Theatre History Overview - Part 91 - Devised Theatre

Most people are used to traditional theatre where the roles of each theatre artist are typically given and they don't tend to cross into other roles. Actors act, lighting technicians design lighting schemes work with lights, directors direct, and scenic designers build sets. However, devised theatre invites all theatre artists to be any and all of these things at once. The start date of devised theatre is also difficult to place. However, the movement that is still current in 2018 is usually said to have started to take place in the 1990s.

Devised theatre is difficult to define. This is because there isn't one exact definition. John Walton probably gives the simplest defition is probably, "a process in which the whole creative team develops a show collaboratively. From actors to technicians, everyone is involved in the creative process." Vanesa Garcia writes that devised theatre is "theatre that begins without a script. The script gets 'written' as the rehearsal process takes place through a series of improvisations and collaborations." Eric Grode says devised theatre "typically begins with little more than a rehearsal space and a group of eager, committed theatre practitioners. Through a series of improvisatory theatre games or other conceptual ice-breakers, they start to tease out the kinds of stories they’d like to tell and the way they’d like to tell them. Over time, a text emerges, one covered with the fingerprints of each and every participant."

Twentieth Century Postmodern Theatre paved the way for the current devised theatre movement. However, collaboration in theatre goes all the way back to the beginning of theatre. Some of the major movements that involved collaboration were Commedia del Arte and Poor Theatre.

Eventually a play will need to come together and have a person be a director in order to keep it in one cohesive piece. However, that is not how it starts. The devised play starts with a group of people collaborating to make a theatrical piece. This may be started with a group of people that do not have an idea and come up with one or it may be started by one person or a few people that have an idea or a theme.

If the idea or the theme is already set, a group of people who are willing to help with the piece are assembled and they can all look or listen to gathered information in order to help inform their contributions. Devised theatre may take the form of any type of theatre. Sometimes an ensemble will get together and decide to produce a drama or a comedy. If there are musicians in the ensemble, the final production may be a musical. If the purpose of the ensemble is to bring awareness to social issues, then the play may be small scenes put together or a mix of all different kinds of theatre.

One or more of the ensemble members will most likely write down what happens or is said in order to help keep a unifed script. Sometimes the script is meant to stay exactly as it is. Other times the script is meant only to be an outline. Even at other times, the script may be meant to be kept mostly as it is, but it can evolve and have others add to it. It is only once the play has come together and is being rehearsed to be kept in once piece that people start taking on singular roles.

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Theatre History Overview - Part 90 - Satyr Plays

Satyr plays were bawdy farcical theatrical presentations. The creation of these plays is credited to the sixth century actor and dramatist Pratinas. It is thought that he created these plays sometime before the year 501 A.D.

Satyrs were (or are) half-human on the top and half-goat on the bottom. Many people may be familiar with this type of character because Mr. Tumnus from The Chronicles of Narnia is one. In Greek mythology, satyrs entertained the god Dionysus. They were known for their merrymaking. Dionysus was the god of wine, fertility, and revelry. It was at the City Dionysia Festival, which commemorated the coming of Dionysus to Athens, that satyrs plays were introduced.

Dramatists would enter plays for competition. Each dramatist had to enter a trilogy of tragedies and one satyr play. The satyr play would be performed after the tragedies because they would provide comic relief after all the serious material that had been presented. These plays often gave a burlesque treatment of mythology. The characters would use indecent language and make indecent gestures. It is likely that they would also dance.

It is thought that Pratinas wrote 50 plays, 32 of which were satyr plays. However, the only full satyr play to survive to present day is Cyclops by Euripides. It is based on a story found in Homer's Odyssey. It is possible that satyr plays led the way for today's black comedies because of some of the grotesque jokes. Also, many of the jokes may have been found funny at the time of the play's writing, but would not be found funny today.

Disney's Fantasia animated the idea of Dionysus, the satyrs, and many other Greek gods and Greek mythological figures. In the clip below, you can see Dionysus, centaurs, satyrs, unicorns, Zeus, Hephaestus, and more mythological figures.



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Theatre History Overview - Part 89 -European Art Theatre

The European Art Theatre movement began in the late 1880s. At this time, theatre-goers in Europe were seeking something that the commercials theatres could not provide. This movement addressed current happenings in society and produced plays by new-as-of-then playwrights.

This type of theatre focused on Realism, however, it was not Naturalistic. The acting and playwriting style changed as the theatre was informed by other arts such as painting, music, and poetry. It was found that writers dictated the character of the theatre.

The way theatres run was much different from how commercial theatres were run. A group of artists, art-lovers, and patrons would get together as the people that ran the theatres. There might have been a group of unpaid actors or actors may have come in to audition for theatre groups. Either way, the group that ran the theatre would decide on the general policies of the theatre. This meant that each theatre group within the European Theatre Art movement had its own policies.

In general, once a group had a play, a director (either from inside the group or from outside) would be picked to direct the play. All of the responsibilities for mounting the play on the stage were delegated to the director. Having non-commercial theatre also allowed those in the lower classes to be able to afford attending theatrical productions.

The European Art Theatre Movement was the inspiration for the Little Theatre Movement in the United States. It is said to have truly taken off when an Irish troupe was touring the states and made U.S. citizens aware of affordable theatre, making them anti-commercial theatre.

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Theatre History Overview - Part 88 -Byzantine Theatre

The Byzantine empire started in 476 A.D. after the fall of the Roman empire. Even though the Roman empire had fallen, Byzantines thought of themselves as Romans. The Byzantine empire considered itself Christian, so it did not support the Roman entertainments. This was because of how bloody they could be. As Christians,they did not agree with the excessive violence occurring on the stage.

While Byzantium did not like Roman entertainments, it loved its Greek heritage. Thus, it sought to preserve its Greek heritage. In an odd combination of events, Byzantium strived to keep Greek culture through theatre, but did not want to admit to Roman influence. This is odd because both cultures had their own gods. It is not certain why they viewed Greek entertainment as okay while they viewed Roman entertainment as something to be hated.

