Waiting for Godot

Here are some versions of Waiting for Godot over the years.  The first was performed at Purdue University by The Classical Theater of Harlem.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1NL9OvbwNc&feature=fvsr

For more about this company, see this link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvJC_ULKC2M&feature=related

This television text version is from 1987, so it was done while Samuel Beckett was still alive.  In fact, it was filmed in Paris where he lived.  (By the way, although Beckett was born in Ireland and his first language was English, Waiting for Godot, like all of his works, was written in French.  Beckett was his own translator.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMz1-Kgz_DI

This next version is from 2001 and appeared on the UK's Channel 4 (as opposed to the BBC).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDjgThErfIM

Recently Sir Ian McKellen and Sir Patrick Stewart appeared in Waiting for Godot.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmiYSBJ54Io&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tu_4z0AGgKo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anez-ch-OAE&feature=related

Was it a tragedy?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dm96MZS48lA&feature=related

Or a comedy?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktSU8As66LE&feature=related

The version below appears to be in Spanish

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90IIzQ7gIR0&feature=related

Interestingly, I can find many versions in Spanish but none in French!

A Taiwanese troupe recently performed Godot in Paris.

Read more about this performance!

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/lang/archives/2011/04/28/2003501839

For more about McKellen and Stewart's version, see the links below.  Let's start with some articles from McKellen's own site:

http://www.mckellen.com/stage/godot/081031.htm

http://www.mckellen.com/stage/godot/index.htm

The Guardian's Michael Billington's review is below:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2009/may/07/waiting-for-godot-theatre-review

The Observer's Susannah Clapp disagrees:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2009/may/10/waiting-for-godot-haymarket?INTCMP=ILCNETTXT3487

Bill Irwin and Nathan Lane performed Waiting for Godot in NYC:

http://theater.nytimes.com/2009/05/01/theater/reviews/01godo.html

Neil Genzlinger reviews The Classical Theater of Harlem's Waiting for Godot.  This version is set in New Orleans after Katrina.

http://theater.nytimes.com/2006/06/03/theater/reviews/03godo.html

Master Harold. . . and the Boys

I'm not sure if we are going to get to this play, but I thought that I'd post this entry while I'm up.  The picture above is from a 2003 performance with Danny Glover as Sam.  As you may have noticed in our book, Glover played Willie in the play's 1982 world premiere.

Recently, a film version was made of this play.  At one point, Glover was to appear in it, but he was replaced by Ving Rhames.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yS1Pl9VTZ_4

This year this play was performed at the University of Northern Alabama:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PC8NcGKJGvU

The version below is from Canada:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQOjFs1CyDE

Here you may watch more extended scenes:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0fERVCMxtk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDRcx0N5IgE

Here is a link to a performance of another of Athol Fugard's plays:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zoTJUKt_HzU&feature=related

Trifles

With Susan Glaspell's Trifles, we are examining women in modern drama with the following twist: the play was written by a woman (see the picture of the playwright above).

Here is a brief biography of Ms. Glaspell:

http://www.csustan.edu/english/reuben/pal/chap8/glaspell.html#bio

For more information about her early 20th c. milieu, see this web site:

http://www.provincetownplayhouse.com/history.html

Minneapolis' Theater Unbound staged Trifles in 2005.  A scene from that production is pictured below:

LSU has staged this play as well.  Note that this video is of a rehearsal and that the sound quality may not be great:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFUaCXvIjY4

John G. Bilotta and John F. McGrew have created an opera based on Glaspell's play:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTIZ5TL1vaQ

Here are excerpts from film versions.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpNuw0vFU5E
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9EPnf1WXSE&feature=related

This picture is from a version staged at NYC's Ontological-Hysterical Theater:

Woo-hoo...here are some videos!

http://www.twoheadedcalf.org/shows/trifles/trifles.html

Let's look for a few reviews.  Unfortunately, many of the videos available are school projects.

