Notes 09/29 comedy

Comedy

“Studying comedy in the abstract is difficult”

What is humor? What is laughter? What makes people laugh?

Comedy is socially contingent

Comedy is frequently cruel

Theories of humor

Answer the questions as to: what people laugh at. Why people laugh at them. What is the effect of that laughter.

Henri Bergson: “on laughter”

• Humor is a social corrective, we laugh at what people do wrong

Sigmund Freud: “jokes and their relation to the unconscious”

• We laugh at what we most fear

Schadenfreude:

• The laughter/enjoyment of others’ pain

Characteristics of comedy

New comedy developed type characters, for they helped focus upon the foibles of social behavior. Type characters, such as the… good cop, bad cop, ingenue

Musicals and visual design elements of theatre

• Rich in spectacle

• Modern theatre depends on the scenery and costumes for much of its effect on the audience.

• Scenic design, light I design, costume design

Lighting design

• Ephemeral medium

• Enhance the color of costume, accent the physique of an actor, reinforce the plasticity of a setting.

• Also reinforce the dramatic structure and dynamics of the play.

• They work within the framework of light and shade

Costume design

• Accents, reflects, reveals

• Who is important?, Tells us abt time and setting, contributes to mood and meaning

Scenic design

• Conducive to the productions ends

• Uses line, color, form

• Uses tools of composition, repetition, emphasis, unity

Experimental

• The traditional elements of drama are de-emphasized or removed

• Assault the audience