Theatre History Overview - Part 99 - Improv

Improvisational Theatre, or Improv involves an interactive relationship between the cast and the audience. Tom Soter says that improv can be thought of as "comedy of the moment." Improvised performances are as old as theatre itself. The earliest record of improv that we have is from 391 B.C. The play was a comedy that was unscripted and had a group of clowns as the characters.

While it is not certain how it got there, improv theatre continued in 16th century Italy with Commedia dell'Arte. This influenced improvisational theatre through the 18th century. In the 19th century, Theatresports started in England. They were similar to Commedia dell'Arte in that there were some type of structure, but improv was incorporated. However, rather than being purely for entertainment, they were for competition.

In the 20th century, Europeans who had been practicing improv brough the idea to the United States. It then gets tricky to trace the exact origins of improv in the U.S. Soem scholars say that it was Dudley Riggs that popularized audience suggestions. Others credit Viola Spolin. They cite the fact that her theatre games turned into Improv. What is know is that Riggs founded New York City's The Instant Theatre Company in April 1954. Then, in 1946, Viola Spolin founded Hollywood's Young Actors Company.

Spolin's son, Paul Sills, kept improv going by opening Second City in Chicago in December 1959. It was during the years that Riggs, Spolin, and Sills were active that many of the rules for improv were established. Improv theatres grew in popularity and popped up all over the United States. Sills was even involved in helping found the Compass Players in the Chicago of Illinois. This company tried to take their act to Broadway, but it flopped there. This was because improv works better in a more intimate setting.

From there, more and more improv theatre companies were founded around the United States. These inclue companies like The Groundlings and Loose Moose Theatre. Many people come from the world of improv theatre in order to star on Saturday Night Live or be guests on Whose Line Is it Anyway? Improv thatre continues to be popular all over the world. Small improv companies are constantly founded and the genre is enjoyed by many.

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Theatre History Overview - Part 98 - Alternative Theatre

The general meaning of alternative theatre is any theatrical practice that is in opposition to mainstream theatrical practices. However, Alternative Theatre was also a movement in the United Kingdom that stated in the late 1960s. One of the main reasons for this was the end of theatre censorship in 1968.

Since theatres no longer had to be concerned about Lord Chamberlain censoring them, companies felt free to express anything they wanted. Theatrical content was created based on the stimulation from a wave of politial protest around the world.

A couple of the major issues addressed were feminist issues and gay issues. Copanies such as the Women's Theatre Group (which is now called the Sphinx) and Red Ladder addressed the political agenda of the feminist movement. In 1975, the company Gay Sweatshop started creating theatrical productions that specifically dealt with gay issues, rather than only having gay characters.

Many of these companies followed the example of the Traverse Theatre in London and mounted their shows in unconventional venues such as warehouses, cellars, and the back rooms of pubs. This type of theatre was known as fringe theatre.

The Alternative Theatre movement slowed down in the 1980s. This was because of subsidies to theatrical companies in the United Kingdom were cut. However, some managed to suvive and some even managed to sucessfully move into film or television.

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Theatre History Overview - Part 97 - The Chorus: From Greek Drama to the Modern Musical

When people today hear the word chorus, they tend to think of a group that sings on stage during a play or the refrain of a song. Both of these things are correct. However, the chorus that exists on stage wouldn't exist if it weren't for choruses in Greek plays. Around 508 B.C Athenian democracy was created. The inhabitants of Attica divied into ten tribes.

These ten tribes entered two different choruses made up of 50 people each (one of men and one of boys) into a yearly dithyrambic competition. By the 5th century A.D., the members of choruses were amateurs. There were even many types of choruses performed by women, but only men performed in choruses for tragedies, comedies, satyr plays, and dithyrambs. It is thought that the size of the chorus was originally 50 people, then that Aeschylus reduce the size to ten people, and then Sophocles raised it to 15 people.

In the only extant play by Aeschylus, the chorus had at least half the lines. Hippolytus by Euripides doesn't have as many words for the chorus, but it has two choruses. These facts seem to suggest that the chorus was a major part of spectacle for Greek theatre.

