Antirealism and Unrest

• Society: WWI
  • 8.5 million deaths
  • Improved killing technology
  • Totalitarianism and dictatorships
  • Economic problems & political instability
• New Theatre Movements
  • Anti-commercial movements
  • Antirealistic movements
  • Links to visual arts and artists
  • Reacting against chaotic world scene
• Expressionism
  • Distorted to communicate inner feelings
  • Anthropomorphic view of existence
  • Truth seen in spiritual qualities
  • Goal to change society
• Expressionist drama
  • Seen through eyes of protagonist
  • Distorted or dream-like
  • Episodic or station plays
  • Characters representative types
• Georg Kaiser (1878 - 1945)
  • From Morn to Midnight 1916
  • Everyman character
  • Series of episodes
  • Seeking meaning of life
• Expressionistic Production
  • Distorted line & shape
  • Abnormal coloring
  • Mechanical movement
  • Telegraphic speech
• Leopold Jessner (1878 - 1945)
  • Expressionist techniques w/ classical drama
  • Jessnertreppen and platforms
  • Stylized scenery, costume and lighting
  • Richard III
• Futurism
  • Filipppo Marinetti (1876 - 1944)
  • Idealized war and machine age
  • attacked "museum art" of past
  • Audiences confronted and antagonized
• Futurism & Performance
  • "Synthetic" theater
  • Bruitisme
  • Multimedia
  • Variety & simultaneity
• Dadaism
  • Tristan Tzara (1896 - 1963)
  • Art mirror madness of war
  • Nonsense and irrational
  • Chance poems & variety shows
• Surrealism
  • Andre Breton (1896 - 1966)
  • Subconscious highest reality
  • Recreated subconscious
  • Mixing recognizable & fantastic
• Surrealist Playwrights
  • Jean Cocteau (1889 - 1963)
  • The Infernal Machine (1934)
  • Guillaume Appolinaire (1880 - 1918)
  • The Breasts of Tiresias
• Antonin Artaud (1896-1948)
  • "No more masterpieces"
  • Violence and aggression purged
  • Direct sensory assault
  • Force audience to confront selves
• Theatre of Cruelty
  • De-emphasize text
  • Stylized ritualized performance
  • Audience as center of event
  • Spurt of Blood 1924
• Epic Theatre
  • Erwin Piscator (1893 - 1966)
  • "Proletarian theatre"
  • To instigate social change
  • Documentary materials & multi-media

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