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Chapter 9: Contemporary Theatre and Its Diversity • Dominant (primarily white, middle-class) cultural standards have been challenged since the 1960s • Efforts made: • To open mainstream theatres to plays about groups previously marginalized or ignored • To establish theatres to give these groups their own voices • Companies and directors have championed radical change in theatrical conventions and in ideas about the nature and purpose of theatre Cultural Diversity • Some groups have rebelled against marginalization • Other groups have questioned the desirability of absorption into the “melting pot” if their own cultures, traditions, and esthetic sensibilities cannot be maintained • Argument that acknowledging, accepting, and valuing difference is preferable to trying to achieve homogenization African American Theatre • Of all marginalized groups, theatres and plays concerned with African Americans have made the greatest impact • Lorraine Hansberry (1930-1965) ▫ Writer of critically acclaimed and award-winning play A Raisin in the Sun (1959) ▫ First play by an African American woman to be presented on Broadway African American Theatre • Themes explored by A Raisin in the Sun would be significant in future African American drama: • Integration versus separation of races • Inequities and injustices inflicted on African Americans • Aspirations for the good life and obstacles to achieving one‟s potential • Maintaining dignity in the face of overwhelming circumstances African American Theatre • Amiri Baraka (LeRoi Jones) • Set out to develop a black esthetic • Founded Spirit House in Newark in 1966 • Promoted separatist black society • Credo = theatre “by us, about us, for us” • Best known plays = • The Dutchman • Slave Ship African American Theatre • Negro Ensemble Company (NEC) • Founded in NYC by Douglas Turner Ward in 1968 • Produced plays meaningful to African Americans, but not necessarily written by African Americans • Declined during the 1990s and ceased to offer plays ▫ Other theatre companies were formed, which also increased opportunities for directors and playwrights African American Theatre • George C. Wolfe • Wrote The Colored Museum • Conceived and directed popular musical Bring on ‘Da Noise, Bring on ‘Da Funk • Directed Angels in America • Headed New York Shakespeare Festival Theatre (1993-2005) African American Theatre • Lloyd Richards (1916-2006) • Directed original Broadway production of A Raisin in the Sun • Artistic Director of Yale Repertory Theatre & Dean of Yale University School of Drama (1979-1991) • Artistic Director of National Playwrights Conference at the Eugene O‟Neill Center (1968-1999) • Helped emerging playwrights develop including August Wilson African American Theatre • August Wilson (1945-2005) • Playwright • Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom • Fences • The Piano Lesson (Pulitzer Prize) • Works concentrate on African American identity and quests for fulfillment and dignity • Has written a play about the African American experience for each decade of the 20th century Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom • Set in 1927 in a recording studio in Chicago • A 3-way power structure is established between the musicians, who have learned to accept their lot in the white-dominate society, the white studio owners, and Ma Rainey, who knows she holds all the cards • When Levee kills Toledo, Wilson seems to suggest that the violence is an outgrowth of the power dynamic African American Theatre • Susan-Lori Parks • First African American playwright to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for TopDog/Underdog (2002) Latino Theatre • Second to African American Theatre as the most extensively developed alternative theatre in the USA • First known play staged in what is now the USA = performance by Spanish soldiers in El Paso in 1598 • Late 19th century, Spanish-language theatre became common in USA • 1918-1930s = 5 professional Spanish-language theatres in Los Angeles + touring companies Latino Theatre • 1960s = broader impact of Latino theatre on the wider American consciousness • El Teatro Campesino • Bilingual Chicano company • Founded by playwright Luis Valdez in 1965 • Early works called attention to plight of migrant workers • Maria Irene Fornes • Cuban American playwright • 6 awards for Off-Broadway productions • Fefu and Her Friends • The Conduct of Life Latino Theatre • Nilo Cruz • Cuban exile • Anna in the Tropics (Pulitzer Prize) • Plays focus on character whose dignity and creative potential is at odds with repressive circumstances under which character lives • José Rivera • Puerto Rican-born, known for “Magic Realism” • Octavio Solis • From El-Paso, TX, his plays resonate deeply within the LatinoAmerican community Lydia • By Octavio Solis • Commissioned by the Denver Center Theatre • Characters are caught “between two ways of being, two ways of life” • Tells the story of a family shattered by an accident • The arrival of an immigrant, Lydia, forces them to confront long buried secrets and issues they have ignored Asian American Theatre • Asian American theatres existed in the USA as early as the mid-19th century • Asian Americans rebelled against stereotyped portrayals of Asian Americans by white dramatists around 1965 by writing their own plays and forming their own companies • Frank Chin • First Asian American playwright to be widely recognized • Chickencoop Chinaman Asian American Theatre • David Henry Hwang • Best-known Asian American playwright • F.O.B. • M. Butterfly • Yellow Face • Chay Yew • Artistic Director: Asian American Theatre Workshop & Northwest Asian American Theatre • A Winter People • Second Skin Native American Theatre • The Native American Theatre Ensemble • First all-Native American company • Founded by Hanay Geiogamah in 1972 • Company has transformed into the American Indian Dance Theatre, with 19 members from 12 tribes • Spiderwoman Theatre • Founded by 3 Native American sisters • First all-female Native American group in the USA • Naa Kahidi (Clan House) • Based in Alaska • Performs adaptations of Tlingit myths at festivals Theatre by and for Women • While women represent 50% of the world‟s population, throughout theatre history they have been relegated to a minor position • New theatres formed to present the work of feminist writers beginning in the 1970s • Many women playwrights have gained recognition in mainstream theatres Theatre by and for Women • Marsha Norman ▫ ‘Night Mother, Pulitzer 1983 • Beth Henley ▫ Crimes of the Heart, Pulitzer 1981 • Wendy Wasserstein ▫ The Heidi Chronicles, Pulitzer 1989 • Paula Vogel ▫ The Baltimore Waltz ▫ How I Learned to Drive, Pulitzer 1997 How I Learned to Drive • Uses „learning how to handle an automobile‟ as a metaphor for learning how to navigate one‟s way through life • A unusual and sensitive look at pedophilia • Not organized in a linear arrangement • Looks at various moments, back and forth in time • Shifts in time are triggered primarily by memory or an association of ideas • Uses very little scenery as the place of the action is memory Gay and Lesbian Theatre • Only recently have plays focused on homosexuality as their primary topic • Matt Crowley: playwright • The Boys in the Band (1968) as first play on Broadway specifically about gay men • George Ludlam: playwright, actor • Head of the Ridiculous Theatre Company from 1967-1986 • Harvey Fierstein: playwright • Torchsong Trilogy 1982 • La Cage aux Folles 1983 Gay and Lesbian Theatre • AIDS crisis generated numerous gay plays during the late 1980s, including: • • • • The Normal Heart As Is Lips Together, Teeth Apart Jeffrey • Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes • Written by Tony Kushner • 7-hour epic play in 2 parts: Millennium Approaches and Perestroika Gay and Lesbian Theatre • Few Lesbian plays have made their way into the mainstream • 1978 – Gay Theatre Alliance was formed • GLAAD – Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation • Provide stage and screen representation Performance Art Since 1990 • The major creators of performance art disregarded the boundaries between the arts to expand the means of expression • Some performance artists are solo performers • Eric Bogosian, Spalding Gray, John Leguizamo, Anna Deavere Smith • Some blend theatre, dance, and performance art • Laurie Anderson, Pina Bausch, Martha Clarke, Ping Chong, Meredith Monk • The term “Performance Art” no longer has specificity Postmodernism • The ideas and practices of environmental theatre and performance art are related to postmodernism • Melded categories by: ▫ ▫ ▫ ▫ ▫ Breaching boundaries between the arts Breaking down barriers between the spectator and performers Remove distinctions between audience and performers Ignoring the line between high and low culture Blurring the distinctions between dramatic forms Postmodernism • Eclectic and referential • Mingles elements from disparate styles, periods, or cultures into a “pastiche” • Treats text as cultural debris to be played with, recombined, or skimmed • Many of the aspects of postmodernism come together in the work of Robert Wilson • • • • Borrows from several media, cultures, and historical periods Creates essentially visual pieces Time is an important element According to Wilson, there is nothing to understand only things to experience Postmodern Influences on Interpretation and Design Modern View of Directing: • The Director‟s task is to translate the playwright‟s script literally from page to stage Postmodern View of Directing: • Since there can be no single “correct” interpretation of a text, the Director may interpret the playwright‟s script as he/she sees fit The first view preferences the playwright while the second view preferences the director. What do YOU think? 1. Are directors justified in reshaping a script to suit their own vision even if it distorts the playwright‟s intentions? Why or why not? 2. What are the implications of demanding that directors adhere to playwrights‟ notions about how their work should be staged? 3. Which model of the Playwright/Director relationship do you prefer: Modern or Postmodern? Why? Contemporary British Drama • Many British playwrights have received international recognition for their work • Harold Pinter • Won the Nobel Prize for literature in 2005 • Tom Stoppard • Combines verbal wit and hightly imaginative action with complex ideas about perceptions of reality • Caryl Churchill • Her plays are a varied in form as they are in content • Martin McDonagh • His plays mix dark humor with violence and brutality Contemporary Musical Theatre • British imports dominated Broadway in the 1980s • Factors have helped to revitalize the musical and Broadway • Dynamic New Musicals • Rent, • Bring in ‘Da Noise, Bring in ‘Da Funk • Urban renewal of the 42nd Street area • Disney as a producer of Broadway shows • Family-friendly fare with an enhanced image • Musicals based on films, books, and pop music • The Full Monty, Hairspray, Mama Mia, Wicked, etc. • Original musicals with intriguing topics or conventions • Avenue Q, The Drowsy Chaperone, In the Heights, etc. The Next Wave of Contemporary American Playwrights • There are a number of new voices in American drama • • • • • • • Richard Greenberg Lynn Nottage Tracy Letts Naomi Iizuka Tony Kushner Quiara Alegría Hudes Sarah Ruhl As this chapter indicates, theatre has become quite diverse, and transculturalism is becoming the new paradigm