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NineteenthCentury Theatre Influences 17th c. French Neo-Classical and English Restoration drama of wit and manners became 18th theatre of sensibility 18th –19th c. German Romantic Theatre Revival of Shakespeare Rise of “star system”: actor-managers Technical advances in staging and lighting th 18 th –19 c. German Romantic Theater “Stürm und Drang” Looked to Shakespeare for models Sweeping historical and tragic dramas Began to emphasize historical accuracy in costumes and settings Improved theatrical effects -- footlights, revolving stages, theatrical machinery Schiller and Goethe English Romantic Theatre Closet drama: drama meant more to be read than performed Popular in the early 19th c. when melodrama and burlesque dominated the theater, and poets attempted to raise dramatic standards: George Gordon Lord Byron: Manfred, 1817 Percy Bysshe Shelley’s The Cenci and Prometheus Unbound, 1819 Robert Browning’s Strafford (1837) and Pippa Passes (1841) Melodrama: 19th C. Comes from "music drama" – music was used to increase emotions or to signify characters (signature music). Theatre of sentimentality -- emotional appeal Simplified moral universe: good and evil embodied in stock characters Heroes and villains -- and lily-pure heroines Sensationalistic: fires, explosions, drownings, etc. Episodic form: the villain poses a threat, the hero or heroine escapes, etc.—with a happy ending Wide popular appeal Uncle Tom’s Cabin dramatizations based on novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe George L. Aiken’s was the most popular--1853. Six acts, done without an afterpiece – established the singleplay format. 325 performances in New York. In the 1870’s, at least 50 companies doing it in the U.S. In 1899: 500 companies. In 1927: 12 still doing it. 12 movie versions since 1900. The most popular melodrama in the world until the First World War. Domestic Melodrama Equestrian Melodrama Nautical Melodrama The Water Tank at Sadler’s Wells Theatre – 50,000 gallons of water Gothic Melodrama Comic or Light Opera Predecessors Italian Opera Buffa French Opera Comique English Ballad Opera: Gay’s The Beggar’s Opera German Singspiele English Pantomime Viennese Operetta Conventions Combination of spoken dialogue and songs A frivolous, sentimental story, often employing parody and satire Light, pleasant music sometimes including popular music of the day Richard D’oyly Carte Gilbert and Sullivan together to write an opera afterpiece: Trial by and Jury the Savoy Theatre 1876: Formed the Comic Opera 1875: D’oyly Carte brought Company and leased the Opera Comique Theatre 1877-1881: Great successes with The Sorcerer, H.M.S. Pinafore, Patience and The Pirates of Penzance 1878 on: touring companies (A,B,C, D) throughout the UK, Ireland, North America, Europe, and South Africa 1881: Built the Savoy Theatre – the first London theatre to be lit with electric lights Gilbert and Sullivan First collaborated in 1871 on Author Sir William Schwenk Gilbert 1836-1911 Thespis, an ‘Original Grotesque Opera’ After success of The Sorcerer and H.M.S. Pinafore partnered with Richard D’oyly Carte to form Mr. D’Oyly Carte’s Opera Company. Success of company attributed to D’Oyly Carte’s business acumen and diplomacy as well as artistic control exercised by Gilbert and Sullivan. Sullivan knighted in 1883 by Queen Victoria. Gilbert knighted in 1907 by King Edward VII. Composer Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan 1842-1900 Light 1817: first gas lit theatre Smelled bad Very hazardous – many theatres burnt down as the gas lighting set the wood and canvas scenery on fire 1826: limelight was invented A block of quicklime heated by oxygen and hydrogen produced a bright sharp light. Used in hand-operated spotlights 1881: London’s Savoy Theatre opened with electric lights The auditorium was still lit for most of this period, which also had an effect on the lighting effects on-stage. Lighting control desk at the Paris Opera, 1893 The Well-Made Play 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. A plot based upon a withheld secret Slowly accelerating action and suspense sustained by such contrivances as precisely timed entrances and exits, letters which miscarry, and mistakes in identity, A battle of wits between two adversaries A reversal in the action followed by a climactic, "obligatory" scene representing the nadir and then the zenith of the hero's fortunes as a result of the disclosure of the withheld secret A logical, credible denouement Tendency to have the action center upon a stage prop, e.g. a letter, a fan or a glass of water A nugget of morality which would appease the ordinary man's sense of guilt at enjoying himself, e.g. the lesson that momentous consequences may follow from quite trivial events. Alexandre Dumas fils 1824-95 Dramas of Illicit Love 1852: Lady of the Camellias – dramatization of 1848 novel – Verdi’s La Traviata 1853: Diana