TEA-0302-WES
WESTERN
THEATRE AND
PERFORMANCE
University
Course
Designed &
Delivered by
Zachŕr
Laskewicz
©NIGHTSHADES PRESS 2008
music-theatre-language ebooks
Noordstraat 1/3, 9000
This ebook remains the original copyright of Zachŕr
Alexander LASKEWICZ who delivered this course at the
zachar@nachtschimmen.eu
Reference
Code :
0302-WES
Correlating
Webpage : http://www.nachtschimmen.eu/zachar/teacher/0302_WES.htm
The English Department
Western
Theatre & Performance
designed by
Zachar Laskewicz for students with English as a foreign language
Keywords and concepts:
·
Primarily for intermediate to upper-intermediate
students of English
·
Theatre & Drama critical reading skills
·
Ancient Greek & Roman theatre
·
Theatre in the Middle-Ages
·
Elizabethan Theatre
·
Modern theatre
·
Performance skills
Timetable:
3 periods per week, divided as
follows -
1. Lecture on major topic;
2. Tutorial session discussing
readings;
3. Play-reading and performance
workshops.
Unit
Textbooks:
Manual
One - Selected Fragments from Plays
Manual
Two - Selected Documentation on Theatre
Unit
Description Booklet - Course description, lecture
notes and information concerning assignments and presentations
Basic
Structure:
This
course is given on a semester basis and has a very specific agenda as far as
the lectures, tutorials and workshops are concerned; the intention is to
provide the students with a broad critical and practical approach to theatre
and performance in the 20th century.
At the end of semester a performance is organised which includes a
selection of theatrical fragments, sketches and/or improvisations by the
students as planned during the semester.
This unit does not have an exam as such; assessment is based on a
presentation or an essay in addition to a short performance. Preparation for and contribution to the
tutorials, lecture attendance and active participation in the workshops also
play a significant role. The student is
also expected to present an essay of around 1000 to 1500 words on a specific
topic mentioned in the unit description booklet mentioned above.
Course
Description:
This
course is intended to give students at an upper-intermediate to advanced level
English a chance to appreciate Western theatrical literature and performance
theory. The intention is to provide the
student with theoretical and critical tools to analyse Western theatre and
drama works explored in the tutorial sessions.
In addition it provides them with the chance to perform through a series
of workshops. Assessment involves for a
degree a performance-based element which is negotiated during the semester with
the professor. Course material consists
of two manuals, and one unit content booklet containing course information such
as suggestions for assignments. The
first of the two manuals contains a selection of readings from important plays,
and the second descriptive papers concerning theoretical and historical background
material. The student is expected to
read the texts in his or her own time, and to bring up specific issues
pertaining to the theatre texts in tutorial sessions, issues which are
introduced in the unit content booklet.
Half of the time spent with the professor is used discussing the
theoretical material, while the rest of the time is spent reading the
theatrical texts. Information about the
topics to be discussed in the tutorials, the possible essay subjects and other
vital information is included in a separate document. In addition to the tutorials a number of
specific open lectures are given on specific topics related to areas in Western
theatre. Inclusion of the viewing of
performances and field trips is a possibility. The performance-based aspect of
the assessment is negotiated in small groups or as individuals performing
specific aspects for production at the end of the semester. If the student is not able to perform for
personal reasons, a one-act written play is acceptable concerning a topic
brought up in the lectures with a half description of what the play is
about. AThe students are also required
to complete a single essay to be completed in English on specific topics
selected from a list or negotiated with the professor. This list is included at the end of
discussion notes that form part of the student manual or are provided weekly to
the students to allow them to prepare for the coming lecture.
Requirements:
Students
are expected to attend all lectures, workshops and tutorials. If more than three classes are missed unannounced
the students grade could be affected.
If, on the other hand, the student contacts the lecturer on the
beforehand, negotiation is possible.
Forms of communication include post, email, personal discussion and via
the telephone. Information about basic
assessment procedures is included below.
Assessment:
Grades
are determined as follows:
Attendance: 10%
Participation in classroom activities:
20%
Essay or presentation: 35%
Performance: 35%
Weekly
Plan:
The
following list contains the general structure of the semester
1. Introduction and Basic Terminology
2. Dramatic Texts as Discourse and Theatre Conventions
3. The Comedy and the Tragedy: origins in Ancient Greek &
RomanTheatre
4. Critical
5. Mediaeval Theatre: morality plays
6. Writing about Theatre: an introduction to writing about
performance
7. Theatre in the Rennaissance: Elizabethan Theatre &
Shakespeare
8. Key Speeches & Dialogues
9. Theatre of the 19th Century
10. Signs and Symbols in Drama & Theatre
11. Modern Theatre
12. Direction & Design: an
introduction
14. Brechtian Theatre
15. Theatre of the Absurd
The English Department
Western Theatre & Performance
designed by Zachar Laskewicz for students with English
as a foreign language
LECTURER'S NOTES: Lesson 2
Introduction
to Western Theatre
Lesson 1
Lecture Notes
P1-1
- Brief introduction to the course.
- Describe structure of the lessons.
-
- In this course COMMUNICATION is a given and students
are expected to participate actively; if you don't want to, then it's better to
stop.
P1-2
- Make list of students names, and a ask them to make
a brief description.
P1-3
- Go through course description with the students.
- describe the course assessment procedures.
P1-4
- List major terms important for theatre vocabulary:
Theatre, Drama, Play, Performance, Acts, Dialogues,
Monologues, Key Speeches, 'Beats'.
- What is a play?: Complex set of instructions for
groups of performers who work together to produce a piece of theatre; a live
event on stage in front of real people. It is far more than words on a page.
- Theatre conventions: agreed upon rules between
audience and performers.
- Theatre is considered to emerge from ancient human
ritual; indeed seeing theatre is a ritual in itself.
- How easy it is for us to accept conventions;
difficulty of film.
- The role of 'director' and 'playwright'; how do they
differ?
- Role of director in 'conTEXTualising' the play. Role
of playwright in making the dramatic TEXT.
- Theatre demands attention; less passive than film,
often confrontational: heightened behaviour in the sense of ritual.
P2-1
Tutorial Based on the subject matter: what is theatre
and what is a play?
