1. American Theatre The Beginning
Intro to Theatre

2. 1700s
1709 – New York Province forbade “play acting and other forms of disreputable entertainment”
1716 – Williamsburg, VA – first theatre in English colonies built – run by British touring company (looked like theatres in England)
April 24, 1767 – “American Company” (which was British) presented first play written by an American
Thomas Godfrey’s The Prince of Parthia

3. Play Booth Theatre Open-air theatre on Palace Green
First play in honor of King’s birthday
American performing tradition
William Levingston started this one.
1768 The Beggar’s Opera. (Playbill)
Students from William and Mary performed here. (W&M was founded in 1693)

4. …and there was that war…
1774 – Continental Congress passed a resolution discouraging “exhibitions of shows, plays and other expensive diversions and entertainments”
Many amateur productions during the Revolutionary war, but professional actors returned to England

5. After the war… 1782 – American Company returned
1787 – Royall Tyler’s The Contrast was produced in New York
1789 – William Dunlap’s The Father or American Shandyism
1794 – Philadelphia – Chestnut Street Theatre - the first theater in the United States built by entrepreneurs solely as a venue for paying audiences. First in America to use gas light instead of oil or candles.

6. The First Chestnut Street Theatre - Philadelphia

7. Interior of Chestnut St. Theatre

8. Post-Revolution Trends 1800s
Desire to be “unique” and separate from England – need independence in the arts as well as in politics
Romanticism
1800s
A reaction against the strict rules of neoclassical theatre/writing
Focused on imagination, freedom of form, mood over content
Popular after revolutions

9. Melodrama Popularized in America – mid century Drama with (mood) music
Sentimental plots with stereotypical characters – either all good or all bad
Strict moral code
Ex: Uncle Tom’s Cabin – 1852 – Harriet Beecher Stowe

10. Minstrel Shows – America Mid-century
Done in “black face”
Racial stereotyping

11. Burlesque – farce – often sexual
Vaudeville – short acts – usually singing and dancing – not as sexual as burlesque

12. LIGHTING GASLIGHT 1815 – London
Could control the flow of light, and darken the audience
Totally revolutionized theatre
400 theatres burned in England and America (Including the Chestnut St Theatre in 1820)

13. More LIGHTING
Scottish surveyor, engineer and politician Thomas Drummond invented the limelight in 1825.
Limelight first used for performance in 1836.
Limelight was used in the first theatrical spotlights. Example right from London ca

14. Scenery Simultaneous Sets Showing 2 rooms on stage at once
(think about Thunder on Sycamore Street)

15. Expansion from the East Coast
Railroad travel allowed performers to get around
More theatres in smaller towns – Theatrical Syndicates
Sidney, Ohio – Opera House

16. Realism
Began early in 1800s – peaked late and remained strong in 1900s
Emphasis on depicting individuals and society as realistically as possible
Became popular as scientific and psychological discoveries challenged the romantic viewpoint
Took hold as middle class dominated life in European and American culture
Norwegian Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House – prime example

17. Naturalism Late 1800s and early 1900s
Extreme form of realism made popular in France by Emile Zola
Related to Darwin’s scientific principles
Drama should look for causes of “disease” in society the way a doc looks for disease in a patient – theatres should expose social infection
Seen as an honest slice of life – both good and bad

18. Surrealism Made popular after WWI
Seeking a deeper meaning than the conscious mind
Replaced realism with strange logic of dreams
Influence on avant-garde and “theatre of the absurd” movements

19. 20th Century Greater variety of content and form BROADWAY
Professional – Community – College – High School – Churches
Awards: The Tony Award (1947)
Organizations: Actor’s Equity Association – theatre union (1913)

20. Local Theatres
Westerville: Curtain Players – Harlem Rd

21. Central Ohio Community Theatres –OCTA (Ohio Community Theatre Association)
Emerald Players – Dublin
Imagine Productions – Columbus
Little Theatre off Broadway – Grove City
Pickerington Community Theatre
Worthington Community Theatre

22. Central Ohio Pro Theatre
CATCO and CATCO IS KIDS
3 theatres in the Vern Riffe Center
Columbus Performing Arts Center
BROADWAY IN COLUMBUS