Ah, here is Matthew A. Everett's review of Theater Unbound's production:

http://www.matthewaeverett.com/columns/detail.php?articleID=483

Alexis Soloski of The Village Voice reviews The Ontological-Hysteric Theater production:

http://www.villagevoice.com/2010-02-09/theater/on-the-creepy-feminist-drama-trifles/

Ken Jaworowski of the NY Times weighs in here:

http://theater.nytimes.com/2010/02/02/theater/reviews/02trifles.html?emc=e

A student-directed performance at Illinois' North Central College is discussed here:

http://northcentralcollege.edu/x46996.xml

For more reviews of other plays by Glaspell, see this site from Seton Hall:

http://academic.shu.edu/glaspell/Performances/performances.htm


The Santa Barbara Theater of the Air has created a podcast of Trifles:

http://theatre-of-the-air.com/WordPress/archives/4256

Right now a community college in Ohio is working on a version of Trifles.  Curiously enough, this school has just finished staging Pygmalion!

We'll conclude with a picture of the original 1916 production in NYC:

 

Subjective Final in EN 230

The picture above is from a Finnish production of Miss Julie.

Below are your prompts for the final.  Please choose one for your two to five page essay.  You may revise your midterm if you include at least two plays from the second half of the semester (Pygmalion and after).

Question #1:  

Consider the plays that we've read and seen so far this semester (including Living Out, "Soul Gone Home," and Master Harold…and the Boys).  What do they tell us about modern and contemporary drama?  (Modern drama includes "Soul Gone Home," Death of a Salesman, The Good Person of Szechuan, Pygmalion, Miss Julie, Streetcar, Hedda Gabler, Trifles, and Waiting for Godot.  Contemporary drama includes Fences, Angels in America, M. Butterfly, Living Out, and Master Harold.)  What do these plays have in common?  How are they distinct from other, earlier plays such as Oedipus Rex or Shakespeare's plays?  How have the plays from the first half of the semester differed from those in the second half?  How has your opinion evolved?  Consider performance as well as the text of plays.  Be sure to mention at least two plays from the second half as well as one from the first half.  

Question #2:  

What does performance add to the plays that we've read?  How does performance limit these plays?  How have watching the various clips helped you understand our plays?  Discuss the differences between film/TV and stage versions.  Can a play still be worth reading if it is never performed?  Why?  Why not?  Consider the argument made in the following 2007 essay from the City Paper:   http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/articles/34341/test-case-scenarios Also, consider the reviews I’ve posted at Multiply.  These reviews may be glowing; they may be jeering.  Finally, how much can a director change a play before he/she has distorted it?  Be sure to mention at least two plays from the second half as well as one from the first half.  

Question #3:  

Discuss the depiction of men and women in the plays we have read and seen.  Does it make a difference when a play was written?  Or whether a play is written by a man, a woman, or someone who is from a minority group?  Does it make a difference whether the woman is at the center of the play or on the periphery?  Consider the role that history, culture, and even genre (comedy, tragedy) play in defining what appropriate masculinity and femininity are.  Consider how a director may change or frame a play.  Also, consider your viewpoint as a 21st century man or woman.  Be sure to mention at least two plays from the second half as well as one from the first half.  

Question #4:  

Does realism have a place on the stage?  Why?  Why not?  Support your argument with examples from your reading and viewing.  Note how a play may change from production to production.  Be sure to mention at least two plays from the second half as well as one from the first half.

Good luck!

Recent Reviews of Streetcar

I am also very much interested in looking at some reviews of recent productions of Streetcar Named Desire.  Let's start with the 2005 Broadway production starring Natasha Richardson and John C. Reilly.

http://www.talkinbroadway.com/world/Streetcar2005.html

http://theater.nytimes.com/2005/04/27/theater/reviews/27desi.html

Perhaps we should move on to a British production starring Rachel Weisz:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturecritics/charlesspencer/5930319/A-Streetcar-Named-Desire-with-Rachel-Weisz-at-the-Donmar-Warehouse-review.html

Or to John Lahr's review of the 2009 production starring Cate Blanchett:

http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/theatre/2009/12/14/091214crth_theatre_lahr

