American Theatre By Änna Williams

Most difficult writing style to learn Drama Most difficult writing style to learn

The Great White Way

NY Theatres Most famous group of American theatres – Broadway 4 Groups Off Broadway Off-off Broadway Regional

Broadway Group of NY theatres on or near Broadway in Manhattan More than 30 theatres Ea. Seat more than 800 people

Beyond Broadway district Off Broadway Established in 50’s Beyond Broadway district Seat less than 300 people More experimental Cheaper

Group of 125 theatres Often not-for-profit Even more experimental Off-off Broadway Group of 125 theatres Often not-for-profit Even more experimental

Dramatic productions, especially yr-rd professional, outside NY City Regional Dramatic productions, especially yr-rd professional, outside NY City

I’d like to thank all the “little people” Small theatres produced any play, in any style, that commercial theatre won’t touch Start new movements (realistic & absurd) Against commercial theatre

Types of Drama

Comedy The main character overcomes major conflict & makes it humorous Happy ending Ex: Neil Simon’s The Odd Couple (1965)

Tragedy Main character never overcomes major conflict Sad ending Ex: Dale Wasserman’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (2001)

* Musicals * Richard Rogers & Oscar Hammerstein Collaborated on 10 musicals Greatest achievement – uniting music & drama so songs advance plot & reveal characters Hits include: Oklahoma! (1943; Pulitzer) South Pacific (1949; Pulitzer 1950) Carousel (1945) The King and I (1951) The Sound of Music (1959)

“fourth wall” – wall removed so we can see the action Realistic Drama “fourth wall” – wall removed so we can see the action (percenium stage)

Eugene O’Neill 1st & most important figure in American drama Put realistic drama on the map 1936 – Nobel Prize in Lit. Influences: August Strinberg, Henrik Ibsen, Anton Chekov Slice-of-life technique

“People don’t go to the North Pole and fall off icebergs “People don’t go to the North Pole and fall off icebergs. They go to the office & quarrel with their wives & eat cabbage soup.” -Anton Chekhov

Realism in Theatre Seen as a revolt against crude theatricalism Theatre goes in cycles Realism to theatricalism & back

Social Conscience Playwrights Miller & Williams

Tennessee Williams (1911-1983) Playwright of our souls Writing – delicate, sensuous, lush imagery, evocative rythms Characters – often women/lost laides drowning in their own neuroses Theatricalized realism w/ “music in the wings” or symbolic props

Expressionist Drama (Theatre of the Absurd) Revelation of characters’ interior consciousness w/o reference to logical sequence of events

Beckett, Ionesco, & Albee Samuel Beckett & Eugene Ionesco founders Edward Albee – most significant absurdist in U.S. Unsympathetic examinations of the modern condition Mix of theatricalism & biting dialogue Plays static Most one act Ex: Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot (1954)

Theatre can now be simply a stage & an audience

The End Thanks to: “American Drama”. Elements of Literature, 5th Course. Teacher’s Edition. Holt, Rhinehart, Winston. 2000. Pgs. 818-824 “Edward Albee”. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. September 9, 2007. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Albee “Waiting for Godot”. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. September 9, 2007. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waiting_for_Godot “Tennessee Williams”. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. September 9, 2007. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tennessee_Williams