Midterm up to Tartuffe

• conflict most often creates drama
• objective
• obstacles
• tactics

everyone in life wants something, characters usually have basic objectives (eating dinner, watching tv) and superobjectives (the big thing they want to accomplish)

• keep people from getting what they want
• ie i want to eat dinner but have no food

the ways people go about getting what they want

• stakes
• what will happen if the person doesnt get what they want

• the rules of the game, of the world your watching into 
• the willing suspension of disbelief
• its whatever is true in the world of the play
• ie- if people in the play can fly we believe it or how in musicals everyone happens to know the song and dance

athens

• at festivals to honor the greek god dionysis, soncsidered the god of fertility, wine and nature
• dionysis was said to be reborn every year and the festival celebrated his rebirth

• use of greek chorus
• masks
• presentation of the play in verse
• tragedies or comedies

• a group of actors who serveed many purposes
• most often spoke on behalf of the overall public in the play, representing the public opinion or sometimes the way the author wished the public, including the audience would feel at a given time

no, they didnt have to be, they just ended happy comparied to tragedies

• no they didnt
• were not 100% sure why, either they feared upsetting the gods and never wrote it in to happen on stage or the church was angered by it and it was later edited out

Thespis

• lied in 6th century bc
• he is considered the father of acting-he was the first to introduce the concept of an actor playing another person on stage and one of the first people to be an actor as a job to make money
• traveled in a cart
• a playwrite, but none of his plays survived
• the word thespian comes from his name- means any actor now but used to mean traveling actor

• aechylus
• sophocles
• euripides

• wrote 70+ plays
• credited with introduction of a second actor on stage in scenes
• founded the modern theater
• seven of his place remain today

• kings, princes
• tragedy- characters realize they have done something wrong
• he was also fond of scenery and objects
• reduced chorus size from 50 to 12

• Seven against thebes
• the furies
• prometheus bound

• was a statesman, public officeholder and poet
• first great rival to Aeschylus at festivals
• humanized the language and characters of greek tragedy
• wrote 100+ plays, seven survived

• Oedipus the king
• antigone
• electra
• the trachinan women
• ajax
• philoctetes
• oedupus at colonus

• trilogy
• 3 pieces

• many consider it the greatest greek tragedies
• oediups is the classic example of a tragic hero, flawed by hubris and predestined by fate for everything that happens to him

the belief that one is better at solving their own problems than the god

• by sigmund froid- named after sophocles play
• the belief that a subconscious romantic love for a mans mother is a part of psychological development and if arrested can be the source of neurosis

• wrote 93 plays, 17 survived
• first to use a mask
• most significant play Medea
• his plays were not as well liked during his life as Aeschylus' and Sophocles', maybe bc he was very outspoken and had extreme views

• outdoors
• large amphitheaters with the audience watching performances from raised wooden benches
• typical plan of any greek theater was an array of seats ranged in curved tiers on the sope of a hill overlooking a flat performance area called the orchestra
• behind the orchestra was a small building from which actors made their exits and entrances

many devices developed including a painted backdrop to suggest location, a crane which was used to lower actors playing gods from the sky to the ground

• god would appear with the power to fi every problem in th eplot instantly
• this is called "deus ex machina" or "god in the machine"
• today this is used by a wrier who is lazy and does a quick fix ending

• a long mantle
• usually worn over the right shoulder by actors, covering the entire body
• color was often used to represent various coditions, for example a character in pain or morurning might wear black and a king might wear purple

• invented by thespis, but Aeschylus developed and perfected its use
• a mask indicated by simple outline the general attributes of the character who wore it
• in the huge theaters where ppl sat far away, facial expression was less important than body movement and facial position

• comedy writer, filthy and full of tasteless jokes
• opposite of Aeschylus 
• wrote lysistrata

:)

he wrote it, lists the 6 key elements of drama in order of their importance

• 1. plot
• 2. character
• 3. thought/theme
• 4. poetry/language
• 5. Music
• 6. Spectacle

can be linear (point A leads to point B, things happen in chronological order) or non-linear (flashbacks, jumping around in time)

people represented in the play

• the ideas that are explored in the play
• what questions are we trying to answer/explore when we read/watch the piece?