THEATRE CONVENTIONS
-4 How have the students
experienced theatre in the past.
-5 Statement: theatre as a
strange ritual [based on agreement between audience and performers] - what do
the students think of this?
-6 How do the students
experience Western theatre in terms of their own experiences.
-7 What are contrasting
'agreements' on what is theatre and what is not?
-8 Theatre includes many other
forms of human activity, including juggling, acrobatics, some kinds of sports,
music, mime and so on.
P2-2
THEATRE IN SOCIETY
-9 What role does theatre play
in society?
-10 Is
it different now to what it was in the past?
P2-3
WHY DO WE CREATE THEATRE?
-11 What
are some of the major reasons people write plays?
-12 Function
of art & theatre; clarifying order & chaos, making sense of disorder
& inconsequential events of life.
P2-4
TERMINOLOGY
-13 What
is the difference between theatre and drama, between a performance and a play?
-14 What
is the difference between a playwright and a director? What do they do? What is
their input.
-15 What
is in effect the creative difference between a writer of novels or poems and
the writers of plays? Who plays roles in giving the text meaning? Do texts
really belong only to playwrights?
-16 What
role does the 'audience' play? Who are they? Are they always the same in all
forms of theatre? Are they also bound by conventions?
P3-1
What is a Workshop?
- What is a workshop? Which theatre schools have used
it; how it can help us to understand theatre which is a highly visual medium.
What it can teach us about performance.
- Concept introduced by Brecht and adopted into
Western theatre, particularly experimental theatre.
P3-2
Basic Improvisations
- Basing scriptwriting on short activities. Divide up
into groups of two and organise short scenes only with a brief encounter
between two people.
P3-3
What can we learn from Workshops?
Play Reading Skills
- Difference between reading a text and watching one:
you can`t (normally) rewind, full forward etc.; you have to go at the pace of
the performance.
- It is impossible to mistake a theatrical text for
any other.
- One has to consider how the audience is treated by the
playwright; what were the conventions behind the theatrical traditions which
created these works.
- What are the dynamics of plays; how are they
structured.
- Importance of visualisation in interpretation.
- Contrasting types of plays in the twentieth century:
television and radio plays.
- Film versions of plays; how does this contrast.
- Using scene descriptions to construct an image of
what happens in the play (use examples)
PLOT: summary of a play`s incidents OR organisation of
meaningful events, i.e. Overall structure of play.
Structural elements: the beginning, middle, end;
exposition - setting forth of info about earlier ev ents/motivations - the
amount of exposition required depends on the POINT OF ATTACK, the moment at
which the action begins. Shakespeare typically uses early points of attack,
i.e. the action is chronological. This
is not necessarily always so. Greek
tragedies use late points of attack.
- The action of a play depends on our knowledge of the
past and thus a lot of exposition is required; methods of exposition vary
immensely - Euripedes uses monologues, discussionofthe past, dance and song,
and also flashbacks.
INCITING INCIDENCE - name for the CAUSE around which
complications develop.
- The substance of complications is ften DISCOVERY in
some form. Such discoveries may involve objects, persons, facts or values.
Other means may be used to precipitate action - natural/mechanical disaster.
Series of complications result in CLIMAX.
Analysis of drama: working out which kinds of units are used to develop
drama and how these help the work to realize is theme or develop its suspense,
catharsis and resolution.
The End - also known as resolution and denoument.
- The `ideal play`
The mode of discourse which is traditionally agreed
upon and accepted by a western audience
It has 3 or 4 acts
- Introduces a set of human characters with a conflict
- This conflict brings about complications.
-These complications are resolved in a denouement
(resolution)
Analysing the structure of a play:
1. How is the exposition handled.
2. Discover how scenes and acts are brought to
climaxes in comparison to the whole.
3. Think about the manner and the nature of the plot
(denoument)
[Hedda Gabler and The Cherry Garden are good examples
of ideal plays for this type of analysis]
-Audience theory: compare the difference between the
role played by the `reader` and the `viewer` (audience member: audience theory)
- Language use -soliloquy, grand speeches and garbled
nonsense. What is the playwright
communicating with the WAY he is making use of language? Does it communicate
extra-linguistically (such as Lucky`s speech).
- Space: the unwritten/partly transcribed thing
separating performance etc. What does the use of specified space tell us about
the play? What can be left to interpretation?
- How does the playwright treat temporality? Why? Is
it being used as a tool to aid the narrative or character development, or in
some other way.
- How does the play resemble reality, and when does it
not? Why?
- Work out how to divide text into scenes and acts.
- Drama is a special form with own unique
characteristics separating it from other forms of literature. `Theatre is the stuyd of what happens when
`dramatic` texts are brought to life.
Dramatic texts are difficult to read, and it becomes a demanding task
for any reader, because of the amount of creativity required from the reader
WORKSHOP
Play reading skills; contrasts between different types
of plays
- Using scene descriptions to construct an image of
what happens in the play (use examples)
The English Department
Western Theatre & Performance
designed by Zachar Laskewicz for students with English
as a foreign language
LECTURER'S NOTES: Lesson 2
P1-1
Topic 1: Introduction to theatre
- List major terms important for theatre vocabulary:
Theatre, Drama, Play, Performance, Acts, Dialogues,
Monologues, Key Speeches, 'Beats'.
- What is a play?: Complex set of instructions for
groups of performers who work together to produce a piece of theatre; a live
event on stage in front of real people. It is far more than words on a page.
P1-2
Topic 2: Theatre Conventions
- Theatre conventions: agreed upon rules between
audience and performers.
- Theatre is considered to emerge from ancient human
ritual; indeed seeing theatre is a ritual in itself.
- How easy it is for us to accept conventions;
difficulty of film.
- The role of 'director' and 'playwright'; how do they
differ?
- Role of director in 'conTEXTualising' the play. Role
of playwright in making the dramatic TEXT.
- Theatre demands attention; less passive than film,
often confrontational: heightened behaviour in the sense of ritual.
P1-3
Topic 3: Ancient Greek Theatre
- INTRO - It has greatly influenced our contemporary
understanding of drama and theatrical practice, and contemporary writers in all
periods have been influenced in some way. How this is unusual and unique.
Considered to be the source of Western theatre.