Charles McNulty's review is below:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/culturemonster/2009/12/theater-review-a-streetcar-named-desire-at-the-brooklyn-academy-of-music.html


Chris Jones reviews a 2010 production at Chicago's Writer's Theater:

http://leisureblogs.chicagotribune.com/the_theater_loop/2010/05/streetcar-named-desire-cromer-review-writers-theatre-glencoe.html

Ah ha!  Memphis' Hattiloo Theatre has staged a cross-cast Streetcar:

http://www.gomemphis.com/news/2009/sep/28/stage-review-hattiloos-streetcar-named-desire-eye-/

I didn't want another link to a review of a NYC production, but I could not resist this link to one of a version starring Alec Baldwin as Stanley and Jessica Lange as Blanche.

http://www.nytimes.com/1992/04/13/theater/review-theater-a-streetcar-named-desire-alec-baldwin-does-battle-with-the-ghosts.html

Jay Gabler was admittedly unfamiliar with Streetcar when he reviewed the Guthrie's production:

http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/news/2010/07/10/theater-streetcar-named-desire-guthrie-tennessee-lite

Here is a review of a version from Portland:

http://www.oregonlive.com/performance/index.ssf/2008/04/theater_review_a_violent_inven.html

I want to finish with some local reviews:

http://citypaper.com/arts/stage/em-a-streetcar-named-desire-em-1.1128241

http://dctheatrescene.com/2009/11/02/a-streetcar-named-desire-2/
For the various video clips, see the link below:

Link

Reviews of Recent Productions of Hedda Gabler

Tonight I'd like to start posting links to reviews of recent productions.  I'll begin with Ibsen's Hedda Gabler.  The 2009 production starring Mary Louise Parker has produced a number of striking images.  Let's see what the critics thought of the performance itself.

The New Yorker's John Lahr weighs in here:

http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/theatre/2009/02/09/090209crth_theatre_lahr

The New York Times' Ben Brantley criticizes this production severely:

http://theater.nytimes.com/2009/01/26/theater/reviews/26bran.html

On the other hand, Brantley praises the touring production that starred Cate Blanchett:

http://theater.nytimes.com/2006/03/03/theater/reviews/03hedd.html

Here she is with Hugo Weaving (Judge Brack).


Hilton Als, however, is more skeptical, claiming that Blanchett is really playing 20th century actress Katherine Hepburn rather than Hedda.

http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2006/03/20/060320crth_theatre

Als preferred Glenda Jackson's Hedda.


For more about this film version, see this link:
http://lecinemadreams.blogspot.com/2011/01/hedda-1975.html

Surprise!  Surprise!  The film was released in theaters.  Patrick Stewart played Hedda's former lover, Lovborg.

Let's look at some other recent productions.



In 2009, Chicago's Raven Theater's production received much praise:

http://chicagotheaterblog.com/2009/05/08/review_raven-theatre_hedda-gabler/

Adrian Noble directed this British production just last year:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/theatre-reviews/7397799/Hedda-Gabler-at-the-Theatre-Royal-Bath-review.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2010/mar/08/hedda-gabler-theatre-royal-review



German director Thomas Ostermeier tries to answer the question of why a contemporary Hedda doesn't just leave Tesman and start over:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2008/feb/29/theatre1

More locally, the always-intriguing Washington Shakespeare Theater Company has staged this play:

http://dctheatrescene.com/2008/02/16/hedda-gabler/

The Philadelphia-area Mauckingbird Theater Company has imagined Hedda as a lesbian:

http://www.broadstreetreview.com/index.php/main/article/mauckingbirds_lesbian_hedda_gabler




I'll finish with a link to a review of an interesting 2007 production from Pittsburgh:

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07170/795181-325.stm


See the link below for the entry with the plethora of video clips, including the one pictured below!

Link

Hedda Gabler

Several different versions of Hedda Gabler are available at YouTube.

