Contemporary Theatre
By: The Croissants
Contemporary History
The 1930s to the 1940s
Present
Playwrights
Tennessee Williams (1911-1983)
He is a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright. The Pulitzer Prize is a prize awarded for literary works, such as musicals. Some of his works include A Streetcar Named Desire and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.
“All good art is an indiscretion.” -Tennessee WilliamsArthur Miller (1915-2005)
Arthur Miller is believed to be one of the greatest American playwrights of all time. A few of the plays he wrote included All My Sons, A View from the Bridge, The Crucible, and the Pulitzer Prize-winning Death of a Salesman.
“The structure of a play is always the story of how the birds came home to roost.” -Arthur Miller
Edward Albee (1928-Present)
He is a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright. He is best known for Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and The Zoo Story.
“I don't mind people having false illusions as long as they know that they're false. If people want to kid themselves, it's important that they know that they're kidding themselves. Life is too short to take the middle ground.” -Edward Albee
Plays
The Good Fairy (1930)
Playwright: Ferenc Molnár
Genre: Romantic Comedy
The Good Fairy tells the story of a woman named Lu who must face the consequences of pretending to be someone she is not. She calls herself the good fairy because she seems to bring good luck to everyone but herself. First she lies about being wealthy, which lands her many debts. Then, she lies to a man named Konrad about having an attorny for a husband. She continues to fall into a web of lies. The play ends with her sitting down to dinner with a man named Dr. Metz, who is now her husband of ten years, and all of the people that got caught up in her lies.
Jupiter Laughs (1940)
Playwright: A.J. Cronin
Genre: Romantic Tragedy
A brilliant research psyhiatrist named Dr. Paul Venner is driven out of Budapest by another researcher who has taken false credit for his work. After going to Lndon, Dr. Venner is offered a job in a Scottish sanitarium where he can continue his research on dementia precox, a disease from which his father had suffered. Then, Mary Murray, a young, pretty doctor, becomes his laboratory assistant. They fall in love; however, she has plans to go to China to engage in medical missionary work within a year. Later, Paul convinces her to remain with him, and the two become betrothed. A fire breaks out in the lab and Mary tragically dies in an effort to salvage Paul's valuable records. The deeply distressed doctor turns down several posts at prestigious universities in order to fulfill Mary's dream of helping the sick in China.
Dracula (1996)
Playwright: Steven Diezt
Genre: Horror
Closely following the plot of the novel, the play chronicles Count Dracula's journey to England, his stalking of two young women, and his pursuit and eventual defeat by the heroines' suitors and their associates.
Conventions
Sets
Lighting
Make-Up
Costumes
Sound
Scene
The Lion King
INTERMISSION
African Singers: My, Oh, my! Simba has run away and caused quite a ruckus.
While the animals of Pride Rock mourn the death King Mufasa and the loss of Simba,
We are now ready to return to the story of Simba. Poor kid! I hope everything
works out for him.
HAKUNA MATATA
Timon: What a BEAUTIFUL morning!
Pumbaa: {Looking at Simba} Uh-oh. Hey Timon. You better come look. I think it’s still alive.
Timon: Yeewgh!...
{Timon walks to the front of Simba. He is lying with his paw over his face.}
Timon: All righty, what have we got here? {he smells Simba}
{He tries to lift Simba's paw. He can't. He gets under it and with a great push gets it above his head. He sees
Simba's face.}
Timon: Jeez, it's a lion! Run Pumbaa! Move it!
Pumbaa: Hey, Timon. It's just a little lion. Look at him. He's so cute, and all alone! Can we keep him?
Timon: Pumbaa, are you nuts?! We're talking about a lion. Lions eat guys like us.
Pumbaa: But he's so little.
Timon: He's gonna get bigger.
Pumbaa: Maybe he'll be on our side.
Timon: A--Huh! That's the stupidest thing I ever heard. Maybe he'll b-- …Hey, I got it! What if he's on our
side? You know, having a lion around might not be such a bad idea.
Pumbaa: So we keeping 'im?
Timon: Pthpt. Of course. Who's the brains in this outfit?
(Simba begins to move and gets up)
Timon: You okay, kid?
Simba: I guess so.
Pumbaa: You nearly died.
Timon: I saved you.
Pumbaa: {snorts at Timon}
Timon: Well, uh, Pumbaa helped...
{Pumbaa snaps a proud pose.}
Timon: a little.
Simba: {Dully} Thanks for your help.
{Simba heads off quietly back out towards the desert.}
Timon: Hey, where you going?
Simba: Nowhere.
Timon: Gee. He looks blue.
Pumbaa: I'd say brownish-gold.
Timon: No, no, no, no. I mean he's depressed.
Pumbaa: Oh.
Pumbaa: Kid, what's eatin’ ya?
Timon: Nothing-- he's at the top of the food chain! Ahhhhhhha ha haaa! The food cha-haain! {Realizing
his joke flopped} Ah heh-- Ahem. So, where you from?
Simba: Who cares? I can't go back.
Timon: Ahh. You're an outcast! That's great; so are we!
Pumbaa: What’cha do, kid?
Simba: Something terrible. But I don't wanna talk about it.
Timon: Good. We don't wanna hear about it.
Pumbaa: Come on Timon. Anything we can do?
Simba: Not unless you can change the past.
Pumbaa: You know, kid, in times like this my buddy Timon here says “You got to put your behind in your
past.”
Timon: {waving his arms} No. No. No.
Pumbaa: I mean...
