CONTEMPORARY THEATER

1970 to the Present

After World War 2

It was a creative time in the field of theater. Realism continued and non-realistic forms of theater also thrived. Absurdism - illogical, random, inexplicable events and characters. 35 Million lives were claimed which forced artists to express themselves in many different forms.

1950s - cold war between the U.S. and the Soviet Union also war between North and South Korea

After World War 2

1960s - Vietnam War which was controversial

Series of wars in the Middle East Third world countries also in chaos. Series of assassinations in the US: John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, and John Lennon; all of them trying to make a stand against war and violence. The music era signaled a more provocative and sexual movement when singers such as Elvis Presley, Beatles and the Rolling Stones emerged.

After World War 2

Blasphemy is no longer censored and the social revolution in behavior and attitudes which often encouraged young people against their parents. The impact of these changes were to be felt through the rest of the 20th century. The 20th century society continued to grow technologically: o Television & films joined in competing with theater. o More people were watching television and movies rather than going out to watch live theater performances. Movements evolved like the: o Feminist rights o Civil rights o Gay rights

Theatre after World War 2

Eugene Ionesco -whose play, The Bald Soprano, is one important playwright of absurdism.

Results of these wars are still apparent and reflected in plays such as Steamers (1976) by David Rabe, Still Life by Emily Mann and Redwood Curtain by Lanford Wilson.

Existentialism
a philosophical movement articulated by two Frenchmen: o Albert Camus o Jean Paul Sartre Existentialists believe that there is a little meaning to life and God does not exist, leaving only humans are alone into this irrational world. Camus and Sartre were also playwrights who wrote existential plays.

Existentialism
Sartres best well known plays are The Flies (1943) and No Exit (1944). His other existential dramas include The Respectable Prostitute (1951) and The Condemned of Altona (1959).

No Exit -Is about three people who have died a man and two women- locked in a room which they cannot escape. -The man loved the woman, while the woman loved the other woman but does not return the love since she is in love with another man.

Camus and Sartre

the dramatic form are very conventional while their works are philosophically revolutionary plots based on cause and effect logic.

ABSURDIST THEATER
Theatre of the Absurd Coined by Martin Esslin in his 1962 book. Esslin saw these playwrights as giving artistic expression to Albert Camus' existential philosophy, that life is inherently meaningless. Common characteristics of absurdist plays include this general existential philosophy coupled with a rejection of narrative continuity and the rigidity of logic, and a fundamental depreciation of language which is seen as a useless attempt to communicate the impossible.

ABSURDIST THEATER
Most absurdists also determinedly resist the traditional separation of mockery and tragedy, intermixing the two at will. This creates an unpredictable world in which the poignantly tragic may come upon the heels of the absurdly funny, or vice versa.

Samuel Beckett
was the most renowned of the absurdist playwrights. Dramas dealt with dullness of routine, futility of human actions and inability of humans to communicate His dramatic style underlines thematic statements which captures the ridiculous moments of human existence.

ECLECTICS
Stehler made over 200 productions including comedies, dramas, operas Tempest in 1983 - the most famous, which he brought to the United States.

Peter Brook
Founded Oxford University Film Society. He founded the International Theater Research Center in Paris. Brooks eclecticism is illustrated by several productions of the 1980s:
o a stripped down version of the opera o Carmen, an adaptation of the Indian epic Mahabharata o and of the Cherry Orchard played during intermissions.

*Brooks Works
The Lord of The Flies by William Golding King Lear by Shakespeare. The Shifting Point: Forty Years of Theatrical Exploration, 1946-1987 Threads of Time, a memoir written in 1998.

NEW TECHNOLOGY
Computers made things possible in creating new buildings & controlled lighting and more hi-tech theater stage designs. Josef Svoboda,(1920-2002) Czechoslovakian designer, experimented on projectors, movable platforms, multimedia, and new materials such as plastics. Organized New Group Theater for semi-professional artists. Later on the group became the ensemble for the Grand Opera which became Pragues largest theater. Laterna Magika experiments with the media techniques in which he is known for. Sbovoda believed that the stage must also move in fluidity as actors move.

International changes: 1975

Contemporary playwrights and other theater artists combine abstraction and realism so that their works cannot be easily classified.
POSTMODERNIST STYLE: suggests that modernist interest in anti-realism is no longer central, and that art has moved beyond abstraction.

POSTWAR DEVELOPMENTS IN AMERICAN THEATRE (1945-1975)

Popular tastes of trend in theater Commercial Broadway Theater (west of Midtown Manhattan NY) Traditionally oriented, large proscenium arch playhouses

Musical Theatre
Popular music in theatrical form (America) Produced productions with memorable music, witty and poignant lyrics. Adaptation of classic plays, novels, short stories, original work. Songs directly related to the plot - with a storyline and subplots.