The chorus in Greek theatre had many functions:

1. Added energy by using dance,songs, and visual spectacle.
2. Set the overall mood of the play and the the scene in the play.
3. Gave rhyhtmic function to a play. The chanting, singing, or dialogue gave the audience time to reflect on what happeened in a play.
4. Sometimes the chorus served as a character. It might give advice, express opinions, ask questions, or even take part in the action.
5. It might estabilish social and/or ethical framework.
6. It might serve as an ideal spectator. The playwright could write lines and movements for the chorus in the way he wanted the audience to respond.

The grouping and placement of the chorus in the text of Greek plays suggests that the chorus was extremely active. However, at times the chorus varied. It may have come on all at once, split into groups, or even one person at a time. Providing the information and giving an overall tone is known as exposition. These are still jobs of the chorus today. The chorus never truly left the theatre. There have just been different ways it is presented.

Basically, the chorus is used in the same ways the Greeks used the chorus. The fact that the chorus provides exposition is spoofed in Urinetown: the Musical with the obvious title of the musical number, "Too Much Exposition." The Greek chorus is spoofed in Legally Blonde: the Musical during the song "Positive" when it is said that every tragedy needs a Greek chorus. Both of these songs give exposition for the musicals. Both videos can be seen below.



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Theatre History Overview - Part 96 - Vaudeville

Vaudeville is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment that included sketches and short plays. It is known for being family friendly. The movement grew out of the same movement as burlesque and the music hall (where performance were held for an all-male audience and a saloon was attached to the theatre). The people who ran theatres realized that after the Civil War, the middle class in the United States was growing. These people were both able and willing to spend money on entertainment.

The first instance of the word vaudeville in the United States occured in 1871 in Louisville, Kentucky. It appeared in the title of a theatrical entertainment called Sargent's Vaudeville Company. It was thought that the term vaudeville was chosen because it sounded exotic, mysterious, and alluring.

In the 1880s, Tony Pator took advantage of the polite sounding word and made the genre family friendly. The reason for this was to attracte middle class women and children to the theatre. Along with offering the occassional ham or the occassional supply of coal, this worked.

In 1885, Benjamin Franklin Keith opened the Bijou Theatre in Boston, Massachusetts. He had a "fixed policy of cleanlliness and order." This resulted in never having anything vulgar on stage. It appealed to middle class men and women with children as well as the Catholic church. In fact, the Catholic church was so impressed that it funded Keith's business ventures.

Stable minor theatres of the time often concentrated on one genre. Certain theatres would concentrate on only holding vaudeville performances. The four other genres that theatres performed were melodrama, comedy, spectacle drama, and operetta.

Vaudeville actors often spent their entire carerr developing their acts. The leading actors would be the ones that would perform in the short plays Vaudeville waned in the 1920s due to the emergence of radio, Broadway revues, Broadway comedies, and movies.

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Theatre History Overview - Part 95 - Mannerist Theatre

Mannerism came about because of the Counsel of Trent which took place from 1545 to 1563. The council saught to reassert the authority of the Roman Catholic Church and ensure orthodoxy. As a result, there was a sense of anxiety in Italy.

In the visual arts, mannerism was reflected by a static, artificial, and self-concious visual style. In theatre, mannerism gave a break from this sense of anxiety. It blended reality and unreality. The stage characters were no longer part of a larger world. The only world that existed for them was the one that was on stage.

Theatrical artists used mannerism to seek change and make scientific observations about the world. Colloquial and metered speech combined to create plays. Characters may address the audience directly from the stage.

The first work to truly discuss mannerism in the theatre was The Early Commedia dell'Arte (1550-1621): The Mannerist Context by Paul Catagno. It focused on the effect of mannerism on what was then the contemporary professional theatre. Mannerism led to neoclassical theatre and Commedia dell'arte.

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Theatre History Overview - Part 94 - Workers' Theatre Movement

The Workers' Theatre Movement (WTM) is part of Political Theatre. WTM was an international project that took place mainly in Germany, the former USSR, the United States, and Britain. The movement took place during the 1920s and the 1930s.

The term "workers' theatre" is one that is used to define any type of theatre that is from the working class or about the working class people. When it comes to the WTM in Britain, some say that Tom Thomas was the founder of the movement. Others say that Christina Walshe started it in 1926 during the miners' lockout. Then, Tom Thomas gave it new life in 1928.