are there big choices of words

• can be actual music or the overall flow/rhythm of the play
• how words are arranged to make a sound

• what you see
• costumes, scenery, today special effects

• you find out what its like to suffer something without actually really suffering it
• we cant know what its like to have these horrific things happen to us, the best we can do is view them through a character and empathize with them to better understand

• means god in the machine
• showed power of god bc he fixed everything

• focused mostly on the greater good
• utilitarian- many people contributed but none of them took the credit
• you as an individual are a small part of a big thing
• mideval characters are small pieces in a bigger puzzle, everyone is contributing.

• midevil theater everyone is a small part of a large project to honor god
• renaissance theater celebrates the individual

• a chapter in a large project (the bible story)
• know the plot

there was a need to tell the story of the bible especially since many ppl could read

• added melody
• medieval theater starts with these
• added things to the mass such as hyms

• appeared in the easter mass
• means "whom seeking" 
• has dialogue (ie someone reads for mary, someone reads for jesus, etc)

• directions
• ie: how to baptize a baby
• there is a concordia for the quem quirits- directions for people to do while responses are being said

• there were wagons that moved through the town to tell the big story
• each wagon acts out their small part over and over
• people sell stuff such as food or souvineers on the street during this celebration
• many carts so multiple actors playing jesus, joseph, etc

• celebrate things like the mystery of the eucharist
• depicts specific parts of the bible

• asked them to build a theater on the outskirts of town
• they didnt want to be associated with the acting out of the bible
• they moved

• depicts generally how a person ought to behave rather than depicting specific parts of the bible
• often avoid putting biblical characters in them
• these plays help give birth to the elizabethian world
• ie: every man plays the average person
• every man is a character who dies and meets friends on the way to heaven with names like "good deeds"

• very few people in this time are educated, they learn stories through pictures and sounds
• as a result of this many religious dramas pop up

• medieval cycle of plays
• takes a full day to present
• tells the old and new testiment
• features mystery plays

• know plot
• its slightly comic (noah and his wife fight)
• its not completely biblical
• its inverse
• one of the 5 plays written by the wakefield master
• part of wakefield cycle
• has biblical title to justify performance

• 1564-1616
• thought to have had help when writing
• famous for reusing ideas
• an actor, director and playwrite

1600

• primary poetic device in shakespeares plays
• each line features ten syllables- 5 stressed and 5 unstressed, which the the unstressed syllable usually but not always being first

• oh WHAT a ROGUE and PEASant SLAVE am I!
• to BE or NOT to BE that IS the QUEStion.
• shall I comPARE thee TO a SUMmer's DAY?
• the QUALitY of MERcy IS not STRAINED; it DROPpeth AS a GENtle RAIN from HEAV'N

• with traveling companies
• these companies would set up performances at public inns

• actors and performers often had to contend with prejudice and hostility from civic and religious authorities
• theater was accused of fostering all forms of sin and worship of idols over god
• they were also accused of fostering plague and disease

• they would get a noble charter (consent)
• by calling themselves "the earl of leicester's men" or "the admiral's men" they could say that they were working on behalf of someone in a high position and go on undisturbed

• credited with creating the first theater building in one place, exclusively for theatrical use
• he build his theater outside of london city limits, in a suburb called Shoreditch
• it was simply called "The Theatre"
• the Earl of Leicester's Men (charter name for actors trying to avoid consequences bc they were unliked) performed very successfully heere
• burbage later opened another theater called The Curtain

• The Blackfriars: named after the old abbey upon whose grounds it was built)
• the Rose
• the Swan
• And eventually the Globe

• it was the main base of operations for Lord Chamberlain's Men, a troupe that featured one actor and playwright named William Shakespeare
• later became the most successful of the theaters, acquiring ownership of other theaters and giving Shakespeare free reign to create many of the greatest plays the theater has ever known

• man of these theaters were octagonal in shape, often with an open air roof and galleries surrounding the stage on all but one side
• trap doors
• tapestries to be the heavens

when King James I took the throne he was such a fan of Lord Chamberlain's men that he allowed them to rename themselves "The King's Men"