Musicals
Dramatic play with integrated musical score. Virtual golden age of musicals: after the WW1 1960s. Characters sing and dance. Two Phases of the Golden Age: (1) musical comedy - George Gershwins Lady Be Good, Strike Up The Band; Vincent Youmans No, No, Nanette; Cole Porters Anything Goes (2) Usually dated from Rodgers and Harts Pal Joey (1939), shocked pre-war audiences with casually suggestive lyrics about sexual infidelity and shady business ethics.

Broadway
Broadway musicals in the Golden Age Broadly influential. Longest street in Manhattan with more than 30 theaters (north of Times Square, at 42nd Street) The Great White Way Plays ran for years - tickets sold six months in advance place of origin for only spectacular musicals Oklahoma! (1943) Story, music, lyrics, dances = tone, mood, intention Rodgers and Hammerstein (first time together) Other Rodgers and Hammerstein productions: Carousel (1945), The King And I (1951), The Sound Of Music (1959)

Off-Broadway
developed in the late 1940s reaction to Broadway commercialism introduced new playwrights, reviving significant plays initially unsuccessful on Broadway introduced new actors, directors, designers primary goal: to provide an outlet for experimental and innovative works (unhindered by commercial concerns) Al Pacino, Dustin Hoffman, Jason Robards

Off-Broadway
popularized intimate playhouses that did not take the traditional proscenium form Grease - moved to Broadway, blurring the distinction between Broadway and Off-Broadway 1960s-1970s: Off-Broadway became more commercial, less experimental : production costs rose, more commercial productions staged 1960s: replaced off-Broadway as center of experimentation in NY : Originally dedicated to introduce and showcase new talent Participatory theater - the audience are asked to take an active part. Usually performed in found spaces (factory lofts, churches, warehouses)

ESTABLISHED THEATER COMPANIES

Competition from commercial theater, film and television Decreasing audiences
Reduced government support

American Regional Theater

Victory Gardens (1970s)
Won the 2001 Tony Award for Best Regional Theatre

Influential institution which developed and produced mostly world premiere plays Production: The Velvet Rose Established Playwrights Ensemble

Victory Gardens
Biograph Theatre- opened in September 2006

Victory Gardens

Body Politic (1970s)

develop and produce contemporary works of art build relationships with playwrights as well as provide them with resources for progressive projects create artistic excellence on stage continue to cater to new and diverse audiences

Steppenwolf (1976)
a Chicago-based international performing arts institution produced a generation of America's most gifted artists whose talents include acting, directing, playwriting and filmmaking started as a company of 9-actors then later on grew into 41 theatre artists Productions: The Grapes of Wrath, The Song of Jacob Zulu

Looking Glass Theatre (1988)

seeks to improve or go beyond the limits of theatrical experience main floor- seating riser two seating areas balcony- removable Productions: Black Diamond & Clay

The Actors Theatre Company

known for introducing new plays and playwrights developed from an amateur group composed fully of volunteers to a renowned company regarded as non-for-profit corporation Productions: A Midsummer Night's Dream (1892),Twelfth Night (2001) & (2002)

American Repertory Theatre (ART) (1979)

neglected works of the past create productions involving music Became prominent for producing classical plays by avant-garde directors. aims to develop classic texts Production: A Marvelous Party

ALTERNATIVE THEATER

ALTERNATIVE THEATER
Also known as Experimental Theater. This reflects postmodernists points of view where artists explored new ways of breaking away from typical theater. Techniques:
Audience participation Effects Use of the stage & physical elements

Most Significant Groups:

Performance Group Wooster Group Mabou Mines

THE PERFORMANCE GROUP

Environmental Theater Founded by Richard Schechner in 1968 Used a remodeled garage Dionysius in 69 (1969), The Tooth of Crime (1973), Mother Courage (1975) and The Balcony (1979)

THE WOOSTER GROUP

Is under the direction of Elizabeth LeCompte. Cultivated new forms & techniques of theatrical expression, & is also noted for deconstructing well-known texts. Route 1&9 (1981) and Brace Up (1991)

OTHER ALTERNATIVE GROUPS

Circle Repertory Company, 1969 Manhattan Theater Club, 1970 The Theater for the New City, 1971 Curacha Theater, 1980 Signature Theater En Garde Arts

MABOU MINES
Organized in 1970. Under the direction of Lee Breuer. Developed many theater pieces using imagery & techniques of popular culture. Has high visual style. B. Beaver Animation (1974)

OTHER ALTERNATIVE PLAYWRIGHTS

Horton Foote Richard Greenberg Maria Irene Fornes Paula Vogel Mac Wellman Romulus Linney Wallace Shawn

