The Stage and the School Chapter 6
Dr. Neighbours
Ancient Greece classified
Comedy in 3 ways

Old
 Characterized by scathing, satirical attach
on political events and figures

Middle
 Focused more on social occurrences; very
speech heavy

New
 Sentimental view of life and tried to appeal
to audiences’ intellect rather than base
sense of humor
2 TYPES OF COMEDY:

Low

High
 Focus on physical antics
 Relies on physical humor to
 Intellectual humor
 Relies almost exclusively on
generate laughter
 Characters and situations are
usually outlandish
 Play is usually exaggerated in
style and performance
 Example – “The Three Stooges”
witty dialogue, not physical
action
 Always a particular subject
being ridiculed, just as with low
comedy; difference is in how it is
presented
TYPES OF
LOW
COMEDY
#1 - Farce





Based on improbable
characters and implausible
coincidence and events
Include practical jokes and
clowning
Has physical indignities,
such as ear pulling, shin
kicking, pie throwing, etc.
Usually include chase
scenes
Many plays have elements
of farce

May have screen scenes
 In a screen scene some of
the actors hide from the
other actors onstage,
overhearing the onstage
dialogue
 May pop out to say
something or talk to one
another or make asides to
the audience

Examples:
 The three stooges
 TV: Third Rock from the
Sun, Arrested Development
 Neil Simon’s Rumors
 Some SNL skits:
○ http://www.youtube.com/w
atch?v=1IohU9u6baw
#2 – Burlesque (European
Burlesque)





Not to be confused with
the Americanization of
Burlesque
Like farce, relies on
physical comedy and
exaggeration
Usually less coherent than
farces and are much more
exaggerated
Mockery of a broad topic,
such as style, societal
view, or literary form
Audiences should have
previous knowledge of the
play’s subject or they will
not understand all of the
humor


Was a very European style
of low comedy in the early
1900’s
When it came to the U.S.,
evolved into the bawdy
variety show that is a
partial root of modern
musical theatre
#3 - Parody
Mockery of a certain
person or work
 Incorporates a
caricature:

 Exaggerated feature(s) of
the subject
Like burlesque, requires
prior knowledge of the
subject being ridiculed
 Examples:

 Scary Movie, Spaceballs,
Don’t Be a Menace to
South Central While
Drinking Your Juice in the
Hood
http://www.nbc.com/saturday-nightlive/digital-shorts/videos/1173548.shtml
TYPES OF
HIGH
COMEDY
#1 – Comedy of Manners
Also called “drawing
room comedy”
because the main
action of these plays
take place in the
drawing rooms (dens)
of upper-class citizens
 Mocks the pretenses
of the upper class
 Built on clever use of
language
 Includes puns,
paradoxes, epigrams,
and irony




Dialogue is clever,
often attacking
socially accepted
standards of the day
Extremely popular
during the Restoration
Period (late 1600’s)
Examples:
 Playwrights: Wycherly,
Congreve, and
Sheridan
#2 - Satire
Like parody or
burlesque - Ridicules
human folly, society
views, or individuals
 Unlike parody or
burlesque – the satirist
has a goal of changing
something for the better
by ridiculing it
 It is intellectual in its
attack
 Uses mockery in the
language rather than in
physical antics


Examples:
 Ben Jonson, Oscar
Wilde, Noel Coward, Tom
Stoppard
Other Types of
Drama
Many plays cannot be categorized as
tragedy or comedy because they
have elements of pathos and
humor
This type is more abundant than a
pure comedy or tragedy
Eight examples
The types have developed and
changed throughout history,
sometimes evolving into a style of
writing in theatre and fiction and
sometimes evolving from literature
#1 - Fantasy


Deals with unreal
characters, dreams,
and imaginary times
and places
Usually occurs in a
land of make-believe
that is often inhabited
by spirits who have
supernatural powers,
god from another
world, witches, and
flawless heroes


Not a new trend –
used by Shakespeare
in A Midsummer
Night’s Dream and
The Tempest
Examples:
 The Wizard of Oz
 Never-ending Story
 King Arthur
#2 – Romantic Comedy



Written with the style
of romanticism
Features plots
focusing on love
affairs between
flawless heroes and
virtuous heroines
Are ideally suited for
each other and are
presented as too
good to be true



Love affair has ups
and downs, but
always ends
“happily every after”
Not a lot written
today in the truest
sense of definition
Examples:
 Shakespeare’s The
Merchant of Venice
 Musical Brigadoon
#3 – Sentimental Comedy
Although comedy, it
lacks humor
 Reaction to
Restoration drama
and immorality
present in it
 Marked by schmaltz:

 Emotional and ideal
presentation of material
to an extreme

The hero and heroin
are so virtuous they
seem to be
caricatures





Villain shows no
redeeming
characteristics
Characters are flat
Plot is contrived
Virtue always prevails
Not a long-lived type
of drama
#4 - Melodrama




Originated in 19th century
England
Marked by use of stock
characters and implausible
plots
Present a trite storyline
where a virtuous maiden is
threatened by an evil
villain but is rescued by a
flawless hero
Every act concludes with a
climax, leaving the
audience hanging for a
resolutions
 “Cliffhangers”



Based on the structure of a
tragedy, but focuses more on the
actions of the characters rather
than on their motivations
Lacks the sense of inevitability
that is in tragedy
Presents a clear-cut view of
morality,




No room to question the
motivations of the villainous
character, who must be motivated
by evil intent,
or the virtuous character, who in
turn must be motivated by the
search for right
Good characters triumph
Examples: soap operas


The Soup pokes fun at The Bold
and the Beautiful:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=
411UyueRdgY
#5 – Play of Ideas



