In Dialogue: Theatre of America, Harold Clurman said, “we make theatre out of life” (27), and it was precisely this view that motivated him to help create a uniquely American theatre. Clurman, considered one of the most influential directors of the modern American theatre, had a unique vision of what the American theatre could become. One of the founders of the quintessentially American troupe, the Group Theatre, Clurman was a contemporary of Elia Kazan and Lee Strasberg, and even married to Stella Adler for twenty years. At a ceremony honoring Clurman, Elia Kazan stated that Clurman’s “greatest achievement [was] himself” (Harold Clurman: A Life of Theatre). An important figure in our theatrical past, Clurman’s theories on theatre and directing require close attention. In this paper, I will first provide a brief biography of Clurman, second, examine his theories of theatre and directing, and lastly, I will explore his criticisms of the then-contemporary theatre, and draw conclusions to the current state of the Broadway theatre.
Harold Clurman was born in New York to Jewish immigrant parents in 1901. At six years old, he attended a production at the Yiddish Theatre. Though he neither spoke nor understood Yiddish, the experience had a transformative effect on him. He immediately had a passion for the theatre. At age twenty, Clurman was living and studying theatre in France. It was there he saw the Moscow Art Theatre and learned of Stanislavski’s teachings on realism. Clurman came back to New York in 1924, and began work as an actor, but he was disappointed in the kind of theatre produced.
The works produced in the twenties were imports from Europe, otherwise known as “drawing room dramas,” and Clurman felt that these pieces ha...
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...ve a lecture about why he started a career in theatre. He said it was because he believed in something (Harold Clurman: A Life of Theatre). Looking at the current Broadway season, which includes plays with television actors, big spectacle musicals, and other surefire hits, the question arises, what do we believe in now?
Works Cited
Clurman, Harold. “Actors-The Image of Their Era.” The Tulane Drama Review 4.3 (1960): 38-44. JSTOR. Web. 25 Sept. 2011.
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Clurman, Harold, and Stanley Kauffmann. “Dialogue: Theatre in America.” Performing Arts Journal 3.1 (1978): 19-34. JSTOR. Web. 25 Sept. 2011.
Harold Clurman: A Life of Theatre. 1988. Famous Productions. Classical TV. Web. 30 Sept. 2011.
Jennie, Schulman. "Geoffrey Holder: A Life in Theatre, Dance, and Art." Back Stage 20 Sept. 2002: 11-12. Rpt. in Back Stage. N.p.: n.p., n.d. N. pag. Print.
Cullen, Frank, Florence Hackman, and Donald McNeilly. Vaudeville, Old & New: An Encyclopedia of Variety Performers in America. New York: Routledge, 2007. Print.
Motion pictures from Hollywood had taken Broadway’s place as the king of entertainment. The main reason behind this was that because it was culturally relevant and coming out with new flashy techniques such as Todd-AO and Cinerama.
Kenrick, John. Musical Theatre A History. New York: The Continuum International Publishing Group, 2008. Print.
Joseph Mankiewicz 1950’s ‘film du theatre’ All About Eve, provides an insight into the qualities needed to succeed in the star-studded world of the theatre. In particular, the protagonists, Margo Channing and her “carbon copy”, Eve Harrington, are portrayed as flawed characters because of their single-minded pursuit of fame and fortune. Whilst Margo eventually recognizes the absurdity of her dreams in a 1950s socially-conservative chauvinistic world, Eve appears to emerge triumphantly but discredited due to her wily, manipulative streak.
As one of North America’s leading playwrights, Neil Simon has definitely been instrumental to the world of theater. He has experienced a somewhat shaky personal life, but he has found that this only adds to the texture of his work. He began his career working on radio and television, and found that writing for stage was significantly different than his previous experiences writing. His first attempts at theater were rough, but it didn’t take him long to achieve excellence. He has also achieved great success with his work in the film industry. He is very fastidious when writing his work, and also quite critical of both the final written product, as well as its resulting production. However, no matter how uncertain he is of his work, it is apparent that audiences worldwide appreciate his writings, and he has been awarded numerous times to prove it. It is quite clear Neil Simon holds a place of importance in the world of dramatic arts.