ALTERNATIVE AMERICAN DIRECTORS

Anne Bogart
Known for her collaborative works, which use highly vocal and physical techniques Well-known for her theoretical approach to directing, known as viewpoints. Co-founder of Saratoga International Theater Institute and the Via Theater Nicholas and Alexandra (2003) and Death and the Ploughman (2004)

Des McAnuff
Works are highly ecclectic One of the founders and key director of Dodger Productions, 1978 Revived regional La Jolla Playhouse, 1983 Jersey Boys (2005) and 700 Sundays (2004)

Richard Foreman
Works are usually autobiographical and self-reflexive Use a number of theatrical devices such as voice-overs, exaggerated vocal and physical techniques and visual elements Founded the Ontological-Hysteric Theater, 1968 Panic (2003) and The Gods Are Pounding My Head (2005)

Robert Wilson
Worlds most vanguard theater artist. Creates huge, extremely long epic productions which revolve around theatrical images and accompanied by operatic music. Death Deconstruction & Detroit (1979), The Man in the Raincoat (1981) and Death Deconstruction & Detroit II (1987)

Peter Sellars
Most noted for his modern readings on classic texts Used classical texts to comment on contemporary political and social issues Euripides Children of Herakles (2002)

DRAMATIST OF DIVERSITY

GENDER DIVERSITY
Many female questioned traditional gender roles and place of women in society. Feminist theater companies forced audience to reexamine gender biases. 100 feminist theater companies estimated in the United States, including Omaha Magic Theater in Nebraska, Womens Experimental Theater, Womens Project in NY, Spiderwoman collective also in NY among others.

Maria Irene Fornes

One of the most prolific, intellectual and political playwright. She also directed many productions of her plays. Avant-garde dramatist whos plays are unconventional in structure, dialogue and staging. Plays include Fefu and her Friends (1977), Mud (1983), The Conduct of Life (1985), Oscar and Bertha (1991), The Audition (1998) and Letters from Cuba (2000).

*Fefu and Friends

The play begins when eight women meet to rehearse a theatre education project in the New England home of Fefu. The meeting became a venue for them to share with each other their pains and domestic struggles. The play ends in the evening of the same day with the death of one of the women.

GAY AND LESBIAN THEATER

Even before the 1960s, a number of plays and performers introduced gay and lesbian themes in American theater.

In the early 20th century, there was considerable cross-dressing in many performances. It raised questions about sexual orientation and gender roles.

GAY AND LESBIAN THEATER

Plays included material on this subject matter. Lillian Hellmans The Childrens Hour was assumed to portray a possible lesbian relationship between two school teachers. The Boys is the band (1968) was the first to introduced gay life into theater. Play by Mart Crowley depicted a group of men living a openly gay life.

* The Childrens Hour

It is a drama set in an all-girls boarding school run by two women. An angry student, runs away from the school. To avoid being sent back she tells her grandmother that the two headmistresses are having a lesbian affair. The accusation proceeds to destroy the women's careers, relationships and lives.

EUROPEAN THEATER

BRITISH AND IRISH PLAYWRIGHTS

PATRICK MARBER CONOR MCPHERSON DAVID HARE

MARTIN MCDONAGH

DAVID EDGAR

HOWARD BRENTON

BRITISH AND IRISH PLAYWRIGHTS

CARYL CHURCHILL

TIMBERLAKE WERTENBAKER

SARAH KANE

PAMELA GEMS

GERMAN AND ITALIAN PLAYWRIGHTS

DARIO FO

FRANZ XAVER KROETZ

PETER HANDKE

HEINER MULLER

EUROPEAN DIRECTORS

ARIANE MNOUCHKINE

LUCA RONCONI

INGMAR BERGMAN TADEUSZ KANTOR

PETER ZADEK

PETER STEIN

ANDREI SERBAN

TRANSFORMED GOVERNMENTSUBSIDIZED THEATERS

Royal National Theater

Comedie Francaise Royal Shakespeare Company

Latin American Theater

Refers collectively to the film output and film industries of Latin America. Latin American film is both rich and diverse. But the main centers of production have been Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, and Cuba. Flourished after the introduction of sound It added a linguistic barrier to the export of Hollywood film south of the border.

Latin American Theater

Refers collectively to the film output and film industries of Latin America. Latin American film is both rich and diverse. But the main centers of production have been Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, and Cuba. Flourished after the introduction of sound. It added a linguistic barrier to the export of Hollywood film south of the border. Flame of Love" , written by Oliver O. Mbamara, a musical dance drama. The New Yam Bandit, an African play written and directed by Oliver Mbamara.

African theater (drama)

Is highly appreciated in the West and revered for its uniqueness and closeness to nature. Many entertainment buffs in the West are great fans of African Artists and artistic performances. Is under pressure because most artists and entertainers end up poor or destitute after they have spent considerable time of their lives entertaining their people.