of
India:
A. Nataka--plays based on mythology and history and Skrita--plays based on Bhrama
B. Prakarana--plays invented by humans and Karara--plays based of the lives of Shava
C. Skrita--plays based on Bhrama and Karara--plays based of the lives of Shava
D. Nataka--plays based on mythology and history and Prakarana--plays invented by humans
E. Skrita--plays based on Bhrama and Prakarana--plays invented by humans
2. Of the following, which are true about the Indian theater:
A. according to legend, theater in India was created by the gods (Siva, Vishnu, Brahma) to
instruct people
B. Sanskrit drama, the classical and literary drama of India, thrived until c. 1000 C.E.
C. classical drama in India reflects its origins in dance and relies on mudras (a grammar of
gestures) to instill rasas (emotions) in its audience
D. all of the above
E. none of the above
3. Modern Indian theater and drama:
A. is urban not rural
B. is rural not urban
C. is best described as a combination of rural and urban
D. bears little resemblance to European drama and theater
E. bears a great resemblance to classical Japanese theater and drama
4. The Chinese theater, both classical and modern, is an amalgamation of all of the following
except:
A. dance
B. music
C. religious liturgy
D. storytelling
E. martial arts
5. Among the non-realistic conventions which characterize Chinese theater are:
A. the use of simple settings and characters which are divided into broad types
B. the use of elaborate settings and scripts which rarely mix dialogue, storytelling, and song
C. characters which are divided into broad types and plays usually unaccompanied by music
D. plays usually unaccompanied by music and characters which are based exclusively on
contemporary individuals
E. the use of elaborate, complicated scenic displays and occasional musical interludes
6. All of the following are principal types of Yuan plays except:
A. love stories which are filled with intrigue
B. tales of the religious and supernatural
C. tales of the bandit-hero
D. tragedies similar to those of the Classic Greek theater
E. domestic dramas and comedies
55
7. Which of the following is (are) true about the Chinese theater:
A. the Chinese repertory is composed of a relatively small number of plays
B. the Chinese theater employs minimal scenery
C. the Chinese theater, while it employs a number of conventions, is essentially
representational
D. B and C
E. A and B
8. Of the following, which is not a characteristic of the Chinese theater:
A. acting which employs a variety of very elaborate hand gestures
B. actors are usually seen in elaborate costumes which are a part of their miming technique
C. music, while occasionally a part of some plays, is not considered an essential of theater
D. great emphasis placed on the use of voice and intonation
E. acting which is very presentational in style
9. Among the many conventions Kabuki theater employs is (are):
A. the use of a long entrance/exit ramp (the hanimichi) that brings actors close to the
audience
B. the use of specialized movements and gestures (kata)
C. the use of the tobiroppo (an animated exit dance) and the michiyuki (a stylized
“journey”).
D. the use of elaborate and colorful make-up and costumes which are symbolic
E. all of the above
10. In the Noh theater there are a limited number of types of plays including which of the
following:
A. god (kami or waki); warrior (shura-mono); woman (kazura); and demon (yeta)
B. warrior (shura-mono); young girl (kazura); "living person pieces" (genzai); and
tragedies (kyogen).
C. god (kami or waki); warrior (shura-mono); woman (kazura); "living person pieces"
(genzai)
D. woman (kazura); "living person pieces" (karota); demon (kiri); and tragedy (kyogen)
E. farces (kyogen); god (kami or waki); warrior (samoria); woman (kazura); and "living
person pieces" (genzai)
11. The three principal types of roles in the Kabuki theater which employs distinctive make
up, costuming, and movements include:
A. the orogate, or “manly” role; the obligato—“gentle” male role; and the onnagata--a
“male” role played by a woman
B. the aragato—“manly” role; the wagato—“gentle” male role; and the onnagata--a female
role played by a man
C. the orogate-- “gentle” male role; the obligato—“manly” male role; and the onnagata--a
female role played by a woman
D. the aragate-- “gentle” male role; the wagato—“manly” male role; and the onnagata--a
“female ” role played by either a man or a woman
E. none of the above
56
12. Of the following, which is true of Shingeki:
A. while it is less popular than Noh theater, it is nearly as old as Noh
B. it is a combination of the traditional forms of Kabuki and Noh theater which is aimed at
the Westernized youth of Japan
C. its drama is concerned with one basic theme--personal and national identity
D. its drama, like Kabuki, is limited to male performers
E. is essentially “realistic” in its style
13. Which of the following terms best describes Noh theater:
A. while it may refer to religion, its roots are purely secular
B. while it is an old and venerated form of theater, it is constantly adding innovations to its
presentation style
C. it is similar to most Chinese drama in that its settings are contemporary
D. it is similar to much of Indian theater in that it is realistic in its basic style
E. it is similar to both Chinese and Indian theater, it is presentational in its basic style
TRUE/FALSE
14. According to legend, theater in India was created by the gods (Siva, Vishnu, Brahma) to
instruct people.
15. The Natyasastra is a sacred Indian text that prescribes the rules of the theater.
16. Similar to Western audiences, Indian playgoers usually concern themselves mainly with
the intricacies of plot, character and theme.
17. Rabindrath Tagore, the author of The Post Office, is usually recognized as the father of
the modern Indian theater.
18. To the untrained Western ear, the banging cymbals and gongs, the use of drums and
percussive sticks, and the shrill sound of the two-stringed fiddle can sound more
cacophonous than musical.
19. China's "Golden Age" of drama, which occurred under the Yuans (1280-1368), is a period
of theatrical activity similar to that of Elizabethan England.
20. Begun in the late fifteenth century, Ching hsi (Peking Opera) represents the principal
form of Chinese national theater.
21. The Chinese theater, both classical and modern, is an amalgamation of dance, music,
storytelling, and martial arts.
22. During the Ming Dynasty playwright, critic Li Yu (1611-1680) was the first to
systematically examine the art of playwriting in Japan.
57
23. Much of contemporary Western theater has consciously adopted elements of Indian,
Chinese and Japanese theater.
24. In China, Shingeki-- "new/other theater"--which has evolved since 1868 when artists
reacted to the inundation of Western influences, has augmented but not replaced the
traditions of Noh and Kabuki theater
25. The Kabuki and Noh theater, popular entertainments among the masses, both have their
roots in the sixteenth century as part of temple dances meant to entertain middle-class
merchants.
26. The Noh theater, which is more elitist and intellectual than the Kabuki, is essentially
meditative and retains its ritual aspects:
27. Because they are both very stylized and ritualistic, Kabuki and Noh theater performances
are often, but not always, presented on the same type of traditional stage which is found
throughout Japan
58
Sakuntala
1. The prologue of Sakuntala:
A. offers a benediction to the audience
B. features an actress and her director who establish the theatrical nature of the events that
will follow
C. contains prayers and songs typical of Sanskrit drama
D. establishes that Sakuntala and the Ring is a new play
E. accomplishes all of these
2. In Sakuntala, Durvasas is/are:
A. an irascible sage who curses Sakuntala because she does not pay proper homage to him
B. the charioteer of heaven's King who escorts Dushyanta through the cosmos
C. a Hindu term for a clown (such as Madhavya) who comments on the action of the play
D. a term for the water nymphs from which Sakuntala evolved into a princess
E. the emotional states to which Indian dramas aspire; they may be compared to "flavors"
because they produce the sensory pleasure of the theatre experience
3. The final act of Sakuntala takes place:
A. at the Hermitage where the play began
B. in Dushyanta's royal court to celebrate the wedding of the King and Sakuntala
C. in the banks of the sacred river Ganges
D. in a chariot that flies through the air
E. Kalidasa does not specify a locale for the last act
4. Sakuntala concludes with another benediction in which Marica, Indra's royal charioteer,
asks for:
A. a blessing on the marriage of Duhsanta and Sakuntala
B. "the god of gods" to insure that "both the worlds" [i.e., the heavens and the earth] enjoy
Glory and Plenitude
C. peace for the audience for watching the play attentively
D. all of the above
E. none of the above
5. Sakuntala exhibits which of the following characteristics of the genre known as "the
romance:”
A. an innocent woman who is wronged and whose fidelity must be proven
B. a King who makes a grievous error in judgment that brings pain to himself and others
C. a setting that is remote, exotic and asks its audience to accept a series of improbable
events
D. an ending in which reconciliation and renewal give way to a glorious, golden world
E. all of the above
59
TRUE/FALSE
6. In Sakuntala, the lost ring is found in the belly of a fish.
7. Sakuntala begins with King Duhsanta hunting the sacred tiger.
8. Kanva is a sacred hermit and foster-father to Sakuntala in the play Sakuntala.
9. In Act Six of Sakuntala, King Duhsanta undergoes a symbolic death as he loses
consciousness when overcome by sorrow at his cruel treatment of Sakuntala.
10. The name of the playwright Kalidas means "the servant of time" or "servant of the
creative powers."
60
The Post Office
1. The "trickster" in The Post Office is:
A. the Watchman
B. the Physician
C. the Gaffer
D. Madhav
E. the Dairyman
2. In The Post Office, significantly, the play's final line is spoken by:
A. Amal, who says he is finally ready for his journey to "the Other Side"
B. The Physician, who tells us that Amal is now sleeping in peace
C. Madhav, who accepts death as in inevitable part of life
D. Sudha who says she will remember Amal
E. the play ends with a solemn song about the need to face death beautifully
3. If The Post Office were a Sanskrit drama, its dominant rasa would be:
A. love
B. pathetic
C. wonder
D. sadness
E. discovery
4. The Post Office was first produced in the West in which city by a leading playwright of his
country?
A. London, England
B. Dublin, Ireland
C. Berlin, Germany
D. Paris, France
E. New York City
5. The least sympathetic character in The Post Office, a play without villains, is:
A. Madhav
B. The Physician
C. The Post Man
D. The Gaffer
E. The Dairyman
TRUE/FALSE
6. In Tagore's philosophy, "the All" is found in Nature.
7. Tagore, the author of The Post Office, was the first dramatist from India to be awarded the
Pulitzer Prize.
8. Virtually all of the characters in The Post Office are symbols that transcend their temporal
reality.
9. The Post Office shows no influence of the classical Sanskrit drama of India.
61
10. Because he was influenced by the new realists (e.g., Ibsen and Chekhov), Tagore asks for a
detailed setting that recreates a provincial Indian home.
Autumn in the Palace of Han
1. In Autumn in the Palace of Han which character describes himself as “a man of a hawk's
heart and a vulture's claw;” and boasts that his “business is swindling the great and
oppressing the poor through flattery, cunning, treachery, and greed.”
A. Emperor Huhanya
B. Mao Yen-Shou, the counselor
C. Wu-Lu Ch'umg-tsung, the prime minister
D. Shu Hsien, a eunuch
E. Emperor Yuan
2. In the final act of Autumn in the Palace of Han, the Emperor Yuan identifies himself
with:
A. the poor farmers in the rice fields.
B. a tadpole, who emerges as a frog and the leader of the group
C. the kindly Lady Wang
D. a goose, lost from its flock, who flies in the wrong direction.
E. the wise counselor, Mao Yen-shou.
3. In the final speech in Autumn in the Palace of Han, the Emperor refers to Lady Wang as
“the Verdant Queen,” a reference to:
A. the richness she brought to his life during the short time they were together
B. her burial site which is fertile and brings life to the land
C. her portrait, which is encased in a rich jade frame
D. the orchard where he and she exchanged their vows of love
E. her homeland where her peasant father tilled the soil
4. Traditionally in Yuan-era dramas, such as Autumn in the Palace of Han:
A. all principal characters sing their roles
B. only the male characters sing their roles
C. only the principal character (e.g., the Emperor) sings his role
D. characters freely mix spoken dialogue with song
E. there are no set rules; playwrights were free to assign songs from play to play
5. Distraught in his grief at Chao-chun's banishment, the Emperor in Autumn in the Palace of
Han:
A. chooses to live, albeit in sorrow
B. bears his adversity in the best Confucian manner
C. drowns himself in the river at the spot where Lady Wang killed herself
D. A and B
E. none of the above
62
TRUE/FALSE
6. Autumn in the Palace of Han shows its roots in the harvest festivals because Lady Wang's
burial place, the Green Mound, becomes fertile and rich with food.
7. In Autumn in the Palace of Han, Wang Chao-chun was born a noble woman and thereby
obligated to become the Emperor's consort.
8. The traditional yin tzu, a couplet through which principal characters introduce themselves
to the audience, is used frequently in Autumn in the Palace of Han.
9. In Autumn in the Palace of Han, Mao Yen-shou, the counselor, is a traditional role known
as the sheng.
10. Autumn in the Palace of Han was written during the Yuan dynasty, the golden age of
classical drama.
63
The Qing-Ding Pearl
1. In The Qing-Ding Pearl, Ting Lang's duty is to:
A. collect the fishing tax for his master
B. overthrow the oppressive landlord
C. assist Hsiao En with the fishing
D. marry the fisherman's daughter
E. box for Ting Yuan Wai
2. In The Qing-Ding Pearl, in order to get Tang Yaun Wai alone so he may kill him, Hsaio
En tells Tang Yuan Wai, the evil landlord, that:
A. he will give Tang a bag of money for the fishing tax.
B. he will show Tang a lucky pearl he found in the river while fishing.
C. he will allow Tang to marry his beautiful daughter
D. all of the above
E. none of the above
3. Which character speaks the following line in The Qing-Ding Pearl: “Three punches! Why
I'll take three hundred if you let me off and consider myself in luck!”
A. the Swashbuckler
B. Tang Yuan Wei
C. the Chief Boxer
D. Hsaio En
E. Kuei-ying
4. The Qing-Ding Pearl has several names in the repertory of the Peking Opera, including
which of the following:
A. The Fisherman's Revenge
B. A Fisherman Kills a Family
C. Collecting the Fishing Tax
D. The Lucky Pearl
E. all of these are alternate titles for the play.
5. The Qing-Ding Pearl refers to:
A. the engagement pearl which Chinese maidens wear on the crown of their bridal
headpieces
B. the pearl’s magic powers
C. the pearl that Hsaio En uses to dupe Ting and thereby execute him
D. all of the above
E. none of the above
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TRUE/FALSE
6. In The Qing-Ding Pearl, The Chief Boxer is the Chinese equivalent of the Braggart
Warrior in the ancient Roman theater.
7. Mei Lin-fang was China's most popular actor in the twentieth century.
8. The author of The Qing-Ding Pearl is Ma Chi-Yuan, one of the most popular playwrights
in the history of Chinese theater.
9. In The Qing-Ding Pearl, Kuei-ying obeys her father out of sense of obligation as defined
by the strict rules of Confucianism.
10. In The Qing-Ding Pearl, the free mixture of low comedy (e.g., the incident with the
boxers) and serious elements (the killing of the landlord) is rare in Peking opera and
makes The Qing-Ding Pearl distinctive.
65
Komachi at Sekidira
1. Komachi at Sekidira is which type of Noh play:
A. god (kami or waki) plays
B. warrior (shura-mono)
C. woman (kazura) plays
D. "living person pieces" (genzai)
E. none of the above
2. Which of the following is the shite role in Komachi at Sekidira?
A. Komachi
B. the child
C. the Priest
D. the men who accompany the priest
E. there are no shite roles in this play
3. The Tanabata Festival:
A. is celebrated on the seventh day of the seventh month each year
B. honors a weaving girl and her lover, a poor cowherd, who can be reunited only one night
each year
C. is a day in which lovers affix poems to bamboo poles
D. forms an important backdrop to the action of Komachi at Sekidira
E. all of the above
4. At the end of Komachi at Sekidira a child dances the gagaku, which is:
A. a remnant of the ancient harvest dances from which Noh evolved
B. a funeral dirge that laments the passing of a great person
C. a comic dance (derived from the monkey dance) that allows an otherwise solemn play to
end on a lighter note
D. the traditional ending of a Noh play that releases the audience from its meditation on the
play's meaning
E. there is no dance; the play ends only with a song
5. In Komachi at Sekidira, Komachi remains immortal because:
A. Zeami wrote a play in her honor
B. it is the most difficult role in the Noh repertory
C. she wrote extraordinary poetry that continues to inspire audiences
D. the gods granted her immortality because of her beauty and grace
E. all of these reasons
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TRUE/FALSE
6. While most of the traditional roles/characters are present in Komachi at Sekidira, there is
no kokata role in the play.
7. The character Komachi in the play of the same name was an actual historical figure.
8. In Komachia at Sekidira only the role of Komachi is sung, the others are recited.
9. The role of Komachi is always played by a man called an onagata.
10. Patrons of the Noh theater would recognize the priest in Komachia at Sekidira as a waki
role.
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Kanjincho
1. The English title of Kanjincho refers to:
A. a scroll Benkei reads that commands true believers to contribute to the building of a new
temple
B. Togashi's list of traitors whom he must seek out
C. the list of warriors, like Benkei, who have served their lords well
D. Prince Yoshiture's roster of men--including Togashi-- who have threatened his life
E. the "rules" by which a samurai warrior, such as Benkei, must follow
2. Togashi does which of the following to Benkei in Kanjincho:
A. gets him to drink saki in the hope that he will get drunk and forget himself
B. forces Benkei to sing a song that blasphemes the Prince
C. asks Benkei a series of questions about the manners, customs, and dress of monks
D. all of the above
E. none of the above
3. In Kanjincho, to protect his master when Togashi becomes suspicious about Yoshiture's
identity, Benkei:
A. reads from a sacred scroll
B. offers to let Togashi beat him (Benkei)
C. dances a vigorous dance--the tobiroppo-- to distract Togashi
D. cites the teachings of Buddha, which forbid violence to other humans
E. beats Yoshituri about the shoulders with his staff
4. According to the samurai code the warrior must suppress his ninjo to perform an odious
task; ninjo is a Japanese term that means:
A. human feelings or sympathy
B. fear of dying
C. loyalty to his lord and master
D. obligation to serve others
E. remorse for committing vile acts
5. In Kanjincho, Togashi's primary conflict is between giri and ninjo; specifically in this
context giri means that Togashi:
A. has an obligation to protect the bridge and not let traitors pass
B. must kill any traitors who attempt to pass
C. must follow the samurai code at all costs
D. all of the above
E. none of the above
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TRUE/FALSE
6. Kanjincho was originally a bunraku play that was successfully adapted to the Kabuki.
7. Yoshituni is the aragoto role in Kanjincho.
8. In Kanjincho, the warrior Benkei dances the dance of the winding stream to celebrate the
new-found harmony between Togashi and himself.
9. The musical score for Kanjincho is considered the finest in the Noh repertory.
10. Kanjincho is the last of the juhachiban or "Eighteen Favorite Plays" of the Kabuki
Theatre.
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The Man Who Turned into a Stick
1. The Man from Hell in The Man Who Turned into a Stick is described as being a:
A. Supervisor
B. Sinner
C. Politician
D. Writer
E. His occupation is not identified
2. "The Stick" in The Man Who Turned into a Stick:
A. is discovered on stage as the curtain rises (or lights come up)
B. is carried on by the Man from Hell
C. falls from the sky without warning
D. mysteriously appears without apparent cause or explanation
E. is discovered by the Hippies under a pile of trash
3. According to Abe, "the Stick" symbolizes:
A. people who discarded by an indifferent society
B. useless people who contribute nothing to society
C. people who are bound by conformity and rigidity in thought
D. people who are "different" from the majority
E. nothing in particular: the play was conceived as an acting exercise
4. Abe's play, The Man Who Turned into a Stick, best shows its Kabuki heritage in:
A. Its depiction of spirit beings such as the Man and Woman from Hell
B. Its emphasis on transformations (i.e., one object or person becoming another)
C. The spectacular facial makeup the characters wear
D. The physical poses (mie) and stylized movement the actors use throughout
E. There is nothing about the play that is comparable to the Kabuki theater
TRUE/FALSE
5. Although it is a modern experimental drama, Abe's play exhibits influences of both the
classical Noh and the popular Kabuki theater of Japan.
6. Abe wrote The Man Who Turned into a Stick to challenge the skills of Japan's most
celebrated actor, Danjuro IV.
7. The last line of The Man Who Turned into a Stick is intended to implicate the audience as
“sticks.”
8. Abe intends the two hippies in The Man Who Turned into a Stick to be sympathetic
characters.
9. In The Man Who Turned into a Stick, the Man from Hell breaks "the stick" in two at the
end of the play.
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PART II
AN ANTHOLOGY OF THE WORLD’S DRAMA
CHAPTER 6
The Early Modern Theater
GOAL: To survey the evolution of Western theater and its drama from the Middle Ages
through the European Renaissance and Enlightenment, and in Mesoamerica.
KEY POINTS:
General:
1. The Early Modern theater refers to those eras beginning with the re-emergence and
growing secularization of Western theater in the Middle Ages through its maturity in
the European Enlightenment.
The Middle Ages
1. Drama in the Middle Ages evolved from a variety of sources:
•
•
•
•
Pagan rites and ceremonies (e.g., mummery)
Secular theatricals and plays (e.g., Master Pierre Pathelin)
Popular entertainments (e.g., troubadours)
Liturgical ceremonies (e.g., the Catholic mass)
2. The Quem Quaeritis trope, a short Easter play, is generally recognized as the first
known liturgical drama; its evolution in spring time rites and subject matter (the
resurrection of a slain god-king) resembles other rites (e.g., the Abydos Passion Play and
Dionysian revels).
3. Three particular types of liturgical drama emerged in medieval Europe:
•
•
•
Mystery plays, which enacted stories from the Bible and were often performed as part
of lengthy cycles that traced the history of the world from its creation through
Judgment Day (see Abraham and Isaac);
Miracle or saints plays, which portrayed martyrs and other heroes of Christendom;
Morality plays, which instructed audiences in correct behaviors as they journeyed
toward death; the moralities laid the foundation for later secular dramas of the
Renaissance. (See Everyman, Mankind, and The Apple Tree)
4. Medieval dramatists freely used historical anachronisms (especially in speech, dress, and
manners) to make the lessons of the plays accessible to their audiences.
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5. Both liturgical and secular plays in the Middle Ages were performed on a variety of
stages and spaces:
•
•
•
•
Booth stages--fixed stages consisting of a platform backed by a curtain;
Pageant wagons--mobile stages drawn on carts;
Simultaneous stages (e.g. The Valenciennes Passion Play);
Rounds--circular theaters that were perhaps remnants of Roman theaters.
The European Renaissance
1. The hundred-year period from c. 1576 to c. 1675 represents perhaps the finest age of
theater and drama in the West.
•
•
•
•
The Italian theater saw the apogee of the commedia dell’arte, the evolution of secularvernacular drama, and particularly the growth of scene design and theater buildings
(e.g. the Teatro Olympico in Vicenza).
The English theater enjoyed its greatest drama under Elizabeth I and James I and,
after an 18 year hiatus, the reopening of the theaters during the Restoration.
The Spanish Theatre celebrated its Siglo d’Oro in the dramas of Lope de Vega and
Calderon; it also brought theater to the Americas.
France also enjoyed its Gran Siecle with the works of the Corneille brothers, Moliere,
and Racine; France also built its great theaters.
2. The Renaissance was an age of humanism, spawned by the Reformation, the rediscovery
of the Greco-Roman masters of the arts, and the rise of capitalism, all of which influenced
theater practice and the themes of its dramas.
3. The Renaissance world was hierarchical, and royalty influenced the theater with its
patronage (especially in the spectacular Masques and Intermezzi held at court) and the
subject matter of the drama; there was, however, a growing influence of—and emphasis
on—the middle and lower classes in the theaters.
4. In the Renaissance each person was regarded as a “little kingdom” obligated to maintain a
balance among the warring factions (the intellect, the passions, and baser instincts) within
that kingdom. The need for order (publicly, politically, and personally) is perhaps the
central theme of Renaissance drama.
5. The playhouses throughout Europe and England reflected the social stratification of the
audiences who attended the theater; they became increasingly places of spectacle.
6. Acting styles reflected an idealized view of humanity, especially in France; in England
acting styles became more moderate and lifelike.
7. Renaissance plays can generally be placed into two categories.
•
The Romantic: those that were not bound by the “rules” of classicism and freely mixed
genres, used subplots, multiple locales, and a spectrum of social types. The dramas of
England and Spain were, on the whole, Romantic.
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•
The Neoclassic: those that adhered to the “rules” established by the Greco-Roman
masters; in particular these plays adhered to the unities of time, place, and action and
did not mix genres. The dramas of France and Italy were, on the whole, Neoclassic.
Spain, Mesoamerica, and Conquest Drama
1. The Spanish theater was indebted to its religious roots both in the types of plays it
produced (e.g., the auto sacramental) and in its themes (e.g., desengano, the stripping
away of worldly illusions).
2. The indigenous peoples of Mesoamerica developed theatrical rituals and ceremonies in
honor of their gods:
•
•
The Maya employed tlaquetzque to perform their sacred myths (such as the Popol
Vuh) and the Rabinal Achi remains the single dramatic work from the Mesoamerican
culture.
The Aztecs performed spectacular rituals, often involving death, that may have
influenced contemporary festivals (the Day of the Dead) and in the work of modern
theater companies (Teatro Campesino).
3. Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz is the first significant playwright of the New World and her
play The Divine Narcissus remains the first conquest drama of Mexico.
The Restoration and Enlightenment
1. When theaters were closed during the English Civil War (1642-1660), many English
nobles fled to France where they saw Neoclassic plays performed in the distinctively
configured theaters (often converted from tennis courts). When they returned to England
during the Restoration, they adopted t*he French models for plays and playhouses and
thus transformed the English theater and its derivatives in its colonies.
