Introduction Over the years, the essence of theatre has not only been to entertain, but to also allow the build up of a culture in a quickly growing uncultured generation. Regardless of the existence of so many other forms of entertainment, theatre has always established a commanding niche in most people’s hearts, and is undoubtedly the most realistic form of entertainment (Bruce 12). The acting bit of theatre performances makes things real and in their immediate contexts, allowing the audience to draw conclusions based on what they see. In a majority of cases, also, the play’s setting is such that there is description of definite subjects without which the play cannot make meaning. The above research takes into account A Number by Caryl Churchill. A great deal of issues and aspects can be learnt from the above play with diverse moral lessons, as well. It has long been proved that expression via acting is more direct than when the audience accesses literature in other means. This direct approach gives a broader meaning to a variety of issues in the play, which were not understood, say in videos. Additionally, the play A Number is full of theatrical ideologies with clear depiction and expression of every event. Theatricality and empowerment set this play different from other plays because of clarity in events’ sequence. The author also strives to express the idea of cloning in society as one main means of families’ downfall. This further comes with what literature calls the ‘fate of tragic heroes’, an indication of what is at stake when a person does things out of the ordinary to please him or herself. The overall Essence of Theatre A mere mention of the term theatre acts as a relief to many people. It is in this place that a m... ... middle of paper ... ...be. Bibliography Aparna, Bhargava. Theatres of Independence: Drama, Theory, and Urban Performance in India Since 1947. New York: University of Iowa Press, 2009. Aston, Elaine. The Cambridge Companion to Caryl Churchill. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009. Bruce, Wilshire. Role Playing and Identity: The Limits of Theatre as Metaphor. Indiana: Indiana University, Folklore Institute, 1991. Churchill, Caryl. A Number. London: Nick Hern, 2002. Inchbald, Mrs. The British Theatre: Or, A Collection of Plays. New York: Hurst, Robinson, 1824. Kritzer, Amelia. The Plays of Caryl Churchill: Theatre of Empowerment. London: Macmillan, 1991. Melissa, Bell. Empowerment Through Play: The Role of Theatre in Maintaining the Female Voice. New York: ProQuest, 2008. Somers, John. Drama and Theatre in Education: Contemporary Research. London: Captus Press, 1996.
Butler, Judith. "Performative Acts and Gender Constitution: An Essay in Phenomenology and Feminist Theory." Theatre Journal 40.4 (1988): 519-31. The Johns Hopkins University Press. Web. 11 May 2011.
The semiotics of traditional theatrical form reinforce an oppressive patriarchal system. The physical body becomes the catalyst by which gender is assigned and expected. This emphasis on the body is amplified in the theater. Simone Benmussa’s play The Singular Life of Albert Nobbs, adapted from the short story by George Moore, deals with issues of femininity and masculinity and how these are portrayed within the theater as well as how theater is formed by the traditional patriarchal gaze. This play also deals with issues of class and how class status is intrinsically tied to gender, gender performance and sexuality. Through the example of this play it is seen that a form of theater which creates and maintains the woman as subject rather than object (as Sue-Ellen Case proposes) cannot be truly realized until the performative nature and many issues inherent in masculinity are acknowledged and processed. Here also is an excellent case study of how the politics of the theater are deeply rooted in body politics and gender essentialism. All of these factors contribute to the play’s overall complexity in matters surrounding and pertaining to the performative nature of masculinity and the manner in which masculinities are brought forth on stage and how that differs from femininity on stage.
It is difficult to imagine a play which is completely successful in portraying drama as Bertolt Brecht envisioned it to be. For many years before and since Brecht proposed his theory of “Epic Theatre”, writers, directors and actors have been focused on the vitality of entertaining the audience, and creating characters with which the spectator can empathize. ‘Epic Theatre’ believes that the actor-spectator relationship should be one of distinct separation, and that the spectator should learn from the actor rather than relate to him. Two contemporary plays that have been written in the last thirty years which examine and work with Brechtian ideals are ‘Fanshen’ by David Hare, and ‘The Laramie Project’ by Moises Kaufman. The question to be examined is whether either of these two plays are entirely successful in achieving what was later called, ‘The Alienation Effect”.
