DRAM 1010 Midterm

Augusto Boal calls theater.......

The first human invention (through theater we step back from ourselves to observe and interpret our own behavior)

In theater, __________ and ___________ together present stories in the form of action.

playwright

actor

Potlatch ceremonies

-Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest coast of the USA and the Southwest coast of Canada.

-19th century, maybe earlier

-"Born-to-be-head-of-the-world" whale thing

_____ and _____ are fundamental imaginative constructs that we employ to distill human experience

Myth

Metaphor

______________ is an essential part of human nature that appears in our daily interactions as well as in dram we put on stage/film

the impulse to perform

Theater as a survival mechanism (some things from ch. 1):

-adapt to changes in circumstances by making adjustments in the identity we present to others

-part of growing up depends on observing successful role models and experimenting with identities that make us feel comfortable in changing situations

-letting go of "expectations" of behavior and trying out a role that is "nothing like us"

Hopi performers:

-Hopi man who takes on persona of kachina is transformed (no women allowed)

-transcends own spirit and becomes the kachina spirit he embodies

community concerns:

ideas or subjects of theater performances

-EX: importance of the harvest and the place of agricultural process in society

community aesthetics:

actual nature of the elements that construct the performance itself (elements that have precise meanings for a particular community and that contribute to the images with which the community describes itself)

-EX: sequences of dance steps, characters carrying iconic props

Theater as a social force:

-gathering place for the public presentation of ideas

-power of collective emotions of the audience all occurring at the same time (catharsis, crying, laughing, anger)

-can be society stabilizing, or society challenging

-can lead to release of social tensions, or upheaval

Two different european theaters both developed in conjunction with religious festivals:

Greek theater of Athens

Medieval mystery cycles of England

What was Athenian (Greek) theater associated with?

Festivals to honor the God Dionysus (the Greek God of the life force: new growth for vegetation, new life for herds and flocks, fertility for human beings)

General info on Greek theater:

-presented each year over a period of several days

-most traditional work would stop

-**Happend on a hill, beyond the theater was the sea. Audience and actors gathered in the middle of the geographic features that delineated the external boundaries of the Athenian world as they witnessed or acted the plays that probed the internal nature of that world.

-Reinforced the existing social structure and celebrated Athenian Democracy

-"Wisdom follows only from catastrophic suffering"

Differences in Kachina cycle and Greece theater:

-Greek plays by singular playwright; kachina evolve over generations of community participation

-kachina reinforce set of religious beliefs, Greek questioned the nature of fate and existence of Gods

Medea by Euripides:

Jason leaves Medea for princess of Corinth to hopefully inherit the throne. Previously Medea committed murder to help Jason get the golden fleece (so she is pissed as a hornet). Story of collapsing marriage. Medea kills her and Jason's kids.

Theatrical conventions:

unique devices of dramatic construction and performance that facilitate the presentation of stories on stage

Greek theatrical conventions:

-these plays were tragedies and comedies

-no more than three actors on stage at a time

-men only

-wore masks

-all violence takes place off stage (body wagon called ekkyklema)

-the chorus

What is up with the Greek masks:

-one actor can play multiple roles

-male actors can play female roles

-mortals can play roles of the Gods

-made the actor more visible from afar

-put more emphasis on the voice (and gestures) of the actor to convey the meaning of the lines to the audience

-transcendence to a being other than the actor himself

Thespian:

how tragedy began: one chorus member initiated dialogue amongst himself. Thespis = source of word thespian, meaning actor. "the legendary first speaker"

Medieval Mystery Cycles:

-catholic church centered

-dramatized the christian history of the world

-GUILDS organized productions

-pageant wagons: carts with stages on them pulled around town by horses

-give audience a change to identify with christ's suffering

-central subject = salvation

-reinforced social order (be content with what you have)

-ended by protestant reformation

________________ is central to the formation of human culture= Individual + Community or Me and We

Storytelling

Ritual:

a body of ceremonies, like an act or series of a ceremonial acts

Tradition:

something that may be practiced, but is mostly the passing down of elements of a culture from generation to generation. Some rituals may even be random, but traditions are practiced and continuous

What is theater?

Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event (play script) before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance. Elements of design and stagecraft are used to enhance the physical presence and immediacy of the experience.