2. Neoclassic drama scrupulously observed the unities of time, place, and action, singularity
of tone, and it sought to instruct audiences in correct moral behaviors through
vrasemblance or verisimilitude (“likeness to life”), an idealized view of reality.
3. Restoration comedy in England satirized the manners and customs of its coterie audience;
it celebrated conquest (political and sexual) by its wittiest courtiers (rakes) and it
demeaned those who affected social graces (fops).
4. As a reaction to the excesses of Restoration comedy, the emerging middle class demanded
that its values and morality be extolled in several forms of drama:
•
•
•
Bourgeois (domestic) tragedy, in which the virtues and vices of middle class citizens
were portrayed;
Sentimental (weeping) comedy, in which the virtuous were rewarded and the wicked
were reformed in plays designed to make audiences weep at their joyous conclusions;
Laughing comedy, a hybrid of Restoration and sentimental comedies, which minimized
the obvious sentimentality of earlier comedies (see She Stoops to Conquer).
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73
TERMS, CONCEPTS, PEOPLE
Medieval
Corpus Christi
illuminations
mummers’ plays
Quem Quaeritis
Robin Hood plays
sermon joyeaux
sotties
staging practices
pageants (wagons)
booth stages
rounds
simultaneous stages
types of plays
miracle plays
morality plays
mystery plays
tropes
scenario
zanni
decorum
French Academy
groundlings
intermezzi
hierarchies
King’s box
masques
Le Cid
Reformation
Renaissance
Chain of Being
commedia dell’arte
Archelino
concetti
enamoratti
lazzi
Pantalone
A.C. Bradley
Sebastiano Serlio
Spain, Mesoamerica, and Conquest Drama
Tlaquetzque
Popol Vuh
Rabinal Achi
desengano
Auto sacramental
entremeses
corrales
conquest drama
Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz
rake
She Stoops to Conquer
types of plays
bourgeois tragedy
laughing Comedy
Restoration comedy
sentimental comedy
George Lillo
Oliver Goldsmith
Moliere
Jean Racine
Richard B. Sheridan
Richard Steele
The Enlightenment
The Conscious Lovers
fop
habit a la romaine
Jeu de paumes
The London Merchant
Neoclassicism
partierre
QUESTIONS/ACTIVITIES FOR DISCUSSION AND ESSAYS
1. Although medieval liturgical plays had their roots in church history and theology,
illustrate that they also presaged the new humanism of the Renaissance. Look at plays
such as Abraham and Isaac and any of the morality plays and discuss their humanistic
impulses.
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2. Discuss the possibilities for “spectacle” in any of the medieval plays with which you are
familiar. Illustrate how they were “good theater” as well as strong, didactic dramas.
3. Illustrate that the emerging middle/merchant class was as important an influence on the
theater and drama of the Renaissance as the royalty for which the age is known.
4. Why was the so-called “heightened language” of Renaissance era drama necessary? In
particular, discuss why language was a central component of “character” in Renaissance
plays.
5. Discuss how a number of recent youth films (e.g., Clueless) are contemporary equivalents
of the Comedy of Manners that proliferated in the Enlightenment. In what ways are such
films satirizing the manners and customs of our time?
Abraham and Isaac
1. Suppose the angel did not intervene and spare Isaac. Would the revised ending--i.e.,
Abraham actually kills his son--constitute a tragedy?
2. Take another short biblical story with which you are familiar and write a scenario that
includes the types of human reality seen in Abraham and Isaac. You might even try to
write some dialogue in either prose or verse that heightens the human dimension of these
stories. In the spirit of medieval theatre, feel free to use contemporary, colloquial speech.
3. In the 1980s the National Theatre of Great Britain produced a newly commissioned
version of some of the mystery plays. They were performed, however, not in the theatre
itself, but in the public areas that surrounded the theatre, located in a working class area
on the south bank of the Thames River. What if you were assigned the task of staging
these plays on your campus in conjunction with an Easter Week festival: in what
locations and how would you stage various biblical stories? Consider using various
stages described in the section of medieval theatre.
4. Isaac probably emerges as the more memorable of the two characters in this play. Why?
What is distinctive, if anything, about Abraham's character? How might you further
develop his personality?
5. In addition to the written stage directions, what actions and stage business are implied by
the dialogue of the play? Identify these "hidden" stage directions.
Everyman, Mankind, and The Apple Tree
1. Identify other plays or literary works that show a kinship to the morality play. Discuss
the elements within them that are most clearly derived from the moralities.
2. Though the characters in Everyman, Mankind and The Apple Tree are rather one-
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dimensional, how might an actor "flesh them out" and create a more fully realized
personality? Pay particular attention to Mercy, who is probably the least interesting
character because he seems something of a "walking sermon."
3. The Apple Tree depends on the physical action of climbing and being stuck in a tree.
How might this be accomplished without building a tree on stage? Keep in mind that the
play might have been performed by itinerant actors who could not have carted a large tree
from town to town.
4. Just as the names of the characters crystallize their personalities, so too should the
costumes. Design a costume for one of the characters (e.g., New-guise, Good Deeds, or
Insatiability) that epitomizes his or her dominant traits. You might design two costumes,
one for a "period" setting of the play, one for a contemporary version. Explain your
design choices.
5. Get several people to read the plays aloud. Experiment to find the right "voice" for each
of the characters. Think of yourselves as "dubbing" a cartoon version of the play.
6. Students: suppose “The Messenger” appeared to you today and told you that “Your
‘number’ was up!” How and with whom would you spend your final day? What regrets
would you have? Of what would you be proud? If you believe in some existence after this
life--where will you be going?
Hamlet
1. Among the play's most famous lines is Marcellus' observation in I.4 that "there is
something rotten in the state of Denmark." It is only one of many images of cankers,
rotten material, and cancerous growths throughout the play. Catalogue these and discuss
how they create a motif that defines the ambiance of the play. How might this motif be
reflected in the costumes and scenery for a production of Hamlet?
2. No Shakespearean character spends more time alone on stage sharing his thoughts with
the audience. How might we trace Hamlet's growth as a character through the soliloquies?
3. In what sense is Hamlet's friend and confidante Horatio the audience's representative in
Denmark's court? Discuss how he is simultaneously involved in the action of the play and
yet is outside it.
4. Each of the following characters teaches Hamlet a valuable lesson as he progresses
towards his rendezvous with destiny: Horatio; the Player King (particularly in his speech
about Priam and Hecuba); Fortinbras; the Pirates; and Yorick (or, more properly, Yorick's
skull). What does the Prince learn from each? Who teaches him his most meaningful
lesson?
5. The actor playing Polonius has several choices. He can play the old Counselor as a comic
fool, as a ruthless machiavel, as a genuinely concerned father-statesman, or as some
combination of these interpretations (and others you may suggest). Cite evidence to
support each characterization
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A Midsummer Night’s Dream
1. What other evidences of ritual and mythic roots can you find in A Midsummer Night's
Dream? Consider, for instance, the role of incantations and spells, characters taken from
mythology, or formal ceremonies in the play.
2. When Bottom awakens from his “wondrous dream” at the end of 4.1, he wants to tell
the world of his experiences, but he thinks no one will believe him. His solution is to
have Peter Quince write about the dream in a “ballet.” What do you think Shakespeare
is suggesting about the power of the arts in general and Theater in particular?
3. Imagine you are the casting director for a new production or film of A Midsummer Night's
Dream. You have an unlimited budget and can hire any actor you need. Who would you
cast in the principal roles? Defend your choices.
4. Directors and designers have set A Midsummer Night's Dream in just about every social
milieu imaginable: Wild West, Victorian era, and New Orleans Mardi Gras. In what
historical period would you set the play? Describe each of the principal characters in
terms of your setting. Defend your choices.
5. Find specific speeches that define chaos, disruption, and disorder. Contrast them with
speeches about harmony and order. Can you chart the progress of the play by identifying
such speeches?
Divine Narcissus
1. Identify specific examples of Sor Juana's ambivalence about the conquest of Occident and
America. How much is attributable to her Christian beliefs that “thou shalt not kill,” and
how much might be attributed to her affinity to the indigenous people's of the country in
which she was born?
2. Investigate the Aztec myths of creation. Comment upon the parallels between it and those
of other cultures.
3. Research the costume needs of a production of The Divine Narcissus. What pictorial
evidence can you find to create authentic costumes for both the indigenous peoples and
for the Spanish conquerors?
4. Find examples of music of the indigenous peoples of Mexico. What music would you use
for a production of the play?
5. The play itself has the structure of a ritual. Discuss the verbal and physical elements that
contribute to the ritual.
Life’s a Dream
1. Piper (sometimes called "Clarin") is the gracioso, or "wise fool," often seen in Spanish
comedias. Discuss his ironic commentaries on the action. Do you think he speaks for
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Calderon? Compare him to Shakespeare's "fools," especially the Fool in King Lear. Is it
significant that Piper dies in the last act? Discuss the thematic implications of his death.
2. Calderon uses Estrella, the Infanta, as a contrast to Rosaura as each woman personifies
particular virtues. Discuss Estrella as both a character and as a symbol.
3. Consider some of the scenic problems suggested by Calderon's script and how you might
solve them in a production. Discuss the scenic possibilities of both a large-scale
production with unlimited funds and a skeletal production. Be sure to account for
Rosaura's horse.
4. Is Astolfo only a stage villain? Discuss the complexity--or lack thereof--of the Duke of
Moscovy? Is there any possibility of making him a sympathetic character?
5. Compare Sigismund with the Renaissance's best known stage prince, Hamlet. In what
ways are their situations similar? Note especially the common metaphors that run
through Shakespeare's and Calderon's plays.
Tartuffe
1. The play features two raisonneurs ("voices of reason")--Cleante and Dorine. Compare
them for the common sense they bring to Orgon's household, and then contrast them as
representatives of the social world in which the play takes place. In the final analysis,
which of these raisonneurs is most effective from the audience's point of view?
2. The play could end after the famous "table scene" in Act 4; after all, Tartuffe has been
exposed. But Moliere continues the story. What does Orgon's behavior after he recognizes
Tartuffe's hypocrisy tell us about his character and the reasons why he was so easily
duped?
3. Discuss the role of the Aristotelian principles of recognition and reversal in Tartuffe. You
may find it useful to compare Orgon's "blindness" to that of Oedipus.
4. Directors and designers usually invest the appearance of the Prince's Officer in Act 5 with
extraordinary importance through costume, lighting, and the blocking of his entrance.
Discuss how you might stage this entrance to maximize its effect.
5. Read the description of the recontextualized version of Tartuffe produced by France's
Theatre du Soliel. Describe an alternative setting for the play and justify your choices for
locale, dress, music, etc.
The Rover
1. Make a catalogue of the economic and/or military terms used in the play. Show how they
reinforce Frederick's announcement in I.2: “Now the game begins.” Show how the action
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of the play is a series of “games” (or contests) that might be played between business
people or soldiers.
2. Behn moves freely between prose (the common form for Restoration comedies) and blank
verse (a throwback to the Elizabethan era). While her choice to use prose is self-evident,
why does she suddenly revert to verse? The sequence between Angellica and Willmore in
Act 5 is especially intriguing for its alternation of styles. Also, discuss the use of rhymed
couplets throughout the play.
3. Behn uses social satire (the Comedy of Manners), farce, and the comedy of intrigue.
Identify the various styles of comedy she uses.
4. Refute those lines that establish Willmore's libertine credo. For instance, comment on his
notion in Act 3 that men should enjoy "all the honey of matrimony but none of the sting."
Note also the strange moral stance he takes in his conversation with Florinda in 3.5 ("...as
thou art a good Christian, thou art obliged in conscience to deny me nothing.")
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5. In 1698 Jeremy Collier wrote a famous essay in which he attacked the licentiousness of
Restoration drama ("A Short View of the Immorality and Profaneness of the English
Stage"). What objections do you think Mr. Collier might have to The Rover? Play the
role of Behn and convince Mr. Collier that the play is not immoral, but, on the
contrary, an antidote to the immorality of the time.
She Stoops to Conquer
1. Not only does Marlowe discover who he is, Tony Lumpkin also makes a major discovery
about himself in the final act. What does Tony learn about himself? About his mother's
past behavior? How does this major revelation contribute to Goldsmith's satire on
sentimental comedies?
2. Cite lines that illustrate Kate Hardcastle's independence of mind and spirit. Discuss her
character as the prototype of the newly empowered young woman in middle class Europe.
In what way is she preparing the way for the heroines of Ibsen, Shaw, and other realists?
3. Although much of the humor involving Squire Hardcastle results from mistaken identity,
he is a comic character in his own right. Discuss why he is comical. In what sense is he
akin to any number of fathers seen in modern film and especially TV sit-coms?
4. Identify specific lines that refer to sentimental novels and other writings. In what way do
they confirm Goldsmith's assertion that he "hated all sentimentalists and their works?"
Discuss the Hastings-Constance relationship as a satire (albeit mild) on sentimental
comedy.
5. The scene in the Three Pigeons tavern is among the liveliest and most memorable in
eighteenth century theatre. Discuss it as a snapshot of the lives of young men at that time.
What modern pop songs is the equivalent of Tony's song about "The Three Jolly
Pigeons?" (Remember that Goldsmith borrowed from the "pop music" of his time.)
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GENERAL EXAMINATION ITEMS
1. The Early Modern theater refers to:
A. eras beginning with the re-emergence and growing secularization of Western theater
in the Middle Ages to its maturity in the European Enlightenment
B. eras beginning with the emergence of neoclassicism and extending through the
European Enlightenment
C. eras beginning with the Middle Ages and extending through the closing of the theaters
by the Commonwealth government in England in 1642
D. eras beginning with the re-emergence and growing secularization of Western theater
in the Middle Ages and extending through the end of the nineteenth century
E. eras beginning with the Middle Ages and extending through the development of
Realism
2. Which of the following is a type of liturgical drama which emerged in medieval Europe:
A. Mystery plays--stories from the Bible often performed as part of lengthy cycles
B. Miracle or saints plays--stories which portrayed martyrs from contemporary life
C. Morality plays--stories exclusively from the New Testament teaching of Jesus Christ
D. Spiritual plays--stories that chronicled the spiritual lives of the early saints
E. Mystery plays--allegorical stories which related contemporary life to Biblical life
3. Among the non-liturgical sources from which the theater and drama in the Middle Ages
evolved were:
A. Pagan rites and ceremonies (e.g., mummery)
B. Secular theatricals and plays (e.g., Master Pierre Pathelin)
C. Popular entertainments (e.g., troubadours)
D. all of the above
E. none of the above
4. All of the following are types of staging or spaces for the liturgical and secular dramas
of the Middle Ages except:
A. booth stages--fixed stages consisting of a platform backed by a curtain
B. pageant wagons--mobile stages drawn on carts
C. proscenium stages--standard indoor theaters designed exclusively for each type of
drama
D. simultaneous stages--fixed stages with a large playing area surrounded by various
locations
E. rounds--circular theaters that were perhaps remnants of Roman theaters
5. All of the following occurred between the late fifteenth and sixteenth centuries:
A. the Italian theater saw the apogee of the commedia dell’arte
B. the English theater enjoyed some of its greatest drama under Elizabeth I and James I
C. the Spanish theatre celebrated its Siglo d’Oro in the dramas of Lope de Vega and
Calderon
D. France enjoyed its Gran Siecle with the works of Corneille, Moliere, and Racine
E. the Scandinavian countries witnessed the building of elaborate physical theaters
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6. The Renaissance:
A. was an age of humanism, spawned by the reformation and the rediscovery of the
Greco-Roman masters of the arts
B. was hierarchical and royalty influenced the theater with its patronage
C. was a time when each person was regarded as a “little kingdom”
D. all of the above
E. none of the above
7. All of the following are true of the theater during the Renaissance except
A. the playhouses throughout Europe and England reflected the social stratification
B. the playhouses throughout Europe and England became increasingly places of
spectacle
C. the acting styles in France reflected an idealized view of humanity
D. the acting style in England became more moderate and lifelike
E. the playhouses and acting styles reflected those of ancient Greece
8. Renaissance plays can generally be placed into which of the following two categories:
A. Romantic plays—those that were not bound by the “rules” of classicism and
Neoclassic plays
B. Passion plays—those that were not bound by the “rules” of classicism and Neoclassic
plays
C. Neoclassic plays—those that freely mixed genres and Passion plays
D. A and B
E. B and C
9. The playhouses throughout Europe and England:
A. reflected the social stratification of the audiences which attended the theater
B. failed to reflect the social stratification of the audiences who attended the theater
C. became increasingly less places of spectacle
D. totally ignored spectacle
E. were public places frequented exclusively by the aristocracy
10. The Spanish theater of the Renaissance was:
A. indebted to its religious roots in the types of plays it produced
B. indebted to it religious roots in its basic themes
C. indebted to Ancient Greece and Rome for its dramas
D. A and B
E. none of the above
11. Among the theatrical rituals and ceremonies developed by the indigenous peoples of
Mesoamerica was (were):
A. tlaquetzque--fertility rites of the Inca
B. Popol Vuh and Rabinal Achi--the Mesoamerican equivalents of the European morality
play
C. tlaquazatta--the fore-runner of modern Hispanic theater
D. spectacular rituals, often involving death, performed by the Aztecs
E. elaborate mystical dramas that still defy literal translation
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12. A basic theme of Spanish drama of the Renaissance was desengano, which means:
A. the development of worldly illusions
B. the stripping away of worldly illusions
C. the establishment of the heavenly kingdom on earth
D. the stripping away of materialistic riches
E. the development of a stoic philosophy
13. The single remaining dramatic work from the Mesoamerican culture is:
A. Tlaquetzque
B. Popol Vuh
C. Rabinal Achi
D. Teatro Campesino
E. The Divine Narcissus
14. Among the items borrowed by the British from the seventeenth century French
Theatre was(were):
A. the distinctively configured theaters (often converted from tennis courts)
B. the sentimental comedies which inspired Goldsmith
C. the laughing comedies which inspired Aphra Ben
D. the poetic form which inspired Shakespeare
E. the distinctively Romantic acting style of Moliere and others
15. Neoclassic drama:
A. observed the unities of time and place but ignored the unity of action
B. displayed a singularity of tone,
C. emphasized vraisemblance-- “lack of lifelike resemblance”
D. observed the blending of the comic and the tragic
E. is an accurate term to describe the works of Shakespeare
16. Restoration comedy in England:
A. satirized the manners and customs of its coterie audience
B. downplayed the political and sexual conquests of its wittiest courtiers
C. celebrated those who affected social graces
D. celebrated the proper moral behavior of the traditional family
E. downplayed the scandalous manners and customs of its coterie audience
17. Bourgeois or “domestic” tragedy is best defined as:
A. plays in which the virtues and vices of middle class citizens were portrayed
B. plays in which the virtuous were ignored and the wicked were punished
C. plays designed to make audiences laugh and weep at its illogical conclusion
D. plays which are a hybrid of Restoration tragedy and sentimental comedy
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E. plays which are patterned after French Neoclassic tragedy
18. As a r eaction to the excesses of Restoration comedy and the indulgence of
sentimental comedy, which of the following was developed?
A. bourgeois (domestic) tragedy, which mirrored the style of Greek tragedy
B. sensational (bawdy) comedy, which displayed the virtuous conquered by the wicked
C. renewed (classic) comedy, which mirrored Greek “New Comedy”
D. laughing comedy, which combined Restoration and sentimental comedy
E. Neoclassic comedy, which mirrored Greek and Roman comedy
TRUE/FALSE
19. Medieval dramatists freely used historical anachronisms (especially in speech, dress,
and manners) to make the lessons of the plays accessible to their audiences.
20. While the liturgical and secular plays of the Middle Ages may have developed almost
simultaneously, each had its own exclusive style of stages and spaces for performances.
21. Popular entertainments, such as those provided by troubadours, and liturgical
ceremonies such as the mass from the Roman Catholic church, both provided a source
for the development of the drama of the Middle ages.
22. The Quem Quaeritis trope, a short Easter play, is generally recognized as the first
known liturgical drama in Western theater.
23. The Apple Tree is an example of a mystery play.
24. The one hundred-year period from c1576 to 1675 represents one of the finest ages
in the development of Western theater and drama.
25. When we speak of Neoclassic plays we are referring to plays that adhered to the
“rules” established by the Greco-Roman masters; in particular plays which adhered to the
unities of time, place, and action and did not mix genres.
26. When we speak of Romantic plays of the Renaissance we are referring to plays that
were not bound by the “rules” of classicism; plays which freely mixed genres and used
subplots, multiple locales, and a spectrum of social types.
27. Tartuffe is an example of a Neoclassic comedy
28. The Spanish theater of the Renaissance owed little to religion and was essentially
focused on the development of worldly illusions.
29. The indigenous peoples of Mesoamerica developed theatrical rituals and ceremonies in
honor of their gods.
30. The Rabinal Achi of the Maya remains the single extant dramatic work from the
Mesoamerican culture.
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31. While the Aztecs developed a number of dramatic modes, none of them could rightly
be described as having been spectacular rituals.
32. Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz, the first significant playwright of the New World, is the
author of The Divine Narcissus.
33. Restoration comedy in England did not satirize the manners and customs of its
coterie audience; it celebrated conquest (political and sexual) by its wittiest courtiers
(fops) and it demeaned those who affected social graces (rakes).
34. During the Restoration, the English adopted French models for plays and playhouses.
35. The French term vraisemblance accurately translated as verisimilitude or “without
lifelike quality.”
36. As a reaction to the excesses of Restoration comedy, the emerging middle class of
eighteenth century England demanded that its values and morality be extolled in drama
37. Laughing comedy, a hybrid of Restoration and sentimental comedies, minimized the
biting satire and the obvious sentimentality of earlier British comedies.
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Abraham and Isaac
1. Remaining faithful to the Biblical account of Abraham and Isaac:
A. Isaac’s mother Sarah has a tender scene with her son before he leaves
B. Isaac at first refuses to follow his father, Abraham
C. Isaac’s mother does not appear in the play
D. Abraham and Sarah, his wife, discuss God’s demand for the sacrifice of Isaac
E. only after completely explaining the journey does Isaac go willingly with his father
2. Among the major problems involved in the original production of Abraham and Isaac
was (were):
A. finding the realistic Biblical costumes to be worn by the actors
B. finding the professional actors who were well versed enough in the Bible to play the
roles
C. finding a performance space for the production
D. all of the above
E. none of the above
3. Abraham and Isaac concludes with what might be called an epilogue delivered by:
A. the actor who played Abraham speaking as himself
B. the actor who played Isaac speaking as himself
C. God
D. The Doctor
E. The Angel
4. Like most other cycle plays, Abraham and Isaac, does all of the following except:
A. embellishes the story with poignant moments
B. includes characters who may not have appeared in the Biblical story
C. remain true in all details to the Biblical account of the story
D. has many parallels with other parts of the Bible and Christian theology
E. is used to teach as well as entertain
TRUE/FALSE
5. While there are many renditions of many of the stories from the Old Testament, the
Brome Abraham and Isaac is the only dramatization of that story.
6. Like most other mystery/cycle plays, the Brome Abraham and Isaac, displays a very clear
parallel with the events of the New Testament.
7. The only characters who appear in Abraham and Isaac are God, Abraham and Isaac.
8. After the Angel stops Abraham from killing Isaac, a substitute sacrifice is found.
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Everyman
1. Which of the following characters accompanies the title character to the grave in
Everyman:
A. Beauty
B. Strength
C. Goods
D. Good Deeds
E. Cousin
2. Similar to Abraham and Isaac, which of the following characters delivers the epilogue
in Everyman:
A. God
B. Death
C. an Angel
D. a Messenger
E. a Doctor
3. Which of the following Biblical characters appear in Everyman:
A. Noah
B. Moses
C. Jesus Christ
D. Adam
E. none of the above
TRUE/FALSE
4. Everyman makes use of allegory and personification, including the representation of
abstract physical, mental and emotional character traits.
5. While such personal characters as Cousin and Kindred, and such abstract physical
characters as Strength and Beauty abandon the title character in Everyman, Knowledge
and Discretion go with him to the grave.
6. Reflective of the all-powerful nature of God, it is He who delivers both the Prologue and
the Epilogue to Everyman.
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Mankind
1. Which of the following is true of Mankind:
A. it includes no comic material
B. it includes God as one of its major characters
C. it includes many Old Testament characters
D. it includes only New Testament characters
E. it includes music/singing/dancing
2. Similar to Everyman, Mankind:
A. projects a tone of solemnity
B. includes a great deal of music
C. makes use of abstractions as characters
D. all of the above
E. none of the above
3. In Mankind, which of the following is true of the opening sermon by Mercy:
A. it is repeated at the end of the play by the same character
B. it is mocked by Mischief later in the play
C. it is taken to heart immediately by Mankind
D. it is itself a mocking of the typical sermons of the day
E. it is the sole portion of the play which doesn’t include at least a hint of humor
TRUE/FALSE
4. Mankind, because it was a play designed to teach proper Christian behavior, is totally
free of the use of vernacular and earthy language.
5. Like almost every other Morality play, Mankind includes only those characters who
appear in the Bible.
6. As one might expect from the similarity of the titles, Everyman and Mankind have
essentially the same plot and theme.
