Early Modern Theatre: 1875 to 1945

Plays, with links to brief plot outlines...
         Bertolt Brecht. The Caucasian Chalk Circle
         Anton Chekhov. The Cherry Orchard
         Federal Theatre Project. One Third of a Nation
         Henrik Ibsen. Hedda Gabler, Ghosts, A Doll's House
         Eugene O'Neill. Long Day's Journey Into Night, The Great God Brown
         Thornton Wilder: Our Town, Skin of Our Teeth, The Matchmaker

The Internet...
         Federal Theatre Project Collection at the Library of Congress

1. Who is the father of realistic drama?

Henrik Ibsen (1828-1906). In 1851 he was appointed the resident playwright and stage manager of the Norwegian National Theatre in Bergen. Six years later he moved to the Norwegian Theatre in Christiania (now Oslo). He left his homeland in 1864 only to return for brief visits. His early works, such as Peer Gynt (1866) were romantic verse dramas drawn from the Scandinavian past. In the 1870s he abandoned verse drama for realism. The plays written during the last decade of the century, The Master Builder (1892) and When We Dead Awaken (1899) show the influence of the symbolist movement.

2. What is the difference between Ibsen's social plays and his character dramas?

His social plays, or thesis plays, explore the interaction of people with society. These works deal with such social problems as an unhappy marriage, the sexual double standard, and the position of women.

His character dramas explore the psychological, moral, and ethical conflicts within the confines of the dramatic character.

3. Give the title of one play from each group.

Social plays-- Pillars of Society (1877), The Doll's House (1879), Ghosts (1881) and An Enemy of the People (1882). See the Play Synopsis of The Dolls House on page A-5 of the Appendix.

Character dramas-- The Wild Duck (1884), and Hedda Gabler (1890).

4. Which group of plays has stood the test of time and are still presented today?

The character dramas. Most consider Hedda Gabler his most important and often revived drama .

Audiences were often disturbed by Ibsen's "unhealthful and injurious" plays. Critics had a word for his work -- it was Ibscene.

When A Doll's House was first presented, an audience sat perfectly still after the final curtain. They were waiting for the last act when Nora would return repentant to her husband. The stage manager had to appear and tell them that was all, they could go home. It was a dumfounding jolt that set wives practicing door slams and made husbands irritable and nervous.
(Philip Lewis, Trouping. How the Show Came to Town, 1973. pg. 194.)

5. Who was the Russian playwright whose plays were first produced by the Moscow Art Theatre?

Anton Chekhov (1860-1904). The Moscow Art Theatre's first production was Anton Chekhov's first script: The Sea Gull (1896)

6. How many full length dramas did he write?

Four. In addition to The Sea Gull, he also wrote Uncle Vanya (1899), The Three Sisters (1901) and The Cherry Orchard (1904).

7. List the title of his most important work.

The Cherry Orchard. See the Play Synopsis on page A-6 of the Appendix.

8. What German manager inspired directors in both Paris and Moscow?

Georg II, Duke of Saxe Meiningen.

9. Who was the French director who showed the world how to produce realistic drama realistically?

Andre Antoine (1858-1943)

10. What was the Theatre Libre?

An amateur, or "community" theatre, organized by Antoine to produce the plays other theatre managers considered unproducable.

    What type of plays did they produce?

One act realistic dramas.

11. Why was it necessary for the "little" or "art" theatres to be private clubs?

In much of Europe, including Paris, public performances of realistic dramas were banned because they were considered obscene. But private performances, restricted to members of the organization, were permitted. Little theatres, patterned after Antoine's Theatre Libre opened in London (Independent Theatre), Berlin (Freie Buhne), Moscow (Moscow Art Theatre) and New York (Washington Square Players). London's Independent Theatre (1891-1897) introduced the work of George Bernad Shaw (1856-1950) and the Provincetown Players (1915-1929) in Provincetown, Massachusetts, and the Washington Square Players (1915-1918) in New York City were the first to present the dramas of Eugene O'Neill (1888-1953).

In 1919 the Washington Square Players becomes the Theatre Guild. Six years later, 1925, they move into their own playhouse: the Guild Theatre. The Guild's most successful production, certainly its most famous, was Rodger's and Hammerstein's first musical: Oklahoma! (1943). Their last show, as listed in the Internet Broadway Database, was State Fair, another R&H musical, in 1996.

12. Who was Constantin Stanislavski's?

Stanislavski (1863-1938) was both an actor and a director. In 1897 he and Vladimir Danchenko (1859-1943) outlined the organization of a professional acting company which would present realistic drama.