Theater (shared performance) is a part of _________

every culture

Plot of "dog Lady"

proper young Catholic woman is possessed by the spirit of a dog so that she can run fast enough to win a marathon

-marathon sponsored by catholic church

-1st prize = trip to Rome

-Takes place over 3 days

What does is mean that Dog Lady is only one act?

-Compressed storytelling

Sanchez-Scott bases her narratives on ________ and began this play with the of ________

simple plots

a long distance runner

Dog Lady is a commentary on...

the restrictions placed on the lives and behavior of young Latina women

Milcha Sanchez-Scott:

Born 1955 in Bali

-father was a political prisoner early in her life

-age 5 sent to Catholic school in England

-moved to CA at age 14

-Storytelling began at family breakfast in Colombia

Characteristics of Dog Lady: (4)

Blended Language

Magical Realism

Reinterpretation of Catholic Church

Questioning the Latina Identity

Blended Language:

-English/Spanish

-"Interlingualism" = "Spanglish"

-adds humor

-adds authenticity

Magical Realism:

-extravagant lyricism (much metaphor / irony)

-viewer is surprised by escapes from reality, but the actors are NOT

-"Curandera" is linked to the spirit world

Reinterpreting Catholic Imagery:

-Virgin of Guadalupe is the symbol of faith and liberation

-"traditional role model" of Mexican Catholicism for women = nurturer/protector/comforter

-reinforces passivity of Latina women

-*SCOTT* changes the image to empower women (body of Rosalinda = active, uncovered, strong)

Changing the Latina identity:

-reversal of the map of migration to the new world when she is running her lap around the world

Characters in Dog Lady:

Maria Pilar Luna = Mother

Rosalinda = Runner

Raphael = Boo

Orlando = Mailman

Luisa Ruiz = Dog Lady / healer

Mrs. Amador = Neighbor

Jesse = Younger sister / princess

INTAR:

International Arts Relations

-Founded 1966 to promote Spanish-language theater for Spanish-speaking peoples in NYC

-Produced Dog Lady (directed by Max Ferra)

Set Design of Dog Lady = Ming Cho Lee

-lightness like a kite caught up in the currents

-Pop art realistic version of LA street, but with VERY *forced perspective* (road seems to go out the back of the stage) audience must all be pretty centered for forced perspective to work.

-steeply "raked" stage: sloped up as actors move upstage

-differing levels of reality from changing perspective

Staging / acting of dog lady:

-exaggerated/cartoonish quality

-characters seem to exist only in the present (unlike Jo Turner)

-set more of a background for the action (mostly downstage)

-act outward to the audience as much as to each other

Sight gags and Dog Lady:

-jesse with pajama pants under skirt

-Orlando with ripped pants after "se freakio"

Vocal style and dog lady:

-exaggerated

-lines delivered not as overheard, but for the audience's benefit

using comedy to shift the worldview in Dog Lady:

-rather than kissing the prince, rosalinda becomes an animal herself

-very serious scene at the end: no longer cartoonish, very intimate and deliberate.

August Wilson had a _____ play series?

10 play series (one for each of the decades of the 20th century)

-focused on average Joes whose struggles represented the events and attitudes of larger society

Plot of JTCG:

about the aftermath of slavery, about the damage done to the spirit, which must be healed before people can take their rightful place in the world.

-Loomis served 7 years on Joe Turner's chain gang in TN

-Going north to Pittsburgh to look for his wife

-$2 pays for a week of lodging

-August 1911

-2 weeks ish in length of time

-Joe Turner chain gang represents 300 years of slavery

-EARLY stages of AA migration north

Historical perspective, but draws to today:

Plight of sharecroppers, migrant workers, chain gangs etc (historical)

Struggle of individuals to gain control of their own lives (continues with us today)

Peonage:

free blacks forced to work as prison gangs, based on lies of white employers that the blacks owed them money, etc.

Metaphor of the Road (JTCG):

-America is synonymous with freedom of movement, the chance to search for opportunity, the chance to settle own land and determine your future

-Road symbolizes the path from south to north, but also the process of searching to find oneself

-Symbolizes freedom of movement denied by slavery

griot:

African American blues are basically variations of West African peoples' "griots" whose songs were the "libraries" of their societies

Bessie Smith and Romare Bearden:

Smith = Blues music

Bearden = artwork

-Wilson "found himself" in their art.

