What plays might it be compared to? What is the effect of mingling comedyand tragedy in the same play?9. Bertold Brecht was one of the great innovators of the twentieth-century stage because of his "epic theater"; manycritics have seen a similarity between Brecht and Wilder's works, and this despite the fact that their politicalviews are very different from each other. Read Brecht's Mother Courage (also a war play) and discuss howBrecht and Wilder use non-realistic staging. What are the similarities?
Snagged Responding Task Introduction: -Introduce the play; who wrote it, what it is about, the themes, when it was performed etc. -Your thesis: Has the director been successful in his manipulation of the elements of drama to create dramatic meaning (ie was the play good..?) -Outline what you will discuss in the essay: elements of drama, acting skills, overall success of the production. Elements of Drama Tension: What is dramatic tension? What are the types of tension evident in the play?
However, Baz Luhrmann’s 1996 epic Romeo + Juliet was the first film of its kind, a film that re-told the classic story in a modern day setting. This ambitious innovation presented Baz with a challenge: How to keep a late 20th Century audience entertained and, most importantly, emotionally involved in a play created five hundred years ago? Well, in Romeo + Juliet, director Baz Lurhmann uses carefully constructed camera shots, editing techniques and music to throw the audience in the turf war between the rival families, uses costume and props to visually modernize the scenes, and uses the dialogue and poetry to allow the audience to relate to the story. In the ‘Petrol Station’ scene, director Baz Luhrmann makes the content appealing to a late twentieth century audience by combating teenager’s short attention spans with rapid editing techniques, fast, witty dialogue and parallels to famous Western movies, while using costumes, props and music to add depth to the character’s, and their feud. There is a reason that most of the popular films, with a teenage target audience, are action blockbusters.
Through the reflection of Shakespeare's ideas through two 21st century responders, altering dramatically in context, it is evident that Shakespeare and his literature, in particular, Henry IV Part One continues to be relevant to the modern 21st century responder. An essential element of Shakespeare's literature is that he does not determine our perspectives for us, like many writers of the time, preaching their own beliefs, but instead allows the responder, through the presentation of the concept, to make their own decision. Literature enables responders to address certain concepts, not available to consideration in other aspects of life, and respond
The director did an excellent job with combining the youth of over four centuries ago to the youth of the 21st century by using the main message of rejecting authority. More detail in this paragraph, but you are on the right track. [1ST DRAMATIC LANGUAGE] This physical theatre performance manipulated the viewpoints to draw the audience in and explore the dramatic message of rejecting authority. Some of the most impressive tools that were used to explore the teenager’s rebellious spirit were the viewpoints of space, architecture and mood. The use of space
Throughout history, theater has been a pivotal past time for cultures around the world. Conventionally, directors use actors to transcend reality in order to express stories, emotions, and opinions. Bertolt Brecht and Constantine Stanislavski, both notable directors from the twentieth century, felt this transcendence had made traditional acting ineffective. In their essays, “Chinese Alienation” and “An Actor Prepares,” Brecht and Stanislavski, respectively, expanded on their theories of what proper acting was and how it could be achieved. While their methods of acting differed widely, they both worked towards enhancing the actor-audience relationship.
In response to this the unpopular King invited the most popular man in the country, William Shakespeare, and his theatre company to be titled The King’s Men, under which they produced new works under his patronage; Macbeth and Othello being two very important examples. When Shakespeare wrote Macbeth, he must have had James’ views in mind as some parts of the play were designed to be complimentary to him. Firstly Banquo (not Macduff) was a non-historical figure that James’ family considered being an ancestor of theirs, therefore Banquo is treated as a saint in the play. Secondly James had a great interest in witches and witchcraft- he published a book on the topic- so when Shakespeare wrote the play the
ESSAY – APPROACHES TO ACTING: MEYERHOLD & BOAL Drama practitioners, Vsevolod Meyerhold and Augusto Boal, overlapping in periods of theatrical history, had similar aims to revolutionise the theatre. Both practitioners aimed to transform the theatre through creating a new method of actor training, contradicting previous theatre styles, changing the role of the body in performances and engaging the audience at a greater level. Boal’s Arsenal for Theatre of the Oppressed and Meyerhold’s Biomechanics include games in their actor-training systems that seek to achieve these aims which they felt would have a dramatic effect upon the world of theatre. Meyerhold was a Russian practitioner born in 1874, and is known for his development of Biomechanics, a contradictory theatre that revealed the unpredictable aspects of life through machine-like movements and clashing scenes. His theatre was a response to the lack of realism taught in teachers Stanslavski and Danchenko’s regimes which he believed was a mediocre attempt at reflecting daily life, belief that theatre should have more depth than repeating the everyday reality one experiences.
This is symbolic of Pacino establishing the end of an era of Shakespeare dominated by the establishment to instead, one owned by actors. This is supported by The Tempest extract cleverly making references to this world ‘thin air’, ‘baseless fabric’, ‘dreams’ alluding to Hollywood, the world of the modern actor. Pacino takes this inherited legitimacy further by using a contemporary method acting approach with the intention of ‘the role and the actor merging’. This reflects the transcending relevance of Shakespeare where actors play their roles passionately regardless of a costume setting of a rehearsal in plain clothes around a table. In showing the ability for actors to bring Shakespeare to life, Pacino shows it to be more accessible, legitimating his inheritance of and control over
During this time society was divided into distinct classes and Shaw staged his first production of Pygmalion in 1914 at His Majesty’s Theatre in London. He gradually became famous as he had a unique voice in which his interpretation about the negative impact of class division on individuals was widely spread in Britain. Furthermore, Shaw promotes a change in the class system via gradualism through his use of authorial voice to the preface of the book as he had the power and knowledge of sophisticated vocabulary and writing style such as his knowledge of phonetics. Through his authorial voice he uses literary techniques to further reinforce his ideas through techniques such as dialect, didactic language, figurative language, idioms, idiosyncratic, inversion, humour and satire. Shaw’s purpose in Pygmalion is didactic, which means it is designed to teach the audience something as seen through his exploration of the Appearance vs.