13. What was the name of this company?

The Moscow Art Theatre. Organized in 1897, the MAT made their first American visit, presenting three Chekhov's plays in Russian, in 1923. They are still an active production company.

In 1931, the Group Theatre, a non-commercial New York production company dedicated to producing socially relevant dramas, introduced the Stanislavskian acting approach to the American theatre. Although the company disbanded in 1941, its influence, primarily through the work of Lee Strasberg (The Actor's Studio) and Eli Kazan (the original director of both Death of a Salesman and Streetcar Named Desire) continued to be felt for the next two decades.

14. When was the Federal Theatre created?

1935

        What was its purpose?

To provide work for unemployed theatre professionals -- actors, directors, designers, stage hands, playwrights... The Federal Theatre was one of the five "Federal One" projects (Music, Art, Theatre, Writers, and Historical Records) which were part of the WPA (Works Progress Administration); a federal agency created by President Roosevelt to bring an end to the Great Depression. The Federal Theatre Project was our first, and last, attempt to create a "national theatre." Tickets to a Federal Theatre production were also reasonably priced. You could see Orson Welles in Faust (January 1937) for only 25¢ ($3.50 in 2006) -- 55¢ if you wanted to sit in the orchestra. For a closer look, link to the Federal Theatre Project Collection at the Library of Congress.

15.    What type of works did it present?

A little of everything: Greek tragedy, Elizabethan comedy, childern's theatre, ballet, opera, vaudeville, even the circus.

16. How many states hosted a Federal Theatre Project?

There were Federal Theatres in 32 of the 48 states. There were no Federal Theatres in either of the Dakotas, but there were Projects in both Minnesota and Nebreska. Many locations had more than one producing unit. There were 31 units in New York City, 14 in Chicago, and three in Omaha.

17. What was the Living Newspaper?

They were dramatizations of a problem using news events pulled from the pages of the newspaper, a kind of "dramatic journalism." Many were propaganda pieces which supported other aspects of President Roosevelt's New Deal. For example, Triple-A Plowed Under (1936) dealt with agricultural reform, Power (1937) dealt with rural electrification and One Third of a Nation (1938) dealt with public housing. Dr. Hallie Flanagan, the national director of the Federal Theatre, said the Living Newspaper sought

to make [theatre] out of everyday factual material . . . to dramatize a new struggle -- -the search of the average American today for knowledge about his world; to dramatize his struggle to turn the great natural and economic and social forces of our time toward a better life for more people.

        How did it differ from conventional drama?

Triple-A Plowed Under Scene 22

The plays were often plotless (at least in the traditional sense) and episodic. There were 26 short scenes in Triple-A Plowed Under. The major character was the narrator, the Voice of the Living Newspaper (or simply: Loudspeaker), an amplified voice which guided the audience through the background material, pointed out the human consequences, and suggested possible solutions. Becuase of very limited budgets many Federal Theatre productions were presented on a nearly bare stage. A plays period and location were often established through the costumes, props, set pieces, and lighting.

In the July 1938 issue of Theatre Arts, playwright Arthur Arent described the technique used by the Living Newspaper to adapt a news story to the stage. Below is a brief quote from the August 21, 1935 issue of the New York Daily News

She (Mrs. Sherwood) walked into the Police Court with the baby in her arms and said "He's dead. I just drowned my son. I couldn't feed him and I couldn't bear to see him hungry...I let him wade in the creek until he got tired. Then I led him out into the middle and held him there until he stopped moving. I only had five cents and he was hungry...I just though it had to be done, that's all."

The following brief scene (Scene 22: Mrs Dorthy Sherwood) from Triple-A Plowed Under (1936) indicates how that story was presented by the Federal Theatre on the stage of the Biltmore Theatre.

VOICE OF THE LIVING NEWSPAPER (Over LOUDSPEAKER.) Newburgh, New York, August 20th, 1935...Mrs. Dorthy Sherwood...
(Overhead spot picks out police desk, down right. Behind it, a LIEUTENANT. Enter MRS. SHERWOOD, left, with dead infant in her arms. She walks to the desk.)
MRS. SHERWOOD. He's dead. I drowned him.
LIEUTENANT. You what?
MRS. SHERWOOD. I just drowned my son. I couldn't feed him and I couldn't bear to see him hungry...I let him wade in the creek until he got tired. Then I led him out into the middle and held him there until he stopped moving.
LIEUTENANT. (Calling, not to loudly) John. (POLICEMEN enters lighted area) Take the body. Book this woman for murder. (POLICEMEN takes the child from her)
(Blackout everything except MRS. SHERWOOD. She is picked out by a solitary spot, center, facing out. Music .)
VOICE. (Over LOUDSPEAKER) Why did you do it?
MRS. SHERWOOD. I couldn't feed him. I only had five cents.
VOICE. Your own child! Did you think you were doing the right thing?
MRS. SHERWOOD. I just though it had to be done, that's all.
VOICE. How could a mother kill her own child?
MRS. SHERWOOD. He was hungry, I tell you. Hungry, hungry, hungry, hungry, hungry!
(As her voice mounts, it is blended with that of another, the first in a progression of twelve voices crying, 'Guilty!' These come over the LOUDSPEAKER and are varied in color, but increasing in fervor until--)