Scholars focused on three aspects of classical Greek drama: scholastic, popularity, and religiosity. The last part brings up the question if Byzantine had any Christian drama. It is thought they they did because there is evidence of performances happening. Among existing homilies, there is a play called Christos Paschon or Christiens Patiens. There is also a passion play in 10 scenes.

One of the major supports for evidence of liturgical ever existing in Byzantium is the account of the visit of Bishop Liutprand of Cremona. He was sent as an ambassador to Byzntium by the German ruler Otto. Liutpruand wrote that he experienced liturgical drama while there.it is known that the attitude towards theatre was ambivalent. The Hippodrome, which was patterned after the Circum Maximum, regularly held chariot races. It also hosted liturgical processions.

It is thought that this continued through the time of the Byzantine empire. However, it is not certain and is constantly debated among Scholars.

Once again, sorry for this blog post being so late. My air conditioning still isn't fixed, I had to take care of a medical issue, and I had to deal with Internet problems.

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Theatre History Overview - Part 87 - Little Theatre Movement

The Little Theatre Movement took place in the United States from 1909 to 1929. The movement served a few purposes. First, it served the purpose of staging plays without requiring the trappings of a professional theatre. Little theatres were specifically geared toward talented people who were amateurs. Second, the movement provided a way for theatre to exist without commercialism. While it followed the laws necessary to produce shows, it didn't run on making a profit. Instead, money was used so more shows could be produced. Third, it provided an experimental center for the dramatic arts. Rather than having to pay expensive prices to rent theatrical space, artists might be able to have the space donated for free or at least at a much lower cost than in a professional setting. Fourth, that theatre could be used for the betterment of American society and not just entertainment.

Many people credit Maurice 'Brown, the director and co-founder of the Chicago Little Theatre, with the creation of the Little Theatre Movement. However, he credits Laura Dainty Pelham, the director of Hull House in Chicago, Illinois, as the true founder. Hull House was co-founded by Jane Addams and Ellen Gates Starr. The Little Theatre Movement began when young theatrical artists were influenced by the 'European theatre. Little Theatres produced plays by playwrights such as Eugene O'Neill who went on to become widely recognized.

During the same time, community theatres started to be founded. They operated on the idea of providing affordable theatre to people. Some Little Theatres operated with the same idea. Other little theatres became known as "tributary theatres" because they were a pathway to professional theatres, mostly on Broadway or London's West End. Being that there wasn't one set of rules under which Little Theatres operated, theatres developed around the United States and used different models of operation. Some theatres staged only well known shows while others focused on helping new playwrights.

Being that community theatres also developed at the same times, the two types of theatre basically became indistinguishable. Today, both community theatres and little theatres exist throughout the United States. They all operate in different capacities depending on the bylaws that each theatre has establish for itself.

Sorry about this post being late for Friday, July 27. My air conditioning is not working and this post is late due to complications dealing with being able to stand staying in my own house.

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Theatre History Overview - Part 86 - Second Hand Drama

While many people use the term "second-hand drama" to refer to dramatic happenings that either occur because of a first instance or something that occurs at the site of the unfolding of a mjor incident, "second-hand drama" is also a theatrical term. It is not certain when the term first came into use, but second-hand drama is not a new phenomenon.

People often use the term second-hand drama as derogatory. However, this is not what it technically means. There can be bad second-hand drama and there can be good second-hand drama. The easiest way to explain second-hand drama is to say that it is an adaptation of an earlier literary work (such as a novel or an earlier play) or of a movie. It is known that Shakespeare used previous works in order to write his plays. In fact, even the Greeks never had a completely original play.

By saying an original play, that means that a source for the idea of the play had to come from somewhere. Charles Mee probably said it best in introducing his "The Making Project."

There is no such thing as an original play.

None of the classical Greek plays were original: they were all based on earlier plays or poems or myths. And none of Shakespeare's plays are original: they are all taken from earlier work. As You Like It is taken from a novel by Thomas Lodge published just 10 years before Shakespeare put on his play without attribution or acknowledgment. Chunks of Antony and Cleopatra are taken verbatim, and, to be sure, without apology, from a contemporary translation of Plutarch's Lives. Brecht's Caucasian Chalk Circle is taken from a play by Klabund, on which Brecht served as dramaturg in 1926; and Klabund had taken his play from an early Chinese play.

Sometimes playwrights steal stories and conversations and dreams and intimate revelations from their friends and lovers and call this original.

However, the second-hand play is a direct adaptation. It is not just a play taken from a source. Shakespeare definitely wrote some second-hand plays. Then, people who take Shakespeares plays and rewrite them are writing second-hand plays. There is nothing wrong with a second-hand play. If the play is well written and has a cohesive plot, it can still be a great play. It is onlly when the play is not well written and the plot isn't cohesive that writing a second-hand play doesn't work.

Second hand plays will always exist. It is important that people learn that second-hand drama doesn't mean bad drama. It is only bad second-hand drama that is bad. Examples of second-hand drama for the stage are The 39 Steps, Point Break, and The Pink Panther Strikes Again.

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Theatre History Overview - Part 85 - Burlesque

Burlesque is a form of literature and theatre that focuses on parodying other art forms. The literary use of the term was used in the 16th and 17th centuries. However, theatrical use started in in the early 1840s. This was a time of cultural clashes between the upper classes and the working classes. Early burlesque often lampooned the upper classes with comedic sketches. Dance routines were often inserted between these comedic acts.

The word burlesque derives from the Italian or Spanish word burla, meaning to mock, trick, or joke. Common subjects for burlesque shows were Shakespeare plays, other popular plays, operas and ballets. At this point, risque subjects in burlesque were extremely rare. Burlesque shows were akin to vaudeville. However, vaudeville required experienced performers. Burlesque did not have such strict requirements and allowed for people to perfect their performance techniques so they could be involved with vaudeville.

During the 1860s, the idea of sexually suggestive acts entered into burlesque when Lydia Thompson and her troupe, the British Blondes, appeared in the United States. By the 1880s, burlesque had established some informal rules for defining itself.