de Lys 1855: Le Demi-Monde 1857: The Money Question 1858: The Natural Son 1859: A Prodigal Father Oscar Wilde 1854-1900 Middle Class Satire 1892: Lady Windermere's Fan 1893: A Woman Of No Importance 1894: Salome 1895: An Ideal Husband 1895: The Importance Of Being Earnest Actor-Managers Star performers who held the license to the theatres, arranged the performances and hired the other actors. Introduced reforms and innovations: full rehearsals for the company raised status of actors revived Shakespearean plays toured extensively offered powerful management role to women Demands of complicated technical effects (storms, fires, elaborate lighting) led actors to give artistic control to stage managers who could coordinate all production aspects Stage manager's function became increasingly important until he was eventually elevated to the status of régisseur, or director. 1849: competing productions of Macbeth. Riot erupted leaving 23 dead and 100 wounded Edwin Forrest, American 1806-72 William Macready, English 1793-1873 Edmund Kean, English, 1787-1833 Samuel Drummond (1765-1844) Edmund Kean as Richard III (1814) Sarah Bernhardt, French, 1844-1923 Henry Irving, English, 1838-1905 Eleanora Duse, Italian, 1859-1924 Edwin Booth, American, 1833-93 James O’Neill, American, 1849-1920 November 25, 1864, "Julius Caesar," Winter Garden, New York: The first and last appearance together of Junius Brutus Booth, Jr. (right) and two of his sons, John Wilkes (left) and Edwin (middle). Realism and Naturalism Intellectual reaction against popular theatre Theatre of social problems Influenced by emerging disciplines of psychology and sociology Emerging importance of director Realistic stage conventions Proscenium stage Audience as “fourth wall” Change in acting conventions Continued improvement in stagecraft: electric lighting, set design, costumes, etc. Independent Theatre Movement Led by young intellectuals, disillusioned with the literary stagnation of the stage, the actor-manager system and indulgence with scenic spectacle Wanted to promote new Realistic and Naturalistic playwrights Often ran into trouble with censors Dedicated to bringing serious drama to the working and middle class Independent Theatres Théâtre-Libre founded by André Antoine in 1887 in Paris Freie Bühne founded by Otto Brahm in 1894 in Berlin Independent Theatre Club founded by Jacob Grein in 1891 in London The Stage Society founded in 1899 in London Moscow Art Theatre founded by Konstantin Stanislavsky and Vladimir NemirovichDanchenko in 1898 in Moscow The Abbey Theatre founded by William Butler Yeats and Lady Augusta Gregory in 1903 in Dublin Realism vs. Naturalism Middle class Pragmatic Psychological Mimetic art Objective, but ethical Sometimes comic or satiric How can the individual live within and influence society? “Well-made play” Henrik Ibsen, George Bernard Shaw Middle/Lower class Scientific Sociological Investigative art Objective and amoral Often pessimistic, sometimes comic How does society/the environment impact individuals? “Slice of life” August Strindberg, Anton Chekhov, John Millington Synge Realistic Social Dramas Henrik Ibsen Norwegian, 1828-1906 Romantic Dramas Brand Peer Gynt The Pillars of Society A Doll's House Ghosts An Enemy of the People The Wild Duck Rosmersholm The Lady from the Sea Hedda Gabler Symbolic Dramas The Master Builder Little Eyolf John Gabriel Borkman When We Dead Awaken August Strindberg Naturalistic Plays : 1880s The Father Miss Julie Creditors Dreamplays : turn of the century To Damascus A Dream Play The Ghost Sonata Historical Dramas: turn of the century Gustavus Vasa Erik XIV Charles XII Swedish, 1849-1912 storyteller, dramatist Anton Chekhov Physician, Plays: Russian 1860-1904 That Worthless Fellow Platonov On the Harmful Effects of Tobacco Ivanov The Bear A Marriage Proposal The Wood Demon For the Moscow Art Theatre: The Seagull Uncle Vanya The Three Sisters The Cherry Orchard Fabian, Drama critic, Nobel Prize Winner The Quintessence of Ibsenism, Playwright: Over 50 plays 1890s: Plays Pleasant and Unpleasant: Widower’s Houses, The Philanderer, Mrs. Warren’s Profession ,Arms and the Man ,Candida, You Never Can Tell 1890s: Three Plays for Puritans: The Devil’s Disciple, Caesar and Cleopatra and Captain Brassbound’s Conversion (1900). Early 20th C: Man and Superman , Major Barbara, Androcles and the Lion and Pygmalion (My Fair Lady) Later Plays: St. Joan, Heartbreak House, The Millionairess George Bernard Shaw Anglo-Irish, 1856-1950 John Millington Synge 1871-1909 Irish poet and playwright discovered by W.B. Yeats. Plays of Irish peasant life: In the Shadow of the Glen, (1903), a comedy Riders to the Sea (1904), a tragedy The Well of the Saints (1905), a comedy The Playboy of the Western World (1907), a comedy, caused riots The Tinker's Wedding, published in 1908 but not produced for fear of further riots Deirdre of the Sorrows, a mythic tragedy unfinished at the time of his death