DIM-OUT

18. Which American director began his career with a New York unit of the Federal Theatre?

Orson Welles (1915-1985). He left Federal Theatre Project 891 in the summer of 1937 to create the Mercury Theatre which produced the modern dress Julius Caesar (1937), and War of the Worlds (1938), the radio play which scared a nation.

19. Which production was locked out of their theatre on opening night?

The Cradle Will Rock (1937) a pro-labor, anti-business, "opera" written by Marc Blitzstein, directed by Orson Welles and produced by John Houseman (1902-1988)

        What was the company's response?

When they discovered their theatre, the Maxine Elliot, padlocked the morning of their opening night, they searched for, and found, an empty house -- the 1742 seat Venice Theatre. When the audience gathered that night at the Maxine Elliot, the actors led them on a one and half mile parade down "Broadway" to the new theatre where they performed, because of Equity rules, not on stage, but in the auditorium. Because they performed a show which had been officially closed by the Federal Theatre, producer John Houseman was fired and director Orson Welles quit. Together they created the Mercury Theatre whose first production, which opened November 11, 1937. was the modern dress Julius Caesar. Both the Maxine Elliot and Venice Theatres have been torn down. This very famous story is the basis of Tim Robbins' Cradle Will Rock (1999).

20. Why was the Federal Theatre closed on June 30, 1939?

Many objected to the political content of the plays, especially those presented by the Living Newspaper unit. The Federal Theatre was accused (by the newly formed House Un-American Activity Committee) of presenting "putrid plays" that were "spewed from the gutters of the Kremlin and . . . directed by Communists." Congress voted down the appropriation bill which would have funded this WPA project for an additional four years.

21. Who was the first American playwright to receive international recognition?

Eugene O'Neill (1888-1953), one of the sons of James O'Neil, a popular 19th century American actor. He spent his childhood in cheap hotels and on late night trains accompanying his father on the road. He attended a series of boarding schools and was expelled from Princeton University in 1906. He prospected for gold in Honduras, was an actor and assistant stage manager in his father's touring company, sailed to South America and Africa as a seamen and was a reporter in New London, Connecticut. He contracted tuberculosis at the age of 24 and wrote his first plays while recovering in a sanatorium, In 1916, "Bound East for Cardiff," a one-act play, was produced by the Provincetown Players (a "little theatre") at the Warf Theatre in Provincetown, Massachusetts.

22. What type of dramas did he write?

A little of everything. Realism: Long Day's Journey Into Night (written in 1940, but not produced until 1957), Classical tragedy: Mourning Becomes Electra (1931), Expressionism: Emperor Jones (1920) and The Hairy Ape (1922).

23. What is his only comedy?

Ah, Wilderness (1933), in which a young man discovers girls and booze on the 4th of July.

24. Which of his plays is autobiographical?

Long Day's Journey Into Night. Written in 1940, but not produced until four years after his death, in 1957. Many consider it his greatest drama.

25. How many Pulitzer prizes did he win?

Four. Beyond The Horizon (1920), Anna Christie (1922), Strange Interlude (1928), and Long Day's Journey Into Night (1940, 1957). He also won the 1936 Nobel Price for Literature.

26. What are the two major criticisms of his work?

His plays are long ( Long Day's Journey Into Night and Strange Interlude run over four hours, Mourning Becomes Electra is close to five) and depressing.

27. What is Thornton Wilder's (1897-1975) most significant drama?

Our Town (1938). Three brief days in the lives of George and Emily.

28. How does it differ from a traditional drama?

The play was written for, and was originally performed on a bare stage without scenery or props. The Stage Manager (a character in the play) acts as the audience's guide to Grover's Corner NH, and plays several smaller parts. Although it is George and Emily's story, the principle character in the play is the Stage Manager. A musical adaption of the work, staring Frank Sinatra as the Stage Manager and Paul Newman (in his only singing role) and Eva Marie Saint as George and Emily, was broadcast live in color by NBC's Producer's Showcase on September 15, 1955. One of the songs from that production has become a Sinatra standard: "Love and Marriage." The film version, starring a young William Holden, produced in 1940 had four cast members from the original Broadway production, but the film's style was realistic, and Hollywood gave the movie a happy ending.