Also called a problem
play or a social drama
Deals with a social
problem such as
racism, classism, or
sexism
May also deal with
questions of wrong
and right or
philosophical
arguments

Examples:
 My Children! My Africa!
– dealt with apartheid

Elements may be also
incorporated into
other plays:
 Enemy of People -
standing for something
you believe in
 The Caucasian Chalk
Circle – attacks
selfishness
 Raisin in the Sun –
racism, poverty
#6 – Psychological Drama
Serious
Penetrating and
sometimes painful
 Playwright battles the
complexities of the
human psyche and
personal relationships
 Examples:


 O’Neill’s Long Day’s
Journey into Night
 Williams’ The Glass
Menagerie
 Norman’s ‘Night Mother
 Albee’s Who’s Afraid of
Virginia Woolf?
#7 – The “Whodunit”



Suspense is within
solving a crime or a
courtroom drama
Heightens dramatic
effects and hooks
audiences
Examples:
 Ten Little Indians
 The Mousetrap
 (Agatha Christie)
#8 - Allegory


Play that teaches
moral concepts
through characters
who personify
abstract qualities
and concepts, such
as truth, justice,
love, death, and
humanity
Example: medieval
play Everyman
Special Forms of Drama
These defy most traditional conventions
and definitions
#1 – Children’s Theatre

Drama written,
designed, and
performed for
children
#2 – Puppet Theatre


Long been a part of
theatre throughout the
world
Skilled puppeteers
can generate a drama
as intense and
powerful as any found
on the traditional
stage or as whimsical
and imaginative as
“The Muppets” or
“Sesame Street”
#3 - Monodrama


Play written to be
performed by a sing
actor
Examples:
 Historical
dramas/recreations
 The Search for Signs
of Intelligent Life in
the Universe
 Before Breakfast
#4 – Performance Art



Very modern – late
20th century and
present
Form of monodrama
that involves
juxtaposing many
different elements of
theatre in a new way
Could included video,
film, music, dance,
etc. – very multimedia
http://www.youtube.co
m/watch?v=Trw9vYV_g
6c
STYLES OF
DRAMA
STYLES
“A Thought about HOW to do a play”
• Style refers to the way in which a play is
written, produced, and acted. Dramatists
choose the style of language and action they
feel best expresses their ideas
• Directors and artists present plays in a style
they feel suites the script
• Classifying plays by style is sometimes difficult
because of combinations of styles
• Relies on theatrical conventions
• Elements of theatrics that help to convey
particular interpretations – i.e. visual elements
3 major stylizations

Representational
 “fourth wall” theater
 Play is performed as if
audience were watching
the action through an
imaginary fourth wall
 Common theatrical
convention

Avant-garde
 Applies to new and
experimental styles of
any art form
 Once a style is
accepted, it is no longer
avant-garde

Presentational
 Acknowledges that an
audience is present
 Characters may
address the audience
and some action may
take place in the seating
area
 Example: Our Town
TWENTIETH CENTURY
STYLES AND TRENDS
Although part of 20th century and modern
era, some began hundreds of years before
Romanticism
1.





Focuses on emotions and imagination
Reaction to the strict neo-classicism that predominated
French theatre in 17th century
Elaborate stage and featured ideal characters
Love is the main theme
Primary type is Romantic Comedy
Realism
2.


20th century; presents life as it actually is—often
unpleasant and unhappy
Example: Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House
Naturalism
3.



Grew out of realism
Believes human beings have little self-determination but
act in response to forces of nature and society that are
beyond their control
Is sordid and shocking as it depicts life with no holds
barred
Symbolism
4.



In theatre symbolism uses one element—a
character, a prop, or a piece of scenery—to
represent something else
19th century though - reaction against realism
Examples: Ibsen’s The Wild Duck, Chekhov’s
The Cherry Orchard
Expressionism
5.



Characters and sets are distorted,
oversimplified, and symbolic rather than
realistic
Message is often the useless of human hopes
and dreams in the face of mechanistic forces
Primarily German
Epic Theatre
6.





Developed by Bertolt Brecht
A journalistic, non emotional style
Uses signs, projections, films, and loudspeakers
to present events in an episodic form
Reaction against emotionalism and naturalism
Examples: Brecht’s Mother Courage and The
Threepenny Opera
Constructivism
7.






Early 20th century; also known as Socialist
Realism
Originated by playwright Meyerhold
In direct contrast to realism
Productions were not based on real life nor were
staged on traditional picture-frame stages
Featured backgrounds of mechanical skeletons
on various levels connected by arches, ramps,
ladders, and platforms
Actors moved with precise symbolic movements
designed to take place of spoken language
Theatre of the Absurd
8.
Mid-20th century (1950-1960’s)
Influenced by Albert Camus’ essay “The
Myth of Sisyphus”
Language is proven unreliable; does not
establish meaning
Dialogue is usually meaningless or illogical
or absent all together
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfQUIy7
TNIk
Example: Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for
Godot, Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and
Guildenstern are Dead
Comes from school of philosophy called
Existentialism:


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○
○
Thought is that we being our lives in a random
world that only offers us possibilities.
We define ourselves through our decisions, our
actions, and our relations with other beings
Theatre of Involvement
9.

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10.
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
11.


Participation of members of the audience in
the action of the performance
Examples: Cats and Tony and Tina’s
Wedding
Theatricalism
“This is theatre. Accept it for what it is”
Makes no pretense of reality because
dramatic situations are not real situations
Example: The Fantasticks (uses items that
clearly are only for theatrics)
Total Theatre
Involves a fusion of all the performing arts
into one presentation.
Dance, mime, atmospheric music, and
creative costuming and staging are all
combined with high-tech audiovisual special
effects