1. The staging, dialog, and plot was sexually suggestive.
2. The humor was quick-witted and involved puns, but lacked complexity.
3. The sketches and routines had minimal plot cohesion.
4. Females wore minimal costuming

While sexually suggestive performances and costumes had become part of burlesque, it wasn't until the 1920s that strip shows became part of the acts. This was because movies became popular and theatre owners were looking for ways to make money. The strippers were popular with men who were looking for that type of entertainment. The ones that ran burlesques with strippers avoided getting in trouble with the law through loopholes such as women wearing pasties and covering their privates with thin strips of material or hiding them behind leaves or other items held in the hands. The Night They Raided Minsky's is a film that dramatizes the end of burlesque and the beginning of striptease.

By 1954, burlesque was considered by a bygone form of entertainment. However, it never truly went away. Then the 1990s saw the "neo-burlesque" or the "new-burlesque" movement. This art form usually contains strippers or other erotic content. However, some of it went back to the idea of comedic sketches and parodies of popular entertainment. Today, all forms of burlesque still exist.

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Theatre History Overview - Part 84 - Farce

Farces are plays that use highly improbably situations to entertain the audience. They tend to deliberately use humor and nonsense. They are often full of physical comedy, too. Farces go back to antiquity. They are then prominently found throughout Europe (especially the U.K. and France), in the 13th and 14th centuries.

It was during the 15th century in France that modern farce started to take shape. The original farces were plays or comedic acts (even performances of jesters, clowns, and/or acrobats) between the acts of serious plays. These were often the religious plays and the farce was to give the people a break from the lesson being taught by the play. It is thought that the word farce comes from an Old French word or the Late Latin word, farsus, meaning "to stuff." This is because these plays or performances were "stuffed" between the acts of serious plays.

In late 17th century England, the word farce came to mean any short comedic play. This differentiated the plays from the main five act comedies that were mainly known. During the 18th century, David Garrick, who wrote plays based on Italian Farces (such as Miss in Her Teens and The Lying Valet), revolutionized farce on the English stage. These farces often relied on romantic relationships, arranged marriages, and social upheaval. On the Italian stage, stock characters were starting to be created. This led to the creation of Commedia del Arte.

In the 1920s, the bedroom farce or the sex farce was created. This type of play relied on having too many doors, hidden onlookers, and sexual innuendos. Rookery Nook and A Cuckoo in the Nest by Ben Travers are examples of this type of farce. While all types of farce still exist, the bedroom farce seems to be the most common. An example of a bedroom farce is Noises Off by Michael Frayn.

While they are not bedroom farces, if you are having trouble picturing a farce, you can watch sketches by The Three Stooges or Monty Python. These shows relied on absurd situations and physical comedy in order to entertain audiences. This is exactly what farces do.

Watch "Cats in the Piano" by The Three Stooges



Watch "Ministry of Silly Walks" by Monty Python



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Theatre History Overview - Part 83 - Heroic Drama

Heroic Drama was part of restoration drama, particularly, restoration spectacular. This type of drama relied on opulent scenery. It was also given specific rules that were to be followed. It is said that Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra followed these rules even though they had not yet been developed.

This form of drama started developing through many works written during the 1660s, but a timespan of 1664 to 1678 is what is generally given. A couple of significant plays leading to heroic drama are The Black Prince by Robert Boyle and The Indian Emperour by John Dryden. Dryden asserted that heroic drama was to other drama as heroic poems were to other poems. Because of this, he came up with rules for these plays.

The three laws Dryden devised are as follows:

1. The play should be written in epic rhyme. There is no particular rhyme scheme in epic rhyme, but it often uses a certain meter, blank verse. or couplets. (Some say that heroic verse should be closed couplets in iambic pentameter).
2. The theme of the play should be be on nationwide foundations, mythological proceedings, or great, important, significant subjects.
3. The leading character should be like Achilles in that he is influential, decisive, and dominating even when wrong.

Other examples of dramatic plays are Venice Preserved by Thomas Otway and The Rival Queen by Nathaniel Lee. Playwrights also liked to parody heroic tragedy. Examples of this are The Tragedy of Tragedies, o The Life and Death of Tom Thumb the Great by Henry Fielding and The Rehearsal by the Duke of Buckingham.

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Theatre History Overview - Part 82 - French Avant-Garde Theatre

French Avant-Garde theatre started in the 1880s. It is certain that a Belgian playwright, Maurice Maetrlinck wrote The Blind in 1890. It is a symbolist drama about twelve unnamed people who are stranded on an island.

In 1893, Oskar Panizza wrote The Council of Love and while the exact date it was written is not known, Alfred Jarry's play, Ubu Roi was produced in 1986. He later wrote Ubu Cuckolded and Ubu in Chains.

Just like in American Avant-Garde theatre, plays were not trying to replicate real life. Instead, they were trying to create new worlds.

French Avant-Garde Theatre continued through the 1900s. It included movements like absurdism. While the movment isn't truly happening today, some playwrights and directors may still use the concepts.

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Theatre History Overview - Part 81 - Domestic Drama

Domestic drama (or Bourgeois drama) doesn't have one exact starting date. However, it is said to truly have started in the 18th century. Domestic plays focus on the lives of those in the middle class and lower class. The people were not nobility, but they were not slaves, either.

Even in classical Greek and Roman plays, there were dealings with family and/or friends. The reason the dramas are not classified as domestic dramas is that the gods intervene. Neoclassical theatre dealt with relationships, but they were between the upper classes. Whil Restoration Theatre focused on relationships, the language was the main focus. This was poetic and was not used by the middle and lower classes.

During the 18th century, playwrights wanted to express “trend toward sentimental bourgeois realism." During this time, the plays tended to have middle-class moralities, but the characters were made more sophisticated than the general middle class. In the 19th century, `realism and naturalism were incorporated into theatre. Because of these things, playwrights started reflecting real life on stage. One of the major playwrights of this time was Henrik Ibsen.

By the 20th century, symbolism was also introduced into domestic theatre. The plays used this as well as naturalism and expressionism. They started dealing with political, social, and psychological events. Today, all of these types of plays exist. Some of the plays that are considered domestic drama are The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams, A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry, Who's Afriad of Virginia Woolf? by Edward Albee, and Topdog-Underdog by Suzan-Lori Parks.