When preparing a written drama for film, directors’ often make alterations in order to present a more realistic narrative. Richard Lloyd did just that when editing long time friend August Wilson’s play “The Piano Lesson.” Lloyd not only enhanced the impact of the play, but also added depth to the world in which it is set. In Wilson’s ephemeral “The Piano Lesson,” the screenplay successfully deviates from the stage script by altering the set design, sound, and character portrayal in order to further ingrain the message that we can not effectively build our futures by avoiding our heritage.
Miller, Scott. "Inside Chicago." Deconstructing Harold Hill: An Insider's Guide to Musical Theatre. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann Drama, 1999. N. pag. New Line Theatre. Web. 13 Mar. 2014.
Posnock, Ross. “Roy Cohn in America.” Raritan 13.3 (Winter 1994): 64-77. Rpt. in Drama Criticism. Ed. Lawrence J. Trudeau. Vol. 10. Detroit: Gale Group, 1999. Literature Resource Center. Web. 1 Dec. 2011.
It is difficult to imagine a play which is completely successful in portraying drama as Bertolt Brecht envisioned it to be. For many years before and since Brecht proposed his theory of “Epic Theatre”, writers, directors and actors have been focused on the vitality of entertaining the audience, and creating characters with which the spectator can empathize. ‘Epic Theatre’ believes that the actor-spectator relationship should be one of distinct separation, and that the spectator should learn from the actor rather than relate to him. Two contemporary plays that have been written in the last thirty years which examine and work with Brechtian ideals are ‘Fanshen’ by David Hare, and ‘The Laramie Project’ by Moises Kaufman. The question to be examined is whether either of these two plays are entirely successful in achieving what was later called, ‘The Alienation Effect”.
Bordman, Gerald, ed. The American Theater:A Chronical of Comedy and Drama1930-1969. Oxford University Press, 1996.
"I would have been more successful if I'd left movies immediately, stayed in the theater, gone into politics, written, anything”(Cramer). This quote from Orson Welles during an interview in 1982 produces questions about the career of one of the most celebrated filmmakers of the twentieth century. How could the director of Citizen Kane, the movie cherished as the best movie of last century, wished for his life to be void of the cinema? How could he wish to have continued in theater when most of the critical acclaim he experienced in that medium has been long forgotten? Most people do not even realize that Welles was an acclaimed director of theatre before Citizen Kane because Citizen Kane overshadows all of the rest of this genius’ work. Yet, Orson Welles’ theatre is just as important as his filmmaking because in all that he did, Welles exhibited the same artistic tendencies. His theatre was a unique experience and a creative achievement, but it also inspired his later work in films. The theatre of Orson Welles provides significant insight for an understanding of his films and what went wrong with his career in Hollywood.
American Theatre: History, Context, Form. Edinburgh: Edinburgh Univ, 2011. Print. Scott, Freda L. "Black Drama and the Harlem Renaissance."
Theatre has heavily evolved over the past 100 years, particularly Musical Theatre- a subgenre of theatre in which the storyline is conveyed relying on songs and lyrics rather than dialogue. From its origination in Athens, musical theatre has spread across the world and is a popular form of entertainment today. This essay will discuss the evolution and change of musical theatre from 1980-2016, primarily focusing on Broadway (New York) and the West End (London). It will consider in depth, the time periods of: The 1980s: “Brit Hits”- the influence of European mega musicals, the 1990s: “The downfall of musicals”- what failed and what redeemed, and the 2000s/2010s: “The Resurgence of musicals”- including the rise of pop and movie musicals. Concluding
Brockett, Oscar G., and Oscar G. Brockett. The Essential Theatre. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1976. Print.