British Drama in the twentieth Century
British Drama in the twentieth Century: Twentieth Century British theatre is commonly believed to
have started in Dublin, Ireland with the foundation of the Irish Literary
Theater by William B. Yeats, Lady Gregory, and J.M. Synge. (Greenblatt 1843)
Their purpose was to provide a specifically Celtic and Irish venue that
produced works that “stage[d] the deeper emotions of Ireland.” British Drama in the twentieth Century (The Abbey’s)
The playwrights of the Irish Literary Theater (which later became the Abbey
Theater, as it is known today) were part of the literary revival and included:
Sean O’Casey, J.M. Synge, W.B. Yeats, Lady Gregory and Edward Martyn, to name a
few.
British Drama in the twentieth Century: In England the well-made play genre was being rejected and
replaced with actors and directors who were committed to bringing both reform
and a serious audience to the theatre by appealing to the younger, socially
conscious and politically alert crowd. British Drama in the twentieth Century In the plays by George Bernard Shaw,
Harley Granville Barker, W. Somerset Maugham, and John Galsworthy, characters
emulated this new crowd, satirized the well-made play characters, and created
new stereotypes and new standards. (Chothia) The early twentieth century
denoted the split between ‘frocks and frills’ drama and serious works,
following in the footsteps of many other European countries.
British Drama in the twentieth Century: “In Britain the impact of these continental innovations was
delayed by a conservative theatre establishment until the late 1950s and 1960s
when they converged with the counter-cultural revolution to transform the
nature of English language theatre.” British Drama in the twentieth Century The West End, England’s Broadway, tended
to produce the (Greenblatt 1844) musical comedies and well-made plays, while
smaller theatres and Irish venues took a new direction. British Drama in the twentieth Century The new direction was
political, satirical, and rebellious. Common themes in the new early 20th
century drama were political, reflecting the unease or rebellion of the workers
against the state, philosophical, delving into the who and why of human life
and existence, and revolutionary, exploring the themes of colonization and loss
of territory.
British Drama in the twentieth Century: They explored common societal business practices (conditions
of factories), new political ideologies (socialism), or the rise of a repressed
sector of the population (women).(Chothia) Industrialization also had an impact
on Twentieth century drama, resulting in plays lamenting the alienation of
humans in an increasingly mechanical world. British Drama in the twentieth Century Not only did Industrialization result
in alienation; so did the wars. Between the wars, two types of theatre reined.
In the West End, the middle class attended popular, conservative theatre
dominated by Noël Coward and G.B. Shaw.
“Commercial theatre thrived and at Drury Lane large budget musicals
by Ivor Novello and Noel Coward used huge sets, extravagant costumes and large
casts to create spectacular productions.” (West End) After the wars, taboos
were broken and new writers, directors, and actors emerged with different
views. British Drama in the twentieth Century Many played with the idea of reality, some were radically political,
others shunned naturalism and questioned the legitimacy of previously
unassailable beliefs. (Chothia) Towards the end of the century, the term
‘theatre of exorcism’ came into use due to the amount of plays conjuring the
past in order to confront and accept it. Playwrights towards the end of the
century count among their numbers: Samuel Beckett, Harold Pinter, Andrew Lloyd
Webber, Brian Friel, Caryl Churchill, and Tom Stoppard. The last act of the century
was a turn back towards realism as well as the founding of Europe’s first
children’s cultural center.
Realism and Myth
British Drama in the twentieth Century: Sigmund Freud inspired an interest in myth and dreams as
playwrights became familiar with his studies of psychoanalysis. Along with the
help of Carl Jung, the two psychiatrists influenced playwrights to incorporate
myths into their plays. British Drama in the twentieth Century This integration allowed for new opportunities for
playwrights to increase the boundaries of realism within their writing. As
playwrights started to use myths in their writing, a “poetic form of realism”
was created. This form of realism deals with truths that are widespread amongst
all humans, bolstered by Carl Jung’s idea of the collective unconscious.
Poetic Realism
Much of the poetic realism that was written during the
beginning of the twentieth century focused on the portrayals of Irish peasant
life. John Millington Synge, W.B. Yeats, and Lady Gregory were but a
few writers to use poetic realism. British Drama in the twentieth Century Their portrayal of peasant life was often
unappealing and many audiences reacted cruelly. Many plays that are poetically
realistic often have unpleasant themes running through them, such as lust
between a son and his step-mother or the murder of a baby to “prove” love.
These plays used myths as a surrogate for real life in order to allow the
audience to live the unpleasant plot without completely connecting to it.
Women
British Drama in the twentieth Century: The female characters progressed from the downtrodden,
useless woman to an empowered, emancipated woman. They were used to to pose
subversive questions about the social order. Many female characters portray the
author’s masculine attitudes about women and their place in society. British Drama in the twentieth Century As time
passed, though, females began gain empowerment. G.B. Shaw became one
of the first English playwrights to follow Ibsen’s influence and create roles
of real women. Mrs. Warren, Major Barbara, and Pygmalion all have strong female
leads. Women first started voting in 1918. Later in the century, females (and
males) were both subjected to the alienation of society and routinely were not
given names to suggest to the audience the character’s worth within the play.
Political Theatre and
War
British Drama in the twentieth Century: Political theatre uses the theatre to represent “how a
social or political order uses its power to ‘represent’ others coercively.” It
uses live performances and often shows the power of politics through “demeaning
and limiting” prejudices. Political theatre often represents many different
types of groups that are often stereotyped – “women, gay men, lesbians, ethnic
and racial groups, [and] the poor.” Political theatre is used to express one’s
political ideas. Agitprop, a popular form of political theatre, even had its
roots in the 1930s women’s rights movement. Propaganda played a big role in
political theater, whether it be in support of a war or in opposition of
political schemes, theater played a big role in influencing the public.
The wars also affected the early theatre of the twentieth century. The
consternation before WWI produced the Dada movement, the predecessor to
Surrealism and Expressionism.
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