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concentrate on irrationality of human experience without suggesting any path beyond; movement that began in 1950s; playwrights included Camus, Beckett, and Ionesco; the belief that, in a godless universe, human existence has no meaning or purpose and therefore all communication breaks down. Logical construction and argument gives way to irrational and illogical speech and to its ultimate conclusion, silence.
in Theatre: -anti-literary movement; no existentialist philosophy but direct presentation in image, situation, action; the word is dead (stick to images) |
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| Alienation Effect or V-Effect |
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| Brecht; alienate audience by making them aware of the performance taking place; Brecht’s concept of making stage events strange enough that audience members would ask questions about them in order to make the audience aware that they are watching a play. Distancing the audience from stage events and characters so that they can observe more clearly & judge critically. |
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published 'The Theatre and it's Double' his theory of how the theatre should be used for the salvation of mankind (theatre can evacuate feelings [hatred, violence] that are usually expressed in more destructive ways. He proposed to do this by 'assaulting the audience' in his "theatre of cruelty" in which he aimed to break down the audience's defenses by operating directly on their senses or nervous system. Example: replacement of traditional theatre building with barn or airplane hanger; shrill sounds, "vibrating, shedded" lighting.
avant-garde playwright, 1896-1948; heavily influenced by Balinese dance, Marx Brothers, and the painting Lot and his Daughters; addicted to many drugs; member of the surrealist movement; wanted to assault the audience, break down their resistance, and to purge them morally and spiritually. he did this by using devices that would stimulate the senses instead of the mind. |
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| type of dance originating in Bali in the Hindu religion. |
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an absurdist playwright; famous for Waiting for Godot; characters put in a world where disaster has happened (post-apocalypse) and humanity’s existence is threatened; concerned with human condition in a metaphysical sense; expressed post-war doubts about man’s capacity to understand and control his world.
characters isolated in time and space
sense of absurdity heightened by the juxtaposition of incongruous events producing seriocomic and ironical effects |
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| experimented with Dada and expressionism as a playwright; embraced Marxism; theatre should be a tool to make audience aware that society can be changed; aim of theatre: stimulate audience’s critical attitude (alienation effect); Aristotelian theatre should be replaced with Epic theatre. |
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| bring people together in intimate shared experience for which empty space and imagination are essential. In mid-70s adapted The Mahabarata and sparked cultural debate about cultural piracy in the theatre world (the idea of cultural piracy was created by Bharucha, who is famous for critisizing the Mahabarata). |
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novelist existentialist philosopher was the first to use term ‘absurd’
-”Absurd is the situation of modern man in a world that no longer accepts any religious dimension and therefore lacks traditional sense giving” |
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| narrated with dialogue, audience members are observers/active, scenes build upon each other, theatre of reason and thinking, action starts anywhere/montage, issues are not resolved, humans= alterable, simple sets and lighting, use of chorus and songs, spectacle, actors address audience directly |
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| Movement following WWII featuring Sartre. Denying the existence of God, fixed standards of conduct and verifiable moral codes. Argues that each individual must choose his or her own values and live by them regardless of prevailing ideas. |
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| begins as art movement in France in early 1900s; focuses on inner thoughts and emotions, truth in man’s spiritual qualities, human emotions in objects, Realism only focuses on surface details and is materialist. |
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| director and write of “Towards a Poor Theatre” (1968). Saw as ritual and religious experience, emphasized actor and audience. Required that the actor gain absolute control over himself physically and vocally to completely transform himself as demanded by the production. His aim was to confront the audience with deeper layers in oneself, with their human essence. |
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| wrote “The Bald Soprano”, and anti-play to indicate a rebellion against conventional drama. He was concerned primarily with man’s social relationships, the loneliness of the individual, wrote his characters as oblivious unthinking automatons. |
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| major practitioner of “Epic Theatre”. He used film sequences, cartoons, treadmills, segmented settings and other devices to draw strong parallels between dramatic events and real life situations. He also sought to create a “proletarian drama”, shaping texts into propaganda meant to incite political action, it aroused mainly controversy instead. |
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| Grotowski’s approach to theatre, aim to eliminate everything in theatre production not truly required by it; leaving only the actor and audience. Avoiding all machinery, minimizing spectacle, no makeup. |
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| Philosopher and novelist, existentialist who believed it was necessary to be politically engaged, questioned conformity and was an atheist. He wrote “No Exit”. |
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| Artaud; making the audience realize that what they are making the actors do is cruel - the vulnerability, etc. the actors have to go through |
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Natural rhythmic structure. In this structure, you start slowly, then gradually and smoothly accelerate towards a very fast peak. Followed by a pause, then recommencement of cycle.
Jo - Beginning/Start
ha - development/break
kyu - climax/fast |
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| Part of Grotowski’s ‘poor theatre”. Essence of acting → strip down + lay bare actor’s most intimate layers of being. Spiritual need/wish to analyze oneself. |
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| Inspired Brecht’s epic theatre. Performer does not aim at identification with character/situation. Actors have “passion without becoming heated”. Characters marked by masks or paint and use simple gestures to indicate actions. Actor is aware of being watched, lightness + naturalness of performance. Simple props, sets, lighting. |
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| narrated with dialogue, audience members are observers/active, scenes build upon each other, theatre of reason and thinking, action starts anywhere/montage, issues are not resolved, humans= alterable, simple sets and lighting, use of chorus and songs, spectacle, actors address audience directly |
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| Existentialism vs. Absurdist |
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Existentialism: No God, come up with your own ideas about life; LANGUAGE is the tool.
Absurdism: Anti-literary movement detailing the absurdity of human existence. There is no meaning in life, so stop trying to talk about it. Stick to images. Camus: "Absurd is what is devoid of purpose" |
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