- ORIGIN - All plays written in the period between 500
and 400 B.C. All plays took place in
- WRITERS - the work of 4 playwrights have survived,
and only a few of the many hundreds of plays actually written. How they were
preserved and have therefore become part of our history too (changes could have
been made to them as was the practice). These playwrights are Sophocles,
Euripides, Aeschylus, & Aristophanes.
- GENRES - Two major genres were accepted and required
at the particular ritual occasions; comedies and tragedies. Tragedies were also
accompanied by shorter works known as sartyrs which were intended to work as
light relief to the heavy thematically dense tragic works. Writers were either
specialised in tragedies or comedies and appear to have only wrote them as
such. The topics of plays were mostly about mythical events which is
appropriate to the ritual task for Dionysis they were intended to perform.
Comedies were sometimes mythical and sometimes involving everyday life.
P1-4
PRE-PRODUCTION - Circumstances entirely different to
what we expect today. Playwrights were chosen for specific purposes and this
was their profession. The person responsible for organising the 'City
Dionysis', for example, was chosen by chance, known as archon.
Playwrights would then apply to him to write their plays which they had a
period of six months to do. For City Dionysis usually 3 tragedies were
written and a 'satyr', whereas comedies were generally presented one at a time.
For this event 3 tragic writers competed with one another, whereas 3 or 5
comedy writers.
PRODUCTION - didaskalos was the term for a
writer which means 'teacher' or 'trainer'. This relates to the original
function of theatre to train the dancers and performers who would make up the
chorus. The writer, therefore, was initially associated with the producer and
director of works which were in turn written for specific theatres (rather than
general performance places), although some comedies were performed in a number
of different arenas.
THE PLAYS - Very different to how contemporary plays
are written. Chorus which comments upon the action. How the gods influence
daily life of mythical individuals. Stories taken from the epics by Homer (such
as Odysseus) of which only a few have survived. The plays were written
in a metre and were often intended to be sung, and therefore in translation
this element is lost. How contemporary playwrights have tried to recapture
this.
THE THEATRE - The acropolis in
[slide/illustration from LEY, G. pg. 12.
Theatres were built on a hill. The 'orchestra' was
initially a dancing place, whereas the 'theatron' was a viewing place actually
on the hill (show from side view). Additionally, as prominent only in the
theatre during the period in the fourth century B.C., a 'skene' is a 'scene
building' which seems to have had a door (exactly how it appeared we are not
sure). The word 'skene' actually means 'tent'.
TRAGEDY AND COMEDY - Different functions. How these
categories have influenced the field. The Oresteia - tragedy in 3 parts.
OEDIPUS REX [the king] (Sophocles) will be the play we'll be workshopping next
week. Euripides - THE BACCHAE, Aristophones - THE FROG. HECUBA, TROJAN WOMEN,
HELEN - Euripedes.
MASKS - Communicates important information about the
character. Performer couldn't communicate with face, so gestures, dance, music
and primarily words were used to communicate the message of the performance.
For comedy, masks were intended to parody individuals and exaggerated certain
aspects of their face.
COSTUMES - were changed during performance, such as
Helen in Euripedes tragedy which has her return to the 'skene' wearing a different
costume to demonstrate mourning. The elaborate weaving or dieing of material
for mythical characters was considered to have taken place, as part of the
ritual act. Costume was of great importance in helping the audience recognise
the characters, as were their masks. Colour, length, type of clothing could
have played roles in this respect.
PROPERTIES - abundant in comedies to achieve
particular tasks.
CHORUS - important ancient Greek theatrical tool which
we generally do not see now, but which has influenced theatrical writers and
directors in the west. They are not involved in the play but comment upon it.
Origin is considered to be related closely to the ritual function; the chorus
existed before the drama did to sing songs to the gods and perform ritual tasks
or acts (for example, dancing). Their importance cannot be underestimated.
ACTORS - the writer of the plays were initially the
actors. Greek name for actor is hypocrites which means 'answerer';
probably to 'answer' the chorus. This changed and other actors were introduced,
some of whom were other playwrights, until the position of the actor became
evident as an independent profession.
P2-1
Tutorial Based on the subject matter: what is theatre
and what is a play?
THEATRE CONVENTIONS
-4 How have the students
experienced theatre in the past.
-5 Statement: theatre as a
strange ritual [based on agreement between audience and performers] - what do
the students think of this?
-6 How do the students
experience Western theatre in terms of their own experiences.
-7 What are contrasting
'agreements' on what is theatre and what is not?
-8 Theatre includes many other
forms of human activity, including juggling, acrobatics, some kinds of sports,
music, mime and so on.
P2-2
THEATRE IN SOCIETY
-9 What role does theatre play
in society?
-10 Is
it different now to what it was in the past?
P2-3
WHY DO WE CREATE THEATRE?
-11 What
are some of the major reasons people write plays?
-12 Function
of art & theatre; clarifying order & chaos, making sense of disorder
& inconsequential events of life.
P2-4
TERMINOLOGY
-13 What
is the difference between theatre and drama, between a performance and a play?
-14 What
is the difference between a playwright and a director? What do they do? What is
their input.
-15 What
is in effect the creative difference between a writer of novels or poems and
the writers of plays? Who plays roles in giving the text meaning? Do texts
really belong only to playwrights?
-16 What
role does the 'audience' play? Who are they? Are they always the same in all
forms of theatre? Are they also bound by conventions?
P3-1
What is a Workshop?
- What is a workshop? Which theatre schools have used
it; how it can help us to understand theatre which is a highly visual medium.
What it can teach us about performance.
- Concept introduced by Brecht and adopted into
Western theatre, particularly experimental theatre.
P3-2
Basic Improvisations
- Basing scriptwriting on short activities. Divide up
into groups of two and organise short scenes only with a brief encounter
between two people.
P3-3
What can we learn from Workshops?
Play Reading Skills
- Difference between reading a text and watching one:
you can`t (normally) rewind, full forward etc.; you have to go at the pace of
the performance.
- It is impossible to mistake a theatrical text for
any other.
- One has to consider how the audience is treated by
the playwright; what were the conventions behind the theatrical traditions
which created these works.
- What are the dynamics of plays; how are they structured.
- Importance of visualisation in interpretation.
