The theatre theorist I have chosen as the foundation for my solo theatre piece is Antonin Artaud. After viewing a short video of Artaud’s theory in action I was instantly attracted to his ideas regarding theatre and thus decided to explore his work further in depth. Artaud had “expressed disdain for Western theater of the day, panning the ordered plot and scripted language his contemporaries typically employed to convey ideas.” I found his work terrifying in a way but it was also very refreshing
connection is the essence of good theatre, (Theriault, S 2018, ). Brook terms the “human connection” in different methods such as directing. He states that “the supreme jujitsu” style of directing “would be for the director to stimulate such an outpouring of the actor's inner richness that it completely transforms the subjective nature of his original impulse,”( Brook, P 1968). He refers to this as non-directional directing. In order for the actor
The aim of this paper is to explore Antonin Artaud's use of the body in performance, as the "site of all human transformation, liberation and independence" (Barber, p72). Artaud's immense influence on theatre practice continues to generate interest and debate. Calling for an end to rational drama, his iconoclastic work pushes the boundaries of critical thinking by means of a continuous flow of construction and destruction. In Antonin Artaud: Man of Vision, Bettina Knapp offered an explanation of
Bertolt Brecht, LeRoi Jones and Antonin Artaud In LeRoi Jones's play, "Dutchman," elements of realism, naturalism and non-realism abound. The play features characters such as Clay, a twenty-year-old Negro, Lula, a thirty-year-old white woman, both white and black passengers on a subway coach, a young Negro and a conductor. All of these characters take a ride that, for each, ends with different destinations and leaves the audience to sort through the details and find conclusions themselves
Chapter 3 Newsons deviation towards Total Theatre? Total Theatre is a genre which believes all areas of performance bear equal importance to a shows success. From the pieces physicality and text to the stages; set, lighting and sound, no element is an afterthought of the creative process. A concept originally established by director and Composer Richard Wagner in the mid-19th century as Gesamtkunstwerk (total work of art), it is a concept that has influenced many practitioners including pioneering
as a result of this horrific situation? Is cruelty and violence the only solution when it comes down to it? In Lord of the Flies, William Golding explores the relationship between children in a similar conflict and shows how savagery takes over civilization. Lord of the Flies proves to show that the natural human instincts of cruelty and savagery will take over instead of logic and reasoning. William shows how Jack, the perpetrator in the book, uses cruelty and fear for social and political gain to
Artaud is profoundly associated with the Surrealist Movement of the 1920’s as well as avant-garde, or experimental, radical theatre. Although his innovative ideas surrounding theatre have influenced many popular writers and dramatists in history, Artaud received little to no success for his poetry, acting, or directing during his lifetime. His greatest contributions to theatre were his harsh and elaborate criticisms of dramatic art, which influenced playwrights
was used in his works and his plays are closed compositions. The characters from the beginning until the end remain the same without development. In the Absurd Theatre the writers selected strange names for their works in order to reflect their rejection of the norms and the conventional values (Innes428-31). As for the Naturalistic Theatre, it rejects the natural laws. The naturalists and the realists share the same idea that the issues of the middle and lower classes should be tackled in the literary
young age escape existed wholly as a concept that was only accessible to me through performance and practice. As a child, from the tender young age of three, performing was, and remains to this day, a large part of my life. My current passion for theatre was born from my passion for dance, at its highest intensity between the ages of 3 to 13,
Why was Elizabethan theatre so successful? One of the reasons that Elizabethan theatre was so successful was that it was enjoyed by the Queen. Elizabeth never visited the theatre herself, but was known to have invited companies of actors to perform for her at court, as is shown by this extract from government records in 1572: "To the Lord Chamberlain's players at Whitehall, 25 February 1572, for a play presented by them before Her Majesty on St Stephen's Day." She was a very important