29. Which two of his plays won the Pulitzer prize?

Our Town and The Skin of Our Teeth (1942), which shows the destruction of the world by ice, flood, and war. Wilder also won a Pulitzer prize for his 1928 novel: The Bridge of San Luis Rey. He is the only writer to win a Pulitzer prize for both drama and fiction.

30. Which comedy was adapted into a long running Broadway musical?

The Matchmaker (1954), in which Dolly Levi searches for a husband for Horace Vandegelder, is the source of Hello, Dolly! (1964). The Matchmaker is an adaption of Wilder's The Merchant of Yonkers (1938), which is based on Johann Nestroy's Einen jux will er sich machen (Vienna, 1842) which, in turn, is an adaption of A Day Well Spent (London: 1835) by John Oxenford.

31. What is the basic tenant of the symbolist movement?

"Truth" is not an external reality, it can not be expressed directly, but only through symbols. These symbols evoke "feeling's" in the audience.

32. When and where did it develop?

France, 1880 to 1900

33. Who were the two most influential symbolist designers?

Adolph Appia (1862-1928) and Edward Gordon Craig (1872-1966)

34. Where did each live?

Appia was Swiss, Craig was English

E. G. Craig: Scene (1907)

35. What was their basic theory of scenic design? They believed that a stage presentation involved three conflicting visual elements-- a (1) three dimensional actor, with (2) a flat stage floor under and (3) acres of flapping canvas behind him. They believed that the scenery should be three dimensional (like the actor), and should not be literal, but evoke the feeling of place. See the photograph of Appia's design for Iphigenia in Aulis on page 358. 36. Which of the two designers developed the theory of modern lighting design? Adolph Appia. His theory of lighting, which was not practical when it was originally proclaimed, stemmed from his interest in the staging of Wagnerian opera. He published his ideas in La Mise enscene du drame Wagnerien (The Staging of Wagnerian Music-Drama) (1895) and Die Musik und die Inscenierung (Music and Staging) (1899).

37. Where and when did the expressionist movement develop?

Germany. 1910 to 1925

38. What was its basic philosophy?

Although man was capable of doing "great things", he was being controlled and dominated by machines.

39. Why does it function better in films and television than it does on stage?

In an expressionistic production, the audience sees the presentation through the eyes of one of the characters. In film and TV, the director has greater control over what the audience sees than he has in the live theatre. In films, the audience sees only what the director tells the camera to look at.

40. What was the most influential expressionist presentation?

Das Kabinett des Doktor Caligari (The Box of Doctor Caligari), a 1920 German film about an evil "magician" and the hypnotic victims who carry out his evil plan.

41. List the title, and author, of at least one play which could be considered an expressionistic drama.

R.U.R. (1920) by Czechoslovakian playwright Karel Capek (1890-1938).
The Emperor Jones (1920), The Hairy Ape (1922), and The Great God Brown (1925) by Eugene O'Neill (1888-1953).

42. Who is the German playwright who developed the theory of epic drama? When did he live?

Bertolt Brecht (1898 to 1956). Brecht entered the theatre as a director in Munich. As a playwright he experimented with dadaism and expressionism before arriving at his more characteristic "epic" style. His first major success was The Three-Penny Opera (1928) which ran for over 400 performances.

43. What are the basic characteristics of an epic play?

1. There should be a broad sweep of action (Episodic structure) and
2. A mixture of dramatic and narrative techniques,
3. The playwright should assign the spectator an active role in the performance,
4. The audience should apply what they see in the theatre to life,
5. The mechanics of the theatre should be shown,
6. The actors should approach the role in the "third person", and not "become the character."

He believed that the events on stage should be made "sufficiently strange" that the audience would question what they saw. This concept, verfremdungseffekt in German, is generally translated as "alienation" in English.

44. Why were most of his plays not written in Germany?

Although he was born in Germany, he left in 1933 after Adolph Hitler came to power. Most of his epic scripts were written in the United States.

45. Why was he not permitted to return to the American zone of Germany after World War Two?

Although he was not a member of the party, he was a communist sympathizer.

46. What is considered his greatest epic drama?

Mother Courage and her Children (37). See the Play Synopsis on page A-7 of the Appendix.