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Theatre History Overview - Part 80 - Modernist Theatre

Modernist theatre is attributed to the fallout after World War I. Credit for the start of modernist theatre is often given to André Antoine. It is said to have started in 1887 when Théâtre Libre was founded in Paris. One of the major playwrights of this movement was Emile Zola.

Saying that modernism is a movement in theatre can be confusing. This is because modernism encompasses several different theatre styles that took plays in the late 19th and early 20th century. The movements in realism were actions against naturalism. An important part of modernism is symbolism. Symbolism produced it's own theatres. The one that is said to be the most notable is Lugné-Poë’s Théâtre de l’Oeuvre, founded in Paris in 1893.

In the United States, Robert Edmond Jones and Lee Simonson were two of the designers who worked in symbolism. Modernism includes Avant Garde Theatre, Agitprop, and many other movements. In general, if a type of theatre movement happened after World War I but before World War II may be described as modernist theatre.

This post counts for my Friday, July 20, 2018 post. I had an event I was attending and then quite a few unforeseen circumstances happened.

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Review: Tammy: A Coming of Age Story About a Girl Who is Part T-Rex - Governor's Program for Gifted Children

Nothing would seem odd about a scene with a teenage girl sitting and writing in her diary. She covers that she doesn't like school and writes about the boys that she likes. However, there is one odd detail. This girl is part Tyrannosaurus Rex (T-Rex). She is called to breakfast where we learn that her name is Tammy.

The play doesn't offer much content other than various scenes of what happens during middle school. There are the popular girls, Jennica and Amber. There's the typical jock, Cliff. There's Tammy's best friend, Hope.

This play is current being performed by the Governor's Program for Gifted Children. The students did a great job remembering their lines. However, most of them couldn't be heard all that well. In order to hear the majority of the students, it is a good idea to get a seat close to the stage.

The costumes were perfect for the characters. The popular girls looked like the popular girls in a high school. The jock wore the typical letterman jacket. Hope was always in her Girl Scout uniform. It is understandable that they wanted easy to move set pieces. However, having set pieces that looked like something out of Saved by the Bell or Clarissa Explains it All didn't work for the scenes at the dinner table and then when those pieces were used to depict traveling in a car. Other than that, they did recall the 1990s, which, apparently, this play is supposed to do.

The dance scenes, while entertaining, were not always understandable. It was apparent if these things were really happening, were in the imagination of Tammy, or were just dreams. However, these things aren't the fault of the directors or the actors. They are written into the script. During the play, Tammy ends up getting angry and kills all of her friends. This brought up the question if this play could possibly be an allegory about school shootings. Tammy deals with rejection and ridicule that leads to violence. She has a friend that doesn't seem to find her odd while everybody else does.

The two performers that truly stood out in the play were Penina Berman as Tammy T-Rex and Sydney Brummett as Jennica Lupis. Other performers are Clayton Ladner (Mrs. Rex), Ben Songy (Mr. Rex/Popular Guy), Aiden Manuel (Brian/Mr. Sanchez), Victoria Toddman (Hope), Ella Theriot (Amber Swan/Mary Ellen), Jack Touchet (Cliff Samorga), Caleb Caldwell (Bacon Bite/Steve Watson/Faceless Teacher/Guard), Liam Hopper (Guard/Student/Faceless Teacher), and Vivienne Ragnone (Student/Judy/Faceless Teacher). There are also guest appearances b Nickolas Walling, Mary Landry, and Ryan Bryne.

There is one more chance to see the show at 3pm on Friday, July 20, 2018. Even with the shortcomings, there is no doubt that these kids are talented. Support the local arts and the local community. The performance is free.

The Governor's Program for Gifted Children is a seven week program held on the McNeese campus over the summer. Students stay on the campus for those seven weeks and have a variety of curricula in the arts and sciences available to them. To find out more, head to http://gpgc.org.

If you enjoy my content, please consider becoming one one of my patrons through Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/TheatreGeek where I will be sharing more in depth content, answering your questions, sharing which types of software I use and how to find them, and more. By becoming my patron, you allow me to create more content about theatre and more theatrical content

Review: Brigadoon the Musical - Governor's Program for Gifted Children

The curtain opens and a forest is seen on the stage. It doesn't hit you that the trees are fake unless you stare at them long enough to realize that in some way, the look a little bit cartoonish. They don't keep your attention for long when the two guys stumble onto the stage and claim they are lost. After a bit of searching the Scotland map, they conclude that they are where "nothing" is on the map.

Suddenly, soft music and the words, "Brigadoon" are heard. A fair is happening in a town, and the two men, Tommy and Jeff, are soon involved in the goings on. This magical town is called Brigadoon and it only appears every 100 years. Because of this, the town has never heard of modern inventions such as telephones. It also means that the people there dress in traditional Scottish tartan clothes.

The Governor's Program for Gifted Children is currently performing this play. The costumes of the cast definitely recall the idea of Scottish tartan except for Fiona, who wears an all red dress. It would seem that there was a better choice for her costuming, but it is understandable that her character is supposed to stand out as one of the main characters in the play.

The set is expertly made. The trees make you think of real trees. The logs where characters sit look like real logs surrounded by moss. In general, the cast did a great job. However, the score for the musical includes very high notes. There were only one or two songs where all the members of the cast did not strain their voices in order to reach the notes that they were supposed to sing. It may not be legal since the play is not in the public domain, but if it were, a good idea would be to lower the score by two or three keys so the singers were not straining to reach the high notes in the songs.

There were also times that the mics obviously messed up and words could not be heard. The cast depended on the mics to be heard. There were a few times characters forgot lines, but it was opening night and this was probably the first time many of the students had ever performed in front of an audience. In general, the entire story could be understood and it was an enjoyable performance. Two more performances remain. One on Thursday, July 19, 2018 and another on Friday, July 20, 2018. Both of them are at 7pm in Tritico Theatre on the McNeese campus.