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The Apple Tree
1. To escape from the apple tree, the Devil promises Open Heart:
A. that he will never tempt him to sin again
B. eternal life
C. a “get out of hell” pass
D. wealth and material goods
E. all of the above
2. The character in The Apple Tree that is most associated with the archetypal Trickster is:
A. Death
B. The Devil
C. Insatiable
D. Open Heart
E. None of these
3. In The Apple Tree, “Lulu” is:
A. not mentioned
B. the name of Open Heart's Lamb that is eaten by a wolf
C. a silent character who accompanies Reckless Living
D. the name of the goose who chokes on bran
E. Open Heart's pet name for his wife
4. In The Apple Tree the final set of speeches, in which Lusty Youth and the others ask the
audience's approval, is derived from a tradition in the Roman theater called:
A. the curtain call
B. the exodos
C. the moral
D. the plaudite
E. this is a device introduced in the Middle Ages
TRUE/FALSE
5. The Apple Tree is typical of most medieval liturgical morality plays.
6. The Apple Tree was written to be performed in the presentational style of theater.
7. In The Apple Tree, Open Heart allows Death to escape from the apple tree only when
Death promises that Open Heart will never die.
8. In The Apple Tree, Lusty Youth is meant to be played by a young woman.
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A Midsummer Night’s Dream
1. All of the following are true of A Midsummer Night’s Dream except:
A. it has always been one of Shakespeare’s post popular comedies
B. although it is a comedy, recent productions have explored a dark side of its
relationships
C. it more rightly should be categorized with Shakespeare’s “problem plays”
D. it is the delightful mixture of at least three different love stories
E. all of the subplots are neatly woven together at the end of the play
2. In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the “mechanicals” who present “Pyramus and Thisbe
include, but are not limited to, which of the following:
A. Snout, Snug and Bottom
B. Bottom, Flute and Changeling
C. Helana, Hermia and Demetrius
D. Oberon, Titania and Puck
E. Theseus, Hippolyta and Egeus
3. Among the traditional aspects of comedy which are included in A Midsummer Night’s
Dream are:
A. mistaken identities and parted lovers
B. a meddling father and rebellious youths
C. threats of violence and comic pratfalls
D. love triangles and wedding celebrations
E. all of the above
4. Among the differences between A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Tartuffe is/are:
A. the major focus on the blocking forces that separate the young lovers
B. the use of separated/quarreling young lovers
C. the appearance or representation of royalty to help unravel the complication
D. the presence of an elder generation which serves as a blocking force separating the
young lovers
E. the resolution of the conflict followed by matrimony or impending matrimony
5. Which of the following is not a pair of lovers in A Midsummer Night’s Dream:
A. Oberon and Titania
B. Hermia and Lysander
C. Pyramis and Thisbe
D. Theseus and Hippolyta
E. all of the above are pairs of lovers
TRUE/FALSE
6.
A good deal of the appeal of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream is that it
displays a variety of sources of humor and includes both “high” and “low” comedy.
7. While it can be argued that main purpose of the “magic potion” dropped in the eyes of the
unsuspecting lovers in A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a comic mechanism use to confuse
them, it also serves as a means of uniting various strands of the play’s plot.
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8. Although we see him almost exclusively as a servant/helper for Oberon, in A Midsummer
Night’s Dream, Puck also serves in the court of Duke Theseus.
9. Keeping with a long tradition, A Midsummer Night’s Dream ends not only with a
celebration or komos, but includes an epilogue which can be referred to as a plaudite.
10. In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the lovers of the court are united in marriage, “Pyramis
and Thisbe” are united in death, but Oberon and Titania are left unreconciled.
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Hamlet
1. All of the following are true of Hamlet, except:
A. it does not follow of the Neoclassic doctrine in its observance of the unities of time
and place
B. it is typical of the genre of revenge plays popular in Shakespeare’s day
C. its plot, like many of Shakespeare’s plays, was “borrowed”
D. it makes use of multiple subplots
E. its dialogue is written in both prose and poetry
2. In Hamlet, which of these events happens first:
A. Hamlet sees his father’s ghost
B. we learn about the relationship between Hamlet and Ophelia
C. Laertes learns about his father’s death
D. Claudius arranges for Hamlet’s trip to England
E. Hamlet stages “The Mousetrap”
3. Among the Roman or Senecan influences that are apparent in Hamlet is/are:
A. the use of the supernatural
B. the display of violence, bloodshed and death on stage
C. the elaborate rhetorical display
D. all of the above
E. none of the above
4. All of the characters in Hamlet function as playwrights/directors—“writing” a script/
directing someone’s actions--at some point in the play except:
A. Hamlet
B. Claudius
C. Polonius
D. Ophelia
E. Laertes
5. While on the surface it might appear that Fortinbras is a minor character in the play:
A. he is actually mentioned often and might be considered an alterego for Hamlet
B. he is another one of the son’s who has lost a father to a violent death
C. it is he upon whom Hamlet “forecasts election lights”
D. all of the above
E. none of the above
6. Which of the following most acutely describes Hamlet in terms of style and genre:
A. it is a neoclassic tragedy
B. it is a classic tragedy
C. it is an Renaissance melodrama
D. it is an Elizabethan tragedy
E. it is representational tragedy
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TRUE/FALSE
7. Among the characteristics which Hamlet shares with other Shakespearean tragedies is its
episodic nature and inclusion of at least one subplot.
8. Typical of the other plays by Shakespeare and his British contemporaries, Hamlet
observes most of the precepts of the Neoclassic doctrine.
9. In Hamlet, the character of Horatio serves a function similar to that of a Chorus in that he
might be seen at an objective voice of reason in a play filled with passionate people.
10. While Hamlet may be seen as a contemplative character as he ponders the vengeance
demanded by his father, once he learns that Claudius is guilty he becomes a man of
action.
11. Although there are more than a few vague and ambiguous actions and motivations in
Hamlet, the extent of Gertrude’s involvement in the death of the elder Hamlet is not one
of them.
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Life’s a Dream
1. In Act 2 of Life’s a Dream, Sigismund fails his first test of kingship when he:
A. berates his father for holding him in chains in the mountain cave
B. declares war on the Duke of Moscovy
C. throws a soldier through a window and kills him
D. dismisses Clotaldo in anger and loses a valuable counselor
E. Sigismund shows himself to be an excellent king as he forgives his father
2. Desengano is a key term for understanding Calderon's Theatre; it means:
A. "disillusionment," i.e., to despair at one's plight in an unjust world
B. "moderation," i.e., the ability to keep one's passions in check
C. "reconciliation," i.e., to forgive one who has offended another
D. "disillusionment," i.e., to strip away all worldly illusions and see one's place in the
World clearly
E. "retribution," i.e., to get revenge for a violation done to oneself by another
3. In Life's a Dream, Clotaldo is:
A. King Basilio's counselor and confidante
B. Rosaura's father
C. a man whom Sigismund believes has injured him but forgives him
D. all of the above
E. none of the above.
4. In Life’s a Dream, Basilio locks Sigismund in the mountain cave because:
A. Sigismund has threatened to depose him and steal his throne
B. he has had a dream that Sigismund would turn into a destructive monster
C. Clataldo has warned him of Sigismund's evil tendencies
D. he wishes to test his son's courage
E. we are not told why Basilio imprisons Sigismund; it is merely a given to start the
story
5. Life’s a Dream is derived from a genre of Spanish plays known as a/an:
A. commedia
B. tragodia
C. auto sacramental
D. entremes
E. zarzuela
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TRUE/FALSE
6. Life’s a Dream can be interpreted as an allegory that traces the progress of humans
from barbarism to civility.
7. In Life’s a Dream, Basilio is a kind and loving father who is betrayed by Sigismund's
behavior.
8. Sigismund, in Life’s a Dream, is rewarded for his reformation when Rosaura becomes
his bride.
9. In Life’s a Dream, The Piper (Clarin) is killed in battle when he attempts to escape
from death by hiding.
10. If we can say that Sigismund is an “Everyman” whom experience teaches the need for
restraint, we can also say that Basilio is an “Everygod” who acquires a knowledge
about the nature of humanity.
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The Divine Narcissus
1. In The Divine Narcissus, the character Music:
A. Introduces and sets the play in motion
B. Battles with Occident
C. Battles with Religion
D. Battles the Guards
E. Sings throughout the duration of the play
2. The character, America, in The Divine Narcissus:
A. Narrates the play
B. Rejects European traditions
C. Battles Religion
D. Enters dressed as an eagle
E. None of the Above
3. Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz, the author of The Divine Narcissus, was born in:
A. Portugal
B. Mexico
C. Cuba
D. Barcelona
E. Haiti
4. The Divine Narcissus is a:
A. Musical Play
B. Zarzuela with lengthy narrative passages
C. A Lyrical Tragedy
D. A story recounting the conversion of the indigenous Mexican population
E. A story recounting the conversion of the Latin American continent
5. In The Divine Narcissus, the character Religion appears on stage:
A. Carrying a crucifix
B. Dressed as a priest
C. Wearing a bright yellow cape
D. Carrying a torch
E. None of the above
TRUE/FALSE
6. Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz, author of The Divine Narcissus, is said to have mastered
Latin in 20 lessons.
7. Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz was specifically influenced by the writing of Sophocles.
8. The Divine Narcissus was written after Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz left her religious order.
9. The Divine Narcissus was written in the middle of the sixteenth century.
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10. The character Occident represents organized religion.
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Tartuffe
1. The young lovers in Tartuffe are:
A. Valere and Mariane
B. Damis and Elmire
C. Damis and Mariane
D. Tartuffe and Elmire
E. Tartuffe and Mariane
2. By the end of Act 4 of Tartuffe, all of the characters are aware of Tartuffe’s true
character except:
A. Orgon
B. Damis
C. Elmire
D. Madame Pernelle
E. Cleante
3. The characters who are most closely identified with Moliere’s point of view and who
might be seen as his “voices of reason” are:
A. Orgon and Elmire
B. Valere and Mariane
C. Orgon and Cleante
D. Madame Pernelle and Dorine
E. Cleante and Dorine
4. Following the traditional structure of comedy, if there were an Act 6 in Tartuffe, it
would probably include which of the following activities:
A. the trial and punishment of Tartuffe
B. a marriage or two and a festive celebration
C. an epilogue by the Officer or the Prince
D. all of the above
E. none of the above
5. The basic form and structure of Tartuffe is:
A. similar to A Midsummer Night’s Dream in that it adheres strictly to the unity of place
B. similar to A Midsummer Night’s Dream because they are both Neoclassic comedies
C. similar to A Midsummer Night’s Dream in its use of a contemporary setting
D. differs from A Midsummer Night’s Dream because it uses a contemporary setting
differs from A Midsummer Night’s Dream in that the young lovers are thwarted at the
conclusion of the play
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TRUE/FALSE
6. While Tartuffe is usually referred to as a Neoclassic comedy, a careful examination of
the text reveals that it violates nearly all aspects of the Neoclassic doctrine.
7. Dorine is the dramatic descendant of the saucy maid in the commedia dell ‘arte.
8. In Tartuffe, the mother, father, son--Madame Pernelle, Orgon, Damis—display very few
similar characteristics that might lead one to believe that they are related.
9. In at least a superficial way, the arrival of The Officer at the end of Tartuffe can be
interpreted as a deus ex machina.
10. At the conclusion of Tartuffe, Orgon has completely overcome his obsessive behavior
and becomes, like his brother-in-law, Cleante, a model of rational behavior.
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The Rover
1. In The Rover, the stage direction, "She follows him [Wilmore] with the pistol ready to
shoot; he retires, still amazed,” “she” refers to:
A. Florinda
B. Valeria
C. Lucetta
D. Angellica Bianca
E. Helena
2. The subtitle of Behn's play The Rover, is:
A. The Mistakes of a Night
B. The Banished Cavaliers
C. A Carnival of Loves
D. A Rogue Reformed
E. the play has no subtitle
3. In The Rover, which character is forced to escape through a sewer, loses his clothes and
gold watch, and must admit that he is "an ignorant, conceited coxcomb?"
A. Blunt
B. Sancho
C. Willmore
D. Belville
E. Frederick
4. In The Rover, which of the women spends a portion of the play dressed in men's
clothing?
A. Florinda
B. Valeria
C. Lucetta
D. Angellica Bianca
E. Helena
5. In The Rover, the most conventional lovers (typical of the kind we might find in any
number of sentimental dramas of the era) are:
A. Wilmore and Helena
B. Belville and Florinda
C. Blunt and Lucetta
D. Frederick and Valeria
E. Don Antonio and Angellica Bianca
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TRUE/FALSE
6. In The Rover, Blunt's name suggests that he is candid and outspoken.
7. The many costumes worn by the characters in The Rover, reinforce a principal theme
of the play--”people are poseurs who present false fronts to the world.”
8. In The Rover, Aphra Behn uses the new scenery of the 17th century (especially sliding
shutters) in an almost cinematic style.
9. Aphra Behn, the author of The Rover, also wrote a novel (Oronooko) that offered a
sympathetic portrait of a man of color.
10. Of the women in The Rover, Florinda best represents the ideal of "the new woman" in
Restoration comedy.
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She Stoops to Conquer
1. Among “the mistakes of a night” which occur in She Stoops to Conquer are:
A. Young Marlow’s mistaking Hardcastle for the keeper of the “Inn”
B. Young Marlow’s mistaking Kate for the “serving girl” at the “Inn”
C. Kate mistaking Young Marlow for Hastings
D. A and B
E. B and C
2. In She Stoops to Conquer, which of the following characters plays the traditional role
of the “trickster:”
A. Young Marlow
B. Hastings
C. Tony Lumpkin
D. Diggory
E. no one in the play assumes that role
3. All of the following are true of She Stoops to Conquer, except:
A. Goldsmith chooses a contemporary setting with which his audience can readily
identify
B. it is Goldsmith’s attempt to return laughter to comedy
C. it is Goldsmith’s version of Neoclassic comedy
D. Goldsmith avoids the cynical and harsh criticism present in the comedy of Moliere and
the Restoration
E. it was essentially a new type of British comedy
4. There is a great deal of mischief perpetrated by Tony in She Stoops to Conquer,
including:
A. his “stealing” of Constance’s jewelry from his mother
B. his “getting lost” while taking his mother to Aunt Pedigree’s
C. his “directions” to “the Inn” which he gives Marlow and Hastings
D. all of the above
E. none of the above
5. In She Stoops to Conquer, which of the following does not happen:
A. Young Marlow’s fathers arrives unexpectedly
B. Kate plays along with Tony’s pretense about Hardcastle’s home being an Inn
C. Mrs. Hardcastle discovers that Constance and Hastings intend to elope
D. Tony ends up being severely punished for all his mischievousness
E. “wedding bells” are eminent as the final curtain falls
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TRUE/FALSE
6. While She Stoops to Conquer is correctly classified as a comedy, specifically it is really
more of a Neoclassic comedy than the “laughing comedy” Goldsmith was trying to write.
7. Tony, in She Stoops to Conquer, is a completely new type of comic character essentially
invented by Goldsmith.
8. In She Stoops to Conquer, Miss Neville and Hastings are typical of the young lovers
usually found in sentimental comedy.
9. Among the most delightful and comic scenes in She Stoops to Conquer are those which
involve Constance impersonating the “serving girl.”
10. Like so many comedies in the Western canon, the conclusion of She Stoops to Conquer
reunites all of the feuding factions and the young lovers look forward to their impending
marriages.
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PART II
AN ANTHOLOGY OF THE WORLD’S DRAMA
CHAPTER 7
The Modern Theater
GOAL: To examine the causes that transformed Western theater and its drama into an
instrument for social change in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and to
survey the changes in performance style that accompanied the new dramas.
KEY POINTS:
General:
1. The major changes in the theater and drama during the nineteenth century may be
attributed to the democratic spirit of revolution that swept Europe and America, and to the
advent of new “sciences” such as sociology, psychology, and economics.
2. The thematic concerns of the new drama necessitated new modes of performance such as
realism and naturalism, expressionism, the epic theatre and absurdism.
Romanticism and the Melodrama
1. Romanticism rejected the absolute rationalism of the Enlightenment in favor of passion
and feeling, while at the same time it built upon the empiricism (i.e., observation of the
real world) of the new science of the eighteenth century.
2. Romanticism is characterized by an emphasis on:
•
•
•
personal freedom;
the virtues of the common man and woman;
passion and feeling.
3. The melodrama, especially as it was developed in Germany and France after the French
Revolution, embodied the spirit of Romanticism.
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Realism and Naturalism
1. The well-made play (piece a bien fait), associated with the French playwright Eugene
Scribe, provided a formula for successful playwriting that was appropriated by the early
social realists (e.g., Henrik Ibsen) who inserted discussions of social problems at
moments of crisis.
2. The problem or thesis play, which evolved into the social-realist dramas of the modern
theater, was a by-product of revolutionary social and philosophical changes in Europe.
•
•
•
•
•
Sociology employed the empirical methodology of the hard sciences to the
identification and eradication of social problems.
Charles Darwin’s theories that beings were products of their heredity and environment
provided both subject matter and new scenography for the theater. Naturalism is
particularly concerned with the concepts of heredity and environment.
Nietzsche’s claims that “God is dead” diminished the role of providence in playwriting
and increased the prominence of situational ethics in favor of the old moral absolutes.
Karl Marx’s call for economic and artistic equality provided both subject matter and a
redefined purpose for the theater and other arts.
Psychology, associated with Freud and Jung, encouraged playwrights to probe the
workings of the mind, to explore previously taboo subjects, and to invent new means
(e.g., expressionism) to portray human dilemmas.
3. The dramatists most responsible for the development of the modern, realistic theater
are:
•
•
•
Henrik Ibsen, who developed the discussion drama that addressed specific social
problems;
August Strindberg, who pioneered psychological realism and expressionism;
Anton Chekhov, perhaps the most “realistic” of the new dramatists, who wrote plays
noted for a lack of discernible action, the absence of theatrical climaxes, a focus on
the mundane, and a refusal to resolve conflicts in either the traditional comedic or
tragic ways.
4. The modern theater is also indebted to the emergence of:
•
•
the stage director, particularly the Duke of Saxe-Meiningen and Konstantin
Stanislavsky, who brought a unified approach to stage production, as well as an
ensemble and more realistic style of acting;
intimate theater spaces that accommodated the new acting style and provided a forum
for experimentation; Andre Antoine’s Theatre Libre in Paris is the prototype of the
independent theater.
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Expressionism and the Epic Theater
1. Expressionism was a significant alternative to the new realism in the theater:
•
•
•
it was an outgrowth of the development of psychology (especially studies of dream
states) and of the disenchantment fostered by World War I;
its pioneers were Sweden’s August Strindberg, young German intellectuals, and the
United States’ Eugene O’Neill.
it attempted to portray the innermost workings of the mind through the use of bizarre
scenic and lighting distortions, poetic (as opposed to purely rational) language, and
non-realistic acting techniques.
2. Bertolt Brecht fused expressionism with the social concerns of the realists in the Epic
Theater, a politically didactic drama that:
•
•
•
challenged audiences to see a social problem as if for the first time, evaluate the
issues, and devise solutions to correct it;
relied on an “alienation effect” that reminded an audience that it was in a theater and
not involved in a “real-life” action;
broke from the Aristotelian mode of playwriting with its emphasis on climax and
resolution to an open-ended form of story-telling that placed the burden of the
resolution on the audience.
3. Brecht’s epic theater methodology is among the most influential in the twentieth
century, particularly in the political theater of oppressed peoples in Africa and Latin
America.
The Theater of the Absurd
1. The Theater of the Absurd, an outgrowth of an existential world view that argued that
we lived in a world without purpose, attempted to portray the “absurdity” of existence
by showing “sense through nonsense:”
•
•
•
•
plots were frequently cyclic and without resolution to show that humans were trapped;
dialogue was seemingly illogical and “anticommunicative;”
characters were reduced to symbols of the meaninglessness of existence;
audiences were challenged to assign meaning to the plays by playwrights who argued
there was no meaning to life.
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TERMS, CONCEPTS AND PEOPLE
Romanticism and the Melodrama
familienstucke
Hernani
minstrel show
tableau vivants
types of plays
melodrama
sturm und drang
Philosophes
Uncle Tom’s Cabin
Denis Diderot
Victor Hugo
Guilbert de Pixerecourt
Jean-Jacques Rosseau
Voltaire
Riders To the Sea
Rockaby
The Stanislavsky System
Theatre Libre
thesis play
Triffles
well-made play (piece a
bien fait)
obligatory scene
Andre Antoine
Samuel Beckett
Anton Chekhov
Alexandre Dumas, fils
Susan Glaspell
Henrik Ibsen
Arthur Miller
Duke of Saxe-Mieningen
Eugene Scribe
George Bernard Shaw
John Millington Synge
Constantin Stanislavsky
August Strindberg
Oscar Wilde
Tennessee Williams
Realism and Naturalism
discussion drama
The Cherry Orchard
Death of a Salesman
A Doll’s House
The Glass Menagerie
Hedda Gabler
The Importance of Being
Earnest
independent theaters
The Lady of the Camillias
Major Barbara
Miss Julie
Moscow Art Theater
naturalism
realism
Expressionism and the Epic Theater
alienation effect
biomechanics
Epic Theater
Expressionism
gestus
The Good Woman of
Setzuan
The Hairy Ape
historification
total theater
Bertolt Brecht
Walter Gropius
Leopold Jessner
Vsevelod Meyerhold
Eugene O’Neill
Erwin Piscator
The Man Who Turned Into
a Dog
Waiting for Godot
Edward Albee
Samuel Beckett
Osvaldo Dragun
Eugene Ionesco
The Theater of the Absurd
The American Dream
existentialism
dadism
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QUESTIONS/ACTIVITIES FOR DISCUSSION AND ESSAYS
1. Examine a popular film (e.g., Titanic) for its romantic, melodramatic, and spectacular
elements. Illustrate that it is a legitimate offspring of the kind of drama popular
throughout much of the nineteenth century.
2. Discuss the ways in which pop music by such performers as Bob Dylan, U-2, Rage
Against the Machine, or Ani DeFranco reflect the spirit of Romanticism that swept
Europe and America in the nineteenth century.
3. Distinguish between “realism’ and “naturalism” by discussing two films (or television
shows) that you believe represent each style.
4. Write an essay in which you discuss what Ibsen may have done had he written The
Cherry Orchard and what Chekhov may have done had he written A Doll’s House.
5. Define expressionism—as you understand the term—by citing examples from
contemporary popular culture (e.g., MTV videos).
6. Discuss how you might stage Hernani or Uncle Tom’s Cabin as a piece of Brechtian Epic
Theater. What would you add? Delete?
Hernani
1. Discuss Hernani as a "point of honor" play. Identify each moment in which one of the
four central characters is motivated by honor. Show how this attention to honor and duty
resolves both the "happy" and the "tragic" endings of the play.
2. Don Ruy Gomez is an intriguing villain. In what ways does Hugo attempt to portray him
sympathetically?
3. Discuss the "comedic" elements in Hernani, particularly those which involve potentially
farcical situations. How do they contribute to the emotional pitch of the play? Do you
think a director of Hernani has to prepare these scenes with special care to circumvent
any unwanted laughter?
4. How complex is Hernani? Is he more than a noble bandit hero and a lover? Can you find
any flaws that may give him tragic stature? Compare him to Hamlet, another young
prince who seeks revenge for his father's death from a tyrant king.
5. In the Shakespearean canon Romeo and Juliet probably come closest to Hernani and
Dona Sol. Compare these sets of "star-crossed lovers." Do you think Romeo and Juliet
are more genuinely tragic than are Hernani and Dona Sol?
Uncle Tom’s Cabin
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1. Mrs. Howard's portrayal of Topsy was quite sympathetic and less demeaning than later
versions. Discuss the complexity of Topsy's character: in what ways is she more than
just a minstrel show caricature? Look especially at the scene in which she and Eva
discuss Jane and the ear rings (2.3). What does it say about Topsy's sense of worth and
morality?
2. Aikin's play is much more comedic than Stowe's novel--again, largely because of
audience tastes. Discuss some of the comic characters such as Phineas Fletcher and Aunt
Ophelia (who is more complex in the novel).
3. Locate a copy of James Baldwin's famous essay, "UTC: Everybody’s Protest Novel," and
write a dialogue between Stowe and Baldwin in which they debate the merits of her
creation.
4. You have been hired as a screen writer by a film studio that wants to make a new film of
"America's greatest hit." What would you do to make the novel/play acceptable for
contemporary audiences?
5. Discuss Uncle Tom's Cabin strictly as an example of: (a) a sentimental drama; (b) a
nineteenth century melodrama; (c) a Romantic drama; and (d) a propaganda play.
A Doll’s House
1. Although we only meet her once in the play, Mrs. Linde is an important character.
Discuss Ibsen's use of her to further his thematic purpose and to provide insights into
Nora's character.
2. The early realists often used objects--the things of this world--as symbols. Identify and
discuss some key symbols, especially the "macaroons" and the Christmas tree.
3. Nora's lively tarantella dance is important to the play, both thematically and theatrically.
How does it underscore the issues of the play and in what way does it help an essentially
realistic play remain "theatrical?" Be sure to consider where Nora learned this dance.
4. In Joseph Losey's 1972 film version of the play (which starred Jane Fonda as Nora), the
meeting between Nora and Krogstad takes place outside the home and in a lovely park
setting. What might Ibsen say about this change in his script? How appropriate is it that
Nora leave the house?
5. Read Ibsen's subsequent play Ghosts (1882) in which the playwright illustrates what
happens when a woman refuses to leave her home despite its numerous problems. Discuss
that play as a rebuttal to Ibsen's critics who condemned his resolution in A Doll's House.
Hedda Gabler
1. Ibsen has created a number of memorable roles for women. Read Ghosts or A Doll’s
House and compare the basic characterizations of Mrs. Alving or Nora Helmer. How do
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these women compare to Hedda? What is the basic motivational force behind each of
them? How do they relate to the men in their lives? How do they relate to the other
women in the play?
