Queen Elizabeth
Daughter of Henry VIII and Anne BoleynReign was a time of peace and prosperity (the "virgin queen")Loved sports, music, and theatreHates "Queeny" things
Sophie Treadwell
Leading American playwright in the 20th centuryWrote Machinal and Intimations for Saxophone
Bharata
Author of the Natya Sastra (Canons of dance and drama)Bharata received the Canons directly from the god BrahmaCanons describe the elements of Sanskrit and much of Eastern theatre
Anton Chekov
Author of early realism who worked with Konstantin Stanlavski at the Moscow Art TheatreWork was so unique he almost defined his own genre, known today was "Chekovian Realism"Wrote: Three SistersLiked subtlety and subtext
King James
James 1 (Elizabeth's cousin) takes the throne in 1603, loves military playsJames was Scotland's ruler for 29 years before also becoming England's KingMacbeth wrote a play about a Scottish king for money
Henrik Ibsen
Norwegian playwright who is called by some the Father of RealismAuthor of a Doll's House and Ghosts
Arthur Miller
American Master of Realism; author of All My Sons and Death of a Salesman1915-2005married to Marilyn MonroeIbsen-esque realismPulitzer PrizeTony Award
Eugene O'Neill
American Master of Realism; author of A Moon for the Misbegotten and Long Day's Journey Into NightHairy Ape: Expressionism, lower class sailor marries upper class woman1885-195323 full-length playsPrize, four of themNobel Prize, 1936 (only playwright)ChekhovianTalked about how men treated other menBorn in a broadway hotel roomMother was a morphine addict
Shakespeare
Major playwright of the Elizabethan era who is considered by some to be the best Enligh Playwright of all time
Moliere
French comic playwright who transcended the rigors of neoclassic demands to create universally respected comedies of manners and satireStrongly influenced by Commedia dell'arte troupesRestoration
Tennessee Williams
American Master of Realism; author of The Glass Menagerie and A Streetcar Named DesireGayFirst to openly admit to homosexuality on stageRespect for delicate characterizations, raw emotional situations and honesty
Sanskrit Theatre
Classical language of India and South/southwest AsiaOne of 23 official languages of India used in Hindu and Buddhist ceremonies
Griot
The singer, storyteller, and keeper of the community's collective memory/history in traditional African Theatre
Exposition
In a play, information about prior events or events that have taken place off stage that is necessary for the understanding of the plot of the play.Usually given in form of a narrative
Aside
Brief lines given directly to the audience that reveals a character's inner thoughts; commonly used by William Shakespeare, often comic effect
Fourth Wall
A device of Realism created in mid-eighteenth century in which an imaginary wall is placed between the actors and the audience
New Comedy
Comic dramas of Greece of the late fourth to second centuries B.C.E tending toward domestic and romantic comedy
Farce
Improbable plotsExaggerated charactersSlapstick elementsGrotesque and unnaturalOften physical humor
Commedia
Originating in Italy, one of the first true theatre movements following the religious domination of the Middle AgesA style based in scenarios fleshed out with lazzi, improv, and topical humorAn end to theatreNew ComedyChristian EmpireBanned theatre-pagan to emulating Gods (in Rome) killed if you perform theatre
Commedia Characters
Innomarati, the lovers, "Lelio and IsabellaPantelone, miser, financially and sexually driven, crooked noseZanni (always smarter than master) Arlecchio, usually slave looking for freedom, Colombina, maid pursued by Arlecchio and PanteloneCapitano, warrior, not brave, all talk-no action
Realism
The cultural movement that supports theatrical realism and extended the belief that these plays could be a force for social and political changeMiddle class existenceRebellion against social moresLives of ordinary peopleHolding up the mirrorNo verseNo supernatural forcesTaboo subjects are tackled
Asian Theatre
Asian American Theatre Company: company that produced the first major play by an Asian American playwright (Frank Chin)
Globe Theatre
One of the theatre buildings used by Shakespeare's company for the public performance of plays
Inciting Incident
The event that sets the action of a play into motion (what makes today different)
Old Comedy
Greek comic plays written in the classical period that directly or indirectly comments on the social, political, and/or cultural issues of the times. It is usually filled with physical and obscene humorPlots are not derived from myth and legendContemporary lifeSlapstick actionScatological and sexual jokespolitical satirelanguage
Romantic Comedy
Quest of a pair of lovers to get togetherHappy endingsAntagonist usually participates in final festival
Restoration
In England, a return to theatre after the reestablishment of the monarchy in 1660; noted for clever and lustful comediesCharles IIHighly sexualVery topicalAll audiencesFemale Playwrights
Naturalism
A movement in nineteenth-century Europe that represents realism in its most radical form and shows that nature and the social environment control human behaviorRevolt against the artificiality of Look how people lookTalk how people talkLater picked up in the USA by John SteinbeckSlice of Life theatre
Noh Theatre
Noh stage: a very specific design for state, theatre space, costumes, etc. in which Noh drama is performed
Verse
Poetry: literature in metrical form
Soliloquy
A monologue in which the character speaks his or her thoughts aloud, not directed toward any other person
Prose
language, particularly written language, not intended as poetry
Satire
a literary technique of writing or art, which principally ridicules its subject often as an intended means of provoking or preventing changeHumor
Lazzi
Comic bits (singular = lazzo) found in Commedia dell'arte style of performance
Melodrama
A specific type of plot-oriented drama with clearly defined characters who articulate middle-class valuedPlot drive-not characterDramaWell-made structureGood vs. Evil moralityHappy or tragic ending with morals
Mahabharata
One of the two great epics of Indian tradition
A Doll house
The first feminist play, 1879, examines middle-class family crisis, no clear cut good vs. evil strong female protagonistHenrik Ibsen (father of Modern Drama
Tartuffe
Aristocratic comediesMoliereRich making fun of the poor
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
Tennessee WilliamsOne of his best known works and his personal favoriteWon Pulitzer Prize
Natya Sastra
The Canons of Dance and Drama, first written by the sage Bharata as a guide to all elements of Sanskrit dance/drama
Machinal
Sophie TreadwellInspired by real life case of convicted and executed murderess Ruth Snyder How business treat their employees like cog in a wheelInsignificantMiss A is a human among robot-like others, she is being dominatedJob, employment, machine
The Crucible
Arthur Miller
A Streetcar Named Desire
Tennessee Williams
The Drunkard
Also known as The Fallen SlaveWilliam H. Smith
Death of a Salesman
Arthur MillerWon Tony and Pulitzer Prize
Tragic Impulse
AristotleTragedy is definged by a good man sacrificing his lifeNot found in African Plays because no one ever dies
Expressionism
Organized around an idea or themeMain character is on a quest or pilgrimmageProtagonist, Christ-like, is sacrificed to social woesGeneric CharacterSymbols dominate meaningAmerican Expressionism: subjective, The Quest Motif, The "Dream (often "nightmare") play, everything is possible, controlled by the consciousness of the dreamer, anti-industrial, anti-corporate, never linear, often cyclical, stationary plays
MacBeth
MacBeth, Lady MacBeth, Duncan, Malcolm, Macduff, Three Witches
Much Ado About Nothing
Leonato, Antonio, Hero, Beatrice, Benedick, Claudio, Don Pedro, Don John, Balthazar, Dogberry, Verges
Three Sisters
Urban vs. SuburbanAscension of Serfdom as seen in NatashaA life where one must seek out new meaningDifference between what you say and what you doPredicts the revolutionAnton ChekovOlga, Irina, Maria, Andrei, Natasha, Protopopov