Some 20th Century Theatre Innovations

1
Some 20th Century Theatre Innovations
2

• Many innovators of modern drama were too
  confronting and different to be accepted and
  understood in their own life time
• This was certainly the case with people such as
  Brecht, Artaud and others
• Their ideas have now been accepted and allowed to
  influence many directors, designers and actors

3
Theatre Styles

• Theatre of Cruelty
• Poor Theatre
• Theatre of the Absurd

4
Theatre of Cruelty

• Antonin Artaud
• French
• 1895 1948
• He was writing at the same time as Brecht was
  writing his Epic, political plays

5

• Artaud used the term Theatre of Cruelty to
  define the style of work he believed was needed
  to revitalise the theatre
• His theories were based around utilising a
  physical theatre language
• He believed text provided nothing more than a
  starting point

6

• Sound, space, movement, light, spectacle and non
  verbally based acting would combine, in Artauds
  view, to excite, shock and enthral audiences,
  forcing them to confront the inner, primal self

7

• Artaud proclaimed that theatre should return to
  its primitive roots and aim to provide an
  experience of communal ritual
• Artaud was interested in exploring the human mind

8

• Artaud was a surrealist in the 1920s
• He believed many dark secrets were hidden deep
  inside our minds (subconscious) that we are not
  aware of, that caused us to do the things we did
• Artaud was deeply influenced by the Surrealist
  movement even when he left the movement

9
Surrealism Salvador Dali

• Another member of the Surrelist movement was
  Salvador Dali
• He was famous for his dream paintings filled with
  objects

10
Salvador Dalis paintings
11
(No Transcript)
12

• Artaud belived that theatre should force people
  to confront and heal their inner selves or they
  will become negative and destructive
• He disapproved of the typical plays that dealt
  with social problems or individuals

13

• Unlike Brecht who wanted to brainwash his
  audience with strong messages, Artaud thought
  that was a waste of time
• Theatre needed to be more primitive and
  instinctive if it was to really touch people and
  change them
• He used the term Theatre of Cruelty because he
  was forcing the audience to face itself. He was
  being cruel to be kind

14

• Rituals and symbols were seen as powerful
• The aim of Theatre of Cruelty was to crahs
  through the shell of bourgeois civilisation and
  its cultural restrictions and to get to a deeper,
  more spiritual plane
• His quest was as much socially motivated as
  artistically

15
Theatre Spaces

• Artaud felt that plays should be taken out of the
  traditional theatre building which he rejected as
  being too formal
• He preferred large spaces such as warehouses
• The audience intermingled with the actors
• No scenery except for symbols

16

• Lighting was to be fast and exciting
• Sound was also important
• Artaud believed that the audience could be
  assaulted with a fast paced light/sound/human
  show
• He believed the audiences inner selves would be
  released and be confronted and healed

17

• Although Artauds aims might seem far fetched,
  his ideas can be adapted into contemporary
  preformances
• These days many people use drama in Artauds way
  to heal from psychological pain and this is
  called psychodrama

18

• Artaud suffered mental and emotional breakdowns
• This perhaps explains why he was interested in
  this area of drama
• After he died his published works inspired many
  dramatists
• In 1963 the Theatre of Cruelty was formed and
  Artauds ideas were materialised and toured

19
The Theatre and Its Double

• Artauds book, The Theatre and Its Double was
  originally released in 1933
• It was not really influential until after his
  death
• Practioners such as Julian Beck and Judith
  Malina, founders of Americas Living Theatre,
  Joseph Chaikin and his Open Theatre, English
  director Peter Brook and Jerzy Grotowski, founder
  of the Polish Laboratory theatre, were all
  influenced by The Theatre and Its Double

20

• Although this was not a theatre style based on
  text it still inspired several works in the
  written form
• The most important of these written plays was the
  Peter Weiss play Marat/Sade