2. Hedda Gabler is one of Ibsen’s later works and in it he takes great pains to draw the title
character as a very psychologically complex individual. What are some of the factors of
Hedda’s heredity and environment that influence her behavior?
3. In the essay accompanying Hedda Gabler the authors contend that Ibsen was using “a
trick play” when he created these characters; do you agree? If so, why? If so, can you
extend the basic arguments of the essay to other aspects of the play? If you don’t agree,
why not? Point out aspects of the play that would help you to argue against the thesis in
the essay.
4. You’ve seen hundreds of movies and television shows that deal with unique women. If
you were a casting director, whom would you pick to play the role of Hedda? of Thea?
Whom would you cast as George? as Eilert? as Judge Brack?
5. Write an essay comparing Hedda with one of the other leading characters in a play read
from this text. Examine both the male and female characters in such plays as Hernani,
Hamlet, Sakuntala, and The Rover.
Miss Julie
1. It has been suggested that Julie is self-destructive because she is filled with self-loathing.
Catalogue and discuss those things that Julie despises about herself.
2. Strindberg makes it quite clear that Julie seduces Jean. Is it possible, however, that he
seduces her as well? Make an argument that Jean is the actual seducer in the first part of
the play. Be sure to explain Jean's motivations.
3. Some have described Miss Julie as one of the most erotic plays ever written--even though
no one disrobes and all sexual activity occurs offstage. Discuss the eroticism of the play;
comment on how the play may have shocked a late nineteenth century audience. What is
the thematic point of the eroticism?
4. Are we meant to feel sympathy for Julie? Make a case for Julie as both a sympathetic
character and one who deserves her fate. Does Julie undergo catharsis? I.e., does she
recognize her errors and regret them? Is Miss Julie an Aristotelian tragedy? Is classical
tragedy possible in naturalism?
5. You read Kanjincho as you learned about the Kabuki theatre and Japanese thought. Why
might a Kabuki playwright be interested in adapting Miss Julie for the Kabuki stage?
Would Jean also die in a Kabuki version of the play?
The Cherry Orchard
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1. Make a catalogue of the various characters' lamentations. Discuss why they are
simultaneously pathetic and comic.
2. Often when a character is being most lachrymose, Chekhov will insert an absurd action
that undercuts the seriousness. Find examples of this throughout the play.
3. Many plays of the realistic and naturalistic movements feature women in the most
prominent roles; compare Madam Ranevskaya with Miss Julie; with Hedda; with Nora.
Do they have contemporary counterparts?
4. Select a pair of characters from the play--one old and one young, i.e., Lopakhin and
Trofimov, or Ranevskaya and Anya--and write a few brief “diary entries” describing life
at “The Cherry Orchard.” Are there major differences in how they view it? If so, what
are these differences?
5. Chekhov calls The Cherry Orchard “a Comedy in Four Acts.” What is comedic about
the plot? About the characters?
Riders To The Sea
1. Make a list of the Irish idioms, folk expressions, and peculiarities of syntax (i.e., unusual
word order) throughout the play. Comment on how they constitute a poetic expression
even though the play is written in prose. Find a recording of the play--preferably by Irish
actors--and listen to it in a dark room. In what ways do Synge's cadences, use of music,
and other aural elements contribute to the poetry of the play's experience?
2. Maurya's dream about the red and gray ponies obviously is a foreshadowing of Bartley's
death. Discuss how Synge also uses the dream to further the tragic impact of the play.
3. Is Bartley merely the victim of an unfortunate horse-riding accident, or does he contribute
to his own death? Comment on Bartley's hubris: in what sense does he sow the seeds of
his own destruction?
4. Discuss how Cathleen and Nora identify Michael's body by looking at the stitching in his
stockings. How does this relate to Nora's lament, "Isn't it a pitiful thing when there is
nothing left of a man who was a great rower and fisher but a bit of an old shirt and a plain
stocking?” What is Synge saying about humanity and the things we own in this world?
5. How important is it that the scenery for the play be "realistic?" Must the action take place
in a meticulously recreated Irish fisherman's hut? What advantages might be gained by
staging it as simply as possible against black drapes?
The Importance of Being Earnest
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1. Compare/contrast Lady Bracknell in The Importance of Being Earnest to Lady Britomart
in Shaw’s Major Barbara. In what ways are they “cut from the same cloth?” What
significant differences in both personality and especially in thematic purpose can you
discern between these two characters?
2. Wilde, like Shaw, is noted for his witty epigrams: find several epigrams and witty sayings
in The Importance of Being Earnest and discuss (a) the source of the wit (why does it
make us laugh?) and (b) the truth behind the humor.
3. Wilde is, of course, satirizing the woefully contrived sentimental comedies and especially
the melodramas that dominated the English stage in the 19th century. Identify examples
of elements drawn from both the sentimental comedies and the melodramas. Discuss how
Wilde uses them to further his themes, as well as to produce laughter.
4. Of late, Hollywood has enjoyed some success by taking popular novels and plays from
another era (e.g., Jane Austin's Emma) and rewriting them/placing them in a
contemporary setting (e.g. Clueless). Do a "treatment" for a proposed “teen flick” that
uses Wilde's plot and character types. Where would you set it? How would the characters
dress and behave? How might the famous scene between Cecily and Gwendolyn in Act 2
(the so-called "cat fight") be updated? What music might be used to create atmosphere for
the play. Remember: keep the satirical bite of the play as you satirize the "manners" of
contemporary youth.
5. Look at several videos and plays that feature high comedy and a very sophisticated acting
style. Discuss why such "style" is imperative for a performance of The Importance of
Being Earnest. Why would the play fall "flat" if it were performed in a strictly
naturalistic/realistic style?
Major Barbara
1. In the wake of two World Wars in the twentieth century, is it possible to accept any of
Undershaft’s arguments in the play or in the “Preface” that accompanies the play?
2.
Read Shaw’s play Heartbreak House, which the playwright began before World I and
could not finish until after the war. Can Heartbreak House be read as a repudiation of the
ideas expressed in Major Barbara?
3. Cite and discuss specific lines in Shaw’s “Preface to Major Barbara” that illuminate the
play.
4. Though his plays are notoriously “talky,” Shaw has a strong sense of the visual in his
plays. Identify and discuss scenes in which the visual elements are powerful statements
unto themselves.
5. During the discussion of playwriting in Chapter 3 of this text you read that Shaw argued
that the writer must "pick out the significant incidents from the chaos of daily
happenings, and arrange them so their relation to one another becomes significant, thus
changing us from bewildered spectators of a monstrous confusion to men intelligently
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conscious of the world and its destinies. This is the highest function that man can
perform." How does Major Barbara illustrate/validate Shaw’s argument?
Trifles
1. Find a copy of Glaspell's short story (“Jury of Her Peers”) and compare it to the play.
What is gained/lost in the transition from the stage to a strictly narrative version of the
story?
2. Discuss Trifles and Synge's short play, Riders to the Sea, as: statements about the plight
of women in the early years of the twentieth century; "folk" plays about the lives of
common, working class people; "atmosphere plays," in which the playwrights try to
capture a specific milieu in time.
3. Analyze Glaspell's stage directions as if they were a "character" in the play. In what way
do the stage directions shape the action as a character might?
4. Has the play lost its relevance as we enter the twenty-first century? What events, political
and social changes have weakened the play's impact?
5. Write a scene in which Minnie kills her husband. Create the specific events and dialogue
that prompt her to strangle her husband.
The Glass Menagerie
1. Discuss how the blend of realistic and non-realistic devices makes The Glass Menagerie a
richer play than it might be had Williams used only one style. Be sure to identify
elements that are strictly from the world of “realism” and those which are “anti-realistic.”
2. Find and watch a copy of the video version of The Glass Menagerie directed by Paul
Newman and comment on the style in which it was presented. Did you find the use of the
blatantly effective devices effective? Were some of these diminished by the television
format which favors realism?
3. Read Williams’s detailed “Production Notes” and then suggest how you might design a
production of the play that would satisfy Williams. Either describe or (if you have the
talent) draw sketches of the setting. Also, discuss lighting and multi-media effects, and
devise a soundtrack to accompany the production.
4. Amanda is a fascinating character because she is so full of contradictions. Make a list of
her strengths and weaknesses as a mother, then discuss why—as a person--she is the sum
total of her contradictions.
5. Scene 2 begins with Amanda screaming “Deception? Deception?” at Laura, whom she
accuses of being a liar. (“Mendacity,” i.e., lies, is a prominent word in Williams’s plays.)
Discuss how each of the characters in the Wingfield family is guilty of “deception.” You
may want to substitute the word “illusion” for deception.”
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The Hairy Ape
1. Identify and discuss elements in The Hairy Ape that are typical of Expressionism. How do
they contribute to the play's themes and its theatrical impact?
2. In addition to its expressionistic quality, what "Brechtian" elements do you detect in the
play? (Note: O'Neill probably didn't know Brecht's work when he wrote The Hairy Ape,
but the play does have discernible Brechtian elements in both its themes and its style.)
3. Look at videos of famous Expressionistic films (e.g., The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and
Metropolis); identify and discuss those elements that are Expressionistic. How might they
be used in a production of The Hairy Ape?
4. Discuss The Hairy Ape in conjunction with some pro-labor music, such as that by Woody
Guthrie, Bruce Springsteen, and John Cougar Mellancamp. How might such music be
used to enhance a contemporary production of O'Neill's play?
5. Though The Hairy Ape was written for an essentially Anglo cast (and audience), how
might multicultural casting enhance the play's message in contemporary society?
The Good Woman of Setzuan
1. Brecht said that we must "treat the theatre as a place of entertainment" (and further
cautioned that we must also "inquire what kind of entertainment is acceptable"). What is
entertaining about The Good Woman of Setzuan? In what sense is it comical? Discuss
both the entertainment value of the play and the social purpose of the entertainment.
2. While it is easy to see Shen Te's serious side--and the uncomfortable situations in which
she finds herself--Brecht does not completely spare her from his satiric barbs. Discuss
those things about Shen Te that are humorous. What is the thematic purpose of this
humor? On the other hand, for all his talk about "distancing" and "emotional
detachment," Brecht places Shen Te in situations that are guaranteed to engage the
audience's sympathies. Identify them and discuss: a) how and why he arouses our
emotions; and, b) how he undercuts our emotions so that we can judge the issues rather
than the situation.
3. Analyze the thematic purpose of the songs in the play. Be sure to discuss the song as a
distancing device.
4. Trace the particulars of the running debate between Wong and the Three Gods. What
issues are raised? How does their on-going dialogue contribute to the main issues of the
play?
5. Try a staged reading of one of the scenes using some of the Brechtian techniques. By the
way, a staged reading--with scripts in hand--is itself Brechtian device: why? You might
also use Brecht's famous rehearsal technique of speaking in the third person about the
character you are portraying (e.g., preface your lines by saying, "The Wife enters and
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says, 'Shen Te! Someone at the door. Where is she anyway?’") Why does this method
discourage the actor from identifying with his or her role?
Death of a Salesman
1. Discuss the scene in which Willy is left alone with Howard's tape recorder in the office.
In what way is this scene a microcosm of Willy's ordeals in the modern world?
2. Look at pictures of Jo Mielziner's famous scene design for the play (and read the
designer's discussion ). Would the play be as effective if the scenery were realistic?
3. Miller disavowed the 1953 film version (with Fredric March). View the film and compare
it to the more recent version with Dustin Hoffman as Willy. How does the latter work
retain the theatricality of the play? How does the former diminish it?
4. While Linda is probably the most sympathetic member of the Loman household, she
contributes to the disintegration of the family. Discuss Linda's complicity in the tragedy
of this family.
5. Would Aristotle consider the play a tragedy? Don't worry about the fact that Willy is not
high born--concentrate on his reversal, recognition, and catharsis in your discussion.
The American Dream
1. Apply some of Martin Esslin’s observations about the Theater of the Absurd (see Forum)
to The American Dream. Use Albee’s play to illustrate the essay (which was written after
the play).
2. Identify and discuss specific examples of “non-communication” in The American Dream.
In particular, analyze the means Albee uses to illustrate the breakdown of communication
in the modern world.
3. Identify some popular songs that deal with (a) the breakdown in communication (e.g.,
Paul Simon’s “Sounds of Silence,” which claims that people talk with speaking) or (b) the
breakdown/failure of the American Dream (e.g. Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the USA”).
Compose a list of songs for a soundtrack CD for the play, and discuss how the play and
the songs complement one another.
4. Examine the production photo that accompanies the play: the Young Man stands in front
of a montage of pictures of icons of the American Dream (e.g., Babe Ruth, a notorious
drunkard; Marilyn Monroe, who died of a drug overdose). Suggest other, more recent
pop icons who seem to embody the American Dream, yet whose personal lives were
troubled. Discuss the “absurdity” of this contradiction.
5. Read Albee’s short play The Sandbox, which is quite similar to The American Dream.
Compare the two plays, noting how the former might well have been a rough draft of the
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latter. (Alternative: watch the video of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and compare that
Albee work to The American Dream, which might have been an early, absurdist draft of
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?)
Rockaby
1. It is imperative that you read this play aloud, trying to capture the rhythmic to-and-fro of
the rocking chair. Comment upon the effectiveness of the metronomic quality of Beckett's
writing. In what sense is the "form" of the writing reflective of its content?
2. Discuss the multiple meanings in the single word uttered by the woman: “more.” Does
she mean the same thing each time she says the word? Discuss the various subtexts that
might be used when saying the word.
3. Why is the phrase "time she stopped" italicized by Beckett? Consider also the multiple
levels of meaning of this phrase and its various subtexts.
4. The action is played (apparently) in front of a window. What does the window overlook?
Is it significant that it opens to a theatre audience? What is Beckett suggesting by having
the old woman look out onto an audience that is looking back into the window at her?
5. In the Buffalo production, Billie Whitelaw provided "the Voice." Is it important that the
same actor who plays the Woman provide the Voice? Also, would the meaning of the
play change if the Voice were provided "live" by an offstage actor? What is significant
about the use of a taped voice? (You might look at an early Beckett work, Krapp's Last
Tape, in which a 60 year old man listens to a tape he made on his thirtieth birthday.)
The Man Who Turned into a Dog
1. Why is it important that only four performers play all roles? What thematic point might
be lost if a large company performed the play?
2. Though the issues of the play are serious, it is important that superb comedians perform
it. Discuss the kinds of humor Dragun uses, and note especially the possibilities for
physical comedy. It may help to think of someone like Robin Williams or Steve Martin
playing the man who turns into a dog.
3. The play grows out of Argentina's social and political turmoil, but its appeal is universal.
Discuss a production of the play set in America's "rust belt" or a decaying factory town.
4. Comment upon the play as an example of (a) absurdist drama; (b) postmodern drama;
and/or (c) Brechtian drama.
5. Consider Dragun's comments about playing in empty spaces with "found" materials. In
what ways is Dragun aligned with Grotowski's “poor theatre,” Ngema's township theatre,
and Valdez's Teatro Campesino?
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GENERAL EXAMINATION ITEMS
1. The major changes in the theater and drama during the nineteenth century may be
attributed to which of the following:
A. the democratic spirit of revolution that swept Europe and America
B. the return to a respect for the classical style
C. the advent of new “sciences” such as sociology, psychology, and economics
D. A and B
E. A and C
2. The thematic concerns of the drama of the late nineteenth century and the twentieth
century led to the development of which of the following new styles of writing and
performance:
A. realism
B. naturalism
C. expressionism
D. absurdism
E. all of the above
3. Romanticism rejected the absolute rationalism of the Enlightenment in favor of:
A. form and order
B. scientific investigation and clear objectivity
C. passion and feeling
D. determinism and individuality
E. all of the above
4. The well-made plays (piece a bien fait) associated with the French playwright Eugene
Scribe:
A. provided a formula for successful playwriting that was appropriated by the early social
realists
B. had little or no influence on the social realists
C. provided a formula for the expressionistic playwrights of the late nineteenth century
D. had a great deal of influence on the absurdist playwrights
E. were interesting only to the intellectuals of the time and had no popular appeal
5. The social-realist dramas of the Modern theater were by-products of which of the
following revolutionary social and philosophical changes in Europe:
A. sociology which employed the empirical methodology of the hard sciences to social
problems
B. evolutionary theories which saw people as products of their heredity and environment
C. psychology which encouraged playwrights to probe the workings of the mind
D. all of the above
E. none of the above
6. Among the major contributors to Realistic theater practice are all of the following except:
A. the Duke of Saxe-Meiningen
B. Constantin Stanisklavsky
C. Andre Antoine
D. Victor Hugo
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E. Henrik Ibsen
7. Expressionism was a significant alternative to the new realism in the theater because:
A. it was an outgrowth of the development of psychology, especially studies of dream states
B. it ignored the sense of disenchantment fostered by World War I
C. its pioneers were essentially Americans
D. it gave rise to the development of sociology
E. it relied almost completely on realistic acting techniques
8. The Epic Theater of Bertolt Brecht was a politically didactic drama that:
A. challenged audiences to see a social problem as if for the first time, evaluate the issues,
and devise solutions to correct it;
B. never reminded an audience that it was in a theater and not involved in a “real-life”
action
C. precisely followed the Aristotelian form of playwriting
D. placed great emphasis on the climax and resolution of the play
E. employed Stanislavsky’s theories of acting which helped to keep the audience absorbed
in the drama
9. Among the characteristics of the Theater of the Absurd is (are):
A. plays with plots that are frequently cyclic and without resolution
B. plays with dialogue that is seemingly illogical and anticommunicative
C. plays which challenged audiences to assign meaning to the action
D. plays in which characters were reduced to symbols of the meaninglessness of existence;
E. all of the above
TRUE/FALSE
10. The major changes in the theater and drama during the nineteenth century may be
attributed to the democratic spirit of revolution that swept Europe and America.
11. The major changes in the theater and drama during the nineteenth century may be
attributed to the advent of new “sciences” such as sociology, psychology, and economics.
12. Romanticism rejected the passion and feeling of the Enlightenment in favor of
absolute rationalism.
13. Romanticism is characterized by an emphasis on personal freedom, the virtues of the
common man and woman, and passion and feeling.
14. The melodrama, especially as it was developed in Germany and France after the
French Revolution, embodied the spirit of Romanticism
15. The problem or thesis play, which evolved into the social-realist dramas of the
modern theater, had little relationship to the revolutionary social and philosophical
changes in Europe.
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16. While sociology employed the empirical methodology of the hard sciences to the
identification and eradication of social problems, it had little effect on the playwriting of
the late nineteenth century.
17. Karl Marx’s call for economic and artistic equality provided both subject matter and a
redefined purpose for the theater and other arts.
18. While the psychology associated with Freud and Jung encouraged playwrights to probe
the workings of the mind and explore previously taboo subjects, they were more influential
on the realists than the expressionists.
19. Among the dramatists most responsible for the development of the modern theater is
Anton Chekhov, who wrote plays noted for a lack of discernible action, the absence of
theatrical climaxes, and a refusal to resolve conflicts in either the traditional comedic or
tragic ways.
20. Among the theater practitioners most responsible for the development of the modern
theater practices are the Duke of Saxe-Meiningen and Constantin Stanisklavsky.
21. Expressionism, a significant alternative to the new realism in the theater, was an
outgrowth of the development of psychology.
22. Brecht’s epic theater methodology is among the most influential in the twentieth
century, particularly in the political theater of oppressed peoples.
23. The Theater of the Absurd, which may be seen as an outgrowth of an existential world
view, attempted to portray the “absurdity” of existence by showing “sense through
nonsense.”
116
Hernani
1. Although Hugo considered Hernani a tragedy, it fails to achieve the tragic impact because:
A. Hernani does not contain the seeds of his own destruction; he is the victim of Don Ruy's
treachery
B. it is filled with too many lofty sentiments and plays too freely upon the audience's
emotions for its impact
C. it is too typical of the nineteenth century melodrama to be tragic
D. pity and fear are not present
E. the play is the finest tragedy of the nineteenth century
2. The most important aspect of the settings and locales required of Hernani is that:
A. they typify the nineteenth century theater's obsession with spectacle
B. they are necessary to the action and, in effect, become a "character" in the play
C. nothing like them had been seen on European stages prior to this play
D. Hugo himself designed the scenery, the first time that a playwright had designed scenery
for his own play
E. They were inspired by scenery brought to France by visiting Shakespeareans.
3. In the final scene a mysterious figure dressed in a "domino mask” enters. That character is:
A. Don Carlos
B. Hernani
C. Don Sancho
D. Don Ruy Gomez
E. Death
4. Hernani despises Don Carlos because:
A. Don Carlos was an aristocrat and romantic heroes were bound to hate members of the
aristocracy.
B. Don Carlos was his love rival for Dona Sol.
C. Don Carlos had stolen his lands.
D. Don Carlos had killed Hernani's father.
E. all of these.
5. The portraits of the Silva ancestry are important to the play because:
A. they remind Don Ruy of his noble duties to protect the guest in his castle
B. they provide a hiding place for Hernani when the king arrives.
C. they are thematic symbols of the need to preserve one's honor.
D. they are integral to the action and cannot be deleted from the play.
E. all of the above
TRUE/FALSE
6. Hugo's "Preface to Hernani" became the manifesto for the romantic revolution in the
French theater.
117
7. Don Carlos's lengthy speech at the tomb of Charlemagne in Act 4 is a convention
(the soliloquy) Hugo borrowed from the Elizabethan theater.
8. One of Hugo's major innovations for Hernani was that the characters spoke in more
naturalistic cadences than had previously been heard on the French stage.
9. In the minds of the old guard at the Comedie Francais in 1830, Dona Sol violated decorum
when she tells Don Ruy Gomez that he "would do better to tear their young from the tigers
than the one I love from me."
10. Hugo inspired one of the biggest hits of the London and Broadway stages in the late
twentieth century.
118
Uncle Tom’s Cabin
1. Which of the following scenes did Aikin invent for his stage adaptation of Uncle Tom’s
Cabin:
A. Little Eva’s death bed speech in which she pleads for the end of slavery
B. the killing of Simon Legree
C. the killing of Tom
D. all of the above
E. none of the above
2. In Uncle Tom’s Cabin, George Harris is:
A. a slave owner who repents and then fights for abolition
B. a slave who escapes to Kentucky with his wife and child
C. a comic character who helps Eliza escape into Ohio by tricking her pursuers
D. a bounty hunter who, with Shelby, tries to capture Eliza
E. not a character in the play, but the actor-manager who commissioned Aikin to adapt
the novel
3. In Uncle Tom’s Cabin, how does Simon Legree die?
A. He hangs himself in remorse for his cruel treatment of the slaves
B. He is shot by Lawyer Marks after he gives Tom a death blow with a whip
C. Quimbo and Sambo beat him with sticks to avenge his wickedness
D. He drowns while trying to escape from Quimbo and Sambo
E. He is arrested for killing Tom, tried, and executed
4. In Uncle Tom’s Cabin, which character speaks the following lines: “Isn’t there a way to
have slaves made free? When I am dead…then you will think of me and do it?”
A. Ophelia
B. Tom
C. St. Claire
D. Eliza
E. Eva
5. In Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Topsy lives with Aunt Ophelia in what northern state after she
escapes the Old South?
A. Ohio
B. New York
C. Pennsylvania
D. Vermont
E. She remains in the South.
119
TRUE/FALSE
6. Harriet Beecher Stowe worked closely with George Aikin as he adapted Uncle Tom’s Cabin
for the stage.
7. At one time in the late nineteenth century over 500 theater companies were simultaneously
presenting Uncle Tom’s Cabin throughout the United States.
8. The final scene of Uncle Tom’s Cabin depicts Eva (dressed as an angel on a cloud) blessing
St. Clare and George Harris.
9. In Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Topsy’s musical routines, both song and dance, were taken from
actual African American folk songs performed on plantations throughout the South.
10. In Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Gumption Cute is a Quaker who helps slaves escape to the north.
120
A Doll's House
1. In A Doll's House, Torvold is determined to make which of the following changes in the
personnel at the bank:
A. fire Rank and hire Mrs. Linde in his place
B. fire Krogstad and hire Rank in his place
C. fire Mrs. Linde and hire Krogstad in her place
D. fire Mrs. Lind and hire Rank in her place
E. fire Krogstad and hire Mrs. Linde in his place
2. In A Doll's House, to prevent her husband from reading the important letter, Nora:
A. fakes a serious illness
B. treats her husband to his favorite dinner
C. dances the tarantalla in front of her husband
D. entices her husband with an elaborate pantomime
E. engages her husband in the typical Ibsen “discussion scene” of the play
3. When Torvald discovers Nora’s “great crime” in A Doll's House, he accuses her of being:
A. a hypocrite
B. a liar
C. a criminal
D. all of the above
E. none of the above.
4. The shadow of past action which threatens Nora in A Doll's House, is that:
A. She had an affair with Dr. Rank before marrying Torvald
B. She had forged her father’s name to a loan document
C. She had an affair with Krogstad shortly after marrying Torvald
D. Her children are not Torvald’s
E. She is her father’s illegitimate daughter
5. A Doll's House, as an example of realism, differs from Hernani, a Romantic play, in all of
the following ways except:
A. its setting in contemporary with its composition
B. its characters are of the middle class
C. it is a play that deals with a contemporary social issue
D. it is a play that created a good deal of controversy when it was first staged
E. it is a play that has a great deal of discussion in place of heroic action
121
TRUE/FALSE
6. A Doll's House is one of the very few plays by Ibsen which does not have a major
“discussion scene.”
7. A Doll's House, with its questions of individual and social responsibility, is typical of the
kind of subject matter dealt with in realistic plays.