- Contrasting types of plays in the twentieth century:
television and radio plays.
- Film versions of plays; how does this contrast.
- Using scene descriptions to construct an image of
what happens in the play (use examples)
PLOT: summary of a play`s incidents OR organisation of
meaningful events, i.e. Overall structure of play.
Structural elements: the beginning, middle, end;
exposition - setting forth of info about earlier ev ents/motivations - the
amount of exposition required depends on the POINT OF ATTACK, the moment at
which the action begins. Shakespeare typically uses early points of attack,
i.e. the action is chronological. This
is not necessarily always so. Greek
tragedies use late points of attack.
- The action of a play depends on our knowledge of the
past and thus a lot of exposition is required; methods of exposition vary
immensely - Euripedes uses monologues, discussionofthe past, dance and song,
and also flashbacks.
INCITING INCIDENCE - name for the CAUSE around which
complications develop.
- The substance of complications is ften DISCOVERY in
some form. Such discoveries may involve objects, persons, facts or values.
Other means may be used to precipitate action - natural/mechanical disaster.
Series of complications result in CLIMAX.
Analysis of drama: working out which kinds of units are used to develop
drama and how these help the work to realize is theme or develop its suspense,
catharsis and resolution.
The End - also known as resolution and denoument.
- The `ideal play`
The mode of discourse which is traditionally agreed
upon and accepted by a western audience
It has 3 or 4 acts
- Introduces a set of human characters with a conflict
- This conflict brings about complications.
-These complications are resolved in a denouement
(resolution)
Analysing the structure of a play:
1. How is the exposition handled.
2. Discover how scenes and acts are brought to
climaxes in comparison to the whole.
3. Think about the manner and the nature of the plot
(denoument)
[Hedda Gabler and The Cherry Garden are good examples
of ideal plays for this type of analysis]
-Audience theory: compare the difference between the
role played by the `reader` and the `viewer` (audience member: audience theory)
- Language use -soliloquy, grand speeches and garbled
nonsense. What is the playwright
communicating with the WAY he is making use of language? Does it communicate
extra-linguistically (such as Lucky`s speech).
- Space: the unwritten/partly transcribed thing separating
performance etc. What does the use of specified space tell us about the play?
What can be left to interpretation?
- How does the playwright treat temporality? Why? Is
it being used as a tool to aid the narrative or character development, or in some
other way.
- How does the play resemble reality, and when does it
not? Why?
- Work out how to divide text into scenes and acts.
- Drama is a special form with own unique
characteristics separating it from other forms of literature. `Theatre is the stuyd of what happens when
`dramatic` texts are brought to life.
Dramatic texts are difficult to read, and it becomes a demanding task
for any reader, because of the amount of creativity required from the reader
WORKSHOP
Play reading skills; contrasts between different types
of plays
- Using scene descriptions to construct an image of
what happens in the play (use examples)
The
English Department
Western
Theatre & Performance
designed
by Zachar Laskewicz for students with English as a foreign language
LECTURE
NOTES: lesson 2
Ancient Greek theatre has greatly influenced our
contemporary understanding of drama and theatrical practice; it is now
considered by many to be the source of Western theatre.
All the plays we have today were written in the period
between 500 and 400 B.C.
They were usually written for two major rituals known
as the 'City Dionysus' and the 'Lenaea'.
The work of 4 playwrights have survived: Sophocles,
Euripides, Aeschylus, & Aristophanes.
Two major genres required by the rituals: TRAGEDY and
COMEDY.
MASKS were very important theatrical tools in this
form of theatre. Actors couldn't
communicate with their faces, and so used other forms of communication.
The CHORUS was important in commenting upon the action
and providing song and dance for the plays.
The
stage was divided into three major areas, the THEATRON, the ORCHESTRA and the
SKENE.
The English Department
Western
Theatre & Performance
designed
by Zachar Laskewicz for students with English as a foreign language
TOPICS
FOR DISCUSSION: Ancient Greek Theatre
1. What does Aristotle consider the
main aim of art to be? Do you agree with
this?
2.
What does Aristotle consider to be the origins of art?
3.
What does Aristotle consider to be the major emotions associated with
tragedy? Do you still think this is
true?
4.
How does Aristotle think the Chorus should be treated in drama? Do we treat them in the same way now?
5.
What themes do you think Aristotle discusses that are still important
today?
6.
Describe your emotions at the end of the play. Are you sorry for Oedipus
or do you think he got what he ultimately deserved?
ESSAY
TOPICS: Sophocles' Oedipus the King
1. Does the major theme of the play
involve 'luck' or 'destiny'? Why?
2.
Is Oedipus the King still relevant today? Explain why.
3.
How does the play represent human behaviour: as futile or useful?
4.
What is the function of the dramatic odes dividing the scenes? Are they
there to further the action or provide interludes?
The English Department
Western Theatre & Performance
designed by Zachar Laskewicz for students with English
as a foreign language
LECTURER'S NOTES: Lesson 4 - writing about theatre
P1-1
Topic 1: Referencing System
- Difference between reading a text and watching one:
you can`t (normally) rewind, full forward etc.; you have to go at the pace of
the performance.
- It is impossible to mistake a theatrical text for
any other.
- One has to consider how the audience is treated by
the playwright; what were the conventions behind the theatrical traditions
which created these works.
- What are the dynamics of plays; how are they structured.
- Importance of visualisation in interpretation.
- Contrasting types of plays in the twentieth century:
television and radio plays.
- Film versions of plays; how does this contrast.
- Using scene descriptions to construct an image of
what happens in the play (use examples)
P1-2
To reiterate - the ideal play:
- Introduces a set of human characters with a conflict
- This conflict brings about complications.
- These complications are resolved in a denouement
(resolution)
Analysing the structure of a play:
1. How is the exposition handled.
2. Discover how scenes and acts are brought to
climaxes in comparison to the whole.
3. Think about the manner and the nature of the plot
(denoument)
[Hedda Gabler and The Cherry Garden are good examples
of ideal plays for this type of analysis]
THINGS TO WRITE ABOUT IN THEATRE & DRAMA
- Language use -soliloquy, grand speeches and garbled
nonsense. What is the playwright
communicating with the WAY he is making use of language? Does it communicate
extra-linguistically (such as Lucky`s speech).