Postmodernism is a reaction to the classical types of art and theatre that had existed up until modern history, which relied on literature as the main focus of a work. The postmodernist movement began after the modernist movement, which occurred during the 19th and 20th centuries. Postmodernism is not necessary meant to be the opposite of art forms from the past, but rather, it is meant to open a person up to new experiences. Some postmodernist artists are concerned with creating works that will
holistic approach to acting. This was both fascinating and challenging in that I was able to overcome several of my own limitations and embrace new techniques that enhanced my understanding of the text and the character. During my study of the Modern Theatre, I played Martin in The Goat or Who is Sylvia?, a man who fell in love with a goat. I lost myself and opened up personally to exploring various types of love, the care of a parent towards a child and true love that, while it may seem strange to
CHAPTER NINE STUDY QUESTIONS – The Musical Theatre (Pgs. 243-259/247-261) 1. Describe some of the facts concerning the musical on Broadway (p. 244) (248). Broadway musicals can be characterized by aspects such as having multiple performances nearly every day of the week, having productions that tour the nation in hopes of attracting more audiences, and having large casts and orchestras (Cohen 248). 2. Who was Florenz Ziegfeld and what were his productions like? (p.245) (249) Florenz Ziegfeld is
Anger can be partly physiological, cognitive, and psychological, and it is also pointedly ideological. Factors such as race, class, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, nation, and religion arouse anger (Kim1). Goldhor-lerner stated that: Anger is a signal …. It may be a message that we are being hurt, that our rights are being violated; that our needs or wants are not being adequately met or simply that something is not right ( 1). According to Seneca, anger is a bad thing that can destroy the universe
performances. Then in 1597, a most glorious theatre was built, holding several thousand people that would attend the plays. Beyond its magnificent setting and size, the Globe Theatre introduced several acting techniques, and productions that changed the whole game of English Playing. The acting, controversy, and unique productions all contributed to why the Globe Theatre is one of the most revered and influential theatres of its time. The Globe Theatre was different from every other playhouse of
to the theatre a passionate and convulsive conception of life and it is in this sense of violent rigour and extreme condensation of scenic elements that the cruelty on which it is based must be understood.”45 This placing of the two contrary worlds of violence and tenderness against each other becomes the pivot of the play. The tragedy comprises the truth of the Darwinian Naturalism “struggle for existence and survival of the fittest” as stated in his Origin of the Species, and further shows that
Letters on Cruelty pg. 89). When you open the application on your smartphone, the earth would appear in the middle of the pond. As time progresses, we would see the earth being destroyed by humanity. After the Earth is destroyed the Rainbow Serpent appears from the centre of the pond, to save us from our inevitable death. Therefore, the audience needed to forgo distance and use the application to get the full experience of the
wartime - The fundamental image of the play, in terms of my production. War is what makes virtues fatal to those who possess them and, according to Brecht the qualities that save you in a time of war are those of cowardice, dishonesty, stupidity and cruelty. When Mother Courage tells the fortunes of her children in scene one, the audience is drawn to realise that these characters, along with Mother Courage herself will all die as a result of their virtues (kindness, bravery, honesty, and wisdom). Kattrin’s
Jude the Obscure and Social Darwinism Jude the Obscure is indeed a lesson in cruelty and despair; the inevitable by-products of Social Darwinism. The main characters of the book are controlled by fate's "compelling arm of extraordinary muscular power"(1), weakly resisting the influence of their own sexuality, and of society and nature around them. Jude's world is one in which only the fittest survive, and he is clearly not equipped to number amongst the fittest. In keeping with the strong
and Catharsis. It was Jan Kott’s interpretation as Theatre of the Grotesque (1930’s) that inspired Peter Brook of the Royal Shakespeare Company to present an Epic Theatre interpretation of the play diametrically opposed to all traditional approaches. This was a pivotal presentation that radically and profoundly influenced future productions. The Christian interpretations follow the Aristotelian tradition while Nihilists follow the Epic Theatre, in the Platonic Tradition. The Christian view is