-First song that captured his heart = "Nobody in town can bake a sweet jellyroll like mine"

Mill Hand's Lunch Bucket:

-found Loomis in this Bearden painting

-painting shows the house from JTCG

-Loomis is the abject figure sitting down in defeat

Who was WC Handy?

Writer of the song "Joe Turner Blues," from which Wilson got the title of the play.

Characters in JTCG:

Seth Holley = owner of the boardinghouse

Bertha Holley = Seth's wife

Bynum Walker = rootworker (medicine man)

Rutherfored Selig = peddler (person finder)

Jeremy Furlow = resident, young

Harold Loomis = Joe Turner chain gang guy (lead)

Zonia Loomis = daughter of Loomis

Martha Loomis = wife of Loomis

repertory theater:

a number of plays are produced at once and then performed in rotation (Oregon Shakespeare festival where JTCG was produced)

Table Work:

first phase of rehearsal process

-director and actors sit and read through the play and ask questions about motivations of characters

Blocking

second phase of rehearsal process

-actors' movements around the stage that make up the physical action of the performance

Physical characterization:

specific physical presence of characters created by the actors

Juba:

reminiscent of ring shouts of African slaves. Drumming is also involved, symbolizes community building ability taken from American slaves when slave owners took their drums.

-Bynum starts it, and then the others enter in order of age/importance to household. They are allowed to improvise rhythms

-Characters also add vocalization in different languages of slave traders

Meaning of Juba:

-Plot: activity that brings characters together after Sunday dinner, and they all know how to do it even though they are from all over the place.

-informal religious observation (asks spirit to provide guidance"

-Focuses characters' particular search at this point in play

-juxtaposed with lunacy of Loomis

rendering:

drawing of set

Ground plan:

placement of furniture, doors, walls on the set

Clothing helps to:

set the period, tell what class of people they are (hard-working), and juxtapose characters

History and Meaning of JTCG:

-building history through the action of every character, as each searches for what is most precious in life, and what is lost.

-central action of the play is Harold Loomis' search for himself (connected to Bynum's search for shiny man)

-movement of slavery to freedom, and the internal journey of the individual

-symbolism of Seth and Bertha having the only stable relationship = how slavery destroys families

-Seth inherited a house and stability from his father, Loomis did not (their tension in play is kind of based on this)

Actor's "Triple existence"

present in own person

character

audience perspective

_______ and __________ are often used to describe the way the actor animates the skills of performance and gives life to a dramatic text or situation.

*alchemy* (many forces come together like director, text, other actors)

*magic* (it may be impossible to identify what is happening internally to produce what the audience sees)

Ensemble:

actors that compliment each other as a group

One of the most important factors that directors try to ascertain during auditions is...

the ability to take direction

through ______, actors give reality to the characters of the other actors on stage

REACTION

Improvisation:

useful rehearsal method for enhancing belief and creating imaginative actions

spontaneous invention that goes beyond the scripted material to explore aspects of character / situation

a common exercise is to have actors improvise part of the script in their own words, or to physicalize an argument that would not be physical in the play

Equity theatres:

theaters with more than 100 seats in which all actors are paid according to a union contract

-8 hour rehearsals per day

Equity waiver theaters:

theaters with fewer than 100 seats that are not governed by union contracts

-rehearsal could last only a few hours per night after the actors have finished their day jobs

rehearsal costumes:

actors begin to wear these early in the rehearsal process allowing them to practice with the limitations created by their particular costume pieces and also to experience feelings generated by wearing particular clothes/undergarments

internal acting approach

(psychological approach) involves identifying as closely as possible with the character to be played. Actor looks for areas of character's life that correspond somehow to their own experiences. Investigation of character's motivation. "inner monologue" becomes the actor's silent text. Adds to physicalization, gestures, vocal intensity, etc.

associated with Stanislavsky,

pretty much all american acting.

external acting approach

(technical approach) has more to do with conscious choices about how language is to be spoken, which physical details to emphasize, and how emotional content is to be expressed. Uses IMAGINATION and ANALYSIS, not psychological identification.

substitution:

actor uses feelings she recalls from her own experiences as the foundation for the character's responses in the play.

Gestural acting

Kuroko - acting in a style that does not have a psychological base - changing scenery (like stagehands) but their movements are choreographed to resemble nonhuman forces like the wind.

