Theatre Appreciation Exam 4 Pt 2

The Group Theatre

Founded in 1931 by Lee Strasberg (a massive fan of Stanislavski), Cheryl Crawford, and Harold Clurman

They had an all-encompassing interest in creating a socially conscious, politically motivated theater embodied in a naturalistic style of acting for modern life

. They wanted to form an ensemble as unified and skilled as the Moscow Art Theater, which Konstantin Stanislavski co-founded

In 1931, they received a $1,000 grant to rehearse a new play in Connecticut. With 28 actors in the ensemble, they called themselves The Group.

Produced non-commercial plays in big commercial playhouses, which strained their funding and led to a messy power structure with a lot of ego

Dissolved in 1940

The House of Connelly

The play the Group Theater chose, which was a tale of romance on a plantation

The writer, Paul green, had won prizes for writing black characters and dialect

Eugene O’Neill helped produce the play

This play was a critical success but not a commercial one

Stanislavski System

teaching emotional memory, in which you recall a similar memory in your own life as parallel for the character

Stella Adler and husband Clurman

in 1934 they met and worked with Stanislavski.

They came back to America to tell every Stan was no longer interested in emotional memory and feelings, but rather actions and circumstances

this began A fued between them and Lee Strasberg that lasted 60 years

Actor Studio

Had famous actors that came from The Group 

Though their plays were not strictly realistic, they helped further a distinctly American naturalism in theatre

Clifford Odets

Was an Actor turned playwright who came out of the group

He wrote talky, scrappy, heartbreaking dramas about the experience of the American Immigrant.

Conflicts deal with the tension between tradition and family, as well as what the characters feel they owe to themselves

Waiting for Lefty

Written by Clifford Odets

premiered in 1935 and was a huge hit.

based on an actual 40-day strike in New York among the cab drivers in 1934

at the beginning a corrupt union boss is trying to convince the drivers not to strike.

The drivers are waiting for their chairman, Lefty, in the end they get word that lefty was shot dead. 

They Actors then turn to the audience and ask “Well, What’s the Answer?”

opening night a few stagehands shouted “Strike” and the audience began shouting it back, and they clapped for 45 minutes, and had 26 curtain calls

Federal Theater project (FTP)

began in 1935 and was part of the New Deal initiatives by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in response to the great depression

They kept theater professionals working until the economy improved

It employed more than 15,000 people across 40 states

In its 4 years, it sponsored hundreds of distinct productions, most of them open to the public free of charge

Created units of Negro Theater projects in 23 cities

cancelled in 1939 after a lack of funding and opposition from conservative politicians who believed the living newspaper plays were to progressive

Hallie Flanagan

Was chosen to head the FTP

She loved plays of the weird and more modern variety rather than feel-good comedies and Shakespeare

She created a network of regional theaters and encouraged them to make modern work, though classic plays were also included

new York Negro Theatre Project

was headed by two white directors in its first year, one of whom was Orson Welles

in the second year they were replaced by three black directors

Orson Welles

later became regarded as one of America’s greatest film directors and actors

at 20 years old, he directed on of the most famous FTP plays,

Voodoo Macbeth; it featured an entirely black cast and reset Shakespeare’s tragedy in the Caribbean

Living Newspapers

Started by the FTP

plays by journalists and theater makers that were drawn from the news of the day

A way of learning about other Americans struggles in daily life

Tennessee Williams (Thomas Lanier Williams)

Born in Mississippi in 1911, but grew up unhappily in St. Louis, Missouri

For a time he worked as a stock boy for a show company and wrote for the local theatre troupes

In 1944 he had his first great success with the Glass Menagerie

Glass Menagerie

A semi-autobiographical memory Play

Main character, Tom, steps in and out of the action to address the audience at specific points. the characters were also modeled after Tennessee Williams mother and sister

In one way, it is a typical American family drama with a realist influence 

It merges expressionism and realism 

A Streetcar Named Desire

Another one of Tennessee Williams most lasting works

Former school teacher, Blanche DuBois leaves small-town Mississippi and moves in with her sister, Stella Kowalski and her husband Stanley, who live in New orleans. Blanche’s flirtatious Southern-belle presence causes problems for Stella and Stanley who already have a volatile relationship

it was a hit on stage and later adapted to film

it starred Marlon Brando as Stanley, both on Broadway and film

Arthur Miller

He was born into an upper-
middle-class family until the stock
market crashed and his father’s
business failed.
• This would inspire his play The
Price (1967)
- After high school, Miller worked
for several years until he’d saved
up enough money to attend the
University of Michigan, where he
began to write plays.
- Like Williams, Miller wrote semi-
autobiographical plays.
- In 1944, Miller landed on
Broadway (the same year as
Williams) with the play The Man
Who Had All the Luck. That play
flopped.
- Three years later, his play All My
Sons (1947) is more successful.

Death of a Salesman

opened in 1949 and was a great success and ran for 742 performances,

It won a Pulitzer

Death of a Salesman follows the aging and unsuccessful
salesman, Willy Loman, as he returns from a business trip to find his
Two grown sons are staying at the family home. From there on, the story
weaves in and out of the past and present, showcasing the
corrupting influence of the American Dream

Lorraine Hansberry

was born in Chicago in 1932 to middle-class, politically active parents.

- In 1938, her father bought a house in the Washington Park Subdivision of Chicago, bringing threats, violence, and legal action from white neighbors. Legal action continued up to the U.S. Supreme Court in the 1940 case Hansberry v. Lee.

- As a child, her family was visited by prominent black intellectuals and artists, including W. E. B. Du Bois, Langston Hughes, Duke Ellington, and more.

- She was introduced to theater in high school. In college, at the
University of Wisconsin-Madison, Hansberry worked as a journalist and
activist before turning to playwriting.

- In 1951, after leaving for New York City the year before, Hansberry
joined the staff of the newspaper Freedom, where she worked with W. E.
B. Du Bois. She worked as a subscription clerk, receptionist, typist, and
editorial assistant while writing news articles and editorials.

- In 1957, she wrote A Raisin in the Sun at the age of 29, becoming the
youngest American playwright and the fifth woman to receive the New
York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Play. It was also nominated for
four Tony Awards, including Best Play. Within two years, the play was
translated into 35 languages and was performed all over the world