Timon: Amateur. Lie down before you hurt yourself. It's “You got to put your past behind you.” Look, kid.
Bad things happen, and you can't do anything about it, right?
Simba: Right.
Timon: Wrong! When the world turns its back on you, you turn your back on the world!
Simba: Well, that's not what I was taught.
Timon: Then maybe you need a new lesson. Repeat after me. Hakuna Matata.
Simba: What?
Pumbaa: Ha-ku-na Ma-ta-ta. It means no worries.
HAKUNA MATATA SONG
Timon: Hakuna Matata!
What a wonderful phrase
Pumbaa: Hakuna Matata!
Ain't no passing craze
Timon: It means no worries
For the rest of your days
Both: It's our problem-free philosophy
Timon: Hakuna Matata!
Simba: Hakuna Matata?
Pumbaa: Yeah, it's our motto.
Simba: What's a motto?
Timon: Nothing! What's a motto with you? Ah haah haah hah hah...
Pumbaa: {Laughing} You know, kid-- these two words will solve all your problems.
Timon: That's right! Take Pumbaa for example.
Timon: Why, when he was a young wart-hog…
Pumbaa: When I was a young wart hooog!
Timon: Very nice.
Pumbaa: Thanks!
Timon: He found his aroma lacked a certain appeal
He could clear the Savannah after every meal
Pumbaa: I'm a sensitive soul though I seem thick-skinned
And it hurt that my friends never stood downwind
And oh, the shame
Timbon: He was ashamed
Pumbaa: Thoughta changin' my name
Timbon: Oh, what's in a name
Pumbaa: And I got downhearted
Timbon: How did you feel?
Pumbaa: Ev'rytime that I...
Timon: Hey, Pumbaa! Not in front of the kids!
Pumbaa: Oh. Sorry.
Pumbaa and Timon: Hakuna Matata!
What a wonderful phrase
Hakuna Matata!
Ain't no passing craze
Simba: It means no worries
For the rest of your days
Timon: Yeah, sing it, kid!
All: It's our problem-free philosophy.
Hakuna Matata!
Did You Pay Attention?
Test Questions
Contemporary History:
1. What took place during the 1930s?
2. What took place during the 1940s?
3. People went to go see plays in the 1930s to forget about the disappointments of their everyday lives.
a. True
b. False
Playwrights:
4. Which playwright wrote The Zoo Story?
a. Jonathon Allen
b. Lord Byron
c. Edward Albee
d. Shakespeare
5. Which playwright wrote Cat on a Hot Tin Roof?
a. Thornton Wilder
b. Percy Bysshe Shelley
c. Moss Hart
d. Tennessee Williams
6. Which playwright wrote The Crucible?
a. Arthur Miller
b. Agatha Christie
c. Gore Vidal
d. W.H. Auden
Plays:
7. Why does Lu call herself the “Good Fairy"?
a. Because she thinks she lives in another magical land.
b. Because she thinks she is apart of a Tinkerbell Movie.
c. Because her sister is evil, and she considers herself to be the “good” one.
d. Because she thinks that she brings everyone good luck, except for herself.
8. Why did Jonathan Harker go to Count Dracula's home?
a. To complete a real estate transaction
b. To be turned into a vampire
c. To drink some tea with the vampire
d. To get ideas for his vampire halloween costume
9. In Jupiter Laughs, how does Venner’s lab assistant die?
a. She killed herself
b. She was murdered
c. She died in a lab fire
d. Venner killed her
Conventions:
10. What is the makeup like in Contemporary Theatre?
a. cover blemishes
b. provide the face with a smooth and even color tone for the most effective photography
c. clearly define the facial features for more visibly expressive action
d. All of the above
11. How is the production design different from other eras of theatre?
a. The scenery, costumes, lighting and sound are designed by artists and constructed by craftsman to create the environment of the play.
b. The production design has stayed the same throughout each era
c. Theatre production design has completely been forgotten
d. None of the above
12. How has the “value” of the audience members changed during different time periods?
a. In a Modern Theater: The most expensive seats are up front near the stage. The cheap seats are those furthest away from the stage, often up in the balconies.
b In an Elizabethan Theater: The cheap seats were in the front. And, they were not seats. The people around the stage (called: the Groundlings) stood through the performance.
c. Both a and b
d. None of the above
Scene:
13. What means no worries?
a. Hakuna matata
b. Sumbba
c. Mufasa
d. Pumba
14.Who do Timon and Pumba find?
a. Mufasa
b. Simba
c. Scar
d. Zazoo
15. What is Pumbaa & Timon’s motto?
Answers
1. The Great Depression
2. World War II
3. A
4. C
5. D
6. A
7. D
8. A
9. C
10. D
11. A
12. C
13. A
14. B
15. Hakuna Matata
Sources
https://prezi.com/m/ewgpeaafkkpr/musical-theatre-in-the-1930s-and-1940s/
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contemporary_history
https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/art-1010/pop/a/contemporary-art-an-introduction
http://www.biography.com/people/tennessee-williams-9532952
http://www.biography.com/people/arthur-miller-9408335
http://www.biography.com/people/edward-albee-9178576
http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/dracula/summary.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jupiter_Laughs
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Good_Fairy_(play)
http://ryersonfolio.com/mass-exodus-2012-lucid-part-1/
http://www.thedramateacher.com/realism-and-naturalism-theatre-conventions/
http://highered.mheducation.com/sites/0767430077/student_view0/chapter8/index.html
http://www.clough.lancsngfl.ac.uk/download/file/lion%20king%20script%5B1%5D.pdf