- Space: the unwritten/partly transcribed thing
separating performance etc. What does the use of specified space tell us about
the play? What can be left to interpretation?
- How does the playwright treat temporality? Why? Is it
being used as a tool to aid the narrative or character development, or in some
other way.
- How does the play resemble reality, and when does it
not? Why?
P1-3
ANALYSING KEY SPEECHES
- Analysis of specificities of key speeches from
Ancient Greekto modern theatre.
- Such speeches often embody major themes of theatre
works.
- Following steps can be followed:
1. What theme does the speech embody.
2. What are particular characteristics of the language
unique to the character.
3. Examine the purpose for which the language is used.
4. Examine what the language use communicates about
the character, i.e. regional specificity, attitude of speaker to person being
spoken to, jargon used, discoursal levels of communication etc.
5. Is there anything brought to life about the plot or
narrative of the drama.
P1-4
- As a reaction to Roman excess, the Christiann church
had long opposed theatrical entertainment, also related to its concept of the
creation of 'falsehood' which stood against Christian concepts; how this is
represented in the 'acting' or 'taking of a part of another' which is a blatant
lie against God. Participation in drama was truly for 'pagans', particularly
any form of transvestitism: "The woman shall not wear that which
pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman's garment; for alll
that do so are abomination unto the Lord God" (Deuteronomy 22.5).
- Despite this reaction against the theatre, it was in
the church itself that a new concept of theatre was born, what is now referred
to as 'liturgical drama'.
- Define liturgy, including singing of the mass which
involves ritualised processes such as drinking of wine as blood and the
breaking of bread (flesh).
- Some liturgical chants divided antiphonally, that is
one set of voices responding to another (reminiscent of Ancient Greek drama).
In the Easter Mass, one voice (an angel) responds to the women who visited
Christ's tomb in order to anoint the corpose.
The angel asks whom they seek, they reply that they seek Jesus and the
angel expoains that Jesus has risen from the tomb. This is a first step towards
the representation of drama.
- It became a means to educate the illiterate, hence
the term 'morality plays'.
- Long after such dramatic texts were included in the
liturgy, Pope Clement V in 1311 created a new Feast Day, Corpus Christi (Latin:
the body of Christ). It became a joyful midsummer midsummer festival, marked by
a procession in which the communion chalice, escorted by local dignitaries, was
carried through the streets.
- Plays soon became part of the Feast of Corpus
Christi. In Italy in the early 14th century Corpus Christi Day was
celebrated by an almost cosmic cycle of plays (definition of 'cycles' and how
they worked' on sacred history, in Latin, ranging from the Fall of Lucifer, the
Crucifixion of Christ, the Harrowing of Hell, Christ's Ascension, and up to the
Day of Judgment.
- By the end of 14th century, plays were
not only in Latin but in vernacular, sponsored not only by church but other
organisations.
- Guilds sponsoring plays seemed appriopriote; thus,
the shipwrights were responsible for th play about Noah's
- Scholars refer to the individual episodes as miracle
plays or 'mystery plays' because they were sponsored by the guilds (mystery
taken from French word 'metier' which means job, from the Latin word minister
which means attendant or servant).
- Development of plays: 2 scholarly views: 19th
and 20th century, as a natural evolution from the Quem Queritis of
the Easter Feast in the church until it moved out of the church into the church
yard, recent scholarship which suggests that it was a single definitive
movement as an effort to educate people.
- In
- They were abandoned not because of disinterest of
public, but because [1] Protestantism was against the idea of drama, and [2]
better forms of dramatic entertainment were becoming available.
- Performance Environment: on temporary stages or on
wagons (hence the term 'pageants'). Audience would move from one wagon to
another. Some performances in this way were thought to be portable and could be
brought to different locations. Evidence of performance 'in the round' in the
coliseums left over from Ancient Rome, falling otherwise into disuse, where
they were only used a stamping ground rather than a theatre, audience within
the centre rather outside of it. Wagons would display separate scenes, such as
hell or the cave where Jesus was resurrected. A structure representing hell may
be at one side, and heavan at the other (hell demonstrated as the mouth of a
monster out of which smoke would pour). There is the evidence that some actors
left the stages and moved into the performance spae and among the audience.
Performance's were closer to today's 'street theatre'.
The anonymous author of the WAKE FIELD CYCLE (which a
total of 32 plays) is called the Wakefield Master. Thought to be a clergyman
actively involved in theatre. Probably originated in 14th century,
but was later revised and amplified. The
play we look at known as 'the second shepherds' play'. Second of 2 plays about
the shephers who received the news of the birth of Jesus, as told in the second
chapter of the Gospel according to Saint Luke. The complete cycle involves the
life of Jesus.
- Note about translations of the words.
P2-1
- Tutorial Based on reading of works by Sophocles and Aristotle
.
1. What does
Aristotle consider the main aim of art to be?
Do you agree with this?
2. What does Aristotle consider to be the
origins of art?
3. What does Aristotle consider to be the major
emotions associated with tragedy? Do you
still think this is true?
4. How does Aristotle think the Chorus should be
treated in drama? Do we treat them in
the same way now?
5. What themes do you think Aristotle discusses
that are still important today?
6. Describe your emotions at the end of the play.
Are you sorry for Oedipus or do you think he got what he ultimately deserved?
ESSAY
TOPICS: Sophocles' Oedipus the King
1. Does the major
theme of the play involve 'luck' or 'destiny'?
Why?
2. Is Oedipus the King still relevant
today? Explain why.
3. How does the play represent human behaviour:
as futile or useful?
4. What is the function of the dramatic odes
dividing the scenes? Are they there to further the action or provide
interludes?
P2-2
THEATRE IN SOCIETY
-4 What role does theatre play
in society?
-5 Is it different now to what
it was in the past?
P2-3
WHY DO WE CREATE THEATRE?
-6 What are some of the major
reasons people write plays?
-7 Function of art &
theatre; clarifying order & chaos, making sense of disorder &
inconsequential events of life.
P2-4
TERMINOLOGY
-8 What is the difference
between theatre and drama, between a performance and a play?
-9 What is the difference
between a playwright and a director? What do they do? What is their input.