• little known
• born in the small English town of Stratford-on-Avon around 1564
• as a boy he enjoyed relative prosperity 
• married Anne Hathaway in 1582
• his first child was born 5 months after the wedding
• dissappeared 1585-1590 but reappears
• queen attended many of his plays

Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593)

• author of seven plays
• most important plays are Doctor Fausus and Tamburlaine
• suspected to be a political spy and athiest
• became known as the University Wits
• killed at a young age in a knife fight in a london pub
• many believe if he lived longer he would have acheived a greatness rivaling shakespeare

• father made gloves
• his mother the daughter of a land owner

• most elizabethian plays were performed in 1.5-2 hours (plays before our editing were most likely shorter)
• shakespeares plays have been constantly edited over the years
• he copied Plutarch's lives in his plays
• his plays portray monarchy as very good

• a character speaking on stage alone
• most consist of 3 major parts

• 1. a character states a problem
• 2. the character explores different possible solutions
• 3. the character decides what to do

• very vague in his written plays 
• ie- they fight- is it a subtle or huge fight? no one knows so its open to interpretation

• his time is the first where men are born into the acting world and become apprentices
• church and states agree for a while to close the theater bc the plague happens
• theater reopens in 1610- but actors nervous to return
• -->bc of this, many don't return at reopen and theater needs something new and exciting to draw people back- smart actors who need work and can work when no one else is available- as a result women begin to come on stage

• all characters including female ones were played by males
• very young boys often played female roles hoping they would later acheive greatness in male leads

• often outfitted with trapdoors for the quick entrance of ghosts and spirits among other things
• featured furniture brought on for use in a scene in full view of the audience
• action was always continuous with no break between acts or scenes
• it is incredible that shakespeares performances often cloded in at under 2 hours, modern takes as much as 5 hours

:)

• french drama suffered a great deal of attempted suppression from religious and civic authorities just like english drama
• theater was still kept alive though, first with morality plays designed to re-enact bible lessons for the illiterate

• a medieval religious club that maintained the right to organize, finance and present these plays
• theater owes a lot to this
• as time went by more an more non religious material found its way into the plays

• a roofed playhouse owned by the Confrerie de la Passion
• a former palace of the Duke of Burgundy which the confrerie used to present theater
• the Confrerie often leased it out to touring companies

• jEAN-bAPTISTE pOQUELIN
• TOOK THE STAGE NAME OF mOLIERE TO SHIELD HIS FAMILY SFROM THE SHAPME OF HAVING SOMEONE ASSOCIATED WITH THE THEATER 
• He was also a gambler and may have used it to hide his name

they were well known in the upholstery buisness

he became involved with a group called Les Enfants de Famille, an avant-garde fringe theater group

• written in the 12 syllable Alexandrine form, which had 12 syllable lines, with each of the adjacent lines rhyming
• each lines rhyme, 
• ex: i never wanted to go outside to play ball
• but i ended up out in the season of fall

• Tartuffe considered his greatest play
• it was frequently banned and denounced as a satire on religious devotion
• it attempted production but was banned in 1664 1667 1669 and it finally got performed in 1669
• considered an example of farce

• 1. a basic situation: breifly but clearly spelled out
• 2. Physical comedy: much of the story told through this bc farce is a decendent of comedia- it is not enough to stand around and tell jokes, you need an element of slapstick
• 3. Characters frequently outsmart eachother: they trick eachother esp french farces, the smarter one has the upperhand
• 4. Authority, society, or manners is the main obstacle: one of thease keeps the character from reaching goals; ie outsmarting a boss, society or manners one person tries to stand up to whats considered normal
• 5. Tropes: classic familiar comic devices, ies servants dominating masters, things repeated as running gags, and misunderstanding whats overheard

the table scene

• dropping of the mask
• this is the revelation that a characters true self in private can often be vastly different from the self he presents to the public
• ie Tartuffe pretends to be a deeply religious good guy but hes really selfish and awful and a liar