8. A Doll's House is atypical of Ibsen’s plays in that it takes a basic social institution or
situation and, rather than challenging it, condones or approves it.
9. While a few people were shocked by the ending of A Doll's House, most of the public had
become supportive of the kind of social commentary presented by Ibsen.
10. One of the problems confronting Nora and Torvald in A Doll's House is that their
marriage has produced no children.
122
Hedda Gabler
1. Hedda Gabler is illustrative of the Realistic movement in that:
A. it observes the unities of time, place, and action
B. it makes great use of the soliloquy
C. its characters are drawn from royalty
D. all of the above
E. none of the above
2. In Hedda Gabler, Eilert’s first visit to the Tesman’s home is a part of the play’s:
A. exposition
B. complication
C. climax
D. resolution
E. conclusion
3. After Hedda gives Eilert one of her pistols in Act 3 of Hedda Gabler:
A. he uses it to kill himself “beautifully”
B. he is shot accidentally
C. Mademoiselle Danielle takes the pistol from him and shoots him
D. he shoots Mademoiselle Danielle before shooting himself
E. we don’t know for certain how he is shot
4. In spite of the fact that her name is really Hedda Tesman, Ibsen entitles the play Hedda
Gabler:
A. because at that time Scandinavian women traditionally kept their maiden names
B. because Ibsen, a feminist at heart, was trying to begin a new social fashion
C. because the character he created is more her father’s daughter than her husband’s wife
D. because Hedda and George are, in fact, not legally married
E. for no particular reason
1
At the conclusion of Hedda Gabler, the title character kills herself for all of the following
reasons except:
A. she is now under the control of Judge Brack
B. whereas she had always wanted to control man’s destiny, she has failed to do so and now
see Thea succeeding in so doing
C. because she is pregnant
D. she see the act as one of beauty and courage
E. she is fulfilling a suicide pact with Eilert
123
TRUE/FALSE
6. Hedda Gabler is a good example of a realistic play.
7. In Act 2 of Hedda Gabler, we learn that Hedda and Eilert had been friends in their youth and
that their parents had contemplated an “arranged marriage” between them.
8. Hedda Gabler’s name is really Hedda Tesman.
9. In Hedda Gabler, Ibsen has taken great pains to include a number of repeated allusions to
someone “with vine leaves in his hair” and to the a manuscript as a “child.”
10. Hedda’s marriage to George, the purchase of their house, her shooting her pistol at Judge
Brack, and her suicide are all the result of a great deal of contemplation--a characteristic of
nearly all of Hedda’s actions.
124
Miss Julie
1. The holiday being celebrated during Miss Julie, is:
A. Christmas
B. New Year’s Eve
C. Halloween
D. Midsummer’s Eve
E. May Day
2. Miss Julie, as Strindberg claims in his “Preface” to the play:
A. is an attempt to display naturalism in the play
B. not an attempt at anything new, but simply an attempt to “modernize” playwriting
C. is an attempt to display “multiplicity” of motivations within the characters
D. all of the above
E. none of the above
3. Typical of plays which are naturalistic, the characters in Miss Julie are motivated to a
large extent by:
A. their religious background and personal theology
B. their heredity and environment
C. their innate sense of free will and determination
D. their disregard for social station and social expectations
E. their sense of honor and intellectual understanding of society
4. At the celebration taking place outside the kitchen in Miss Julie, the title character
demands that Jean:
A. dance more with her
B. continue to entertain her guests with his equestrian performance
C. leave the festivities immediately and return to his work
D. accompany her on an evening horse ride
E. she makes no demands of him
5. In Miss Julie, Christine is:
A. oblivious to the relationship between Jean and Julie
B. completely understanding and forgiving of Jean and Julie
C. insulting when she confronts Julie about her relationship with Jean
D. angry and disgusted by Julie’s relationship with Jean
E. silent and makes no comments about the behavior of Julie and Jean
125
TRUE/FALSE
6. In Miss Julie, we learn that the title character has been abused and treated shamefully by her
previous fiancee.
7. Miss Julie is atypical of the naturalistic works of Strindberg in that it deals with a violent
confrontation between the sexes.
8. In Miss Julie, Jean, for the most part, appears to be unaware of his social position.
9. Although there is much suggestive dialogue in Miss Julie, Strindberg has the consummation
of their affair take place off stage.
10. While Miss Julie is an example of naturalism, Strindberg, a very prolific playwright, was
also the author of a number of expressionistic plays.
126
The Cherry Orchard
1. In The Cherry Orchard, most of the characters are:
A. inclined to analyze a problem and plan a strategy to solve it
B. inclined to discuss a problem in a rational matter and then work to solve it
C. oblivious to any of the problems with which they might be confronted
D. aware of but unconcerned about the problems with which they might be confronted
E. aware of and concerned about, but do very little, to solve problems with which they
might be confronted
2. Among the possible solutions to the problem of selling The Cherry Orchard that are
proposed and considered by Gayev are:
A. the possibility of a legacy from a long lost relative
B. a gift from their wealth uncle from Moscow
C. the marriage of Madame Ranevskaya to another wealthy landowner
D. A and B
E. B and C
3. In The Cherry Orchard, Trofimov is in love with:
A. Varya
B. Anya
C. Madame Ranevskaya
D. Dunyasha
E. Yasha
4. In The Cherry Orchard, which of the following is not a pair of characters from the same
social class:
A. Anya and Madame Ranevskaya
B. Madame Ranevskaya and Gayev
C. Yasha and Lopakhin
D. Gayev and Semyonov-Pishchik
E. Anya and Varya
5. The Cherry Orchard is similar to other plays by Chekhov in that it portrays:
A. the great determination of its leading characters
B. the inertia of its leading characters
C. the honor and nobility of royalty
D. the main characters’ willingness to evolve and adjust to new situations
E. the supporting and minor characters’ determination to usurp the social status of their
employers
127
TRUE/FALSE
6. Much like the other early “masters” of modern drama--Ibsen, Shaw and Strindberg-Chekhov is noted for, among other things, the great volume of plays he produced.
7. When The Cherry Orchard is sold, Madame Ranevskaya and the others are terribly
distressed because it is purchased by a total stranger.
8. Madame Ranevskaya is typical of the leading characters in most of Chekhov’s plays.
9. In The Cherry Orchard, nearly all of the characters are “on the same side”--there is no real
villain in the play.
10. With the exception of Firs, none of the other characters outside the family in effected by the
sale of The Cherry Orchard.
128
Riders To the Sea
1. In Riders to the Sea, Bartley dies when:
A. the boat that carries him and his horses to the mainland is dashed against the rocks and
sinks
B. he leaps into the sea in grief for Michael’s death
C. he is thrown from the gray pony into the sea where he is crushed against the rocks
D. he is swept out to sea while gathering his fishing nets
E. Bartley does not die; it is Michael who dies in the play
2. In Riders to the Sea, Maurya has a “vision” of:
A. Michael riding the red pony
B. Michael’s body washing ashore in the “far north”
C. the spirits of her husband and sons floating on the water
D. the angels carrying Michael and Bartley to heaven
E. Maurya has no visions as this is a realistic play
3. “Samhain,” in Riders to the Sea, is:
A. the name of the village in which Maurya and her daughters live
B. the name of the “silent daughter” in Maurya’s house
C. the name of the eldest son who died many years ago
D. All Saints Day (Nov. 1), when Maurya will carry Holy Water to the graves of her sons
E. the song the women keen as they mourn their dead
4. Though it is an Irish play, Riders to the Sea is most akin to the Japanese Noh Theatre in
its:
A. dance-like movements and chanting
B. meditations on death which are induced by a ritual chanting
C. use of ghosts and spirits
D. poetic verse
E. use of rituals and ceremonies
5. In Riders to the Sea, Maurya loses, or has lost, how many sons to the sea?
A. 2
B. 4
C. 6
D. 8
E. We are not told exactly how many sons she loses
129
TRUE/FALSE
6. Synge once lived on the Aran Isles, the setting for Riders to the Sea.
7. Much of the poetry in Riders to the Sea is derived from the colloquial speech of the Irish
peasants.
8. Synge was among the founding members of the Irish National Theater.
9. In Riders to the Sea, the women burn turf in their oven to heat the house and cook the food.
10. Dublin’ Abbey Theatre, which first produced Riders to the Sea, is the oldest continuous
national theater in Europe.
130
The Importance of Being Earnest
1. In The Importance of Being Earnest, Algie discovers that his friend “Ernest’s” real name is
Jack when he finds:
A. “Ernest’s” cigarette case with an engraved message inside it
B. “Ernest’s” calling card which was given to Gwendolyn
C. the letter which “Ernest” had written to his ward Cecily
D. Lady Bracknell’s invitation list
E. “Ernest’s” gold pocket watch with the engraved message inside the cover
2. In The Importance of Being Earnest, Algie and Jack are confirmed:
A. bachelors
B. deacons
C. misogynists
D. bunburyists
E. brickletists
3. In The Importance of Being Earnest, Jack:
A. goes by that name only in the City
B. goes by the Ernest in the city and Algie in the country
C. goes by the name Ernest in the country
D. is really named Ernest
E. is really named Algernon
4. The person responsible for Jack’s being “the long lost brother” of Algernon is:
A. Lady Bracknell
B. Lord Bracknell
C. Reverend Chausable
D. Miss Prism
E. Algernon
5. The Importance of Being Earnest, can be most accurately categorized as being a:
A. comedy of intrigue
B. sentimental comedy
C. new comedy
D. domestic comedy
E. comedy of manners
131
TRUE/FALSE
6. In addition to the humor which arises out of the plot and characters of The Importance of
Being Earnest, much humor also comes from Wilde’s deft handling of the diction in the play.
7. Lady Bracknell is treated very sympathetically by Wilde in The Importance of Being
Earnest.
8. In The Importance of Being Earnest, Gwendolyn and Cecily are young ladies who come from
essentially the same backgrounds.
9. Like Goldsmith and Shaw, Wilde was Irish and used his “outsider’s” perspective to view and
comment on British society.
10. Very similar to She Stoops to Conquer and Tartuffe, The Importance of Being Earnest is a
comedy which includes quarreling young lovers who must overcome their meddlesome
elders to get together.
132
Major Barbara
1. Which of the following historical events did Shaw NOT witness during his lifetime?
A. World War II
B. The Great Depression
C. Queen Victoria’s reign as monarch of the British Empire
D. the Atomic Age
E. the Viet Nam War
2. In Major Barbara, Stephen is:
A. a worker at the Salvation Army who succumbs to Undershaft’s arguments and leaves the
mission
B. Lady Britomart’s son who is described by his mother as “a prig”
C. an outspoken worker at Undershaft’s factory who asks “Wot prawce selvytion?”
D. Undershaft’s butler who is taken aback at Andrew’s behavior
E. Barbara’s former fiancée who is supplanted by Adolphus
3. Cusins joined the Salvation Army in Major Barbara, because:
A. he was a devout Christian who wanted to change the world
B. he enjoyed playing the drum and wanted to join its band
C. he “has fallen head over heels in love” with Barbara
D. he wants to test his knowledge of Greek ideals with those of the Christians
E. he has been paid by Undershaft to spy on Barbara
4. It has been said that most of Shaw’s characters are machiavels; the most machiavellian
character (i.e., the one who most strongly believes that the ends justifies the means”) in
Major Barbara is:
A. Cusins
B. Bill Walker
C. Barbara
D. Lady Britomart
E. Undershaft
5. In Major Barbara, which character speaks the following lines: “I now want to give the
common man weapons against the intellectual man. I love the common people. I want to
arm them against lawyers, the doctors, the priests, the literary men, the professors, the
artists, and the politicians, who, once in authority, are more disastrous than all the fools,
rascals and impostors”?
A. Undershaft
B. Barbara
C. Cusins
D. Stephen
E. Shaw—in his Preface to the play
133
TRUE/FALSE
6. In Major Barbara, Andrew Undershaft attempts to convert Barbara by buying her mission.
7. In Major Barbara, Andrew Undershaft enthusiastically marches with the Salvation Army
while playing the trombone.
8. Shaw believed that organized religion was an effective means to save people from poverty
and enslavement and that is one of his major arguments in Major Barbara.
9. Adolphus Cusins emphatically rejects Undershaft’s philosophy in Major Barbara because it
is in opposition to his beliefs as a classical humanist who has studied Greek literature.
10. Barbara finally succumbs to her father’s arguments in Major Barbara and accepts his offer
for her mission.
134
Trifles
1. In Trifles, the "dead canary" is significant because:
A. the secret of its death represents the other women's silent rebellion against male
patronizing
B. it suggests John Wright's brutal nature
C. it hints at a possible motive for Minnie's desperate action
D. all of the above
E. none of the above
2. The cause of John Wright's death in Trifles is:
A. a gunshot
B. strangulation
C. poison in his coffee
D. a fall down a flight of stairs
E. we are not told the cause of his death.
3. In Trifles, as a young woman Minnie was:
A. vivacious and out-going
B. a singer in the choir
C. well-dressed and fashionable
D. all of the above
E. we are not told of Minnie's pre-marriage life.
4. In Trifles, the most important prop(s) that illustrates the men's ignorance of women's
thinking is/are:
A. the jars of preserves on the stove
B. the quilt
C. the breadbox
D. the piano
E. the bird cage
TRUE/FALSE
5. Trifles is historically significant because it was among the first productions by the
Provincetown Players.
6. Susan Glaspell was the second woman (after Emily Dickinson) to win the Pulitzer Prize for
drama.
7. "A Jury of Her Peers" is the title of the short story upon which Glaspell based Trifles.
8. In Trifles, the primary purpose of the opening stage directions —so rich in realistic detail—is
to help the scene designer select the most authentic props for this play.
135
The Glass Menagerie
1. In The Glass Menagerie, which of the following Expressionistic and Epic theatre
techniques are employed:
A. realistic scenery and “captions” for each scene
B. inner monologues and characters without names
C. fragmentary scenery and “legends on a screen” which comment on the action
D. naturalistic lighting effects and fragmentary scenery
E. characters without names and realistic scenery
2. In The Glass Menagerie, Williams provides each member of the Wingfield family with a
private, individual retreat; included among these is(are):
A. Tom’s office at work
B. Laura’s “glass menagerie” and her record collection
C. Amanda’s recollections of her youth in Blue Mountain
D. A and B
E. B and C
3. As part of his exposition and foreshadowing in The Glass Menagerie, Williams includes
references to Jim O’Connor:
A. in Tom’s opening monologue
B. in Scene 2, after “the fiasco at Rubicam’s Business School”
C. when Tom tells Amanda that she can expect a “gentleman caller” for Laura
D. all of the above
E. none of the above
4. In The Glass Menagerie, Laura’s life and character are best symbolized by which item in
her “glass menagerie”:
A. the unicorn
B. the little lamb
C. the horse
D. the hummingbird
E. all of her animals
5. The characters Williams created in The Glass Menagerie are typical of his characters in
that:
A. they are well-to-do and psychologically well adjusted people
B. they are people who, while not wealthy, have lives richly loaded with close friends
C. they are members of dysfunctional families and suffer from emotional problems
D. they are psychologically maladjusted characters, all of whom find inner peace by the
end of the play
E. they are at peace with each other and the world
136
TRUE/FALSE
6. In The Glass Menagerie, it is made clear that Jim is one of the many friends Tom has made
at work.
7. While Amanda may appear to be a totally selfish woman in The Glass Menagerie, she does
express her concerns for her children’s well being.
8. Not unlike many other modern playwrights, Williams draws on autobiographical material as
a source for The Glass Menagerie.
9. In The Glass Menagerie, the only references to Amanda’s husband, “a telephone man who
fell in love with long distance,” come from Amanda herself.
10. According to Tom, the “Gentleman Caller “ (Jim O’Connor) is the most realistic character in
the play
137
The Hairy Ape
1. The play that most typifies O'Neill's Expressionistic thematic and stylistic elements is:
A. Ah! Wilderness
B. The Hairy Ape
C. Mourning Becomes Electra
D. The Iceman Cometh
E. Strange Interlude
2. In The Hairy Ape, Yank is arrested by the New York police because he:
A. tries to incite a strike by the workers
B. is accused of indecency by a wealthy woman
C. makes a rich man miss his bus on Sunday morning
D. is involved in a street brawl between the workers and the police
E. we are not told why he was arrested.
3. The final scene in The Hairy Ape takes place:
A. in the furnace room of the steam ship, where the play began
B. in the jail where Yank languished after his arrest
C. in the street where Yank exhorts the audience to "Strike"
D. in the monkey house of a zoo
E. in a non-descript place where Yank delivers his lengthy final monologue
4. In The Hairy Ape the “Wobblies" are:
A. a slang term for the police because they knock the laborers "wobbly"
B. members of the International Workers of the World (I.W.W.)
C. a seaman's term for the wealthy class
D. drunken sailors, like Paddy
E. a term the sailors proudly use to describe themselves
5. The final line in The Hairy Ape --"Perhaps the Hairy Ape at last belongs"—is spoken by:
A. Yank
B. The Policeman who finds Yank at the zoo
C. a chorus of seamen who give the audience O'Neill's message
D. the line is not in O'Neill's script; it comes from a published interview with the
playwright
E. it is not spoken, but it is the final line of O'Neill's last stage direction
138
TRUE/FALSE
6. Like Yank in The Hairy Ape, Eugene O'Neill once worked on tramp steamers.
7. In The Hairy Ape O'Neill intends the protagonist's real name (Robert Smith) and his
nickname (Yank) to be generic.
8. In The Hairy Ape, Mildred Rogers provides the love interest in the play.
9. The Labor Union is strongly supportive of Yank in his quest for justice for laborers in The
Hairy Ape.
10. In The Hairy Ape, Yank dies because of police brutality.
139
The Good Woman of Setzuan
1. In The Good Woman of Setzuan, which character boasts that s/he is "the Tobacco King of
Setzuan?"
A. Shen Te
B. Yang Sun
C. Wang
D. Shui Ta
E. Shu Fu
2. The final line of The Good Woman of Setzuan (not including the Epilogue) is significant
because it:
A. affirms Shen Te's goodness and rewards her patience
B. validates the gods as wise counselors who bring justice to the people
C. is an enjoyable song that provides the play with a theatrically satisfying ending
D. is typically Brechtian because it places the burden of the play's problem squarely on the
shoulders of the audience
E. asks the audience to discuss the political issues of the play after they leave the theater
3. On what day—according to a key song In The Good Woman of Setzuan,—will the poor
“all be shouting" and the beggar's maid's son sit on a solid throne of gold?
A. Liberation Day
B. Judgment Day
C. Defenseless Peoples’ Day
D. St. Nevercome's Day
E. none of the above
4. Brecht's German title for The Good Woman of Setzuan, was Der Gute Mensch von
Setzuan-- Mensch, as used here, implies:
A. "Man" in the most generic sense, that is, "humanity" or "human being"
B. in theYiddish idiom "a person of integrity and honor;" as is Shen Te
C. a cynical term referring to "the little guy" whose integrity is constantly challenged by the
unscrupulous
D. a “sucker" is played upon by devious people
E. all of these are applicable meanings to Brecht's title
5. Brecht sets the action of the play in Setzuan because:
A. it is remote and colorful and thereby allows for beautiful scenery and costumes
B. it is typical of his process of "historification" and asks the audience to step back from its
world to judge the events of another time and place
C. he derived the story from an ancient Chinese folk tale
D. all of the above
E. Brecht is not concerned with setting and milieu and randomly chose Setzuan
140
TRUE/FALSE
6. In The Good Woman of Setzuan, Yung Sun proves to be the only person who does not betray
Shen Te.
7. Brecht does not allow the gods to resolve Shen Te’s problem In The Good Woman of Setzuan
because he wishes to force the audience to “write the happy ending to this play.”
8. In The Good Woman of Setzuan, the father of Shen Te’s child is the barber, Mr. Shu Fu.
9. Although she is comical, Mrs. Shin is every bit as greedy and exploitive as Shui Ta in The
Good Woman of Setzuan.
10. The plot of The Good Woman of Setzuan is linear/causal.
141
Death of a Salesman
1. In Death of a Salesman, playwright Arthur Miller succeeds in blending the following styles:
A. Naturalism and Absurdism
B. Romanticism and Realism
C. Realism and Expressionism
D. Expressionism and Romanticism
E. Romanticism and Naturalism
2. When Biff discovers Willy in the Boston hotel room with The Woman:
A. it is just one of the many disappointments he suffers at the hands of his father
B. it is the first time that Willy tells Biff the truth about his life as a salesman
C. it proves what Happy has maintained about Willie since the beginning of the play
D. it shatters Biff’s perception and image of his father
E. it is Happy who discovers Willy with the Woman
3. Which of the following is true of the women in Death of a Salesman:
A. they are always treated with love and respect by Willy and his sons
B. they are always ignored by Willy and his sons
C. they play insignificant roles in the play
D. they are the inspiration for their men
E. they are treated as insignificant and with little or no respect
4. In Death of a Salesman, which of the following are set up as models of success for Willy:
A. Ben and Dave Singleman
B. Ben and Charley
C. Dave Singleman and Charley
D. Willy’s father and Charley
E. Biff and Happy
5. Death of a Salesman, is typical of Miller’s work:
A. because it deals with a dysfunctional American family
B. because it deals with “Tragedy and the Common Man”
C. it is a completely naturalistic play
D. A and B
E. none of the above
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TRUE/FALSE
6. In Death of a Salesman, Biff and Happy can be accurately viewed as the two contradictory
parts of Willy himself--one the “outdoorsman” and the other “the businessman with the
overdeveloped sense of competition.”
7. While we hear a great deal about Willy as a salesman, we never learn what it is that he sells.
8. In Death of a Salesman, Miller uses Charley and Bernard as another illustration of the failed
communication between father and son.
9. The women in Death of a Salesman are treated so insignificantly that, with the exception of
Linda, none is given a name.
10. The “flash backs” and the settings which Miller employ in Death of a Salesman are
expressionistic aspects of a play that is otherwise mostly realistic in style.
143
The American Dream
1. Shortly after his entrance in The American Dream, it is apparent that The Young Man is:
A. “the moving van man”
B. a cowboy
C. “the American Dream”
D. a student
E. "the boy next door”
2. Which character in The American Dream brags that s/he made “a terrible scene” at a hat
shop:
A. Mrs. Baxter
B. Grandma
C. Mommy
D. Daddy
E. young Man
3. In The American Dream a “bumble” is:
A. a baby put up for adoption
B. Grandma’s pet name for the Young Man
C. a nonsense word used by Mommy
D. a term of endearment Daddy uses to address Mommy
E. Grandma’s term for one of her little “accidents”
4. In The American Dream (and other Albee works), the Daddy (and other fathers) are
depicted as:
A. weak-willed and inconsistent
B. hen-pecked men dominated by possessive women
C. emasculated and impotent
D. ineffectual and disrespected
E. all of the above
5. Much of the verbal humor in The American Dream is derived from:
A. puns and innuendoes
B. self-canceling statements in which a character says one thing and immediately
contradicts it
C. sarcastic put-downs
D. witty epigrams
E. there is little verbal humor in the play; its humor grows from absurd situations
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TRUE/FALSE
6. The opening stage direction in The American Dream describes a stark, bare room
representing the “black void” that entraps people in the modern world.
7. In The American Dream, Mrs. Barker is identified as “the chairman of [Mommy’s] Woman’s
Club.”
8. In The American Dream, Daddy wanted to be a U. S. Senator but now wishes to be
Governor.
9. Grandma’s final speech In The American Dream is delivered directly to the audience and is
the only speech in the play so directed.
10. The Young Man is bitter because he was an only child who was abused by his mother.
145
Rockaby
1. Rockaby, was written:
A. to commemorate Samuel Beckett's achievement in literature
B. to commemorate Samuel Beckett's seventy-fifth birthday
C. as a short story first
D. as an exercise in Absurdist comedy
E. none of the above
2. Beckett’s Rockaby concerns itself with:
A. aging
B. death
C. the Past
D. loneliness and alienation
E. dreams
3. Beckett’s Rockaby demands that the stage lighting be:
A. clear and bright
B. colorful and bright
C. subdued
D. totally dark
E. none of the above
4. Beckett specifies that the only stage prop in Rockaby, a rocking chair, must be:
A. painted black
B. painted white
C. painted brown
D. pale wood, highly polished
E. none of the above
5. In Rockaby, the Woman seated in the chair must look:
A. like a cadaver
B. prematurely old and unkempt
C. elegant but beaten by time
D. content and vivacious
E. none of the above
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TRUE/FALSE
6. Samuel Beckett was born in Paris and wrote his works in French exclusively.
7. Samuel Beckett is one of a handful of dramatists who has won the Nobel Prize for Literature.
8. The original production of Rockaby not only featured Billie Whitelaw, but was directed by
her as well.
9. While Samuel Beckett’s plays deal with issues that face all of humanity, he is still considered
basically a minimalist playwright
10. In addition to being a playwright, Samuel Beckett was also the stage director of many of
his works.
147
The Man Who Turned into a Dog
1. The protagonists of The Man Who Turned into a Dog met:
A. in a subway
B. in a factory
C. on a park bench
D. in a cafe
E. none of the above
2. The Man in The Man Who Turned into a Dog searched for employment for:
A. three weeks
B. three days
C. one year
D. two weeks
E. three months
3. Prior to searching for a new job, the protagonist in The Man Who Turned into a Dog was
employed as a:
A. bartender
B. general assistant
C. mail boy
D. night watchman's dog
E. janitor
4. The original production of The Man Who Turned into a Dog was staged:
A. on a small thrust stage
B. in an open market place
C. with period costumes
D. in an empty stage
E. A and C
5. The protagonist's final choice in The Man Who Turned into a Dog is to:
A. commit physical suicide
B. leave his position of employment
C. commit psychological suicide
D. marry Maria
E. none of the above
148
TRUE/FALSE
6. Osvaldo Dragun conceived the structure for The Man Who Turned into a Dog after reading
an article in a newspaper.