While all the actors did amazing jobs remembering their choreography (which was more believable as a town dancing when it wasn't completely perfectly done in synchronization), the one person who stood out in her performance was Belle Fine as Meg Brockie. Other cast members include Liam Wubben (Tommy Albright), Jeff Douglas (Jake Touchet), Ella Theriot (Fiona Maclaren), Mark DeFalco (Charlie Dalrymple), Hailey Williams (Bonnie Jean Maclaren), Ryan Gunton (Frank), Sydney Brummett (Jane Ashton), Stoney McKnight (Kate), and Ben Songy (Stuart Dalrymple). The townsfolk of Brigadoon were played by Tyler Alphonse, Cate Anderson, Penina Berman, Grace Bettis, Adair Brown, Dominic Bruno, Ran Cappel, Zoe Cappel, Julia Day, Isabel Jackson, Darren Metoyer, Vivienne Ragnone, Condoleezza Semien, Jesse Shuff, and Isabella Soileau.

The Governor's Program for Gifted Children is a seven week program held on the McNeese campus over the summer. Students stay on the campus for those seven weeks and have a variety of curricula in the arts and sciences available to them. To find out more, head to http://gpgc.org.

If you enjoy my content, please consider becoming one one of my patrons through Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/TheatreGeek where I will be sharing more in depth content, answering your questions, sharing which types of software I use and how to find them, and more. By becoming my patron, you allow me to create more content about theatre and more theatrical content.

Theatre History Overview - Part 79 - Tragedy

The origin of tragedy is credited to Thespis (where we get the word thespian, meaning actor). This was in 534 B.C. It is said that Thespis won a competition in honor of the god Dionysius at the Dionysia festival in the city-state of Athens.

The word tragedy comes from the tragoidia, literally meaning goat song. It is thought that this is because the goat was a prize for in a competition for choral dancing or that a dance was done around the goat before a ritual sacrifice. Another theory is that the word wasn't tragoidia, but was trygodia coming from trygos, meaning grape harvest. The word ode was combined with ode because of choral events being introduced during the grape harvest.

It is said that Thespis created dialogue. Before him, there was narration that happened, but conversation did not happen between the chorus and anybody else. Thespis addressed his speech to the chorus. This custom as continued by Phrynichus.

This paved the way for tragedies of all types. When Aristotle wrote Poetics, he stated that tragedy could only depict those with high power and status. However, as theatre continue, this definition was rejected. It was found that the common man can experience tragedy and this can also be expressed on stage. Even though many of Shakespeare's characters are of high status, it is said that he rejected Aristotle's statement about tragedy. Today, tragedies that deal with with high society and the common man are written.

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Theatre History Overview - Part 78 - Verbatim Theatre

Virbatim Theatre is a form of Documentary Theatre. The difference between Virbatim Theatre and general Documentary Theatre is that in Virbatin Theatre, the words of the interviewees must be used exactly.

The start of Virbatim Theatre is credited to Anna Deavere Smith. It is said to have started with her 1992 play, Fires in the Mirror, about the Crown Heights riot. She continued this form of theatre with her 1994 play, Twilght: Los Angeles, 1992, about the 1992 Los Angeles riots.

While this form of theatre may use television news broadcasts and newspaper articles, it is rare. When they are used, text from those who spoke or who were quoted must be used exactly as the text is found.

The only okay editing is to move the text around in different positions for the dialog to make sense, and to remove pauses and text fillers such as "uh" and "er." However, somestimes such pauses and fillers may be wanted to keep the intended effect.

It is also important to disclose that everything said may be used in the production. It is important for interviewees to know this as this will allow a playwright or a group of playmakers to use exact words without legal trouble. It is even a good idea to create and informal contract in order to have a record of consent.

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Theatre History Overview - Part 77 - Documentary Theatre

Documentary theatre is a performance built by and individual or a group of theatre artists that comes from historical and/or archival materials. Among these things can be newspaper reportings, transcripts from trials or television news shows, and written or recorded interviews. It gives privilege to subjectivity over universality.

Although it may seem new, fact-based drama can be traced back to ancient Greece. Not much is known about that other than it was Phyrnichu's 492 B.C. production of The Capture of Miletus. Current documentary has its roots in practices developed in the 1920s-930s in Eastern Europe.

There were theatre troops in the USSR known as Blue Blouses because they wore factory workers' overalls. They were employed by the Union's Department of Agitation and Propaganda. They used them to dramatize news and current events by using staging with song and dance. By 1924, these performances had come to be known as zhivaya gazeta or living newspaper.

In the 1930s, documentary theatre spread to Europe and the United States. In Europe, the form was embraced by left-leaning political theatre groups. It combined fiction and reality to expose truths about the common man. In the United States, Hallie Flanagan Davis and Morris Watson adapated the form. It became large-scale living newspapers. The original idea was an animated newsreel, but the form soon evolved into its own theatrical genre. This genre used things like vaudeville techiques, Agitprop, and spectalce. The form came to a halt in the U.S. at the end of the Federal Theatre Project in 1939. However, it started again in the 1960s.

During the 1960s and the 1970s, this form of theatre was influenced by Bertolt Brecht's distancing effect. It often made the audience raise questions about reality. Some recent plays in this movement are The Exonerated by Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen, Fires in the Mirror by Anna Deavere Smith, and The Laramie Project by Tectonic Theatre Project.

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Theatre History Overview - Part 76 - Postmodern Theatre

Postmodernism originated in Europe in the middle of the twentieth century. In a postmodern play, it is common for the play to "step back" from reality and create its own self-concious atmosphere. Ths is sometimes called metatheatre.

If this doesn't work for the production, though, it won't happen. However, there can also be set scripts for postmodern plays. Yet , postmodernism rejects chronological linearity.

Postmodern plays make people ask questions about the contecnt. Sometimes this is done by allowing the audience to have a dialogue with the actors on stage during the performance.

Other techniques that might be used ina postmodern play are having fragmented characters, having each performance be a new performance and not a repeat of any of the others given, and having a broken narrative.

Postmodernism is still considered a new movement. Important playwrights in the movement include Heiner Müller‎, P.L. Deshpande, and Sarah Kane.

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Theatre History Overview - Part 75 - Expressionist Theatre

Expressionism orginially referred to painting. It was a German revolt against naturalism and academism in all the arts.

