Interesting things students have done in the past on their Theatre History presentations & scenes:

All Periods

· played period music under parts of presentation

· introduced themselves and the characters they will be playing

· presented equal parts of presentation

· explained why they were serving the food they chose

· briefly told us the plot of the play and what has happened just before the scene begins

· presented defining elements on big, easy to read poster cards with definitions

· showed us significant clip from Changing Stages video and clarified the clip - telling us why the clip is important

· recap history of period in terms of theatre events while other members pantomime the action of the events - making the history interesting and engaging

Realism

· told us about electricity and it's importance

I have yet to see a good presentation from this period

NOTES

· Sarah Bernhardt

· introduction of three dimensional sets

· Box set: The actors had to pretend there was a fourth wall and put their backs to the audience. Never take center stage. Mad it look as though the audience didn't exist.

· Psychological abnormalities and omplexities were looked at and acted out directly as opposed to indirectly. IMPORTANT PLAYWRIGHTS:

· 1849-1912 August Strindberg. Strindberg went to the university of Oppsala in Sweden. 1875 met Siri Von Essen whom he married in 1877 and divorced in 1891. His plays include: The Father(1887), Miss Julie(1888).

· 1856-1950 George Bernard Shaw. English dramatist, fabian socialist. People ranked him the greatest next to William Shakespeare. haw believed in two things one- "life force". Two- "Thinking Person's Society." 1925 won Nobel Peace Prize. His plays include: Candida(1895), Caesar and Cleopatra(1899), Man and Superman(1903), Major Barbara(1905), Pygmalion(1914), Saint Joan(1923).

· 1960-1904 Anton Checkhov. Russian dramatist. Checkhov finished medical studies in 1885. "Ivanov" was his first successful play. Checkhov was original his plays were real like no other. Anton Checkhov died at the age of 23 from tuberculosis. Plays of Checkhov: Ivanov(1887), The Bear(1888), The Marriage Proposal(1888), Uncle Vanya(1899), Three Sisters(1900), The Cherry Orchard(1904). 1963-1938 Konstantin Stanislavaski. Stanislavaski is Konstanin's stage name. Alekseev was his family's surname. In 1888 F.P. Komissar Zheusky and Stanislavaski founded another amateur group called The Society of Art and Literature later known in 1898 to be the Moscow Art Theater. Stanislavski interpreted for Anton Checkhov and died of poor health.

· Realism has not ended.

· The Moscow Art Theater is still producing realist plays.

· Method acting

NATURALISM

· Almost all scenes use women.

· Sean O'Casey

· Ibsen: “Doll’s House”

· Shaw: “Pygmalion”

· Chekhov: Moscow Art Theatre “Cherry Orchard,” Three Sisters,” “The Seagull”

DO's

· Dramatic beginning ex: Candles, no electricity.

· Talk about electricity v.s. candle light.

DON'T

· Don't forget: blocking, memorization, and realism style of acting.

CHEKHOV, Anton (1860–1904).

An accomplished dramatist, prolific letter writer, and one of the greatest short-story writers of all time, Anton Chekhov provides a remarkably accurate picture of the Russia of his day. It has been said that his works are so accurate in detail that they could be used as a source for sociological study. He created moods and explored the depths of human emotion in such a subtle way that it is uncertain whether he is presenting comedy or tragedy.

Anton Pavlovich Chekhov was born on Jan. 29, 1860, at Taganrog, Russia, a port city on the Sea of Azov. His life can be divided into several distinct periods: his youth and education at Taganrog until 1879; in Moscow from 1879 to 1892, where he became a physician and attained his literary maturity; in the village of Melikhovo, 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Moscow, from 1892 to 1898; and his retirement to Yalta on the Crimean coast. After moving to Yalta he spent much time on the French Riviera attempting to recover from the tuberculosis that eventually took his life at Badenweiler, Germany, on July 15, 1904.

During his life Chekhov traveled a great deal. Perhaps his most interesting trip was to Sakhalin Island, a penal colony to the east of Siberia. Based on his observations there, he wrote 'The Island of Sakhalin' (1893–94), a careful study of the penal system.

Even as a student Chekhov began writing comic sketches. His early ones have been lost, but many written during his Moscow period were published and have survived. His dramatic masterpieces were 'Uncle Vanya', published about 1896, 'Three Sisters' (1900–01), and 'The Cherry Orchard' (1903–04). He also wrote a number of one-act farces and a detective novel. His first major short story, "The Steppe," appeared in 1888. Other outstanding stories are "Ward Number Six" and "Neighbors" (1892), "The Black Monk" (1894), "Murder" and "Ariadne" (1895), "My Life" (1896), and "The Man in a Case" (1898).

WILDE, Oscar (1854–1900). The Irish poet and dramatist Oscar Wilde wrote some of the finest comedies in the English language: 'Lady Windermere's Fan', published in 1892, 'A Woman of No Importance' (1893), 'An Ideal Husband' (1895), and the ever-popular 'The Importance of Being Earnest' (1895). He was a great conversationalist and a man of wide learning, but his life ended in disgrace and poverty.

Wilde was born on Oct. 16, 1854, in Dublin, Ireland. He was educated at Portora Royal School in Enniskillen, Trinity College in Dublin, and Magdalen College, Oxford. He then settled in London, where in 1884 he married Constance Lloyd. They had two sons. He published his early poetry, wrote book reviews, and edited the journal Woman's World. His only novel, 'The Picture of Dorian Gray' (1891), was severely criticized as immoral. He had the ability to take conventional plots and turn them into brilliant comedies by his witty dialogue. In the classic 'Importance of Being Earnest', both the plot and dialogue are equally fantastic.

In 189l Wilde began an ill-fated friendship with Lord Alfred Douglas, whose father objected violently to Wilde. Wilde sued the father for libel. The case collapsed, and Wilde himself was arrested for homosexual offenses under the Criminal Law Amendment Act of 1895. Wilde was found guilty and sentenced on May 25, 1895, to two years at hard labor. He recounted his prison experience in 'The Ballad of Reading Gaol' (1898). After his release he left England, never to return. He divided his time between France and Italy, living in comparative poverty. But he continued to delight a small circle of friends with his conversation. Except for letters, he made no attempt to resume writing. He died in Paris on Nov. 30, 1900.