Ch 2

WHAT IS A PLAY?

AGL's HOLIDAY MEMORIES, directed by Moi.

A play is defined in you text as "action, not just words in a book". That action presents itself in many forms: argument, struggle, persuasion, passion, seduction, etc...



BUT it is most always centered around CONFLICT! Without a conflict, or a problem to be solved, there is no play!





We classify plays in one of two broad categories:





a) Duration (how long?) There are three sub-categories:



1- One act - a short play that is an hour or less (sometimes as short as ten minutes). These short pieces are often combined to produce a full evening of theatre.



2- Full- length- These are divided into at least two ACTS, and last anywhere from 90 minutes to three hours (usually falling in the 2 hr range). MOST of the shows you will see, or have seen, will fall into this category.



3- Marathon- Exactly as the name implies. LONG shows, ranging anywhere from three to nine hours in length. AS you could imagine, these are not terribly fashionable or popular in the United States. But in some areas of the world, they are the norm.



b) Genre (TYPE or KIND)- There are many genres out there, including:



1) Tragedy- Where it all started with the Greeks. Certain elements make a tragedy a "Tragedy" (according to Aristotle, in his essay THE POETICS) such as:



* Protagonist / Antagonist relationship- the protagonist "propels" the action of the play, and the antagonist opposes the action. This is NOT as simple as good guy/bad guy. Often times in true Tragedy, the protagonist is a fatally flawed character, and the Antagonist is (in most cases) not even human, but a force of nature, or a God. Something, in other words, that cannot be defeated!



* All main characters must be nobility of some sort (Princes, Kings, etc...)



* The ending is always tragic BUT, despite belief to the contrary, the protagonist does NOT always die in the end. The classic Tragedy OEDIPUS REX is a prime example, as Oedipus does not die (until the next play in the cycle, at any rate).





2) Comedy- Another cornerstone of theatrical genre. The main (obvious) difference is that comedy ends HAPPILY. An important element in all comedy, from the Greeks to today, is TRUTH. All good comedy must be rooted in what is believable and real, as often times we are laughing at something because we recognize that truth.





3) History Plays- A historical piece based (at least partially) in fact. Shakespeare is often credited as the originator of this genre, with plays like RICHARD III, and all the HENRY plays. Some modern examples might include THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK and THE LARAMIE PROJECT.





4) Dark Comedy- Very simply, comedy that doesn't end all nice and tidy, but has a dark or unresolved ending. The humor itself is dark and pokes fun at things we often might not laugh at. If you've ever watched a show and asked yourself "Should I REALLY be laughing at this?" , it' s a good bet you're watching a dark comedy.





5) Farce- A wildly hilarious treatment of a trivial theme. Often with "stock characters" (characters that are very cliched) and stock situations (such as "misheard instructions" mistaken identity, illicit infatuation, etc...) A forerunner of what we might also call "slapstick comedy", as it is usually very physical.





6) Melodrama- Plays that are outwardly serious, but actually very surface and trivial. Highly suspenseful and contrived plot, with very clear distinctions between good and evil. Sounds like SOAP OPERAS? Good- cause the soaps are a perfect modern example of melodrama.





7) Musicals- The ONLY genre originated in America. Probably the most popular, lucrative genre for over the last fifty years. Commercial Theatre at the highest level is FILLED with musical theatre, and it's a good bet most of you have seen at least one in your life.



STRUCTURE:



Aristotle (him again!) described the components of a play as follows:



* Plot- The "mechanics" of storytelling. What happens from point a, to point b, to point c. Usually the way one describes a play or film when asked to describe it.



* Characters- The people who inhabit the world of the play. *NOTE- These characters do not always have to be "living" or "Seen". As an example, in August Wilson's THE PIANO LESSON, a recurring "character" is the ghost of a dead man named James Sutter, who we never see. However, Sutter's "presence" is very much a character in the show, and has a great bearing on the outcome.



* Theme- What the show is truly about. The "main idea" of the piece. It's topic or "overall statement". An example might be that the main theme of Shakespeare's HAMLET is that "revenge leads to madness and ultimately, death".



* Diction- The pronunciation of spoken dialogue. The text, and the tone, cadence and imagery involved therein. The poetry of the language. The diction is by NO MEANS the creation of the playwright alone. It is very much the product of the actor as well, and what that actor brings to the language with their vocal quality and depth of performance.



* Music- In Aristotle's time, most plays were sung or chanted, hence the words all had a lyrical musicality to them. Today, music can play a direct role (as in the use of actual music in Musical Theatre, or other real music used in the context of a non-musical play) and an indirect role (the rhythm of the sounds, the background ambiance of a play. Crickets in the night, waves crashing on the beach, the sounds of a city at night, etc.



* Spectacle- All visual aspects of a performance. Today, spectacle is very important to most big budget, commercial Theatre. It involves the pageantry of the costumes, the grandeur of the scenery, the lustre of the lighting design, etc...





One final component-



This is one that has evolved over time and that had NOTHING to do with Aristotle. It is called CONVENTION. Basically, this is a set of understandings between the actors and the audience that has developed over a period of years. Examples:



* When the lights go down in the house, you know that the play is about to begin. That's Convention!

* If the lights go down onstage after a scene, and when they come back up, everything looks different, you know that time has passed. THIS is convention.

THE ORDER OF A PLAY:

A play has a temporal (time) structure. It occurs in three phases:

THE PRE-PLAY

* Gathering of the audience- How do we get folks in the theatre? Primarily, this is through various PR and publicity avenues. (Newspapers, TV, internet/viral marketing) If you don't get "butts in the seats", then the work of the Theatre is all for naught!

* The Transition- Transforming yourself from an individual in the every-day world, into an audience member who is going to immerse him or herself into the "world of the play". Certain things like lobby displays, pre-show music and our program aid us in this venture.

THE PLAY PROPER:

SEE THE TEXT FOR THE STRUCTURED SEQUENCE- Pages 50-55

THE POST PLAY-

* The curtain call- The actor's bow (OUT OF CHARACTER! or at least they should be. This is to show appreciation to the ACTOR, not the character) and the audience applauds (hopefully!). It is not just for the actors to receive recognition, but for the actors to give respect to their audience as well.

* Criticism- Discussion or dissemination of the production that has just taken place before you. This can be in small groups over coffee, a critic writing a review for a paper, OR a student writing a paper! (hint hint!)

DISCUSSION FOR CHAPTER TWO-

Of all the genres discussed, which is your favorite and why? AND give some examples of plays (or films, for those of you who haven't ventured into the Theatre too often) within that genre that are your favorites.

Have at it!