HOW DO WE KNOW WHAT

SHOW TO SEE?

WHAT TYPES OF PLAYS CAN YOU GO SEE?

ARE ALL PLAYS

GOOD?

THE PROFESSIONAL THEATRE CRITIC

TYPES OF THEATRE CRITICS

TYPES OF THEATRE CRITICS

1. Newspaper

2. Magazine

3. Television

4. Analyst

FUNCTIONS OF CRITICISM

1. Function as a news item

2. Present an impression of the production.

3. Assess the production’s value

4. Acknowledge the reviewer’s preferences

REQUISITES FOR EXCELLENCE IN CRITICISM

REQUISITES FOR EXCELLENCE IN CRITICISM

1. Love of the theatre

2. Fairness

3. Theatrical experience

4. Writing skills

5. Concentration

CRITICAL PREFERENCES

1. Pleasure

2. Impact

3. Form

TYPES OF DRAMA

TYPES OF DRAMA

Representational

Characteristics?

TYPES OF DRAMA

Presentational

Characteristics?

GENRES OF PLAYS

TragedyMelodramaComedySatireFarce

GENRES OF PLAYS

Tragedy

Origins:Ancient GreeceTragoidia=Goat Song534 BCFestival of Dionysus

GENRES OF PLAYS

Tragedy

Characteristics?

GENRES OF PLAYS

Tragedy

Playwrights:

AeschylusSophoclesEuripides

GENRES OF PLAYS

TragedyPerformances

Characteristics?

GENRES OF PLAYS

Melodrama

Origins:Mid-19th Century

Characteristics?

Differences with Tragedy

GENRES OF PLAYS

Melodrama

Origins:Mid-19th Century

Characteristics?

Differences with Tragedy

GENRES OF PLAYS

Comedy

Origins:Ancient Greece487 BC

GENRES OF PLAYSSatireThe use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues.Its greater purpose is often constructive social criticism.

GENRES OF PLAYSFarceA comic dramatic work using buffoonery and horseplay and typically including crude characterization and ludicrously improbable situations.

A farce is a comedy that aims at entertaining the audience through situations that are highly exaggerated, extravagant

STYLES OF PLAYS

RealismNaturalismSymbolismExpressionismEpic TheatreAbsurdismPostmodernism

STYLES OF PLAYSRealismTheatrical realism was a general movement in 19th-century theatre from the time period of 1870-1960 that developed a set of dramatic and theatrical conventions with the aim of bringing a greater fidelity of real life to texts and performances

STYLES OF PLAYSRealism

Great Playwrights:

Henrik Ibsen Anton Chekhov Eugene O’Neill Arthur Miller

STYLES OF PLAYSNaturalismNaturalism was developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It refers to theatre that attempts to create a perfect illusion of reality through a range of dramatic and theatrical strategies: detailed, three-dimensional settings; everyday speech forms (prose over poetry); a secular world-view (no ghosts, spirits or gods intervening in the human action); an exclusive focus on subjects that are contemporary and indigenous (no exotic, otherworldly or fantastic locales, nor historical or mythic time-periods)

Naturalism vs. Realism?

STYLES OF PLAYSSymbolismA movement from France in the 1880’s and lasting until 1900. A production’s words, actions and plots are made meaningful through interpretation whether conscious or subconscious. Plays are allegories where the action is reinterpreted on a higher philosophical plane.

STYLES OF PLAYSExpressionismThe plays often dramatise the struggle against bourgeois values and established authority. Post World War I. Expressionism seeks to reveal the inner emotions of the characters and expose the hidden truths of life, often through distorting or exaggerating the scenery, costumes and lighting, as well as the dialog, the direction and stylized acting.

STYLES OF PLAYSEpic TheatreA theatrical movement from the early to mid-20th century from the theories and practice of a number of theatre practitioners, including Bertold Brecht. One of the goals of epic theatre is for the audience to always be aware that it is watching a play: Epic theatre was a reaction against popular forms of theatre, particularly the naturalistic approach

STYLES OF PLAYS

AbsurdismA drama in which normal conventions and dramatic structure are ignored or modified in order to present life as irrational or meaningless

STYLES OF PLAYSPostmodernismPostmodern theatre is a recent phenomenon in world theatre, coming as it does out of the postmodern philosophy that originated in Europe in the middle of the twentieth century. Postmodern theatre emerged as a reaction against modernist theatre. Most postmodern productions are centered on highlighting the fallibility of definite truth, instead encouraging the audience to reach their own individual understanding. Essentially, thus, postmodern theatre raises questions rather than attempting to supply answers.