-10 What
is in effect the creative difference between a writer of novels or poems and
the writers of plays? Who plays roles in giving the text meaning? Do texts
really belong only to playwrights?
-11 What
role does the 'audience' play? Who are they? Are they always the same in all
forms of theatre? Are they also bound by conventions?
P3-1
Play-Reading: Sophocles play Oedipus the King
- Start with lines 1-149. Choose someone from the
group to stand on a chair (Oedipus), two ther readers stand nearby (the Priest
and Creon), and several others kneel or lie on the floor (Theban citizens).
- Afterwards ask readers how they felt about their
roles
The English Department
Western
Theatre & Performance
designed
by Zachar Laskewicz for students with English as a foreign language
LECTURE
NOTES: lesson 3 - mediaeval theatre
Mediaeval theatre contrasts greatly to any form of
theatre that appeared before or after it.
The term 'mediaeval' actually refers in Latin to the
Middle-Ages which is another English term for the period; also referred to the
dark ages because of the black plague.
World View: the world was a destructive, violent and
unpredictable place. People generally preferred to stay inside than to go
outside. Faith in god was their only hold on security. The Latin mass was an
important ceremony.
It is generally thought that theatre in the Middle
Ages grew out of the Quem Quiritis antiphon sung during the Easter mass
which involved a dramatic dialogue between the women visiting Christ's tomb and
the angel of the lord.
Two major theories as to how the 'mystery cycles'
developed:
[1] gradual transferral from its use in the Latin mass
to its use in pageant wagons as the cycle plays (19th century
approach);
[2] a direct attempt by the guilds and other
organisations to make religious material accessible to the illiterate (recent
approach).
The 'cycles' are referred to by scholars as 'morality
plays' as they depicted very specific moral lessons from the bible,
particularly the life of Jesus Christ.
The plays that we have today were enacted on wagons
or small temporary stages. Each of these wagons represented a different
location, for example when the wagons were situation in a circle, 'heaven' and
'hell' would often be positioned opposite to one another. Other locations
included the place where Jesus was crucified, Noah's ark and other biblical
locations.
The
English Department
Western
Theatre & Performance
designed
by Zachar Laskewicz for students with English as a foreign language
TOPICS
FOR DISCUSSION: Mediaeval Theatre
1. The play presents two scenes of
nativity. What details bind the two
scenes together?
2. Exactly why to the shepherds
return to Mak's house? What might one
say the moral is for this part of the play?
3. The medieval punishment for
stealing sheep was death, but the shepherd's punish Mak only by tossing him in
a blankent. Why does the play depart
from reality in this respect.
ESSAY
TOPICS:
1. How does medieval theatre differ
from theatre in the twentieth century?
2. What are the particular methods
used in medieval drama to communicate the morals?
3.
How do you think the audience would have appreciated drama at the time
of its writing?
The English Department
Western Theatre & Performance
designed by Zachar Laskewicz for students with English
as a foreign language
LECTURER'S NOTES: Lesson 4 - writing about theatre
P1-1
Topic 1: Referencing System
- Difference between reading a text and watching one:
you can`t (normally) rewind, full forward etc.; you have to go at the pace of
the performance.
- It is impossible to mistake a theatrical text for
any other.
- One has to consider how the audience is treated by
the playwright; what were the conventions behind the theatrical traditions
which created these works.
- What are the dynamics of plays; how are they
structured.
- Importance of visualisation in interpretation.
- Contrasting types of plays in the twentieth century:
television and radio plays.
- Film versions of plays; how does this contrast.
- Using scene descriptions to construct an image of
what happens in the play (use examples)
P1-2
To reiterate - the ideal play:
- Introduces a set of human characters with a conflict
- This conflict brings about complications.
- These complications are resolved in a denouement
(resolution)
Analysing the structure of a play:
1. How is the exposition handled.
2. Discover how scenes and acts are brought to
climaxes in comparison to the whole.
3. Think about the manner and the nature of the plot
(denoument)
[Hedda Gabler and The Cherry Garden are good examples
of ideal plays for this type of analysis]
THINGS TO WRITE ABOUT IN THEATRE & DRAMA
- Language use -soliloquy, grand speeches and garbled
nonsense. What is the playwright
communicating with the WAY he is making use of language? Does it communicate
extra-linguistically (such as Lucky`s speech).
- Space: the unwritten/partly transcribed thing
separating performance etc. What does the use of specified space tell us about
the play? What can be left to interpretation?
- How does the playwright treat temporality? Why? Is
it being used as a tool to aid the narrative or character development, or in some
other way.
- How does the play resemble reality, and when does it
not? Why?
INCLUDE PARTICULARLY THE USE OF SYMBOLISM AND HOW TO
WRITE ABOUT IT
Use as an example the many symbols in Streetcar: there is something about here that suggests a
moth, trams cemeteries and desire, the name 'belleve reve', the role of music
etc.
P1-3
ANALYSING KEY SPEECHES
- Analysis of specificities of key speeches from
Ancient Greekto modern theatre.
- Such speeches often embody major themes of theatre
works.
- Following steps can be followed:
1. What theme does the speech embody.
2. What are particular characteristics of the language
unique to the character.
3. Examine the purpose for which the language is used.
4. Examine what the language use communicates about
the character, i.e. regional specificity, attitude of speaker to person being
spoken to, jargon used, discoursal levels of communication etc.
5. Is there anything brought to life about the plot or
narrative of the drama.
P1-4
USING DIALOGUE/SPEECHES
- demonstrate how to use particular speech examples to
demonstrate thematic concepts etc.
P2-1
TOPICS
FOR DISCUSSION: Mediaeval Theatre
1. The play
presents two scenes of nativity. What
details bind the two scenes together?
2. Exactly why to
the shepherds return to Mak's house?
What might one say the moral is for this part of the play?
3. The medieval
punishment for stealing sheep was death, but the shepherd's punish Mak only by
tossing him in a blanket. Why does the
play depart from reality in this respect?
ESSAY
TOPICS:
1. How does
medieval theatre differ from theatre in the twentieth century?
2. What are the
particular methods used in medieval drama to communicate the morals?
3. How do you think the audience would have
appreciated drama at the time of its writing?