Basing the characterization of the character on his/her movements. (Apollo)

the final crucial element of the actor's work is....

finding ways to sustain the performance over the entire run

Differences in film/theater acting:

-Often described in terms of *scale*

-in film, the camera comes to the actor. in theater the actor must bring the space gap between the stage and the audience, and the size of the acting must correspond to that gap

-films shot out of sequence

-much waiting around in film acting

-sometimes film actors in the same film never meet each other

-much less rehearsal time in film

How is drama distinguished from fiction?

its fundamental expression comes through CHARACTER action

Aristotle's 6 elements of drama in order:

Plot

Character

Theme

Language/Diction

Music/Rhythm

Spectacle

Importance of characters:

-agents of the plot

-our point of entry into the world of the play

-Characters give the reasons for the events of the plot

-what makes them compelling is their will/determination

-all characters have goals

Importance of plot:

the plot is the spine of the play that is made up of all the essential actions/incidents

-causality is very important in to plot structure in a realistic play

Importance of theme:

The overarching idea encapsulated within the play. What is examined through the plot and characters?

Importance of language:

-The way in which characters express themselves. Dialogue has dual roles—both *narrative and dramatic*.

-language defines the characters and gives them authenticity and credibility

-appeals to audience imagination and contributes to the sensory appeal of the play

language and August Wilson:

-unique dialog that reflects his past poetry writing

-uses repetition to create poetic rhythms

-unique speech patterns for each character

importance of music/rhythm:

-Aristotle meant music in the sense of musical accompaniment for choruses, and chorus chanting

-The combination of Plot, character, language and spectacle working together to create the rhythm of the play.

-translates mood to the audience on a visceral level.

-Juba

-"Finding one's song" is a major metaphor of JTCG

importance of spectacle:

encompasses everything from acting style and the blocking, to the most breathtaking scenic and special effects.

-playwright may include descriptions of spectacle events in the text

Space and time (in plays) are organized...

according to the needs of the playwrights' material. plays could range in length from a few hours, to many years.

Different types of play durations:

One-acts: could be a few minutes to an hour

Western theater: 2ish hours (afternoon, evening)

Long performances: some 7 hours long (audience experiences a shift in consciousness - time seems to be suspended)

internal rhythm of a play:

relationship between the parts of a play that involves the audience progressively in the theater experience

-understanding of and commitment to the play of the audience increases as it unfolds

-based on conflict and tension

Traditional conflict structure of plays:

Conflict, Rising Tension, Resolution

Although, many dramas have moved away from this model.

Conflict:

-amongst characters, groups, or characters in institutions

-can also be internal

-often many layers of conflicts

Rising tension:

a series of escalating events that heighten the conflict and raise the stakes

Resolution:

Traditionally after the climax of the play, we find out how all of the conflicts play out and what consequences this has for the characters

genre:

specific division/classification of drama

Tragedy:

-often ends in violence and death

-importance is *awareness of our own mortality*

- characters come from royal families, and exhibit admirable behavior

-tragic characters act alone and take responsibility for their behavior

-we feel the pain and suffering of the characters immensely

-*catharsis and awareness*

Comedy:

-looks to the *continuity of life, not to its finality*

-in spite of it all (self-importance, pettiness, setbacks) life goes on

-focuses on the success of generations as opposed to the mortality of an individual

-through love and rebirth there is continuance

-usually begins with an outrageous idea that disrupts the workings of the community

-leads to affirmation of true love in the end (often end in marriages/engagements)

-exist to make people LAUGH

-looks at characters as part of a social group

Origins of comedy/tragedy in Greek drama:

-tragedies were plays that dealt with serious/loft subjects

-comedies were plays that dealt with weakness and folly

Greek comedies and tragedies were complimentary to each other, and often performed as companion pieces. Tragedy looked to actor engaged in noble causes, comedy showed that humans are actually really scared and make many mistakes.

Ludicrous:

has to do with the loss of control, the incongruous, and the undermining of anything we take too seriously. An element of comedy according to Aristotle.

Aristotle also says there is no REAL pain in comedy - the audience does not respond to a character in a comedy as if they are suffering.

Catharsis:

tragic character comes to a new understanding or greater wisdom through his suffering, and we in the audience come to a new awareness of life's meaning. Brings about a feeling of great exhilaration, but you also feel moved by the struggle you have witnessed.

Common themes of tragedy:

-a struggle over succession

-a rupturing of family and societal bonds

-isolation of the tragic character

-acceptance of responsibility