The WTM in Britain never really got past showing the contrasting differences between workers in the capitalist system. However, it ignored the tradition of British worker's folk songs. Even though the movement in Brtian was low on creativity, a magazine called Red Stage was produced from 1931 to 1935. In 1936, the British WTM dissolved.

In the United States, even though some of the WTM had began during the great depression, it was one of the major reponses to it. The plays did not have to be written by workers themselves. They could be written by those sympathetic towards their situation, too. A major feature was that the plays never had pesimistic images of the furture. ONe of the techniques used was mass recitation. This was when the actors would be on stage and they would chant couplets that were either rhymed or unrhymed.

During the WTM in the United States, three phases occurred.

1. Amateure workers' theatre
   • Began in 1920s with immigrant drama clubs.
   • Defense of the underpriviledged within ethnic neighborhoods.
   • Written and produced by workers
2. Left-wing Professional Commerical Theatre
   • Attracted working class audiences
   • Full-length social problem dramas were performed in stationary places
3. Federal Theatre Project
   • Began in 1935.
   • Absorbed amateur theatre groups
   • Represented a “new frontier in America, a frontier against disease, dirt, poverty, illiteracy, unemployment, and despair, and at the same time against selfishness, special privilege, and social apathy.”

The WTM in the United States ended around the same time that it ended in Britain.

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Theatre History Overview - Part 93 - Political Theatre

Political theatre is theatre that addresses current events and current concerns of society. It is seen as a force that can bring about change and it goes back to the beginning of theatre itself. Theatrical performances were held in the same amphitheatres and arenas that were used for political and religious gatherings. The Greek dramas tended to enhance the relevance of political issues.

It is said that many of Shakespeares plays are political in nature. It is thought that he used code for many of the political figures. There are even generalizations in such plays as Macbeth and Coriolanus

Later, political theatre came to be associated with cabaret. It is a theatre that is for and by the people. Russian agitprop theatre is a specific form of political theatre.

In the 20th century, a new form of political theatre emerged. This tended to be feminist theatre written by female playwrights. In the 1950s and 1060s, theatre sought to include females, not only as playwrights and actors, but as electricians, stage managers, set designers, and more.

Political theatre still happens today. In June 2017, a production of Julius Caesar was staged in which the characters were dressed in modern clothing. Caesar was dressed like President Donald Trump. There were cast members hidden in the audience. Nobody knew they were cast members until they got up and started to form a mob. On one of the nights of the performace, other audience members joined because of the passion they felt.

This political theatre worked immediately. At other times, theatrical presentations are given that make people think. Then, they go out and do important work , canvas, write letter, or take other actions that will bring about change. Other times, people don't agree. The important part is that the political theatre got the message to those people.

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Theatre History Overview - Part 92 - Minimalist Theatre

Minimalism is nothing new to the theatre. After all, Greek theatre probably did not have much more than actors and a stage. However, as theatre evolved, more costumes and scenery evolved for different reasons in different movements.
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Minimalism isn't found much in theatre. Instead, it tends to have a definition related to the purely visual arts. It started in the 1960s and focused on the simplest design forms.

Minimalist theatre can be a lot like Poor Theatre. It is not certain when it happened, but miimalist theatre moved into churches, youth groups, an other places with small or no budgets. This was fairly prevelent in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Minimalist theatre took on more than a bare stage, though. If a set designer was available, there may have been some type of painting or small set made with the available supplies. People who acted were encouraged to use their imaginations. If a cup was needed and not available, a look in the nursery may have resulted in somebody finding a slinky. The actor then might pretend that the slinky was a cup.

This type of minimalist theatre focuses on using what is availavle. It ask actors an audiences to stretch their imaginations. It is still widely used for ministry in religious groups.

Minimalism still exists in theatre around the world. A director may decide to use minimalist theatre like religious groups use it. However, that may not be the case. A set may be minimal in order to provide ease for set changes or to eliminate them. Costumes may be minimal to keep actors comfortable. It all depends on the vision of the director or the vision of the ensemble if it is a Devised Theatre piece.

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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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