The first fully expressionist theatrical work was Murderer, the Hope of Women by Oskar Kokoshka. It opened on Juy 4, 1909 in Vienna. However, it was not considered a full play. The first work considered a full expressionist play was The Son by Walter Hasenclever. It was published in 1914 and performed in 1916.

Expressionist plays often dealt with the sufferings and spiritual awakenings of their protagonists. They plays did not feel any commitment to every day reality.

The settings and atmospheres of expressionst plays were often abstract, distorted, and either dreamlike or nightmarish. Characters are often nameless and impersonalized. The style of acting can be difficult to reconstruct from the text.

The action of the play is broken into episodes. This was based on the religious stations of cross

The best known Amerian expressionist playwright was Eugene O'Neill. Some of his plays that are still performed to this day are The Hairy Ape, All God's Chillun Got Wings, and The Emperor Jones.

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Theatre History Overview - Part 74 - Miracle Plays

Often, the term miracle play is interchanged with mystery play. This was especially common at the time performing them was popular. However, the two plays do have differences.

Miracle plays started around the same time as mystery plays. However, miracle plays didn't strictly deal with Biblical stories. It was common for them to deal with the life and events of saints. These events may be real or fictional.

The saints in these plays were often either St. Mary, St. NIcholas, or St. George. The general plot of a play will invovle a character invoking the saint. The saint will them play the role of deus ex machina and save the character. Both Mary and Nicholas had cults during the middle ages. There was a widespread belief of the healing power of saintly relics, so miracle plays grew in popularity.

These stories may be inserted into the Biblical stories of mystery plays. This is why the terms were often interchanged. However, another element of miracle plays that was not as common in mystery plays (though it was sometiems seen) was the insiertion of comedic elements. Sometimes a comedic side plot was even inserted.

Miracle plays are not popular like mystery plays are today. Not as many people believe in the healing power of relics or other stories of saints. However, sometimes they are still performed.

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Theatre History Overview - Part 73 - Mystery Plays

Mystery plays stemmed from liturgical drama.  While the exact beginning of liturgical drama are not known, it is know that one of the earlist took place around 970. During an early morning Easter service, four monks enacted the scene of the three women and the angel at the tomb of Jesus.

It is thought that around 1170, priests somewhere in France moved liturgical performances outside of the church where they could give the play in the language of the people.  They were also allowed to have characters such as the devil.  English mystery plays seem to have started around the same time.

Mystery plays specifically deal with stories from the Bible. There are four complete or nearly complete collections of English mystery plays.  Sometimes the collections are referred to as cycles. The oldest cycle is the York Cycle.

Pope Innocent III became suspicious of the popularity of mystery plays. Because of this, he banned clergy from acting in plays.  This did not stop mystery plays from being performed.  Different guilds took over performing mystery plays.

The plays were seen as non-fictional, unlike the farces of the day.  Passion plays are a type of mystery play.  However, a passion play revolves around the story of Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection.

While mystery plays like those of medieval times are no longer performed, it can be argued that they have never come to a stop of being created or performed.  It can be argued that Godspell and Jesus Christ Superstar are mystery plays, and perhaps even passion plays.

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Theatre History Overview - Part 72 - Morality Plays

Morality plays were popular in Europe during the 15th and 16th centuries. At first, they were closely related to the religious cycle plays. The first morality plays were Pater Noster prayers. These were divided into seven petitions that each related to the seven virtues and the seven deadly sins.

The action of a morality play centers on a central character. This character may represent humanity as a whole or a smaller social structure. This character's weeknesses are assaulted by the personified evil forces.

At first, the tones of morality plays were grave. The plots were extremely simple, too. Because of this, it became popular to include comedic elements, scenes, or characters.

The oldest part of a morality play that still exists is from The Pride of Life which was writen about 1350. The morality play that probably has the most interesting staging is The Castle of Perseverance which was written around the years 1400-1425. It has a diagram of how the staging should be. It is also long at 3600 lines, although that is not as long as Hamlet.

The most well-known morality play is probably Everyman. In it, God has become concerned that man is too concerned with wealth and worldly goods. God lets Everyman know that death will come to visit him. Everyman starts turning to different aspects of his life. Most of them abandon him, but Good Deeds eventually does not abandon him. Everyman learns that he will be judged by his Good Deeds alone.

Morality plays are still performed today. Sometimes plays, sitcoms, and movies that have qualities of a morality play will be considered a morality play by some. Exaples are Star Wars, The Cosby Show, and Family Ties.

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Theatre History Overview - Part 71 - Italian Opera

Italian opera resulted from the late 16th century try of the Florence Camerata trying to recreate Greek tragedies. The Camerata was a group of various artists and humanists that gathered to try to guide the trends of art, especially music and drama, in Italy in the 16th century.

The first full-length opera was Dafne by Jacopo Peri. The dialogue was cahnted to a musical accompaniment. The music enhanced the dramatic effectiveness of the dialogue. The operatice form grew out of monody, a solo singing of a dramatically conceived melody meant to portray the emotions of the text.

The music for Dafne has been lost. However, the libretto for the opera Eurdice by Rinuccini still exists. It tells the story of Orpheus and Eurydice.

At first, opera was only an entertainment for the nobility. However, in 1637, an opera house available to the general public opened in Venice. The opera house was successful. In the following decades, opera spread to Rome and throughout Italy.

Today, opera seems to be considered an art form for those who are rich or consider themselves more cultured. However, opera is for anybody who enjoys the art form.

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Theatre History Overview - Part 70 - Italian Intermezzi

Italian Intermezzi (singlular: Intermezzo) came from the tradition of the maschereata. The maschereata was a dance performed at carnival time. It was performed by costumed dancers and often pantomimed Greek and Roman themes.

The intermezzi got their name because they were performed between the acts of a play. Inter means between and mezzo means half or middle. The performance took place between the two acts or in the middle of the play. The lights, scenery, costumes, and special effects were the appeals of intermezzi. In general, they did not use dialogue. However, there were rare times when alligorical plots had to be explained.