7. During the concluding moments of The Man Who Turned into a Dog, the protagonist finds
himself locked in the factory.
8. Osvaldo Dragun wanted actors who were basically untrained in order to emphasize the
sociopolitical message of The Man Who Turned into a Dog.
9. The Man Who Turned into a Dog is part of a tetralogy entitled And They Told Us We Were
Immortal.
10. Although Osvaldo Dragun lived and worked in Argentina, he was born in Italy.
149
150
PART II
AN ANTHOLOGY OF THE WORLD’S DRAMA
CHAPTER 8:
The Theater of Africa and
the African Diaspora
GOAL: To examine the evolution of theater and drama in modern Africa and in the regions
that have been particularly affected by the African Diaspora.
KEY POINTS:
General:
1. African theater—and those theaters influenced by indigenous African theater—had its
roots in a variety of performance modes common to humanity:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
story telling performances;
simple enactments;
ritualized enactments;
spirit-cult performances;
masquerades;
ceremonial performances;
comedies.
Africa
1. Formal theater and literary drama were brought to Africa by European colonists, and a
distinctively black African drama did not emerge in Africa until the 1930s; native drama
evolved in three stages:
•
•
•
plays in which the colonized displayed that they had assimilated the culture of the
colonialists;
plays which reflected doubts about being colonized;
plays which revolted against colonization.
2. Contemporary theater in Africa derives from four primary sources:
•
•
•
the commercial theater (e.g., South Africa’s Market Theatre)
universities (e.g., University of Ibadan in Nigeria)
traveling professional companies (e.g., Chikwakwa Theater Company in Zambia)
151
•
village and tribal theaters that specialize in local issues (e.g., African township
theater).
3. Black African theater uses conspicuously theatrical conventions:
•
•
•
•
•
story tellers and narrators from the ancient griot tradition;
considerable interaction between performers and audiences;
informal performance spaces rather than formal theaters;
masks;
“found objects” in lieu of formal scenery and stage props.
4. Nigeria’s Wole Soyinka and South Africa’s Athol Fugard are the best-known, mostproduced playwrights of the contemporary African theater.
African-American Theater
1. Despite its regrettable history of slavery, the theater of the United States was enriched by
the artistry of people of African descent throughout the nineteenth century; including:
2. performances of African folk tales and music in Congo Square in New Orleans;the
African Theatre Company in New York (1821);Ira Aldredge, an actor noted for his
interpretations of Shakespeare.
3. A distinctively African-American theater emerged in New York in the 1920s (Willis
Richardson’s The Chip Woman’s Fortune, 1923) and especially in 1930s during the
Harlem Renaissance (Langston Hughes’ Mulatto, 1935).
4. Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun (1959) was the first play written by an AfricanAmerican to enjoy commercial success on Broadway; its popularity paralleled the rise of
the Civil Rights movement.
5. During the 1960s African-American playwrights reflected the militancy of the times
in plays that were increasingly angry and which displayed a pride in their African
heritage; the work of Amiri Baraka typifies 60s militancy among African-American
dramatists.
6. African-American artists are now highly visible and significant in the American theater:
playwrights (August Wilson, Suzan Lori Parks), directors (Lloyd Edwards, George C.
Wolfe), and choreographers (Debbi Allen). The American musical theater has been
particularly enriched by the artistry of African-Americans (e.g., Jelly’s Last Jam).
The Caribbean
1. The theater and drama of the Caribbean is a rich amalgam of African, Hispanic,
European, and indigenous cultures.
152
2. Vital theatrical activity—much of it based on regional politics and the effects of
colonization-- flourishes throughout the Caribbean, particularly in Puerto Rico, Cuba,
Haiti, Jamaica, and Trinidad-Tobago.
3. Cuba is noted for the work of its theatrical collectives (e.g., Sergio Corrieri’s Theatre
Escambray) that have altered the aesthetics of Cuban theater; staging techniques include
interviews with audience members who are asked to provide solutions to local problems
and post-performance discussions between actors and audiences.
153
4. The theater of Jamaica is particularly noted for its oral performances, which blend storytelling with political activism.
5. Trinidad’s Derek Walcott, a Nobel laureate, is the best-known Caribbean playwright; his
works have been performed around the world.
154
TERMS, CONCEPTS, AND PEOPLE
Africa
African Diaspora
ceremonial performances
Chikwakwa Theatre
Death and the King’s
Horseman
First World Festival of
Negro Arts
FESTAC
griot
Market Theatre
“MASTER HAROLD”. . .
and the boys
masquerades
ritualized enactments
simple enactments
spirit-cult performances
spirit language
story telling performances
sympathetic magic
township theater
Woza Albert!
Yoruban
Traveling
Theatre
Aime Cesaaire
Athol Fugard
Percy Mtwa
Mbongeni Ngema
Hubert Ogunde
Barney Simon
Wole Soyinka
African-American Theater
Ira Aldredge
Amiri Baraka
William Henry Brown
Charles Gilpin
Lorraine Hansberry
Langston Hughes
Lloyd Richards
Willis Richardson
Charles Turner
August Wilson
African Theater Company
The Chip Woman’s Fortune
Congo Square
The Drama of King Shotaway
Fences
Lafayette Players
Harlem Renaissance
Mulatto
Negro Ensemble Company
A Raisin in the Sun
Slave Ship
Caribbean Theater
Areitos
The Ox-Cart
Theatre Escambray
Trinidad Carnival
Trinidad Theatre Project
Sergio Corrieri
Rene Marques
Arthur Roberts
DeWilton Rogers
Fredric Supris
Jose Triana
Derek Walcott
155
QUESTIONS/ACTIVITIES FOR DISCUSSION AND ESSAYS
1. Write an essay to illustrate the following thesis: “Africa is perhaps the finest repository
of theater traditions and performance practices in the world.”
2. In what ways are rap music and its offshoots the successors of the older African tradition
of oral story telling?
3. Discuss how you might use the format of a township play from South Africa or a play by
a Cuban theater collective to address a problem in your community or on your campus?
Devise a scenario, suggest the kinds of music you might use, and describe a setting for
your play.
4. Imagine a dialogue among Lorraine Hansberry, Amiri Baraka, and August Wilson in
which they debate the function of the dramatist in contemporary American society. You
may also want to include filmmaker Spike Lee in this conversation.
5. In addition to the theater (and now film), discuss the contributions of AfricanAmericans to other arts in the United States, most notably music. What is the
correlation, if any, between music and theater as barometers of the concerns of AfricanAmericans?
Woza Albert!
1. Surely it is interesting to think about the Morena’s “second coming” taking place in
South Africa, but what if it took place in the USA. Using Woza Albert! as an example,
write a few brief scenes which might take place if it happened in the USA. Who are
some of the people he might be asked to “raise up”?
2. Woza Albert! and MASTER HAROLD . . . and the boys are both plays that are permeated
with the racial tension of South Africa. How are these plays similar? How are they
different? Compare Willie and Sam with Mbongeni and Percy.
3. While Woza Albert! and MASTER HAROLD . . . and the boys are both plays that are
permeated with the racial tension of South Africa, in what ways do they speak to the
racial tensions in the USA? Compare the South African Government’s handling of the
“second coming” with how you might expect our government to deal with it. Prepare a
new release which states the “official policy” of the White House.
4. As a casting director for the upcoming production of Woza Albert! speculate regarding
some of your possible casting choices.
5. Write an essay describing the acting style that is demanded by Woza Albert! Describe
how it differs from the style we are accustomed to in popular movies and television?
“MASTER HAROLD” . . . and the boys
1. Fugard is very particular that the title of the play be capitalized and punctuated exactly as
you see it. Discuss the significance of the typography of the title.
156
2. Willie has a girl friend named Hilda whom we never meet but about whom we hear a
great deal. What does Hilda tell us about life in South Africa? Specifically, how is Hilda
used as a critique of violence and the oppression of women?
3. Identify those moments in the play that seem a throwback to the discussion dramas of
Ibsen and other early realists.
4. Other than the obvious irony of its title and lyrics, discuss why Fugard's use of the Sarah
Vaughan song to end the play enhances the political message of the play.
5. Discuss the choices that Hally and Sam make when they try to name the world's most
influential people. Why did Fugard choose these particular individuals?
Death and the King’s Horseman
1. For the moment, play devil's advocate and argue that the play is indeed about "the clash
of cultures." In what ways are Western values, such as those espoused by the
Pilkington's, pitted against the values of a non-Western culture?
2. Compare Death and the King's Horseman to Sophocles’ Antigone. In what ways are they
similar in their exploration of the conflict between "natural law" and "civil law?'
3. Discuss the role of the Praise-Singer, particularly as she represents a shaman, griot, or
other "healer" we have explored throughout this text. Also consider ways in which she
(and the chorus of women) provide ironic comedy in this serious play.
4. Is Elesin any less tragic because he does not go through with his planned death? In what
sense is he more tragic because he does not die?
5. Collect pictures and other visual material that you might use when designing costumes for
this play. How important is it that the costumes be "authentic?" Discuss how the
costumes, both African and Western, add to the theatricality--and the dialectics--of the
play.
Raisin in the Sun
1. Discuss Ruth's role in the Younger household. In what ways is she a foil to both Mama
and Beneatha? Why is she, in many ways, the most sympathetic character in the play?
2. Not only is A Raisin in the Sun indebted to the melodrama for its structure and themes,
there are remnants of the old sentimental dramas of the eighteenth century. Identify those
elements that are sentimental, particularly the discussions of "love" as the virtue that
ultimately remedies the wrongs of the world.
3. Discuss how you would direct the actor playing Mr. Linder. Why would it be prudent to
play him as the warmest, nicest man possible? Why might it detract from the play's
message if he is played as a stereotypical bigot?
157
4. Discuss The Last Mama-on-the-Couch Play" as a critique of A Raisin in the Sun. To what
extent is Wolfe's satire valid? Were she alive, how might Hansberry respond to Wolfe's
criticism?
5. View the 1961 film of A Raisin in the Sun with Sidney Portier; and 1988, a made-fortelevision film with Danny Glover. Can you detect differences in the approach to the play,
the first made in the early days of the civil rights movement, the second over a quarter
century later?
Slave Ship
1. Read Baraka’s manifesto for “The Revolutionary Theater” (see Forum after the play): cite
and discuss specific lines that illuminate the play and Baraka’s choices as a playwright.
2. Make the case that Baraka’s stage directions are actually more important than the
dialogue itself; i.e., in what sense are the stage directions the principal “character” in this
play?
3. Since it has been over 30 years since Baraka wrote Slave Ship, what recent music (and
dance steps) would you use in place of the 60s “Motown sound” that the playwright used
to achieve his “Boogaloo-Yoruba.” What pop music changes would be necessary to make
the play more relevant to a contemporary audience?
4. Discuss how Baraka uses music to establish the play’s dialectic: specifically consider the
use of drums as they are contrasted with the Christian Gospel music.
5. Read the brief discussion of Artaud’s “Theater of Cruelty” in Chapter 9; identify and
discuss the Artaudian elements of Slave Ship.
Fences
1. Troy Maxim is defined by the contradictory nature of his personality. Make a list of his
strengths/admirable qualities, and a list of his weakness/flaws. Discuss how these traits
make him simultaneously heroic and anti-heroic.
2. Compare/contrast Troy with Willy Loman as contemporary "tragic heroes." Refer to
Aristotle's The Poetics and Miller's essay "Tragedy and the Common Man" in your
analysis.
3. Compare Rose Maxim with other prominent stage mothers in this anthology (e.g. Amanda
in The Glass Menagerie, Linda Loman in Death of a Salesman, and Mama Younger in A
Raisin in the Sun). Make the case that she may be the best-drawn character of this group.
4. To what extent are Cory and Lyons truly the sons of Troy Maxim? How does each
represent those positive and negative aspects of their father's personality?
158
5. Eddie Murphy, the comedian-actor, owns the screen rights to Fences (yet to be made).
James Earl Jones, who created the role of Troy, is now too old for the role. If you were
Murphy, whom might you cast for a film version of Fences? Cast the entire play.
Ti-Jean and His Brothers
1. Exactly how does Ti-Jean defeat the Devil? What particular strength does he possess that
is lacking in his older brothers?
2. The play is filled with hints of archetypal images and references. For instance, the eating
of a child by the Devil (or “bogeyman”) is a popular image. Identify and discuss those
images that might be called "archetypal." What effect does Walcott achieve by using
them?
3. Is the Devil portrayed only as a heinous villain? Does Walcott attempt to invest him with
sympathy? If so, why?
4. Discuss the effectiveness of Walcott's poetry. Don't forget to look at the prose sections,
which also contain language which is quite poetic. In particular, discuss how he achieves
a poetic effect through the use of native dialect and speech rhythms.
5. Discuss additional plays, short stories, novels, films, legends in which mortals confront
“the Devil” (or some similar spirit of darkness). Compare any of these to Ti-Jean and His
Brothers. Why is this especially popular--and universal--subject matter?
159
GENERAL EXAMINATION ITEMS
1. Indigenous African theater had it roots in a variety of performance modes including all of
the following except:
A. story telling performances
B. ritualized enactments
C. spirit-cult performances
D. adaptations from literary works
E. ceremonial performances
2. Which of the following were stages of the emergence and development of black African
native drama:
A. plays in which the colonized displayed that they had assimilated the culture of the
colonialists
B. plays which reflected doubts about being colonized
C. plays which revolted against colonization
D. all of the above
E. none of the above
3. Of the following, which is not a primary source of influence on contemporary theater
in Africa:
A. the commercial theater
B. the universities
C. community theatre based on the American model
D. traveling professional companies
E. village and tribal theaters that specialize in local issues
4. Among the conspicuously theatrical conventions of black African theater is/are:
A. story tellers and narrators called rhapsodes
B. extremely little interaction between performers and audiences
C. formal theaters venues
D. the use of Masks
E. elaborately designed scenery and costumes
5. Which of the following is a world renowned and widely produced African playwright:
A. Wole Soyinka
B. Arthur Fondgold
C. Mbeeke Ntomba
D. Nkeeene Nkruma
E. Upton van der Freen
6. Among the African-Americans to achieve success in the American theater of the
eighteenth century was/were:
A. Isaac Washington
B. George Jefferson Jackson
C. Ivory “the Minstrel” Harrison
D. Ira Aldredge
E. Clinton Davis
160
7. Among the more successful and significant African-American artists of contemporary
American theater is/are:
A. playwright August Wilson
B. playwright Suzan Lori Parks
C. director George C. Wolfe
D. all of the above
E. none of the above
8. The theater and drama of the Caribbean is a rich mixture of all of the following except:
A. African cultures
B. Hispanic cultures
C. Asian cultures
D. European cultures
E. indigenous cultures
9. The theater of Jamaica is particularly noted for its:
A. oral performances which blend story-telling with political activism
B. apolitical story-telling mixed with contemporary music
C. political activism accompanied by African music
D. improvisational performance art and Hispanic music
E. Christian/Bible based stories blended with indigenous myths
10. Among the best known Caribbean authors is:
A. Cuba’s Rapheal de Castro
B. Puerto Rico’s Ogsar Hiner
C. Jamaican’s Jesus Martinez
D. Trinidad’s Derek Walcott
E. Cuba’s Felipe Huerta
161
TRUE/FALSE
11. A distinctively black African literary drama, which evolved in three stages, did not
emerge in Africa until the 1930s.
12. Commercial theaters such as South Africa’s Market Theatre and the universities, like the
University of Ibadan in Nigeria, are two of the primary sources of contemporary theater
in Africa.
13. Nigeria’s Wole Soyinka and South Africa’s Athol Fugard are among the most widely
known and most-produced playwrights of the contemporary African theater.
14. The eighteenth century theater of the United States included successful African American
companies such as the African Theatre Company and the Negro Theatre Ensemble.
15. Distinctively African-American theater emerged in New York in the 1920s with plays
like Willis Richardson’s The Chip Woman’s Fortune and in the 1930s during the Harlem
Renaissance with plays like Langston Hughes’ Mulatto.
16. While Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun was the first play written by an AfricanAmerican woman to enjoy commercial success on Broadway, African American men had
already found success as playwrights on the Broadway stage.
17. During the 1960s African-American playwrights reflected the militancy of the times in
plays that were increasingly angry and which displayed a pride in their African heritage.
18. The theater and drama of the Caribbean is based essentially on myths and rites which are
a part of the indigenous culture.
19. Vital theatrical activity—much of it based on regional politics and the effects of
colonization—flourishes throughout the Caribbean, particularly in Puerto Rico, Cuba,
Haiti, Jamaica, and Trinidad-Tobago.
20. Cuba is noted for the work of its theatrical collectives like Sergio Corrieri’s Theatre
Escambray which, with great daring, have defied the Castro government and presented
numerous plays from western democracies.
21. The theater of Jamaica is particularly noted for its oral performances which blend storytelling with political activism.
22. The influence of African culture abounds in nearly all the theater and drama of the
Caribbean.
162
Woza Albert!
1. One of the most important personal possessions of the various characters portrayed in
Woza Albert! is one’s:
A. hat
B. shoes
C. home
D. passbook
E. mbonger
2. Woza Albert! is typical of South African township theater in that it:
A. presents actors who use their own names as characters
B. the performers make use of transformations
C. it is political theatre that speaks to the plight of black South Africans
D. all of the above
E. none of the above
3. While Percy and Mbongeni each plays a number of different characters in Woza Albert!,
those characters:
A. are always the same gender
B. are always black South Africans
C. include white South Africans
D. never include white South Africans
E. are essentially always the same types of characters
4. At the end of Woza Albert! Percy and Mbongeni “raise up” a number of important people,
all of whom were:
A. important leaders or heroes in black South African’s quest for freedom
B. victims of the violence perpetrated on black South Africans
C. individuals recognizable to nearly all South Africans
D. all of the above
E. none of the above
5. In the longest scene in the play, Percy and Mbongeni play Bobbijaan and Zuluboy who
are workers in:
A. an auto manufacturing plant
B. a brickyard
C. a cemetery
D. a government building
E. a church
163
TRUE/FALSE
6. Like most of South African township theater, Woza Albert! relies on elaborate costumes
and scenery for its presentation.
7. In Woza Albert!, the Morena is the Savior.
8. While Woza Albert! asks the question “What would happen if the `second coming’ took
place in contemporary South Africa?” the Savior never really appears.
9. South African township theater can be accurately described as a “motley” theater.
10. As a result of its dealing with the “second coming,” the basic tone or mood of Woza
Albert! is one of reverence and dignity.
164
“MASTER HAROLD” . . . and the boys
1. “MASTER HAROLD” . . . and the boys is a play which:
A. is typical of South African township theater
B. displays numerous characteristic of African drama in general
C. is indebted to the realistic writing of such European playwrights as Henrik Ibsen
D. all of the above
E. none of the above
2. “The boys” in “MASTER HAROLD” . . . and the boys, refers to:
A. Sam and Hally
B. Harold and Hally
C. Sam and Willie
D. Sam, Willie and Hally
E. Hally and Willie
3. In “MASTER HAROLD” . . . and the boys, Hally’s father suffers from:
A. polio
B. AIDS
C. alcoholism
D. cancer
E. none of the above, he is the healthiest character in the play
4. As Sam and Willie do their work in the tearoom, they are also preparing and practicing
for:
A. the next major soccer tournament
B. the South African National Music Festival
C. the Eastern Province Ballroom Dance Championship
D. the Port Elizabeth Rugby Competition
E. the Capetown Cricket Tournament
5. Among the images which Fugard creates in “MASTER HAROLD” . . . and the boys, is/are:
A. a “glider” or an “aeroplane”
B. a “whites-only bench”
C. a vision of “a world without collisions”
D. A & B
E. B & C
165
TRUE/FALSE
6. A great deal of the importance of the kite which Hally and Sam fondly recall is the fact
that it was purchased by Sam for Hally
7. “MASTER HAROLD” . . . and the boys is typical of Fugard’s writing style in that it
includes a number of long monologues.
8. While he never appears on the stage, Hally’s father plays an important role in the lives of
“Master Harold” and “the boys.”
9. As “MASTER HAROLD” . . . and the boys ends, we see that Hally has finally learned the
lessons that Sam has been working so earnestly to teach him.
10. In “MASTER HAROLD” . . . and the boys, the St. Georges Park Tea Room serves as a
microcosm for the entire country of South Africa
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Death and the King's Horseman
1. When we first see the Pilkingtons in Death and the King's Horseman, they are:
A. having cocktails with an exclusive cadre of colonial military and business couples
B. dressed in traditional African masquerade costumes
C. in the market, offering condolences to the local people on the loss of their king
D. at an elaborate ball
E. none of the above
2. In Death and the King's Horseman, Olunde dies in his father's place because:
A. he is imitating Ogun, who crossed the Great Abyss to save his people
B. he knows his death will launch a rebellion against the oppressive colonial government
C. he must atone for disobeying his father's will and leaving Nigeria for England and a
Western education
D. he had promised his father that he would sacrifice himself according to Yoruban
tradition
E. none of the above
3. The central term of Yoruban philosophy which says that the gods and humans share the
wholeness of the earth is:
A. the Ogun Mysteries
B. Animism
C. the Chthonic Realm
D. Cosmic Totality
E. none of the above
4. Complete the following stage direction from Death and the King's Horseman, “rolled up in
the mat, his head and feet showing at either end is the body of ":
A. Elesin
B. Iyaloja
C. Olunde
D. The King
E. The Praise Singer
5. In the first scene of Death and the King's Horseman, Elesin and the Praise Singer recite a
poem/song that might be appropriately titled:
A. Death Calls the King
B. The Not I Bird
C. Heroes and Cowards
D. Lament for the King
E. Heroes and Horsemen
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TRUE/FALSE
6. Death and the King's Horseman is based on a true incident that happened in Nigeria
shortly after World War II.
7. According to the author's notes, Death and the King's Horseman is intended to illustrate
the "clash of cultures" that frequently accompanies colonialism.
8. Joseph is the primary target of Soyinka's satire in Death and the King's Horseman.
9. In Death and the King's Horseman, Elesin strangles himself with his sacred ritual chain.
10. In Death and the King's Horseman, the "Mother of the Market" is the Praise singer.
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A Raisin in the Sun
1. In A Raisin in the Sun the Youngers have money to buy a home in the suburbs because:
A. Mama saved and invested what little money they had faithfully and wisely
B. Walter Lee won the money in a card game from Willie Harris
C. Mama received an inheritance from Big Walter’s family
D. Big Walter had an insurance policy that provided money upon his death
E. we are not told specifically why the family has the money
2. Which character in A Raisin in the Sun most closely represents the spirit of the “new
African-American” in the 1950s:
A. Walter Lee
B. Mama
C. Ruth
D. Joseph
E. Beneatha
3. In A Raisin in the Sun, Willie Harris is:
A. a close family friend who helps the Youngers make their decision about a new home
B. a representative from the suburban home owners who tries to dissuade the Youngers
from moving
C. a black militant who inspires the Youngers to seek their piece of the American Dream
D. Walter Lee’s friend who steals the family money
E. Beneatha’s previous boyfriend who encourages her to seek her African heritage
4. In A Raisin in the Sun, which characters laments that “It’s all divided up. Life is…Sure
enough. Between the takers and the ‘tooken?’”
A. Ruth
B. Walter Lee
C. George Murchison
D. Mama
E. Beneatha
5. In A Raisin in the Sun, Beneatha claims her “dance of welcome” is from which African
country:
A. South Africa
B. Uganda
C. Nigeria
D. Zimbabwe
E. She does not specify the country but merely claims it is an African dance.
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TRUE/FALSE
6. The title of A Raisin in the Sun is taken from a poem by one of America’s leading
African-American poets.
7. A Raisin in the Sun was the first play written by an African-American to appear on
Broadway.
8. Lorraine Hansberry, the author of A Raisin in the Sun, grew up in a poor neighborhood
much like that described in the play.
9. In A Raisin in the Sun, Joseph Asagai is not intended as a sympathetic character.
10. George Wolfe’s The Last Mama-on-the-Couch Play is an unflattering satire of
Hansberry’s play.
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Slave Ship
1. At the beginning of Slave Ship, Voice #1 represents:
A. a black slave
B. a warrior
C. white man's oppression
D. the young woman
E. a young child
2. In Slave Ship, The Preacher appears wearing:
A. a business suit
B. a long white robe
C. a white suit
D. “tails”
E. a dark Shirt and pants
3. During the concluding moments of Slave Ship, the characters find themselves in:
A. the hold of the ship
B. in church
C. in the dark
D. at a party
E. none of the above
4. Amiri Baraka considers himself to be a disciple of:
A. Malcom X
B. Gandi
C. Antonin Artaud
D. Marx and Lenin
E. none of the above
5. Slave Ship is Baraka's vision of:
A. an all black America
B. the African Diaspora
C. the Western world gone amok
D. a peaceful America free from racial hatred
E. all of the above
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TRUE/FALSE
6. In addition to his playwriting, Amiri Baraka is a professional music composer.
7. While Amiri Baraka's writing style is influenced by many things, it is essentially rooted in
Expressionism.
8. The most obvious strength of Slave Ship is its dialogue.
9. Baraka specifies that the white men in Slave Ship are costumed in sailor suits.
10. Baraka argues that his "Revolutionary Theater" must be pro-Western, even if it speaks
to a black audience only.
