The Influence of Chekhov and Ibsen on Singapore Theatre

1190 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Ibsen critical essays

Singapore theatre is greatly influenced by the theatre of Anton Chekhov and Henrik Ibsen, especially in regard to the purpose of the play. Ibsen and Chekhov use their plays as social commentaries to explore Europe’s social issues and criticise outdated norms; Singaporean plays function as social commentaries, too. However, Singapore theatre and the theatre of Chekhov and Ibsen are definitely not entirely the same, with writing styles being a main contrast. This paper examines how much the work of Ibsen and Chekhov has affected Singapore theatre.

One may say that we cannot compare the issues addressed by Singapore theatre and the theatre of Chekhov and Ibsen, because these are performed in different eras, in different countries with different cultures. However, the common thread between the two lies in the use of social issues as material for plays. In 2011, with what was hailed as a “watershed” General Election and a Presidential Election that produced a winner by a margin of 0.35%, Singapore’s political climate was charged, to say the least. Politics became a topic that was discussed by Singaporeans from young to old, regardless of our eligibility to vote. And of course, politics became fodder for Singapore theatre. As a result, 2011 saw plays like Mata Hati, HERstory, The 1955 Baling Talks, Cooling Off Day, Fear of Writing, as well as restagings of Gemuk Girls and Model Citizens (Martin, 2011, p. T11).

In 1996, Tan Tarn How’s Six of the Best explored racial and ethnic tensions, topics seldom discussed, but highly relevant to multi-ethnic Singapore. Six advertising executives gather to celebrate the closing of a big deal, but the gathering quickly degenerates into a fall out over the controversial caning of Michael Fay, an inci...

... middle of paper ...

...ly 21). Broken Taboos Take Center Stage in Singapore. The New York Times. Retrieved January 8, 2012, from http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/22/arts/22iht-jessop22.html?pagewanted=all

Lee, L. (2011, July 3). Six of the Best. Retrieved January 8, 2012, from Quarterly Literary Review Singapore: http://www.qlrs.com/critique.asp?id=860

Martin, M. (2011, December 30). Enter stage left: Politics. TODAY, p. T11.

Meyer, M. (1967). Ibsen. Harmondsworth: Penguin.

Peterson, W. (2001). Theater and the politics of culture in contemporary Singapore. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press.

SparkNotes Editors. (n.d.). SparkNote on Chekhov Stories. Retrieved January 4, 2012, from SparkNotes: http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/chekhov/themes.html

TheatreWorksSG. (2010, September 3). Six Of The Best [Video file]. Retrieved January 8, 2012, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvQdf5HegXE

Show More
Related

  • Influential Scenic Designers in the History of Technical Theater Design

    2046 Words  | 5 Pages

    The specialization and individualized professions in the field of Technical Theatre are relatively new to the stage in comparison to the period of time in which the art of Theatre has grown. Aiding in the development of concentrated professions such as scenic design has been a plethora of talented, skillful, intelligent and highly driven individuals. Among these influential fountains of creativity have been John Lee Beatty, Eugene Lee, Boris Aronson, Ming Cho Lee, Jo Mielziner, Tony Walton, Robin Wager, John Napier, Santo Loquasto, Heidi Landesman, and Julie Taymor along with many more.

    Read More

  • Symbolism in How I Learned to Drive by Paula Vogel

    3187 Words  | 7 Pages

    Houchin, John H. Censorship of the American Theatre in the Twentieth Century. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge UP, 2003.

    Read More

  • A Raisin In The Sun Film Techniques Essay

    543 Words  | 2 Pages

    Novels and plays are essentially the same in the sense that they assemble the means necessary to showcase a variety of stories ranging in diversity. The quintessential underlying difference between the two is the format in which the stories are displayed. Plays, like Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun use literary techniques such as dialogue, acts and scenes, and stage directions contrary to novels to guide the audience’s response and interpretation of the characters and actions in the

    Read More

  • Forms of Theater Arts: Melodrama

    523 Words  | 2 Pages

    Through strong dramatic plots, characters and music, melodrama has created an engaging, well-developed form of theatre. But melodrama is not limited to one category. Like other forms of the theatre arts, melodrama can be further broken down into Victorian melodrama and Modern melodrama. As the names entail, Victorian melodrama was practiced in the Victorian Era (1837-1901) whereas Modern melodrama is still being performed today. Both equally exaggerated and emphasizing the good vs. evil conflict, these two forms of melodrama have shaped the stage theatrically and developed complexity in character and plot development.

    Read More

  • American Imperialism Then and Now: Diffusion of the American Culture

    1345 Words  | 3 Pages

    Varma, Rahul. “State of Denial: Cultural Diversity as a Resource for Alternative Globalization.” Canadian Theatre Review, Vol. 157. January 2014. Web.