• shakespeare and sophocles followed this model
• Act 1: The Situation
• Act 2: The Rising Action
• Act 3: The Climax
• Act 4: The Falling Action
• Act 5: The Denouement

• The situation
• we learn who the basic characters are what they want and need where they live etc
• the basic problems and themes of the play are mapped out

• the rising action
• complications arise for our characters
• their problems are more detailed

• the climax, or crisis
• things in the plot reach a turning point from which the problem must either be resolved or emerge triumphant over the characters
• point of no return

• the falling action
• the characters take steps to solve the problem

• the denouement
• the story is wrapped up sometimes with additional commentary on themes or a look towards the characters future
• any loose ends are tied up

• France
• Louis XIV ruled it with newfound stability after the civil war
• actors live at the palace and constantly perform theater for the king- Louis often wanted to be in the show but he sucked

• a musical dance drama
• professional actors sing and dance
• often a celebration (ie kings bday, passing of law, etc)
• often reminded us of a lession (ie why not to commit adultry)
• scenic and fun but not very literate

often presented dramas and comedies

• wrote about rival high court, elite (king, rich ppl, etc)
• opposite of Jean Racine, who he competes with, but they were both beat by Moliere

wrote about average people not rich or kings

stage names

• scandelous
• married a 19 yr old at 40, it was an open relationship with her and her sister
• had a kid with one of them
• died acting on stage playing a dying guy

the french national theater

• the rules 
• lays must tell a story and follow a complicated verse pattern
• 1. unity of time: Molieres plays happen in real time
• 2. Unity of place: Molieres plays happen in the same place
• 3. Unity of action: Whole story is about 1 event, all small events support this one main plot

• they make a permanent indoor theater in 1548- Hotel de Burgogne
• the staging they develop is the Prescenium- the square arch way- made space look far deepre than it was using backdrop

no, this only happens in comedia

• 1515-1750: its popular for a long time
• a form of street theater
• the birth of improve
• featured stock characters

• traveling group of 7-10 actors
• perform outdoors- town squares street corners
• they work primarily in 1/2 faced mask (sometimes with a big nose or other feature)

there would be a group of stories (scenarios) theyd let an audience member choose a scroll with a scenario out of a bag

• the same characters that pop up in different stories
• you learned an developled your character and taught it to your children
• a certain mask would be associated with the character
• ie- pantalone is a stock character (many different actors play him)- hes a greedy old man but is the same guy in many plays
• the character is in a different plot but the audience already knows the characters background saving time
• ie bugs bunny

• a common component of comedia
• physical comedy
• ie pie in the face, carrying a long board and turning and hitting someone
• people can instantly respond to this
• still common in cartoons

• none of it is written down just handed from generation to generation by word of mouth for years until carlo gozzi and carlo goldoni finally begin to write it
• began to be written down when it started to vanish

they are family heirlooms- passed down

• poor guy
• fascinated by asian myth
• wrote about magic and fantasy- fairy tails, talking animals
• wrote king stag and green bird
• carlo goldoni was his rival and opposite

• wrote servant of two masters
• no magic or fantasy, but still funny, wrote more realistic stuff with realistic society and family life
• middle class guy
• had a gambling problem, wrote many plays to repay people

• both like goofy jokes
• both of their plays are in the public domain (not owned by anyone) and are seen today
• both of their plays involve a lot of physical theater, they may even try to incorporate the audience
• we never know who won their argument

• monkey
• pig- always hungry

• first actors and actresses are shakespearian actors who live in a dangerous world
• dont have masks- no masks but act around people with masks and treat them normally
• they are aristocrats

france, some french replace masks with makeup

• no there was no charge
• performeres put together shows based loosely on a series of basic plots featuring a number of repeating stock characters

• Pantalone: the old miser
• Truffaldino: the slave
• Magnifico: most powerful
• Zani: idiot servant
• The Dr.: knows everything but understands nothing
• Harlequin: body servant
• Brighella: brain servant

:)

• mistaken identity
• characters impersonating other hcaracters
• etc

1745, very late in the comedia period (1575-1775) it is one of the best recorded examples we have of comedia scripts