P3-1
Play-Reading: Second Shepherd cycle
The
English Department
Western
Theatre & Performance
designed
by Zachar Laskewicz for students with English as a foreign language
LECTURE
NOTES: lesson 4 - writing about theatre
PLAGIARIZATION in any form is absolutely unacceptable
in this course. You have to write everything with your own writing; downloading
from the internet is not good enough. You can use books, articles and excerpts
from the plays themselves, but you have to use the following REFERENCING SYSTEM
to show where you have taken the references.
[1] All references from books/articles need to be
between inverted commas, i.e. According to Walsh, "the play was difficult
to read."
[2] At the end of the reference, you need to include
the following information: (Author YEAR: page number). An example is as
follows: The play was indeed "a terrible mistake" (Roberts 1979: 23).
If, however, you include the name of the author in the sentence, you don't need
to repeat the name. An example is as
follows: Roberts informs us that the play was "a terrible mistake (1979:
23).
[3] At the end of the article/paper you have to have a
complete list of references. These references need to be detailed and printed
out as follows, with the names of the authors in alphabetical order:
(for books/plays)
Williams, Robert (1999) Ibsen: the truth,
(for articles)
Smith, Margaret (1987) "The true
hero", in The Contemporary Playwright,
The English Department
Western
Theatre & Performance
designed
by Zachar Laskewicz for students with English as a foreign language
TOPICS
FOR DISCUSSION: Reading Character and Symbolism
1. Find a key speech and make a
basic analysis, with a number of points you think it communicates to the
audience.
2. What do you think
3.
Find some other moments where you think particularly striking messages
are communicated about the characters by things they say or do. Indicate how you would you use these in a
written work describing them.
4.
Look at this exchange (lines 307-8)
BLANCHE: Is he so - different?
STELLA: Yes. A different species.
What do you think Stella means by
this.
5.
Why does Stella warn Blance not to compare him with men they went out
with at home.
6.
Find some 'symbols' in this fragment that are expressed in
vocalisations. There are many. Indicate how you would use these in a written
work with these as a basis for the argument, or why they would be used.
The English Department
Western Theatre & Performance
designed by Zachar Laskewicz for students with English as a foreign language
LECTURER'S NOTES: Lesson 5 – Shakespeare and his age
P1-1
Topic 1: Origin of Renaissance drama
-
The theatre for which the plays were written
was one of the most remarkable innovations of the Renaissace. As we have
demonstrated, there were no theatres in the Middle-Ages, and the plays were all
of a religious nature.
-
All This began to change during Shakespeare’s
era. Students of Oxford and Cambridge
came to London in 1580s and began to write plays which made use of what they
had learned about classical drama of ancient Greece and Rome (compare to the
church’s negative approach to this type of performance).
-
These plays were on historical subjects with
non-rhymed verse (iambic pentameter); this was freer and more expressive than
medieval drama.
-
These dramatists, of which Shakespeare was to
become a member, wrote for professional troupes of actors; this was something
new and an art had been invented
P1-2
Topic 2: The
Elizabethan stage
-
The most well-known performance space of the
time and which we look back to is the well-known globe theatre that was
reproduced in 1996 in
-
It is quite different still to the type of
theatre we view today, for many reasons and in comparison to many different
forms of theatre.
-
Elizabethan theatre derived from the inn
yards and animal-baiting rings in which actors had been accustomed to perform
in the past. They were circular wooden
buildings with a paved couryard in the middle open to the sky. A rectangular stage jutted out into the
middle of this yard. Much of the
audience stood in the ‘yard’ or ‘pit’ to watch the play. They were thus on three sides of the stage.
-
These ‘groundlings’ paid only a penny to get
in, but for wealthir spectators there were seats in three covered tiers or
galleries between the inner and outer walls of the building, extending round
most of the auditorium and overlooking pit and the stage. Such a theatre culd hold about 3,0000 spectators.
-
The stage itself was partially covered by a
roof or canopy which projected from the wall at the rear of the stage and was
supported b two posts at th front. This
protected the stage and performers from inclement weather, and to it were
secured winches and other machinery for stage effects. On either side at the back of the stage was a
door. These led into the dres room (or
‘tiring house’) and it was by means of these doors that actors entered and left
the stage.
-
Between these doors was a small recess or
alcove which was curtained off. Such a
‘discovery place’ served, for example, for Juliet’s bedroom when in Act IV
Scene 4 of Romeo and Juliet the Nurse went to the back of the stage and
drew the curtain to find or ‘discover’ in Eliabethan English (relate to
‘discovery’ in dramatic terminology), Juliet apparently dead on her bed.
-
In Elizabethan theatre, women were played by
men or boys; this was a standard convention.
-
On these stages there was very little scenery
or props – there was nowhere to store them (there were no wings in this
theatre) nor anyway to set them up (no curtain)
P1-3
Topic 3: Actors and the plays
-
The stage was bare, which is why characters
often tell us where they are: there was nothing on the stage to indicate
locatin.
-
This also explains why symbolism rather than
typography is so important in this type of drama.
-
Knowledge considered to be second nature,
what we can no longer assume about today’s audience.
-
Shakespeare wrote his theatre for these
actors and for this particular theatre.
P1-4
Topic 4: The
Tempest
-
This is a quite unique later play (his last)
which is rich in symbolism both within the play and towards the life of
Shakespeare himself who is often compared to Prospero, a man at the end of his
carreer.
-
Discuss its factual basis in contemporary
myth/colonialism at the time of its writing.
-
Describe the major characters and their roles
within the play.
-
His language is rich in imagery and beauty.
Seek out passages that you may not understand completely, but find beautiful
for us to discuss. Consider
what you think they might mean.
-
Introduce the basic themes of the play.
P2-1
TOPICS
FOR DISCUSSION: Mediaeval Theatre
1. The play presents two scenes of nativity. What details bind the two scenes together?
2. Exactly why to the shepherds return to Mak's house? What might one say the moral is for this part
of the play?
3. The medieval punishment for stealing sheep was death, but the
shepherd's punish Mak only by tossing him in a blanket. Why does the play depart from reality in this
respect?
ESSAY
TOPICS:
1. How does medieval theatre differ from theatre in the twentieth
century?
2. What are the particular methods used in medieval drama to communicate
the morals?