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Fences
1. In Fences, Raynell is:
A. the woman with whom Troy has had an affair
B. Troy's illegitimate daughter
C. Bono's wife
D. the woman Cory wishes to marry
E. the name of Rose's daughter
2. In Fences, Lyons's profession is:
A. athlete
B. trash worker
C. jazz musician
D. he is unemployed
E. we are not told Lyons's profession.
3. Cory finally escapes "the Hill" in Fences by:
A. getting the football scholarship to college
B. becoming a jazz musician
C. finishing school, getting a factory job, and moving away
D. joining the Marines
E. he does not escape but continues his father's dead-end existence
4. In Fences, Josh Gibson was/is:
A. the name of the Boss-man against whom Troy rebels when he wanted to drive the truck
B. a neighbor who escaped "the Hill" and a symbol of hope for Cory
C. a former star of the Negro (Baseball) Leagues to whom Troy likes to compare himself
D. Cory's high school teammate who gets an athletic scholarship
E. the rich jazz musician whom Lyons wishes to be like
5. In Fences, which character speaks The following lines: “You always talking about what
you give…and what you don't have to give. But you take, too. You take…and don't even
know nobody's giving!”
A. Troy
B. Cory
C. Rose
D. Lyons
E. Raynell
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TRUE/FALSE
6. In Fences, Troy, like Jackie Robinson, was at one time in the Brooklyn Dodgers
organization and his failure to get to the big leagues with Robinson contributes to his
bitterness.
7. August Wilson uses the character of Bono as a foil to Troy, in Fences.
8. Like Troy, his major character in Fences, Wilson was raised in Pittsburgh’s "Hill" district.
9. At no time in Fences, does Troy tell Cory that he loves him.
10. Like A Raisin in the Sun, Fences portrays the struggles of an African-American family in
the 1950s.
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Ti-Jean and His Brothers
1. In Ti-Jean and His Brothers, the song ("Burn the cane…") that Ti Jean and the Chorus
sing in scene 3 is significant because:
A. it is the anthem of Trinidad-Tobago
B. it is derived from the canboulay, which marked a rebellion by slaves
C. it typifies the calypso music that Walcott freely uses in his plays
D. it owes its allegiance to the Greek comedies of Aristophanes
E. it is a musical diversion meant to entertain in an otherwise serious play
2. Walcott's Ti-Jean and His Brothers may rightfully be interpreted as:
A. a simple folk tale in which an innocent and good man triumphs over the Devil
B. an allegory about the triumph of wit over brawn and intelligence
C. a political parable about the struggle between slaves (and their descendants) and white
oppressors
D. all of the above
E. none of the above.
3. Which of the following creatures is not a member of the Chorus which introduces Ti-Jean and
His Brothers?
A. cricket
B. frog
C. bird
D. fire fly
E. crocodile
4. In Ti-Jean and His Brothers, in addition to defeating the Devil, Ti-Jean also:
A. resurrects the bodies of his two dead brothers
B. saves his mother from the Devil's clutches.
C. restores life to the Bolum
D. he performs all of these heroic acts.
E. Ti-Jean only defeats the Devil.
5. The purpose of the formal prologue in Ti-Jean and His Brothers is:
A. to establish the possibility of the fantastic events that follow and create a theatrical
atmosphere
B. to establish Ti-Jean as a near-mythic hero through song
C. to foretell the ending of the play so that audiences may judge the actions of the brothers
D. to imitate the classic style of playwriting
E. all of the above
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TRUE/FALSE
6. In Ti-Jean and His Brothers, Gros Jean symbolizes the self-taught intellectual who
succumbs to middle class values.
7. In Ti-Jean and His Brothers, the Devil disguises himself as Papa Bois (a wood spirit) and
as a white planter.
8. Walcott is a founder of the Trinidad Theater Project in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad.
9. Walcott admits to an influence of the Japanese Noh and Kabuki theaters.
10. Ti-Jean and His Brothers relies on character archetypes and archetypal situations.
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PART II
AN ANTHOLOGY OF THE WORLD’S DRAMA
CHAPTER 9:
The Contemporary Theater
GOAL: To survey the influences on and characteristics of the contemporary theater in Europe
and the Americas.
KEY POINTS:
1. The impetus for a significant body of contemporary drama derives from the belief that
the old absolutes are no longer necessarily valid and that “truth” is relative to the
perspective of the viewer. These beliefs are manifested in several ways:
•
•
•
language is considered suspect because it is imprecise and the meanings of words
change from speaker to speaker;
social institutions—and the people who form them—can be redefined and are not
necessarily fixed entities;
racial, ethnic, gender, and sexual pluralism is often considered preferable to the older
hegemony of patriarchal Eurocentrism.
2. A number of theater artists have contributed to the development of the contemporary
theater; these include, but are not limited to:
•
•
•
•
Luigi Pirandello, the Italian playwright and philosopher, whose dramas explored the
lack of a fixed perspective when assessing the human condition;
Antonin Artaud, whose Theater of Cruelty sought to return the theater to its most
primal roots (found in the rites of non-Western peoples) as it diminished the
intellectual and emotional impact of theater in favor of a visceral response to “the
plague” of contemporary life;
a number of “theater collectives” (e.g., the Living Theatre in the United States,
Augusto Boal’s communes in Brazil) that addressed social and spiritual dilemmas
through group creation;
special interest theater companies (feminist, minority peoples, gay and lesbian) that
address the particular concerns of previously marginalized segments of society.
3. Postmodernism, a controversial term derived from architecture, is often applied to
contemporary playwriting, acting, and production.
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178
4. Contemporary playwriting and dramaturgy has several characteristics.
•
•
•
•
•
•
There is often an ambiguity in language, which is not always considered a reliable
instrument of communication because the meaning and intention of words can change
from speaker to speaker; language is often used as a “mask” to protect the speaker.
Playwrights create metanarratives (new myths) to replace the myths that sustained the
old absolutes, often by satirizing or deconstructing the old myths.
Plots freely mix time and space to depict the “fragmented” nature of life.
Many modern plays do not end with a discernible resolution but suggest an ambiguity
that encourages audiences to assign meanings to the play.
Playwrights freely incorporate a variety of styles and often include (“quote”) passages
from other plays and cultures (including “pop culture”) in their scripts, which may be
referred to as pastiches or collages.
Characters are not fixed and are often depicted as fragmented, malleable, and
inconsistent beings who play many roles in their existence.
5. Acting styles have changed to accommodate the new dramaturgy.
•
•
Actors are often asked to perform several roles in a play to suggest the multiple roles
people play in society.
Because actors often incorporate a mixture of styles within a performance, they must
be more versatile than ever. Actor training frequently requires actors to learn skills
from other cultures and performance modes (e.g., Chinese Opera, Indian dance).
6. With the diminution of language and the emergence of such visual forces as MTV, there
has been an increased emphasis on the visual elements of theater. The “theater of images”
is exemplified by the work of Robert Wilson, Heiner Muller, Richard Foreman, and others.
7. To accommodate a more pluralistic world-view and a more versatile dramaturgy,
dramatic criticism has itself become more versatile and now includes such special interest
approaches and theories as:
•
•
•
•
•
deconstructionism;
gender studies;
feminist criticism;
gay and lesbian criticism;
multicultural criticism.
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TERMS, CONCEPTS, AND PEOPLE
Angels In America
alternative theater
affirmative postmodernism
auteur
Buried Child
The Dance and the Railroad
deconstructionism
feminism
fragmentation
gender studies
The Great Celestial Cow
Group Theatre
Living Theatre
Medeaplay
metanarrative
Mud
multiculturalism
No saco nada de la escuela
One For the Road
“the Other”
Paper Flowers
Personal Effects
queer theory
pastiche (collage)
pluralism
poor theater
postmodern(ism)
Six Characters in Search of An Author
skeptical postmodernism
A Solid Home
Teatro Campesino
theater collectives
theater of cruelty
theater of images
Theatre of the Oppressed
Top Girls
Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992
ventriloquism
Antonin Artaud
Simone de Beauvoir
Augusto Boal
Caryl Churchill
Jacques Derrida
Marie Irene Fornes
Betty Friedan
Griselda Gambaro
Elena Garro
Jerry Grotowski
Tony Kushner
Claude Levi-Strauss
Jean-Francois Lyotard
Heiner Muller
Harold Pinter
Luigi Pirandello
Richard Rorty
Sam Shepard
Anna Deavere Smith
Sue Townsend
Luis Valdez
Robert Venturi
Robert Wilson
Ludwig Wittgenstein
Egon Wolff
David Henry Hwang
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QUESTIONS/ACTIVITIES FOR DISCUSSION AND ESSAYS
A. Television commercials now evidence many of the characteristics we associate with
Postmodernism. Identify and discuss several commercials that you believe employ
“postmodern” techniques to sell their products. Look for things such as rapid changes
of images, pluralism in the people portrayed, relative and changing perspectives (i.e.,
things are not what they first appear to be), the influence of art and music from other
cultures, etc.
B. Newspaper and magazine writers, particularly on the editorial pages, frequently discuss
how language is often employed as a subterfuge by corporations, the military,
politicians and others. Collect some of these and write an essay in which you assess the
state of language in the contemporary world.
C. For one week keep a journal in which you discuss the “roles” you play in your ordinary
life; note especially the various “costumes” you must wear and the “scripts” in which you
are cast. At week’s end, discuss the ways in which you are the sum total of the
fragmented roles you are asked to play.
D. Discuss how MTV has changed the way in which films, newscasts, sporting events, etc.
are now made. Make the argument that we have become a primarily visual—as opposed
to word oriented—society. Based on your understanding of Artaud’s approach to theater
(as described in Chapter 9), can you make the argument that a great deal of the
contemporary media is a manifestation of Artaud’s theories?
E. Discuss the postmodern elements in such recent films as Pleasantville, The Truman Show,
Ed TV, and especially Wag the Dog. Discuss in particular how they address the problem
of defining “reality.”
Six Characters In Search of an Author
1. Would this script be as effective if it were set on a movie set? What would be
gained/lost by performing it as Six Characters in Search of a Screenwriter?
2. On the other hand, the “appearance vs. reality” and “we-are-all-playing-roles” theme is
quite popular in contemporary film (e.g., the Nicholas Cage-John Travolta film, Face
Off). Identify and discuss films that show a Pirandellian influence.
3. “Six Characters” actually borrows from the melodrama (and a pretty lurid one at that).
Identify the melodramatic elements in the play and comment on how Pirandello uses
them to further his philosophic intentions.
4. In what ways are “the Father” and “the Stage Director” two aspects of the same self?
Why are these two, individually and collectively, the most ironic characters in the play?
Improvise a Pirandello scene: imagine six students enter your classroom searching for a
“teacher” to guide them.
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5. Though it is written in three acts, there have been successful one act versions of the play.
Discuss how you would condense the play so it becomes one continuous dramatic action.
In what ways would a lengthy one act be preferable to Pirandello’s original script?
A Solid Home
1. Review the section on Mexico's annual festival, El Dia de los Muertos. Discuss the
relationship between it and Garro's play.
2. To what extent is A Solid Home a feminist play?
3. Identify elements of humor in the play. How does the humor contribute to the mood and
especially to the irony of the last line?
4. See the acclaimed film version of the Mexican novel, Like Water for Chocolate, and
identify elements within that film that typify "magic realism."
5. Though the play could be done very simply against black drapes and with simple
costumes, the visual elements (including lighting) could significantly enhance its fantasy
elements. Discuss how you might design A Solid Home to realize its magic realism. Be
sure to consider music as well.
No Saco nada de la escuela
1. Discuss specific "agit-prop" devices in the play. How does Valdez raise the emotional
level of his audience (agitation), and what specific things does he "teach" his audience
(propaganda)?
2. There are moments when the satire gives way to explicit scenes of violence. Why?
What effect is gained by the movement from laughter to shock? Consider the historical
circumstances (destructive riots in many large cities, violence on college campuses, and
the Viet Nam War) when discussing the reasons why Valdez includes violence in this
otherwise comic play.
3. Though the play attacks racial stereotyping, it resorts to stereotyping to make its satirical
points. Discuss this contradiction.
4. Review Lysistrata and discuss the kinship between Aristophanes and Valdez. Also,
discuss the Brechtian elements in “No saco.”
5. Find other examples of 60s "guerilla" theatre (i.e, "street theatre" which used satire and
agit-prop to abet the anti-war, civil rights, and women's rights movements). Look at the
work of the Bread and Puppet Theatre, the San Francisco Mime Troupe, the Living
Theatre, England's "7:84" and Belts and Braces Theatre Company among others.
Paper Flowers
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1. Analyze Wolff's use of language for its ambiguity, its innuendo, and its gradual
disintegration. In what ways does the Hake use language to destroy Eva?
2. Discuss the importance of scene design and stage props in Paper Flowers. Why are the
things we see as important as anything we hear in the play? Either sketch designs for
each of the six scenes or create a collage of pictures that traces the gradual destruction of
Eva's world.
3. Compare the Hake to Jean in Miss Julie. Discuss how each man plays "mind games" that
eventually destroy his victim.
4. Why is it important that the Hake be rather sympathetic throughout much of the play?
5. Identify specific moments where Eva--despite her apparent sympathy for the Hake--is
actually callous and indifferent to his reality.
Medeaplay
1. Why would the inclusion of dialogue diminish the effect of Medeaplay?
2. To what extent has Muller's play brought the theatre full circle from its ancient roots?
3. Pick another well known play like Hamlet or Life’s a Dream and rewrite it is if you were
Muller and writing in his style.
4. Make a collage and/or "storyboard" (a series of pictures and images film makers use to
suggest the visual elements of a movie) for a production of Medeaplay.
5. Devise a soundtrack for Medeaplay. What music (vocal and/or instrumental) might you
use to support Muller's text? In addition to music, what other sounds might you use?
Consider Artaud's call for a theatre that relies on groans, shrieks, incantations, cries,
noises in place of words.
Buried Child
1. Despite its mystery and subject matter, Buried Child is filled with dark humor. How does
it contribute to the mood and the themes of the play?
2. As Florence Falk has pointed out, Shepard's landscapes are male-dominated. Discuss the
role and function of the two women in Buried Child--Halie and Shelley. Is Shelley more
than just the obligatory "outsider" through whose eyes we assess the events in the farm
house?
3. Discuss the strange events which end Act 1, especially as they contribute to the mood and
themes of the play. What is significant about burying Dodge in corn husks? Or shearing
of Dodge's head by Bradley? Also, discuss the strange ritual which ends Act 2. Are these
events related?
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4. Identify and discuss as many references to the West and "the land" as you can. How do
they complete Shepard's picture of "the true West?"
5. Discuss the scenery this play requires. Should it reproduce a completely naturalistic farm
house, or should it suggest the bizarre elements of the play within the design?
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Dance and the Railroad
1. The mock-Chinese opera in Scene 5 contains the story of "Fleaman." Discuss its
significance to Hwang's overall design. What is satiric about this play-within-the-play?
2. As you read the Fleaman sequence, try to apply what you learned about Chinese Opera
earlier in this text. For instance, note that the first line ("I am Ma") is a yin-tzu or classical
speech of introduction. What other elements of the Chinese Opera can you find?
3. The passage in which Ma and Lone act out the voyage from China is reminiscent of Amiri
Baraka's 1960's expressionistic drama, Slave Ship. Compare Baraka’s play with this
section of Hwang’s play.
4. By the end of the play, the Ma-Lone relationship has changed significantly. Discuss this
change and the steps that lead to it.
5. What elements of Postmodernism can you detect in Hwang's play? Discuss both thematic
and stylistic aspects that are Postmodern.
Top Girls
1. In a 1983 interview, Churchill said that she designed Top Girls "to 'seem' to be
celebrating the extraordinary achievements of women, then it would cut another way and
say that this sort of movement is useless if you don't have a socialist perspective on it."
Imagine you are Churchill and the interviewer has asked you to elaborate upon this
point.
2. Consider Churchill's schema for double-casting the play. Discuss the symbolism of one
of the historical figures playing one of the modern women. Why are her choices
appropriate? What other women from history or literature might Churchill have
included at the dinner party? Remember, she carefully chose women who--although
they seemed ideal role models--were in some way flawed.
3. Analyze dialogue (especially in the dinner scene) in which Churchill overlaps lines to
create an ironic counterpoint to the main action. How does this technique add to the
satire?
4. Although we never meet him, Mr. Kidd is important to the action. Discuss his
significance, especially for what he tells us about Marlene. Why do we not see him?
Also, discuss Mrs. Kidd's purpose as both a foil to the other woman and as a woman in
her own right.
5. Janet Brown defines feminist drama "as one in which the protagonist is a woman, and her
action is to assert her autonomy in an unjust society." Discuss Top Girls as it applies to
Brown's definition.
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Great Celestial Cow
1. Sita and her children (Prem and Bibi) are the most dynamic characters in the play; that is,
they undergo the most dramatic transformations. Chart specific events that lead to their
change. Does Prem's conversion seem a bit too contrived?
2. Cite other instances in which Townsend sets up a calculated culture clash such as that
described in I.7 (the Muslim woman at the Christmas pageant). Comment upon both their
thematic and theatrical effectiveness.
3. Discuss how you might reset the play in America or Canada. What other group of
immigrants might you use (e.g., Salvadorians, Vietnamese, Korean, etc.)? Investigate the
changes in mythology demanded by a recasting of the setting and central characters.
4. How might you design a set to accommodate the many locales and props Townsend
scripts. Review what you have learned about the theatre of India (and other parts of Asia)
and suggest ways in which this play could be staged. Design costumes for "Princess" and
the cows at the Leicester cattle market.
5. Write a speech in which Raj defends his attitudes and behavior. Or, better yet, stage a
debate between Raj and Bibi, especially after Bibi has lived on her own in England for
several years after the play ends.
One For the Road
1. Discuss particular moments when Nicholas uses language to intimidate his victims. Focus
especially on the subtle uses of language.
2. Discuss the theatrical effectiveness of the recurring passages in which Nicholas torments
Victor and Gila with his finger ("This is my finger...etc"). What does the gesture do
theatrically? What does it tell us about Nicholas's power?
3. In the original production, the scene with little Nicky was placed third, and subsequently
Pinter made it the second scene in the play. What was gained and/or lost by this change?
4. Why is Nicholas bothered that the boy shares his name?
5. Could One for the Road be played on a bare stage, using only a desk and chairs as props?
Is it important that we see the walls of the interrogation room?
Mud
1. Despite its violence and profanity, Mud is a spiritual play. Identify and discuss its
spiritual elements. Also, note those instances in which the play is a critique of organized
religion.
2. Throughout this anthology you have read about victimized women. Consider Mae as a
successor to Io in Prometheus Bound and Nora Helmer in A Doll's House.
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3. Is it significant that Fornes sets the play in Appalachia? Discuss her choice of locale.
Would the play be as effective if it were set in a New York tenement or (like Conduct of
Life) on a Caribbean island?
4. Compare/contrast Strindberg's Miss Julie and Mud as examples of naturalism.
Personal Effects
1. Reread the commentary concerning Willy Loman's suitcases in Death of a Salesman.
How do Miller's and Gambarro's plays shed light upon one another?
2. What modern comedian would you cast in the role of the musician? Discuss the range of
comedy demanded by the role.
3. Would the dynamic of the play change significantly if the musician were a woman? A
minority? What additional themes would emerge?
4. Compare Personal Effects to Beckett's Rockaby, this anthology's other dramatic
monologue. Comment upon this device (the lengthy solo speech) as a metaphor for the
contemporary, alienated human being.
5. Though we never hear the musician play, music may well be an integral part of the
experience of this play. Find music which you think is appropriate for the play. You
might listen to the work of Argentina's Astor Piazzolla who elevated the tango to classical
status. This music blends melancholy and playfulness.
Angels in America
1. Why does the play begin with a lengthy monologue by the Rabbi? What is the purpose of
having a Jewish religious leader set the tone of the play? Consider also that Ethel
Rosenberg and Kushner himself are Jews. To what extent does Kushner align the plight
of Jews with that of gays?
2. In an interview Kushner has said that one of his major regrets about the play is that the
only role he created for an African American was that of the ex-drag queen, Belize. Is
the role demeaning and stereotypical? On the other hand, Belize provides much of the
comedy. Discuss the character's dramatic and comedic contributions to the play.
Consider also that the actor who plays Belize is also asked to portray the play's other
outrageous character, Mr. Lies.
3. Look carefully at Kushner's double casting (e.g. the Angel also plays the real estate
salesperson). Can you detect any pattern to this choice by the playwright? Would
anything be lost or gained if a given actor played only a single role?
4. Early in this text we noted that internal conflicts (in which characters must fight
something within themselves) are often more dramatic than external ones. Each of the
principal characters (including Cohn) is consumed by an internal conflict. Discuss the
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"battles within" that are at the heart of Kushner's play. In what way do they help elevate
the play above its political concerns?
5. Read Kushner's production notes that precede the play, especially those comments
concerning a simple staging in which "the wires show." In New York, the play was
produced on an extensive budget in a large theatre, while in London it was staged in a
small theatre and used very little scenery. Discuss the advantages of each approach, as
well as their respective liabilities.
Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992
1. Certainly Smith’s interviewees spoke in prose, yet she scripts their words as if they
were poetry. Discuss the “poetry” of their language, and identify how Smith highlights
the poetic nature of their speech in the typography of the script.
2. Would Smith’s script be as effective if the order of characters was altered? Note
especially the characters who end and begin each sequence (and act). Why did Smith
select those characters and those speeches for those moments in her script?
3. In performance, Smith used a clothes rack with a variety of “odds ’n’ ends” which she
used to define most (but not all) of the characters. Discuss what simple costume choices
might be used to create characters.
4. Suppose Smith were a documentary filmmaker who merely photographed/recorded each
character. Would the end result be as effective? Why is Smith’s one-woman-show more
effective than a documentary film? (Note: In production, Smith actually uses footage of
the riots as background for her performance.)
5. Identify and discuss other recent events, national or especially local, that might be
suitable for a Smith-like docu-drama.
190
GENERAL EXAMINATION ITEMS
1. Among the basic beliefs expressed in much of contemporary and postmodern theatre are
the ideas that:
A. language is imprecise and the meanings of words change from speaker to speaker
B. social institutions and the people who form them are not necessarily fixed entities and can
be redefined
C. racial, ethnic, gender, and sexual pluralism are often considered preferable to the older
hegemony of patriarchal Eurocentrism
D. all of the above
E. none of the above
2. All of the following have contributed to the development of the contemporary theater except:
A. Luigi Pirandello, whose dramas explored the lack of a fixed perspective
B. Antonin Artaud, whose Theater of Cruelty sought to return the theater to its most
primal roots
C. “theater collectives” like the Living Theater and Augusto Boal’s communes in Brazil
D. special interest theater companies which present drama which depicts and advocates
gay and lesbian life-styles
E. Ernesto Quatraine whose Theatre of the Poor sought to emphasize the plight of the
disenfranchised
3. Postmodernism is a controversial term which is often applied to:
A. playwriting, acting, and production which developed as a result of the backlash against
Expressionism
B. playwriting, acting, and production which developed as a means of counter-acting the
“religious right”
C. a form of theatre which, contrary to its name, refers to theatre and drama which predates
the modern era
D. a term which refers to the criticism of their own works by modern playwrights
E. none of the above
4. Among the characteristics of contemporary playwriting and dramaturgy is/are:
A. the preciseness of oral rather than written language
B. the tendency of playwrights to avoid metanarratives
C. plots which freely mix time and space to depict the “fragmented” nature of life
D. playwrights who rarely incorporate a variety of styles and often use/quote passages from
other plays
E. characters whose motivation and actions are logical and probable
5. All of the following are true of the way contemporary acting styles have changed to
accommodate the new dramaturgy except:
A. actors often perform several roles in a play to suggest the multiple roles people play in
society
B. because of the mixture of styles within a performance, actors must be more versatile than
ever
C. actor training frequently requires actors to learn skills from other cultures and
performance modes
D. actors must become proficient and comfortable in very presentational styles
E. training in Aristotelian drama and Method acting have become increasingly important
191
6. The “theatre of images,” which illustrates the diminution of language and an increased
emphasis on the visual elements, is exemplified by the work of:
A. Robert Wilson and Athol Fugard
B. Heiner Muller and Lugi Pirandello
C. Athol Fugard and Heiner Muller
D. Robert Wilson and Richard Foreman
E. Jerry Thompson and Irina Fornes
7. All of the following are contemporary, special interest forms of dramatic criticism
except:
A. deconstructionism
B. gender studies
C. post-constructionist criticism
D. gay and lesbian criticism
E. multicultural criticism
192
TRUE/FALSE
8. The impetus for a significant portion of contemporary drama derives from the belief that
the old absolutes are no longer valid and that “truth” is relative to the perspective of the
viewer.
9. A basic tent of contemporary drama is that language is imprecise and the meanings of
words change from speaker to speaker.
10. Luigi Pirandello, whose early twentieth century dramas explored the lack of a fixed
perspective when assessing the human condition, has had little influence on the drama of
the late twentieth century.
11. Antonin Artaud advocated a theatre which diminished intellectual impact in favor of a
visceral response to “the plague” of contemporary life.
12. While special interest theater companies featuring feminist, gay and lesbian drama have
evolved in recent years, their development has done little to address the particular concerns
of previously marginalized segments of society.
13. Postmodernism, a controversial term, is often applied to contemporary playwriting,
acting, and production.
14. While contemporary playwriting and dramaturgy have exhibited many changes over the
last 25 years, playwrights still continue to avoid plots which freely mix time and space to
depict the “fragmented” nature of life.