Intermezzi were often used to pay elaborate compliments to people. They would often be performed at functions such as weddings, births, and betrothals. They would draw comparisons between the persons being complimented and mythological figures.

Sometimes intermezzi took place between every act of a play. Eventually, the intermezzi grew to be more popular than the plays themselves. The requirements of quick setting changes from play to intermezzi or within intermezzi encouraged the development of new devices for scene changes. In the 17th century, intermezzi were eventually absorbed into Italian opera.

While intermezzi are not common today, the first relatable idea to them are entr'actes (French for "between the acts") that had a musical act play to keep the audience from becoming restless during a scene change between acts. This has developed into the modern intermission.

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Theatre History Overview - Part 69 - Realism

Realism started in Europe in the late 19th century. It rejected the sentimentality of romanticism. Naturalism is also part of realist theatre.

Realism refers to depicting life in an accurate and faithful manner. In writing, the events in human life are depicted as matter-of-fact. There were three basic rules for realist art forms.

1. Truth resides in material objects that we can perceive with all five senses. (Ex. truth can be found in a rock, but it isn't found in the wind).
2. Observation could solve everything.
3. The highest home of science was human problems.

Realism also resulted in whte is know as the well-made play. This form was mainly created and popularized by Eugine Scribe and Henrik Ibsen. There are seven basic rules to a well-made play. Most of these rules can be found in Ibsen's A Doll's House, but he had started to play with the rules at the time he wrote that play, so there are times it veers away from the rules.

1. The plot contains plot points that are secrets to the characters in the play, but they are known to the audience. (e.g. In A Doll's House, only Nora, Krogstad, and the audience know that Nora signed the note for money and owes Krogstad. The audience waits to find out what the other characters will think about this situation if they ever find out about it).
2. Careful attention is paid to exposition. This may take up the entire first act. Then props such as letters and contrived entrances such as a friend visiting at an inopportune time, are used to increase suspense. (e.g. The whole first act of A Doll's House tends to deal with the fact that Nora is a spendthrift and talks about her history with money).
3. Expected logical reverses happen. The protagonist of the play will have successes and failures with the antagonist. (e.g. Nora feels like they are not in financial trouble and will spend money. Then Torvald will remind Nora that she can't frivolously spend money.)
4. The antagonist will have scenes were things are discovered about the protagonist that can be used to hurt the protagonist. (e.g.
5. The audience knows of a misunderstanding that happens in the play, but the characters in the play do not know that it occurred. (e.g. The audience knows that Nora got the money through forgery to get a loan, but the others don't know this until Nora tells Kristine.)
6. The denouement (the end where things are resolved) is logical and believable. (This one is one that breaks the rules. At the time A Doll's House was written, as condesending that Torvald treats Nora, a wife leaving her husband and children was not believable.)
7. The general action of the play is repeated in each individual act. (e.g. Nora has not paid all that much attention to her children and leaves them with the nanny at the end of the first act. She is getting ready for a party to which she is concerned, not about Torvald or her children, at the end of the second act. Then, at the end of the third act, she leaves, abandoning Torvald and her children).

Other authors of realism include George Bernard Shaw, Anton Chekhov, Emile Augier, and Alexandre Dumas fils (the "fils" indicates that he was the illegitimate son of Alexandre Dumas [the author of The Three Musketeers.]) Realist plays are still performed to this day.

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Theatre History Overview - Part 68 - Agitprop Theatre

Agitprop theatre started in 1920s Europe and spread to the United states. It was a left-wing theatre considered to be highly politicized. The agitprop movement itself started in Russia.

The term agitprop is a portmanteau of agitation and propaganda. it is political propaganda. When it started in Russia, it was particularly for trying to give communism a good name. Popular media such as pamphletes, films, and plays were used to spread politicized messages.

Actors and actresses would borrow clothes from the working class people for their costumes. This way audiences would feel like the performers related to them. The performers came to the public rather than making the public come to the theatre. They would simplify messages and make the characters be more charicatures of good and evil just like melodrama.

When agitprop theatre first hit the Western World, it had a negative connontation. However, agitprop theatre does not have to have a negative connotation or message.

In 1931, Germany and many European countries banned agitprop theatre. This was because of the negative connotations of the art form. However, the message does not have to be negative. A government could use theatre in order to spread the ideas of not littering and recycling.

While it is not theatre, this video from Sesame Street could easily be considered agitprop.



Bertolt Brecht was a German playwright that was highly influenced by agitprop theatre. While agitprop theatre is not as common as other types of theatre these days, especially since most people don't want to pay to see politicized messages in their entertainment, it is still used around the world today.

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Theatre History Overview - Part 67 - Jesuit Theatre

Both Catholic and protestant schools in Germany used theatre in order to teach doctrine and train students. Some plays were in Latin and some plays were in the vernacular. The pkea osf this school drama happened in Catholic schools run by the Jesuits.

The first year a Jesuit performance was recorded was 1551. This was at the Collegio Mamertino at Mesina in Sicily. Soon after that, every Jesuit school was performing at least one play per year. The plays were often written by professors and the students made up the casts.

The original plays were pious in nature. Music was also an important element of the plays. Jesuit theatre could be found anywhere there was a Jesuit school. However, Jesuit theatre was best developed in Germany and Austria.

During the seventeenth century, Jesuit theatre had reached its height. In the eighteen century, especially by 1773, it declined because of the Jesuits having political interests and trying to hold a monopoly on education that caused others to become strong enemies of the religious group.

A popular Jesuit play was Pietas Victrix by Nikolaus of Avancini. The Jesuits also produced important works about theatrical practices. These include Pictorial and Architectural Perspective by Pozzo and Dissertation on Stage Acting by Lang.

(This is the blog entry for July 5, 2018. I was having troubles with submitting my assignment for school, so that took priority.)

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Theatre History Overview - Part 66 - Early English Tudor Drama

English Tudor drama started when the Renaissance started in Engliand. This happened during the late 15th century when Henry VII was king of England.

Early English Tudor drama included ideas about humanism. Part of the reason for this was that humanists such as Erasmus came to England. They taught at Cambridge and Oxford which gave students and writers and interest in humanism and classic literature.