3. How do you think the audience
would have appreciated drama at the time of its writing?
P3-1
Play-Reading: Second Shepherd cycle
The
English Department
Western
Theatre & Performance
designed
by Zachar Laskewicz for students with English as a foreign language
LECTURE
NOTES: lesson 4 - writing about theatre
PLAGIARIZATION in any form is absolutely unacceptable in this course.
You have to write everything with your own writing; downloading from the
internet is not good enough. You can use books, articles and excerpts from the
plays themselves, but you have to use the following REFERENCING SYSTEM to show
where you have taken the references.
[1] All references from books/articles need to be between inverted
commas, i.e. According to Walsh, "the play was difficult to read."
[2] At the end of the reference, you need to include the following
information: (Author YEAR: page number). An example is as follows: The play was
indeed "a terrible mistake" (Roberts 1979: 23). If, however, you
include the name of the author in the sentence, you don't need to repeat the
name. An example is as follows: Roberts
informs us that the play was "a terrible mistake (1979: 23).
[3] At the end of the article/paper you have to have a complete list of
references. These references need to be detailed and printed out as follows,
with the names of the authors in alphabetical order:
(for books/plays)
Williams, Robert (1999) Ibsen: the truth,
(for articles)
Smith, Margaret (1987) "The true hero",
in The Contemporary Playwright,
The English Department
Western
Theatre & Performance
designed
by Zachar Laskewicz for students with English as a foreign language
TOPICS
FOR DISCUSSION: Reading Character and Symbolism
1. Find a
key speech and make a basic analysis, with a number of points you think it
communicates to the audience.
2. What
do you think
3. Find some other moments where you think
particularly striking messages are communicated about the characters by things
they say or do. Indicate how you would
you use these in a written work describing them.
4. Look at this exchange (lines 307-8)
BLANCHE:
Is he so - different?
STELLA:
Yes. A different species.
What do
you think Stella means by this.
5. Why does Stella warn Blance not to compare
him with men they went out with at home.
6. Find some 'symbols' in this fragment that are
expressed in vocalisations. There are many. Indicate how you would use these in
a written work with these as a basis for the argument, or why they would be
used.
The English Department
Western
Theatre & Performance
designed
by Zachar Laskewicz for students with English as a foreign language
INTERIM
TEST FOR STUDENTS
Student
English Name:
Student
Chinese Name:
Student
Number:
1. Ancient Greek
plays were written between which years?
[A] 600-500 B.C.
[B] 500-400
B.C.
[C] 400-300 B.C.
[D] 300-200 B.C.
2. What was the
name of the ritual most plays were written for
[A] City Athena
[B] Lenaeus
[C] City Dionysis
[D] Apollo
Ritual
3. Who was the
major writer of comedies in Ancient Greek theatre?
[A] Sophocles
[B] Plautus
[C] Euripides
[D] Aristophones
4. Where did the
audience sit in an Ancient Greek performance?
[A] Theatron
[B] Skene
[C] Proscenium Arch
[D] Chorus
5. Who wrote the
well known tragedy Oedipus Rex?
[A] Euripides
[B] Sophocles
[C] Aristophones
[D] Plautus
6. What was the name of the first
performance in the Middle-Ages?
[A] The Easter Mass
[B] Quem
Queritis
[C] Agnus Dei
[D] The
Shepherd’s Play
7. Why was this
work composed?
[A] The Easter Mass
[B] For the
Shepherd’s Play
[C] For pageant wagons
[D] For the guilds
8. In what type
of theatre were performances made during the Middle-Ages?
[A] Pageant Wagons
[B] Theatron
[C] Melodrama
[D] Proscenium
Arch
9. Who were
responsible for financing these plays?
[A] The Church
[B] The
Guilds
[C] The Royalty
[D] The
Middle-Class
10. Why were they known as ‘mystery
plays’?
[A] Because they were mysterious
[B] Relates to the
French word for ‘profession’
[C] The subject matter was religious
[D] The plays were frightening
11. Who
encouraged the creation of theatre during the English Renaissance?
[A] Students from
[B] Shakespeare
[C] Marlowe
[D] The Guilds
12. What is the name of the verse
form used by Shakespeare?
[A] Poetry
[B] Screenplay
[C] Dramatic Text
[D] Iambic Pentameter
13. What was the name of the first
theatre established in
[A] World Theatre
[B] London Theatre
[C] International Theatre
[D] Globe Theatre
14. What was unique about actors
during Shakespeare’s time?
[A] They were very good
[B] Only rich people could participate
[C] Female roles were taken by boys
[D] The actors had professional training
15. About how many people could an
Elizabethan theatre hold?
[A] 2000
[B] 3000
[C] 4000
[D] 5000
16. Who stopped theatre production
at the end of the Elizabethan age?
[A] Charles I
[B] The Middle Class
[C] Charles II
[D] The Puritans
17. Who was famous for bringing back
theatre to
[A] Charles I
[B] The Middle Class
[C] Charles II
[D] The Puritans
18. What was
the name of the plays written during this period
[A] Restoration
[B] Drama
[C] Theatre
[D] Screenplay
19. What type of people went to these plays?
[A] The middle class
[B] Upper-class and royalty
[C] The lower class
[D] Friends of Charles II
20. In the century following the restoration
era what was the main type of theatre?
[A] Opera
[B] Melodrama
[C] Music-Theatre
[D] Shakespeare
21. What is the name of the important Swedish
playwright who pioneered developments in modern drama?
[A] Henrik Ibsen
[B] Anton Chekhov
[C] William Shakespeare
[D] August Strinberg
22. What type of audience saw these
plays?
[A] Upper class
[B] Middle class
[C] Low class
[D] Rich people
23. What was the name of the
movement headed by playwrights such as Ibsen and Chekhov?
[A] Social Realism
[B] Melodrama
[C] Naturalism
[D] Dramatic Text
24. What famous Russian was
responsible for developing a school of actors?
[A] Stanislavski
[B] Mayakovski
[C] Chekhov
[D] Gorbachov
25. What was the name of the Russian
theatre used by Chekhov and his actors?
[A] Siberian Arts Collective
[B] The Globe
[C] Moscow Arts Theatre
[D] Leningrad Arts Theatre