21
Poor Theatre

• Jerzy Grotowski
• Born in Poland 1933
• His ideas about acting and theatre have
  conrtibuted greatly in that they reclaimed the
  essential importance and role of the actor

22

• Grotowski reminded people that one did not need
  expensive sets, lighting and costumes
• His theatre was actor based
• Hence his theatre was called Poor Theatre

23

• When all stage elements are removed, only the
  essentials are left actors and audience
• The relationship between actor and audience is a
  powerful one which Grotowski studied closely as
  part of his laboratory

24

• Great demands are made on actors in Poor Theatre
• They are the centre of attention, the key
• Effective actors must work on themselves until
  they can give of themselves fully
• Grotowski worked intensely with his actors as he
  recognised that all individuals are unique

25
Towards a Poor Theatre

• Grotowskis book Towards a Poor Theatre
  included many of the exercises that he used to
  free up his actors
• Some of his techniques included silence/inner
  meditation, physical endurance and training in
  emotional memory
• Emotional memory is reliving an event to
  recreate the emotion.

26
Theatre Spaces

• Plays were staged in diverse settings
• Ordinary rooms to warehouses
• Like Artaud he saw no need to separate the
  audience and the actors
• He wanted to create a dynamic audience
  relationship

27

• Grotowski believed the power of the actor should
  be so strong that he/she could transform anything
  around him through the power of his/her belief
• In other words the floor could become the sea or
  a boat, etc

28

• Grotowskis influence came at the best possible
  time for it seemed to re-invent drama and the
  theatre t a time when dramatists had to compete
  with films, videos and television. The only plays
  at the time seemed to be lavish, expensive
  musicals
• Gortowski showed us that even a vulnerable lone
  actor with no props can have as much impact as
  any blockbuster film

29
(No Transcript)
30
Theatre of the Absurd

• Absurdism was a movement based on the ideas of
  Existentialism
• Existentialism was first developed by Jean-Paul
  Sartre and Albert Camus
• They were both French
• According to existentialists, life is meaningless
  just a series of acts - nothing

31
Jean-Paul Sartre
32
Albert Camus
33

• Absurdist theatre rose to prominence in the
  1950s
• Its precursors can probably be found in the works
  of earlier playwrights like Kafka, Jarry and
  Pirandello

34
Kafka
35
Jarry
36
Pirandello
37
Famous Absurdist Playwrights

• Eugene Ionesco
• Samuel Beckett
• Jean Genet

38
Eugene Ionesco 1912 - 1994
39
Ionescos Plays

• Rhinoceros
• The Bald Soprano
• The Chairs

40
Samuel Beckett 1906 - 1989
41
His plays

• Waiting For Godot
• Endgame
• Krapps Last Tape

42
Jean Genet 1910 - 1986
43
His Plays

• The Maids
• The Balcony
• The Blacks

44
Absurdist Plays

• Absurdist plays highlight the meaningless or
  absurdity of life and often feature an underlying
  despair
• The fundamental belief expressed in absurdist
  works is that humankind is lost in a godless
  universe, where their actions and behaviour
  become absurd and useless

45

• The illogical and the irrational are at the heart
  of most absurdist drama
• Characters tend to be archetypal
• Language is irrelevant in the sense that it fails
  to convey meaning
• Time and place have no real relevance either

46

• Despite this grim outlook, Absurdist Theatre is
  essentially comic in nature
• Humankind is deluded in its belief that it is at
  the centre of the universe
• This is seen as a ridiculous proposal which
  warrants nothing more than laughter and derision

47
Features of Absurdist Plays

• Features may include
• Non-reality
• No sense of time/place
• Unusual characters
• Absurd happenings
• Chaos
• Simple/minimal sets
• Meaningless dialogue/word games
• Repetition highlighting futility
• Humour

48

• Some people find Absurdist plays hard to
  understand and cope with, however the movement
  produced some very impressive plays which are
  still staged regularly today