Theatre is an art form that has been shared across cultures for hundreds of years. This art form is extremely versatile in the types of plays, such as comedic, tragedy, and many other genres. Although theatre is thought of a form of entertainment, playwrights have seized the opportunity to inject political opinions into the play to inform the audience about present issues in their lives. Issues that playwrights have incorporated into plays have included stories that people may not be ready to hear but it encourages the audience to look inside themselves and assess their moral standing on certain issues. One subject that has been incorporated into many plays throughout the last century is women’s issues. These plays have challenged the way women
Lazarus, Joan. "On the Verge of Change: New Directions in Secondary Theatre Education." Applied Theatre Research 3.2 (July 2015): 149-161. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1386/atr.3.2.149_1.
The use of epic theater, the gestus, and the alienation effect are techniques that enable the audience, as spectators, to look beyond dialogue, action, and emotion in order to obtain a glimpse of what is not so easily conveyed. Churchill has utilized each technique to its fullest extent, and has achieved the Brechtian ideal of producing a work of political theater that incites thought, social criticism, and action. She has, in the same sense, exceeded this ideal by extending the Brechtian discourse to reflect the struggles and importance of the lives of women.
Stacy Wolf, a Professor of Theatre in the Lewis Centre for the Arts wrote the book ‘Changed for Good’. This book observes the roles of women in Broadway and how musical theatre’s history has changed massively from the 1950’s to the twenty first century by analysing, inspecting and listening to what women actually did on the Broadway stage through every chapter. It argues that ‘gender and genre are inseparable’ (Wolf. S. 2011. P. 20) the representations and performances by women radically changed in the musical from the 1950’s; from Anita in West Side Story to Adalaide in Guys and Dolls, Wolf demonstrates a centrality toward women in the form of ‘friends, girlfriends and wives as journalists, students and maids, and also as singers and dancers’ (Wolf. S. 2011. P. 4)
The Broadway musical has been entertaining a wide variety of Americans for generations. It is not always clear what exactly draws millions of people across the country to these shows each year, some scholars, including Stacy Wolf, argue that the spectacular costumes, grandiose music, and exciting story lines, offer Americans an escape from their reality. It has been argued that Broadway musicals do not promote positive or progressive views of women, but only depict them in roles that are stereotypically associated with women. While this may be the case in some shows, it is more common for a female character to have depth and defy traditional stereotypes. From the twentieth century on, Broadway became
Stephens, Judith L. “Gender Ideology and Dramatic Convention in Progressive Era Plays, 1890-1920.” Theatre Journal 41.1 (1989): 45-55. Print.
Theatres and How We Had Fun." Little, Brown, and Company. (Boston, Toronto, London); 1991. P. 139, 144.
Barton, Anne. Introduction to Twelfth Night. The Riverside Shakespeare. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1974. 403-407.
Butler, Judith. Ed. Case, Sue-Ellen. "Performative Acts and Gender Constitution." Performing Feminisms: Feminist Critical Theory and Theatre. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1990.
Wilson, E., & Goldfarb, A. (2008). Theater: the lively art (6th ed.). Boston: McGraw Hill.
The survival of theatre lies in the very nature of humankind: its inner voyeuristic drive. The desire to watch other people dealing with their conflicts and fates challenges as well as reinforces values and the morality of society. The theatre provides an exciting opportunity to watch stories and situations as if they were real life, showing us the truth of our nature.
Theatre as we know it now was born more than two thousand years ago and has gone through many streams until it reached the current modernity. Among these streams is the avant-garde theatre. This theatre achieved a break in the traditional theatre and became the forefront of a new experimental theatre. Therefore it is necessary to ask how this theatre started, what impact it had on society and if this type of theatre is still common in our modern era.