Theatre Genres And Styles

Farce Docudrama A dramatisation based around an actual event. Usually contains or quotes facts and quotes from actual sources and also embellishments. Can include any style of theatre. An example is, “Too Much Punch for Judy.” Epic Theatre A style that was popularised by Bertolt Brecht. Its main goal is to make sure that the audience is always aware that it is watching a play, "It is most important that one of the main features of the ordinary theatre should be excluded from [epic theatre]: the engendering of illusion." Techniques include: •

Alienation (Verfremdungseffekt)

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Comedy

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Minimal set design

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Gestus and stereotypes

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Music

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Breaking the Fourth Wall

The techniques are designed to allow the usually political or social message of the play to be as clear as possible.

A style of comedy. Involves improbable and ridiculous situations, disguise, mistaken identity, verbal humour and a fast paced plot which gradually increases; usually culminating in a fast chase scene at the end. People are, in essence, all idiots. Makes a good companion of satire. Examples include The Comedy of Errors by Shakespeare and Fawlty Towers, starring John Cleese.

Feminist Theatre Plays that are written by women, for women and about women. They deal with women’s issues such as birth, women’s rights, motherhood and female friendships. It followed the political feminist movement of 1968, but became more subtle due to a redefining of the word ‘feminism’ as equality became more prevalent in the late 20th and early 21st Century.

Stephen Berkoff Born in Stepney, East London in 1937. ff Uses heavy physical theatre, called “Total Theatre” – “the language is usually filthy, characters talk about unmentionable subjects, take their clothes off, have sex, humiliate each another, experience unpleasant emotions, become suddenly violent. At its best, this kind of theatre is so powerful, so visceral, that it forces audiences to react: either they feel like fleeing the building or they are suddenly convinced that it is the best thing they have ever seen, and want all their friends to see it too. It is the kind of theatre that inspires us to use superlatives, whether in praise or condemnation." Wrote adaptations of Franz Kafka books, including “Metamorphosis.” Actor, usually plays villains. Commedia Dell’arte Originated in Italy. Refers to improvised comedy. Usually about love or tricks to get money. Most plays contained roughly the same characters. For example, a plotting maid, an old father, a wily servant. Masks, stock gestures and catchphrases were prevalent in this genre. The comedy was farcical, and often physical, with acrobatics.

Black comedy A style where taboo subjects are treated with humour and satire, while retaining the seriousness. Makes light of subjects such as rape, murder, suicide, terminal illness and war. Came to prominence in America during the 1950’s and 1960’s. Notable writers of black comedy include William Faulkner, Philip Roth, Mark Twain and George Bernard Shaw, among others.

Tragedy Regards human suffering as a form of entertainment for an audience. Originated in Ancient Greece. Among the most famous tragedies are those written by Shakespeare, such as Macbeth, Othello and Hamlet. Characterised by seriousness and traumatic events to evoke pity and fear from the audience. Common use refers to any story with a sad ending.

Irish Drama Usually very bleak and pessimistic. Involves Irish life and history, particularly civil war and war, and terrorism. Can involve the departure of a character to another country. (From www.hsc.csu.edu.au) • • •

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families and honest banter between family members a bleak, often sorrowful and nihilistic landscape idiosyncratic rhythms of speech, different dialects and unusual sentence construction honest, good, entertaining humour naturalistic settings, such as a kitchen, often in an impoverished household or a bar a general fondness for alcohol real action e.g. baking soda bread, making tea, putting away shopping, pulling a beer … dysfunctional families a strong tradition of storytelling a ghost scene lively music, poetry and/or dance, even the music of Irish speech patterns an element of magic representations of family breakdowns Unionism and other divisions in political and religious beliefs memory love the courage of one’s convictions wit and pain the dream to break away from the

Kitchen Sink Drama Created in England. Set in rougher, poorer parts of England, usually the North. Includes common Northern accents. “Depicts the real and often trashy side of life.” Usually have a political or societal message. Examples are Coronation Street and Shameless, which, by extension, doesn’t say Melodrama Apparently so bad that most of the world were trying to make new versions of Theatre (See Naturalism and Epic Theatre). Involves the heavy use of music to denote usually one dimensional character types. For example, a hero would enter to the sound of trumpets, while the villain would enter to the sound of ominous chords. The emotions and plot / action are emphasized, rather than the characters, like in a drama. Contains “a limited number of stock characters: the hero, the villain, the heroine, an old man, an old woman, a comic man and a comic woman engaged in a sensational plot featuring themes of love and murder. Often the good but not very clever hero is duped by a scheming villain, who has eyes on the damsel in distress until fate intervenes at the end to ensure the triumph of good over evil.”

Naturalism Popularised by Constantin Stanislavski . Involves the goal of creating an illusion of real life on stage.

Realism

Involves deep, three dimensional and realistic characters.

Like naturalism, but most of the conflict comes from human morals and emotional inner thoughts and beliefs, rather than physical obstacles.

Detailed, non exotic settings.

Moral and inner character conflict.

As realistic as possible, so no magic, spoken in prose etc.

Began with Henrik Ibsen and was largely developed by Stanislavski.

Plots that are realistic. Involves physical dangers as part of the play’s main conflict.

Theatre of the Absurd Involves usually flat character archetypes that are involved in repetitive tasks. Language can be nonsense, but usually in the confines of naturalism (not many created words). Plots are usually meaningless. Can involve unresolved mysteries, repetition and clichés and perhaps an oppression from an outside, unknown force, as in Harold Pinter’s “The Birthday Party” or “The Room.” Can be cyclical (i.e. the end is the beginning is the end) and can involve absence, or perhaps an unexplained metamorphosis. Experimental and surrealistic. Usually tragicomedy, whereby comedy is used as well as tragedy elements.