    Read More

  • old english journies

    811 Words  | 2 Pages

    Greenblatt, Stephen, and M. H. Abrams. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. 9th ed. Vol. A. New York: W.W. Norton, 2012. Print

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Straight White Men

    1089 Words  | 3 Pages

    The duration and cost of the production have been compared to other media which provide entertainment, such as television and film. A theatre performance is more expensive to attend than cinema. The play only lasted for 85 minutes, a film can go on for two hours or even more. This can have a big influence on why people would choose one medium over the other. Accessibility has also to be taken into account when investigating the relevance of theatre in the 21st century. Television is a medium which can be accessed from home, and usually doesn’t cost a lot of money, whereas theatre costs money and is harder to access. Although the production was Australian, the actors talked with an American accent. Bearing in mind that the play was written in America, which could make it harder for an Australian audience to familiarise with the dilemmas going on, on stage, while the themes discussed seem to be more relevant there than in Australia. Overall this play doesn’t contribute to the relevance of Australian theatre in the 21st century, due to the many other sources people can access for entertainment, and because the play seems to be more relevant for an American audience rather than an

    Read More

  • Motherhood In The Grendel's Mother

    1096 Words  | 3 Pages

    Greenblatt, Stephen, and M. H. Abrams. The Norton anthology of English literature. 9th ed., A, New York, W.W. Norton & Company, 2012. Pp

    Read More

  • Multiculturalism In Tripmaster's Monkey

    1660 Words  | 4 Pages

    Maxine Hong Kingston’s Tripmaster’s Monkey: His Fake Story (1989) is a “book” about the “West …meeting West” (Kingston 308). She borrows heavily from Chinese myths and legends but at the same time she also alludes to Hollywood movies, western literary tradition and western authors, and strives for some sort of amalgamation of the two. The focus of the novel keeps on shifting from “synthesis to multiplicity” (Janette 145) and the definition of a new form of democracy which accords recognition to this multiculturalism without being exclusionist. Wittman’s play is the “stage” where all the minorities – Japanese, Chinese, Mexican, African American, etc – come together to confront the White America.

    Read More

  • Criticism Of Orientalism In John Luther Long's Madame Butterfly

    1493 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...gether a theatrical performance that analyzes and critiques many widespread ideologies concerning race and gender as a method of portraying the West as a powerful and controlling entity over the East. Topics concerning cultural stereotypes and misconceptions are thematically used throughout the play and Hwang is able to understand, in every aspect, the perception that both the East and West have of each other, as he is an Asian-American playwright himself. He uses the knowledge that he has to truthfully critique the notions and principles that both the opposing sides have about one another. By thoroughly reading M. Butterfly, the reader is able to relate the characters in Hwang’s play to those of Long’s Madame Butterfly, in addition to understanding the intertextual references to the play’s use of foils and irony as a means to challenge Long’s view of the Oriental.

    Read More

  • Analyzing Social Class and Humanity in Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot and Seinfeld

    1764 Words  | 4 Pages

    My work proposes a broader view of the theatre-film interface, one that relies on intertextuality as its interpretive method. I believe it is valuable-both pedagogically and theoretically-to ask broad questions about the aesthetic, narrative, and ideological exchanges between the history of theatre and contemporary film and television. For example, this paper will study how the "Chinese Restaurant" episode of the sitcom, Seinfeld, intertextually reworks Samuel Beckett's modernist play, Waiting for Godot. In each text, characters encounter an existential plight as they are forced to wait interminably, and thus confront their powerlessness at the hands of larger social forces. As a pedagogical matter, this connection encourages the students to see academic culture in the guise of having to read Beckett's play for my course, not as foreign and alienating, but instead as continuous with their understanding of leisure activities like watching sitcoms. As a theoretical matter, this intertextual connection allows important ideological matters to come into bold relie...

    Read More

  • Woman's Dependence on Men

    1787 Words  | 4 Pages

    Kernodle, George R. "The Theater Of Exaltation: Modern Tragedy And Poetic Drama." Kernodle, George R. Invitation to the Theatre. New Yory: Harcourt, Brace & World, Inc., 1967. 217-223.

    Read More

  • Theatre In Changing Society

    373 Words  | 1 Pages

    Nevertheless, the question at hand is whether theatre will have a role in the society of the future, where cinema, digital television, and computers will continue to expand and grow. The answer to this question is yes. Heading into the 21st century, theatre will only be a fraction in a solid media industry. However, despite all the excitement technology brings with it, they will never replace theatre because it has something that can not be recreated or offered anywhere else. The cinema and its larger than life world appeals as an affordable alternative. Digital television provides digital interaction between the viewer and the producer. Theatre on the other hand, and its contents may take on a larger dimension, but we receive it directly in flesh and blood – one to one. The magical atmosphere between an actor and spectator who are constantly aware of each other and the theatre’s level of engagement is fundamentally more human and far more intimate.

    Read More

  • Avant Garde Theatre Essay

    1002 Words  | 3 Pages

    Theatre as we know it now was born more than two thousand years ago and has gone through many streams until it reached the current modernity. Among these streams is the avant-garde theatre. This theatre achieved a break in the traditional theatre and became the forefront of a new experimental theatre. Therefore it is necessary to ask how this theatre started, what impact it had on society and if this type of theatre is still common in our modern era.

    Read More

  • Drowned V By Choi Yan-Chi Drowned V Symbolism

    1161 Words  | 3 Pages

    Drowned V draws on Choi’s past works and social activisms in Hong Kong’s art world, however, it takes these themes and turns them inward. Drowned V addresses the struggles Choi had with the restrictive art world of late 20th century Hong Kong through the theme of preservation. Old unwanted books (scavenged from libraries and thrift stores) sit still and preserved in oil with only their titles displayed to the viewer. They are preserved and protected, yet inaccessible and unwanted. Similarly the classical Chinese ink paintings were prioritized and protected by Hong Kong’s governments and yet they symbolized the old way that many of the modern artists of the time felt no connection with. Conflicting feelings between the classic “Chinese” identity and the modern more locally based identity in art drive this piece as Ward summarizes in her essay on Drowned V:

    Read More

More about The Influence of Chekhov and Ibsen on Singapore Theatre

Open Document