2007 ![]() THR 215 DramLit ![]() ShowCases: 3 Sisters, Mikado, 12th Night, Hamlet, The Importance of Being Earnest, Dangerous Liaisons, Don Juan prof. Anatoly Antohin Theatre UAF AK 99775 USA (907)474-7751 ![]() ![]() ![]() SHOWS: 12th NightMust maintain continuety (Oedipus > Hamlet > etc.) ![]() Dionysis -- Biomechanics Summary2004 case study: The Taming of the Shrew + Oedipus RexNotesThis is a new subdirectory; for my live students, who get confused by the main directory, which serves both drama classes I teach (DramLit and Playscript Analysis).This DramLit directory has 5 subdirectories, in early stages of development (small pages). eNotes: Masters *** Unity of Time & Space THRU Unity of Action (Thought)?* Aristotle described the drama of an earlier age in his important work On the Art of Poetry (Poetics); those who followed his precepts called this disciplined structure the three "unities": unity of place, unity of time and unity of action.Place. The setting of the play should be one location: in comedy often a street, in Oedipus Rex the steps before the palace. Time. The action of the play should represent the passage of no more than one day. Previous events leading up to the present situation were recounted on stage, as Prospero tells Miranda of the events which led to their abandonment on the island. Action. No action or scene in the play was to be a digression; all were to contribute directly in some way to the plot. [ Episodic Structure * see Brecht ] Neoclassical Aesthetics Pierre Corneille (1606-1684): The Dramatic Unities Film & 3 Unities? (Cinematic > mimesis?) Sub-plot: again plot vs. story? Plot is to "serve" the story! "If an author writes, "The king died and then the queen died," there is no plot for a story. But by writing, "The king died and then the queen died of grief," the writer has provided a plot line for a story." The Elements of Plot Development: A plot is a causal sequence of events, the "why" for the things that happen in the story. The plot draws the reader into the character's lives and helps the reader understand the choices that the characters make. A plot's structure is the way in which the story elements are arranged. WHAT and WHY Condence the plot (in order) to wide the story * THRU themes! ... "Three Rounds" (my classes, pages): 200X + 215 + 413 What is literature? (vs. Drama)
2005 Chekhov * Farces: compare with Cherry Orchard * ... Read the textbook, take notes in class; my webpages are extra resource only.
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2005 Fall -- THR215 Dramatic Literature :
Part 3. Chekhov (Cherry Orchard) and High Modernism
Part 5. Writing
The four main periods are for the simplicity sake: the Greeks, Shakespeare, Realism and the second part of the 20th century.Why only the four?
The birth of the Western drama, the climax and the end of it. Three act play?
What we have today is beyond the story of 25 centuries of dramatic literature...
I use Hamlet in all my classes; we have to start with something which has it all, the Aritotelian past and the seeds of the high modernity.
My favorite -- first half of the last century, the dying theatre.
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If Shakespeare I use as constant references, I like to start with Chekhov (any of the big four plays).
Fall 2004: Bedford (textbook) *
I use THEMES pages to keep the continuity through the chronology. "Self" and self-knowledge, for example, from Oedipus to Hamlet to modern characters.
[ ... this is page is overview and samples ]
"The Cherry Orchard" (1903): symbolism. List the images.
Chekhov's stage direction (elements of prose?) -- point it.
Arrival-departure themes (return to the place in time?)
The Dramatic Imagination: Reflections and Speculations on the Art of Theatre The Dramatic Imagination is one of the few enduring works written about set design.
Robert Edmond Jones's innovations in set design and lighting brought new ideas to the stage, but it is greater understanding of design - its role at the heart of theater - that has continued to inspire theater students. The volume includes "A New Kind of Drama," "To a Young Stage Designer" and six other of Jones's "reflections."
[ If indeed I want to go "themes/topics" I should arrange ALL titles around ONE MAIN subject: Oedipus-Jocasta, Hamlet-Ophelia (Cladius-Gerthrude), Mother Courage -- war (man), etc. Julie - Jean (John!) and include Pygmalion?
Electra and Other Plays (Classics S.) by Sophocles
[dramlit] The Great American Hero So I've been thinking a lot about the discussion we had on Tuesday about "Death of a Salesman" particularly how we struggled to label Willy a tragic hero when compared to the other tragic heroes we have read (Hamlet, Oedipus). I think we are foolish to try to compare them. That is, I think, the point Miller is trying to make: in America we don't have heroes like Hamlet and Oedipus; we have heroes like Willy Loman, tragic men who fall (and fall hard) while pursuing their dreams--our dreams, the very same dreams each and everyone of us strives for. If Oedipus shows us the harsh reality of the Greek religion (the unwavering and unstoppable power of the Gods) then Death of a Salesman shows us the harsch reality of the American Religion (the so- called American dream, practically unreachable by the vast majority of Americans). I don't think I being very clear, so I'm going to sit down before I hurt myself... I guess I'm just not convinced that Willy isn't a tragic Hero. IT seems that the basic argument I get is that Willy can't be a hero because he made mistakes. But don't all heroes make mistakes? Isn't that what makes them tragic? I don't know what do you guys think?
Film-North + Anatoly Antohin. eCitations * Lijit Search