Exam 18: The Modern Theatre: Antirealism

Which German playwright emerged from World War I as a dedicated Marxist and pacifist,later consolidating his theories about drama into a body of plays that include The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny and The Good Person of Szechuan?

Which playwright and dramatist provided a new kind of dramaturgy that intended a wholesale repudiation of Aristotelian catharsis (which depends on the audience's empathy with a noble character)and a denial of Stanislavsky's basic principles concerning the aims of acting?

When artists deserted symbolism,its principles found influence in other movements.Which of the following did NOT emerge as an extension of the symbolist movement?

Which of the following is TRUE of the antirealist aesthetic in the second third of the twentieth century?

Surrealism,which means "beyond realism," was invented by Pablo Picasso.

An example of a dramatic style in which the theatre itself becomes a theme in the play,rather than simply the vehicle for the drama,is Six Characters in Search of an Author.

Which playwright pioneered both realist and antirealistic styles in his work,shifting from a belief that "Naturalists...are aware of the richness of the human soul" to an attempt to "reproduce the disconnected but apparently logical form of a dream?"

You meet Bertolt Brecht in a coffee shop.(He is time traveling. )What questions do you have for him? What is he like,his ideas about the theatre,his theatrical experiences,and so on.Use your imagination!

Which American playwright eventually turned from naturalism to expressionism,as exemplified by his play The Hairy Ape?

A stylized acting style is one in which

The antirealist movement has its roots in

Which playwright eschewed realism,romanticism,and rationality to create relentlessly unenlightening plays,saying,"Art has nothing to do with clarity,does not dabble in the clear,and does not make clear?"

Which director and critic made the distinction between "holy" and "rough" theatres?

Which movement based itself on the idea that the search for some meaning or purpose in human life can be met only with the immutable irrationality of the universe,making all attempts at understanding futile?

Typical themes of the symbolist theatre include the loss of innocence and the futility of communication.

How did World War I influence the antirealist theatre? What opinions do you have on the relationship of historical events to the theatre,in terms of responsibility and innovation?

Which type of drama uses theatre itself as part of the content of production,not merely the vehicle?

Which production had the most violent premiere in theatre history,such that the audience shouted,hissed,threw things,shook fists at the stage,and fought duels after subsequent performances?

Which dramatic theorist founded the Théâtre Alfred Jarry in 1926,produced Strindberg's Dream Play,adapted Shelley's The Cenci,and theorized a theatre of cruelty which was more significant for its ideas than the actual plays it produced?

The saying "no more masterpieces" exemplifies a philosophy of