During this time, the first English play with a complex plot was written. The play was Damon and Pythias by Richard Edwards. A play that has a complex plot has a more than just one story line with a character overcoming one or a few obstacles. If Hamlet had only a simple plot, the story would only be that Hamlet's father is killed, Hamlet is angry about this and ends up killing people, then Hamlet ends up being killed because with a poisoned sword. However, a complex plot includes truth being found out through internal logic and sometimes more than one character having a plot line. In Hamlet, Hamlet grapples with the thought of the afterlife and if he is depressed or putting on a show of depression about the murder of his father. A play with a complex plot can be thought of as at least one character dealing with botha physical journey and a psychological journey.

Humanist performances were so popular that by 1546, Queen's College at Cambridge mandated the yearly perofmrance of plays. The plays were mostly in Latin, but some were in English.

Religious and political controversies involving England helped to shape drama. One of these was probably Gorboduc or Ferrex and Porrex written by Thommas Sackville and Thomas Norton. The play is in five acts. In the play Gorboduc decides to divide his kingdom between hismself and his two sons, Ferrex and Porrex. Eventually all the main characters are killed. The play was a warning about not having an order of succession to the throne. It was performed for Queen Elizabeth in 1562 because at that time, the English throne did not have clear rules for succession to the throne.

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Theatre History Overview - Part 65 - Sturm Und Drang

The Sturm Und Drang (or Storm and Stress) movement is traditionally dated as happening in the years 1767-1787. The movement happened in Germany. It reached its peak in the 1770s.

The peak of the movent started with 1773's Goetz von Berlichigen by Goethe and 1776's Storm and Stress by Friedrich Maximilian Klinger.

In a storm and stress play, a protagonist is often driven to action by revenge and greed. The format of these plays was often that they would have five acts. The writers had no agreed upon philosophy other than rebellion.

Writers and dramatists saw the stage as a place for discussion of societal issues. The French writer Louis-Sebastien Mercier even suggested using drama in order to promote political ideas. Becuase of the lack of a philosophy, audiences found d strurm und drang plays bewildering and confusing.

Very few sturm und drang plays were produced. Out of the plays that were produced, very few were well received. However, the plays also focused intensely on language. Because of this, they helped Germany gain acceptance for performance of Shakespeare's plays. They also paved the way for a more mature drama to happen in Germany.

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Theatre History Overview - Part 64 - Beijing (Peking) Opera

While Chinese theatre has a rich and varied history, one of the its treasure is the Beijing (or Peking) Opera. While the official beginnings are considered to be in 1790 to celebrate the 80th birthday of emperor Qian Long, the beginnings are considered to have been in the 15th century. This is because the performance that took place in 1790 was a combination of the best performers from all around China. The styles of art performed had orginiated at least back in the 15th century.

The original name of the Beijing Opera was Jingxi. However, when Westerners encountered it, they started calling it Beijing Opera. Beijing Opera is considered more of a theatrical than a literary art. This is because more emphasis is placed on acting rather than on text. The actors have strict movements they must follow. There are certain gestures to accompany every word. These gestures are combined to give certain meanings to movements on stage. Actors enter a special school between the ages of 7 and 12. Classes may start at 5 in the morning and go until evening. The school takes care of everything (including singing, dancing, acting, and martial arts) for the actors in order to live. The teachers are repaid once the actors make it in the Beijing Opera.

The stage of the Beijing Opera is meant to represent an alternative reality. An actor walking in circles on the stage represents walking for miles. An actor using a whip to hit an imaginary horse represent riding a galloping horse across the land. Then there are four main types of characters in the Beijing Opera. These are the Sheng, the Dan, the Jing, and the Chou.

Sheng are male roles. They are divided into old men (lao sheng), young men (xiao sheng), and warrior types (wu sheng). Dan are female roles. They are divided into quiet and humble (qing yi), the vivacious or dissolute (hua dan), warrior maidens (wu dan), and old women (lao dan). Jing means "clean." However, the character is not typically "clean." Jing characters are forceful and often treacherous. Thus, the name is used in an ironic way. Chou means "ugly" and is the comic actor or clown. He has a white dot on his nose to symbolize that the character is ugly. He also speaks in every day dialect, tells many jokes, and is free to improvise.

The colors of the clothing and facepaints are used to symbolize many different characteristics. Even the shape of how the face paint is applied can give different meanings. Musicians stay on stage the entire time and are dressed the same way as stage assistants.

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Theatre History Overview - Part 63 - Melodrama

While it is now known that melodrama has exaggerated plot with clearly good and cleary bvad characters, the first technique for melodrama was to alternate spoken drama with short pieces of music.

While Kotzebue is the person who is mainly responsible for starting melodrama, there are examples from earlier that fall into the category. Sigmundus was a 1753 play by J.E. Eberlin that contained some melodramatic scenes. Then 1762's Piygmalion by Jean-Jacques Roussaeu was considered a full melodrama.

The popularity of opera in the 19th century helped lead to musical overtures. This kept the idea of melodrama going. It allowed for a dramatic structure of melodrama to form. This structure did not use music and the idea of melodrama with cheap overacting became prevalent.

By the victorian era, melodrama feature six stock characters. These were the hero, the heroine, the villain, the sidekick of the hero, an aged parent, and a servant of the aged parent. These roles were not always kept. Stock characters became known as the hero, the faithful servant of the hero, the heroine, the villain, the villain's accomplice, and the maidservant.

Typical melodrama paved the way for what is considered Broadway's first musical, The Black Crook. Cartoons often use the premise of melodrama in at least one episode. The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle is a cartoon full of melodrama. If it is difficult to remember what melodrama is like, think of the Dudley Doright of the Mounties cartoons from The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle. These are not perfect examples of the stock characters at all times because sometimes one character serves as more than one of the stock characters. However, the general guide is that Dudley Doright is the hero, the inspector is the faithful servant, the heroine is some random defenseless woman (or women, or just a person or people), the villain is Snidely Whiplash, the villain's accomplice is Homer, and Nell Fenwick is the maidservant.

If you don't know Dudley Doright of the Mounties, watch the following video.



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