15. A characteristic of postmodern playwriting is characters who are not fixed and are often
depicted as fragmented, malleable, and inconsistent beings who play many roles in their
existence.
16. Acting styles and acting training have had to change very little to accommodate the new
dramaturgy of the postmodern era.
17. To accommodate a more pluralistic world-view and a more versatile dramaturgy,
dramatic criticism has itself become more versatile and now includes such special
interest approaches and theories such as gender studies, gay and lesbian criticism, and
multicultural criticism.
193
Six Characters In Search of an Author
1. The name of the play which is being rehearsed when the “Six Characters” enter the stage
is:
A. Right You Are; If You Think You Are
B. Tonight We Improvise
C. The Play’s the Thing
D. Mixing It Up
E. none of the above; it is their play which is interrupted
2. At the end of Six Characters in Search of an Author, which character is thought to have
been shot:
A. the Father
B. the Son
C. the Director
D. the Boy
E. Madame Pace
3. Six Characters in Search of an Author is typical of Pirandello’s work in that it:
A. raises questions about the distinction between illusion/pretense and reality
B. clearly distinguishes between illusion/pretense and reality
C. is almost completely autobiographical
D. is an outgrowth of nineteenth century sentimental comedy
E. includes characters who were actual members of Pirandello's theatre company, “Let’s
Pretend”
4. When the Leading Man and the Leading Lady attempt to play two of “The Characters” in
Six Characters in Search of an Author:
A. their performances are praised by “the Characters”
B. they are directed by “the Characters”
C. their performance is ridiculed by “the Characters”
D. they never attempt to play “the Characters”
E. they are chided by Madam Pace
5. Six Characters in Search of an Author:
A. could easily be mistaken for the work of Arthur Miller by its use of “a play within a
play”
B. is a direct descendent of the almost expressionistic work of Henrik Ibsen
C. can accurately be seen as a precursor of the Absurdist movement
D. all of the above
E. none of the above
194
TRUE/FALSE
6. Six Characters in Search of an Author is similar to Life’s a Dream in that it deals with the
basic distinction, or lack thereof, between illusion and reality.
7. In Six Characters in Search of an Author, it is the “Six Characters’” play and performance
that is interrupted by “the Director.”
8. While the Mother and Daughter argue constantly in Six Characters in Search of an Author, it
is the Father and the Son who get along splendidly and have a good relationship.
9. It is accurate to say that the “Six Characters” in Six Characters in Search of an Author are
members of what might now be called a “dysfunctional family.”
10. According to the Father in Six Characters in Search of an Author, a man who worked for
him as a clerk played an important role in the situation in which “Six Characters” find
themselves.
195
A Solid Home
1. In A Solid Home, Dona Gertrude’s broken body part is:
A. her left arm
B. her left leg
C. her elbow
D. her ankle
E. her clavicle
2. In A Solid Home, Mama Jessie was buried:
A. in a wedding gown
B. in a black blouse and skirt
C. in her European shoes
D. in her nightgown
E. none of the above
3. In A Solid Home, Lydia sees Muni's dead body lying on a stretcher:
A. in the city's morgue
B. in the hospital room
C. in the front yard
D. by the beach
E. in the police station's courtyard
4. Elena Garro, the author of A Solid Home, traveled to France:
A. as a faculty member of the National Autonomous University of Mexico-UNAM
B. as the Mexican Representative of the Spanish International Brigade
C. as a journalist
D. as a member of the Mexican diplomatic corps
E. as a teacher, writer and stage director
5. A Solid Home, is an example of:
A. Absurdism
B. Expressionism
C. Theatre of the Grotesque
D. Existentialism
E. Early Latin American Magic Realism
196
TRUE/FALSE
6. Ultimately, Don Clemente's family waits for the arrival of an angel in A Solid Home.
7. In A Solid Home Vincent Mejia arrives wearing a navy uniform.
8. In A Solid Home Don Clemente sees Lili's house as the center of the sun, the heart of every
star and the root of all grasses.
9. Lydia disappears following her closing lines in A Solid Home.
10. A Solid Home was written in the 1960s during Mexico's turbulent social and political
uprisings.
197
No saco nada de la escuela
1. No saco nada de la escuela is the only Valdez Acto to:
A. address issues surrounding the concept of the "sellout"
B. address issues concerning the indigenous American Aztlan
C. address issues and problems of other minorities in America
D. criticize American secondary and higher education
E. all of the above
2. No saco nada de la escuela was written during the period of the:
A. Korean War
B. Vietnam War
C. Desert Storm
D. Iran/Contra Conflict
E. none of the above
3. In No saco nada de la escuela Esperanza states that her sister attends:
A. University of California
B. San Jose State University
C. Delano Community College
D. Los Angeles Community College
E. Fresno State University
4. In No saco nada de la escuela Esperanza states that her father owns:
A. 10,000 acres of land
B. 29,000 acres of land
C. 9,000 acres of lettuce
D. 20,000 acres of lettuce
E. 5,000 acres of land
5. No saco nada de la escuela was written in:
A. 1959
B. 1969
C. 1949
D. 1999
E. none of the above
198
TRUE/FALSE
6. Luis Valdez, the author of No saco nada de la escuela, is the Director of the Mexican
Cultural Center in Fresno.
7. Luis Valdez migrated to San Jose from Mexico.
8. The purpose of the acto is to entertain audiences through Chicano music, dance and the
spoken word.
9. Luis Valdez artistic style was partly influenced by The San Francisco Mime Troupe.
10. Luis Valdez directed and produced La Bamba on Broadway.
199
Paper Flowers
1. In Paper Flowers, the Hake gets his name from:
A. Mario and the members of the street gang from whom he seems to be fleeing
B. his brother, Alberto, who called him this as a child
C. a common fish, with sharp teeth, eaten by the poor in South America
D. a term he gave himself to show his machismo
E. there is no significance to the name; Wolff uses it for no apparent reason
2. In Paper Flowers, the Hake first saw Eva:
A. while she shopped at a nearby market
B. while she was painting in the botanical gardens
C. while he was begging for money and she pitied him
D. when he answered a "help wanted" advertisement
E. when he came to her door to beg for food and a job
3. When we last see Eva in Paper Flowers, she is:
A. covered in paper flowers as if she were buried by them
B. dressed exactly like the Hake to show that she and he have become indistinguishable
C. slowly walking out of her home because it is no longer hers
D. in a tattered bridal gown and veil, a grotesque bride of the Hake
E. dead, the victim of the Hake's violent temper
4. In Scene 4 of Paper Flowers, we discover the Hake watching (and imitating) a TV show;
ironically, the show is a(n):
A. story about Indians at war with people who have invaded their land
B. police show about a man who preys on helpless women
C. political debate about the disparity between "the haves" and "the have nots"
D. art show in which people are taught to make flowers from old newspapers
E. horror film about a beautiful woman attacked by a vampire
5. In Paper Flowers, Wolff uses the canary:
A. as a symbol of beauty and innocence in a violent world
B. to foreshadow the Hake's eventual destruction of Eva
C. as a symbol of Eve's conventional artistic nature because it contrasts with the primitive
art of the Hake
D. to create atmosphere: when the bird sings Eva's home is peaceful; when it is silent,
things turn ominous
E. as an expressionistic parody of Jean's brutal killing of the bird in Miss Julie
200
TRUE/FALSE
6. Paper Flowers ends more optimistically than Wolff's previous play, The Invaders, which
also deals with the poor invading the home of an upper class citizen.
7. There are distinct similarities between Paper Flowers and Strindberg's Miss Julie.
8. In Paper Flowers, the Hake is employed as a fisherman.
9. Just as the Hake threatens Eva in Paper Flowers, he is similarly threatened by an off-stage
character named Birdy.
10. Egon Wolff, the author of Paper Flowers, writes about the political and social problems
of his native Peru.
201
Medeaplay
1. Heiner Muller's Medeaplay, is correctly identified or aligned with:
A. Artaud's Theater of Cruelty
B. the Theater of Images
C. the postmodern theater
D. all of the above
E. none of the above
2. In Medeaplay, the supporting characters in the play wear:
A. Nazi uniforms
B. death masks
C. wedding dresses
D. all of the above.
E. Muller does not specify any costume pieces.
3. Like Brecht and Piscator before him, Muller calls for “projections” (i.e., sign boards) that
help define the action of Medeaplay; which of the following is not a scripted “projection"
for Medeaplay?
A. The Act of Contrition
B. The Act of Killing
C. The Act of Communion
D. The Castration
E. The Wedding
4. Muller objected to the Disney film Fantasia because:
A. young audiences would never hear the works of Beethoven and the other composers
without envisioning the Disney characters
B. it was strictly a commercial enterprise, devoid of social significance
C. it was too entertaining in a world filled with the horrors he had experienced in World
War II
D. it offered simple solutions to complex problems
E. it was too Romantic and sentimental.
202
TRUE/FALSE
5. Although it is set in the modern era, Heiner Muller's Medeaplay is a faithful adaptation of
Euripides' tragedy.
6. Muller himself was incarcerated by the Nazis, which may have influenced the themes of
his plays.
7. Like Brecht, Muller's primary purpose in the theater is to induce an intellectual response
from his audience.
8. The last image we see in Muller’s Medeaplay, is that of "debris, intestines, limbs" falling
from the flies.
203
Buried Child
1. According to the essay accompanying Buried Child, Vince's lengthy monologue—in which
he describes his ride across Illinois ("I studied my face…")—may be classified as:
A. a moment of catharsis
B. a recognition speech
C. a soliloquy
D. a "vibration"
E. a reversal speech
2. As a young writer, Shepard worked with one of the United States’ major theater
collectives, which was noted for its work with transformation exercises; that company was
called:
A. the Living Theatre
B. the Open Theatre
C. the Magic Theatre
D. the Group Theatre
E. the Actors Studio
3. In Buried Child which character demands that at his/her death "my body is to be pitched
into the middle of [the cornfields] and burned till nothing remains but ashes":
A. Dodge
B. Hallie
C. Tilden
D. Bradley
E. Vince
4. The final stage direction in Buried Child describes which character as s/he carries “the
corpse of a small child at chest level”:
A. Bradley
B. Hallie
C. Dodge
D. Tilden
E. Marvin
5. The setting/locale of Buried Child is significant because:
A. it is set against the typical Shepard landscape of the vast American desert
B. it is set on a Norman Rockwell-like farm that is at odds with the violent acts that take
place there
C. it is set in Illinois, the mid-Western state where Shepard was born
D. Shepard does not specify the locale
E. unlike most of Shepard’s plays the local iS unimportant
204
TRUE/FALSE
6. Shepard seems to have drawn upon the ancient Egyptian myth of Osiris as his “buried child”
prompts the land to yield crops mysteriously.
7. The first act of Buried Child ends with Dodge ceremonially cutting Bradley's hair with
electric clippers.
8. Shepard does not provide a specific surname for his family in Buried Child.
9. In Buried Child, Shelley is Vince's new wife whom he married in the East and is bringing
"home."
10. Though written in 1979, Buried Child is akin to classic Greek tragedy in its portrayal of
intrafamily violence and blood pollution.
205
Dance and the Railroad
1. Though never seen on stage, Gwan Gung, an important character in The Dance and the
Railroad, is:
A. a Chinese businessman who exploits the workers as they try to get jobs
B. "The god of fighters" of Chinese Opera who defends the poor
C. a famous actor whom Ma wants to be like
D. Lone's name when he acted in China
E. the boss of the work camp at Gold Mountain
2. While in China, the character Lone from The Dance and the Railroad trained to be:
A. a businessman
B. an engineer
C. an opera singer/actor
D. a farmer
E. we are not told of Lone's training in China.
3. In The Dance and the Railroad, we learn that Ma has been in America for what length of
time?
A. many years
B. he is "fresh off the boat" (FOB)
C. about one month
D. one year
E. we are not told how long he has been in America.
4. In The Dance and the Railroad, Ma tells a lengthy story about insects—which symbolizes
the plight of the Chinese workers—while he is costumed as a/an:
A. locust
B. flea
C. duck
D. beetle
E. ant
5. In The Dance and the Railroad, Lone's final request of Ma is symbolically important
because:
A. it shows that the workers have won their strike and things will get better
B. Lone realizes his dreams about opera are as delusional as Ma's dreams about getting
rich
C. Lone is content that Ma has learned his lessons well and no longer needs a teacher
D. Lone has relinquished his authority to the younger Ma
E. Ma has refused to take his rightly deserved authority
206
TRUE/FALSE
6. Hwang's most acclaimed play, M. Butterfly (for which he won several awards), is about a
French diplomat and his transvestite Chinese lover.
7. In The Dance and the Railroad Hwang is as critical of the Chinese who exploit their own as
he is of the "white devils" who mistreat the immigrants.
8. In The Dance and the Railroad Lone and Ma are the actual names of the actors who
originated the roles for Hwang.
9. In The Dance and the Railroad Hwang uses the student-teacher relationship to advance his
plot and its message, with Ma as the teacher and Lone as the pupil.
10. Hong, an unseen character, is one of the villains in The Dance and the Railroad.
207
Top Girls
1. The most ironic character in Top Girls, is:
A. Patient Griselda because she has abandoned her children to serve her abusive husband
B. the Waitress because she must stand silently and serve the women as they eat and drink
C. Marlene because she acts like "one of the boys" in her executive position
D. Lady Ninjo because she dismisses her dead child "as only a girl"
E. Isabella Bird because she retains a colonialist mentality despite her liberated attitudes
2. “Bourgeois Feminism”:
A. is actively political in its quest to improve the lives and working conditions of women
B. has been embraced by Churchill because it promises a populist voice that transcends
gender and economic status
C. assumes that the women succeed only when they attain the power and wealth afforded
men
D. is acceptable to more people because it is less threatening and appeals to middle class
values
E. none of the above
3. In Top Girls, the only significant role that is not "doubled" (i.e., an actor plays two roles)
is:
A. Joyce
B. Marlene
C. Angie
D. all roles are doubled
E. doubling is only an option
4. In Top Girls, Churchill suggests that perhaps the most heroic woman in the play is:
A. Marlene because she has broken through the glass ceiling to become an executive
B. Dull Gret because she has defeated the demons of hell to save her family (and pig!)
C. Joyce because she agrees to raise her sister's illegitimate child
D. all of the women are equally heroic because they have triumphed over an oppressive
system
E. there are no heroic women in the play; all are subject to Churchill's criticism.
5. Top Girls typifies Postmodern drama because:
A. its action is not rooted in a particular time and it does not follow a strictly linear
progression
B. its actors play multiple roles as a commentary on the various roles people often play
in daily life
C. there is a pronounced ambiguity in the play's message and in its tone.
D. all of the above
E. none of the above
208
TRUE/FALSE
6. Chronologically, the final scene of Top Girls portrays an action that happened a year before
the other scenes.
7. In Top Girls, Dull Gret assaults the demons of hell to protect her oppressed "sisters."
8. By the end of Top Girls, Churchill suggests that Marlene is no better than the men she has
supplanted on the corporate ladder because she has, in effect, become one of them in the
way she treats those beneath her.
9. All of the historical characters in Top Girls with whom Marlene lunches are based on actual
persons who lived in pre-twentieth century times.
10. Top Girls is, at heart, a conventional feminist play that validates the heroism of women in a
patriarchal world.
209
The Great Celestial Cow
1. Townsend wrote The Great Celestial Cow, in conjunction with actors from one of
England's most important social-activist theater companies called:
A. The Royal Court Theater
B. The English Stage Company
C. Split Britches
D. The Joint Stock Theater Group
E. 7:84 Theater Company
2. In The Great Celestial Cow who says the following--“One glimpse [at my legs] and the
English blokes are sitting on their haunches panting for it and I'm so depraved and
corrupted by the West that I let them have it. You see I've no morality of my own. No
respect for my body?”
A. Lila
B. Bibi
C. Sita
D. Kishwar
E. Daheba
3. The climax of The Great Celestial Cow occurs when:
A. Sita confronts Prim for his boorish behavior and lack of respect
B. Sita and her family return to India
C. Bibi finally learns to ride the bike
D. The women rebel at the cattle auction
E. Bibi and Sita dance with the goddess who drinks the milk
4. Sita's name is taken from a character in classical Hindu mythology who was:
A. The Lord of the Dance who controlled human destiny
B. a princess and prototype of the perfect woman
C. the protector of cattle and other life-giving elements
D. all of the above
E. none of the above
5. In the final scene of The Great Celestial Cow, to whom does Sita say “How beautiful you
look, not a day older. I've been waiting for you for so long, but now I can go home.”
A. Princess
B. Bibi
C. Herself
D. Raj
E. Lila
210
TRUE/FALSE
6. Townsend wrote The Great Celestial Cow after observing the plight of Asian immigrant
women in a poor section of London.
7. The most important prop in The Great Celestial Cow is a milk pail.
8. In The Great Celestial Cow the most satirical and least sympathetic character among the
Indian women is the mother-in-law.
9. The Great Celestial Cow ends with Sita and her family happily integrated into English life.
10. The primary problem confronting Sita and her family in The Great Celestial Cow is racism.
211
One For the Road
1. Throughout the final scene of One For the Road, Victor has difficulty speaking because:
A. he is devastated because he has learned his son has been executed
B. he has seen his wife who has been raped repeatedly
C. he has had his tongue cut with sharp instruments
D. he is slowly dying because he has been drugged by Nicholas
E. none of the above
2. One for the Road might appropriately be called:
A. a grotesque parody of cocktail party conversations
B. a polemic against repressive regimes and human rights violations
C. an example of postmodern theater in which the ambiguity of language is explored
D. all of the above
E. none of the above
3. Although Nicholas is normally collected and "in charge" in One For the Road, he gets
rattled when:
A. Victor threatens to expose him in his newspaper
B. Gia's son reveals his name to Nicholas
C. Gia reveals that her father is a powerful government official
D. Victor passes out
E. Nicholas never loses control
4. Pinter wrote One For the Road:
A. after encountering two Turkish women who nonchalantly dismissed human rights
violations in that country's prisons
B. at the request of Amnesty International, which was lobbying against international human
rights violations
C. as part of a series of political plays exposing atrocities in third world prisons
D. as a companion to Mountain Language, another play about horrible prison conditions
E. as the result of his having been imprisoned on false charges
5. In One For the Road, the primary physical weapon(s) Nicholas uses to torment Victor and
Gia is/are:
A. broken glass
B. a police baton
C. his fingers
D. a length of rope
E. Nicholas uses only language and resorts to no physical threats
212
TRUE/FALSE
6. By the end of One For the Road, we know with certainty that Nicky has been killed.
7. In One For the Road, Victor and Gia have been arrested for expressing anti-government
sentiments.
8. Pinter was inspired to write One For the Road as the result of hearing a story about
human rights violations in Turkish prisons.
9. In One For the Road, Nicholas' language vacillates wildly between ultra-sophistication and
crude invective.
10. One for the Road is typical of Pinter's work because of its overtly political message.
213
Personal Effects
1. In Personal Effects, the Train Station does not contain:
A. an Arrival/Departure Schedule
B. safety announcements
C. a waiting area
D. a restroom
E. water
2. The Man/Musician in Personal Effects opens his violin case to discover that:
A. the violin has been damaged
B. the violin has been stained
C. all the strings are broken
D. a string is broken
E. A and C
3. In Personal Effects the Man/Musician discovers that he has not packed his:
A. cologne
B. ulcer medicine
C. aspirin
D. written itinerary
E. none of the above
4. Personal Effects premiered in:
A. Buenos Aires
B. Entre Rios
C. Cuba
D. Madrid
E. Paris
5. The Man/Musician in Personal Effects is how old?:
A. 20 years old
B. 30 years old
C. 40 years old
D. 50 years old
E. none of the above
214
TRUE/FALSE
6. The Man/Musician in Personal Effects is leaving the town for an international concert
tour.
7. During the closing moments of Personal Effects, the Man/Musician is seen clutching his
violin case.
8. Griselda Gambaro's Personal Effects was written in the 1980s.
9. The Man/Musician in Personal Effects is reminiscent of the comic characters of Greek
Comedy
10. Personal Effects was originally written as a short story
215
Mud
1. Mud is:
A. an Expressionistic work spiced with presentational stylistic qualities
B. a Naturalistic work
C. an Absurdist comedy
D. a modern allegorical work spiced with Naturalistic qualities
E. Romantic work
2. In Mud, Mae asks Lloyd to pick up:
A. the groundhog
B. the knife
C. his underwear and socks
D. the corn
E. none of the above
3. In Mud, Mae goes to the clinic to:
A. seek a cure for her disease
B. inform the clinicians that Lloyd is ill
C. seek employment
D. acquire Lloyd's cough medicine
E. none of the above
4. In Mud, Henry informs Lloyd that Ron died of:
A. brain hemorrhage
B. syphilis
C. cancer
D. liver failure
E. heart attack
5. Maria Irene Fornes, the author of Mud, was born in:
A. Miami
B. Puerto Rico
C. Cuba
D. New York
E. Argentina
216
TRUE/FALSE
6. In Mud, Lloyd is Fornes's depiction of the saving angel.
7. While other issues might be addressed, Mud is essentially a feminist critique of male
aggression.
8. In Mud, Henry complains that someone took the credit cards from his wallet.
9. Henry spills the syrup on the floor while attempting to feed Lloyd in Mud.
10. Maria Irene Fornes, author of Mud, was a painter before embarking on a career in the theatre.
217
Angels in America
1. In Angels in America, the actor who plays the angel is also seen--quite deliberately--as
A. the homeless lady in the South Bronx
B. the real estate saleswoman in Salt Lake City
C. the nurse
D. the actor actually plays all the above
E. the actor plays only the Nurse in addition to the Angel.
2. In Angels in America, Roy Cohn:
A. was intended by Kushner to be the most sympathetic in the cast of characters
B. is a purely fictional creation by the playwright and is used to symbolize power hungry
capitalists
C. worked in the Nixon Administration and became a symbol among liberals for the cruel,
dispassionate attitudes they associated with conservative Republicans
D. is rigid and inflexible, and thereby only a two dimensional character who serves as the
play's villain
E. visits Ethel Rosenberg as she lies dying of cancer in the play's most ironic moment
3. In Angels in America, Kushner purposefully uses a variety of styles (comedy, serious
drama, high camp), locales (New York, Washington, Utah), historical eras (the 50s, the
present), and characters (performed by actors who play multiple roles) to:
A. mirror the complexity of the social and personal problems the play addresses
B. illustrate the panorama of American society at the end of the 20th century
C. create a boldly theatrical experience that is not bound by conventional drama
D. all of the above
E. none of the above
4. In Angels in America, the character Belize is/was:
A. a drag queen who once loved Prior
B. once named Norman Arriaga
C. registered nurse
D. all of the above
E. none of the above
5. Which character in Angels in America, says the following: "Roy Cohn is not a homosexual.
Roy Cohn is a heterosexual man…who fucks around with guys"?:
A. Henry
B. Roy Cohn
C. Louis
D. Joseph Porter Pitt
E. none of these characters speaks the line; it is taken from Kushner's preface to the play
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TRUE/FALSE
6. Angels in America was the first successful Broadway play to deal sympathetically with
homosexuality.
7. The plot of Angels in America is episodic.
8. Kushner specifically requires the actor who plays the Angel in Angels In America to also
play the Woman in the South Bronx.
9. The character that embodies what Kushner calls "the Continental Principality of America" is
Roy Cohn.
10. In Act 3 of Angels in America the dying Prior is confronted by the spirits of his
ancestors who come "to stew rose petal and palm leaf before the triumphal procession."
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Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992
1. While it is difficult to name all of the characters in Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992, among
those who stand out because of the length of their speeches and/or notoriety of their
involvement is (are):
A. Senator Diane Feinstein
B. Rodney King
C. Senator Bill Bradley
D. A & B
E. B & C
2. In his description of the events involving the arrest of Rodney King, Special Weapons and
Tactic Unit Sergeant Charles Duke gives a lesson in the use of:
A. the proper L.A. Police procedure for arresting a detained driver
B. the proper L. A. Police procedure for the use of handcuffs
C. the proper L. A. Police procedure for escorting someone who is detained to the squad
car
D. the proper L. A. Police procedure for use of a police baton
E. the proper L. A. Police procedure for riot control
3. The “Twilight” in Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992, refers to:
A. the name taken by a character in the play
B. the “beginning of the end” or the Twilight of “law and order” in American society
C. the name given to the characters who saw the beating of Rodney King but refused to
become involved
D. “the dim light” on Los Angeles’ busy night-time streets
E. the hazy effect of the smoke filled streets that were a part of the 1992 riots
4. Anna Deavere Smith’s Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992, is:
A. her first attempt at the style of writing used in the play
B. a part of a larger work entitled A Search For American Character
C. a part of a collective effort entitled American Character in American Cities
D. a departure from her style in other works such as Fires in the Mirror
E. a style of writing which bears little resemblance to the ancient art of storytelling
5. “I don’t know what I want. I just want people to wake up. It’s not a color, its a person”
are the passionate words spoken by which character in Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992:
A. Rodney King
B. Reginald Denny
C. Charles Duke
D. Senator Bill Bradley
E. Senator Diane Fienstein
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TRUE/FALSE
6. The dialogue in Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992, is based loosely on the conversations Anna
Deavere Smith had with the characters she portrays.
7. In Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992, the events that are described, while they are based on actual
events, are embellished by Anna Deavere Smith to make them more appealing to the
audience.
8. All of the characters are played by a single performer in Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992.
9. In Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992, the events of the L. A. riots of 1992 are presented in the
order in which they actually happened.
10. While most of the characters in Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992, are “real people,” Smith has
invented a few minor characters to help make the play more interesting.
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Appendices
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