The first is a recent version by the Actors Ensemble of Berkeley:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjqHQJe6Go8

Janet Suzman played Hedda in this 1972 BBC version:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mp3R2gtNjo&playnext=1&list=PLE72E862928DB334E

Ingrid Bergman's 1963 performance is also from the BBC:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKgcjssJgvY

Diana Rigg's Hedda dates from 1981:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABXsAXyuZ7U

Below are parts of various theatrical versions.  If you speak Spanish, you may be interested in this version from Uruguay:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQCmgpRJYv0

Or this version from Spain:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlQPu8XUWQY&feature=related

Britain's Broken Biscuit Theater has staged this version.  Its director is Marysia Kay.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RC9kVqTYByc

Mary Louise Parker has recently appeared as Hedda:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsyD7sOzels&feature=fvwrel

This last "avant-garde" version is from the University of Central Florida:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfXosl5lojE&feature=fvsr

Enjoy, and let me know what you think!

Dr. Szlyk

Links for 4/14 -- Streetcar

These are a few scenes from the 1951 movie version with Marlon Brando and Vivien Leigh.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_lToyPAUyE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1A0p0F_iH8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsVxmk9pq2Y
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxGN29njs3Q&feature=related

Let's look at a more recent version.  In 1995, Alec Baldwin and Jessica Lange played Stanley and Blanche for a TV movie of Streetcar:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyxPgXyat1Y

Last summer the Guthrie Theater staged Streetcar:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dljehZJhvbc

In 2005, Natasha Richardson played Blanche:

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-cLKFynWwg

Cate Blanchett has also played Blanche, but this clip is of her interview with Charlie Rose:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gztnc_60h4k

Her picture is below.  Her production was a traveling one, and this was taken at the Kennedy Center production.

Links for Miss Julie

The picture above is from 1906, but the most recent film version of Miss Julie is from 2009:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0e4uRonQWtU



The BBC's TV movie dates from 1987.  We watched parts 1, 2, & 7.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FbSU5n1ckI

Helen Mirren played Miss Julie in 1972:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFdbliZubCA&feature=related

Patrick Marber rewrote Strindberg's play as After Miss Julie, a play set in 1945 (post-WWII) England.  See the link below for some of this play:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GnEDKHZuA0

Victor Sobchak of Act Provocateur Internationale has restaged Strindberg's play:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SNJJAn48uc

See the link below for an article about Sobchak's theater and its influences:

http://www.scene4.com/archivesqv6/may-2006/html/kapsaskimay06.html

FreeFall Theater in St. Petersburg, FL has also staged Miss Julie recently:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSb8DH8ovGI

These versions are in Icelandic and Swedish respectively:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3XopoA4UME
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywcnxQ-ZCgE&feature=related


Oh yes, and here are the links to Upstairs Downstairs and Sarah's attempts to live by her wits:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mZnjBdB1CM&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Hz4nm37xvg&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAGDHrijR_M

Another episode, "The Mistress and the Maids" is also worth watching:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4KJ6suuH70

I thought you'd like to see Sandra Bullock's interaction with her housekeeper and "friend":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfV74PM7UVQ

Links for 3/31 -- Pygmalion

Here is a link to the 1938 version of Pygmalion starring Leslie Howard and Wendy Hiller:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmdPj_XbF30

Just a year later Leslie Howard played Ashley Wilkes, Scarlett O'Hara's crush in Gone with the Wind:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCWsCtKZ2B0&feature=related

Here are some scenes from the 1964 movie My Fair Lady with Rex Harrison and Audrey Hepburn.  The first is the trailer with "The Rain in Spain."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVmU3iANbgk&feature=related

Next is "Just You Wait," a song that voices Eliza's frustration.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwNKyTktDIE

Then we have the scene at the races.  The dialogue is taken from Act 3 and Mrs. Higgins' "at home."  The races at Ascot probably make for a more cinematic venue than one woman's drawing room, no matter how tastefully decorated.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYMSvyqHHwA

Eliza's father comes in here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_Sj9o7DWJU&feature=related

We'll conclude with the last scenes of My Fair Lady where Higgins realizes he loves Eliza.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HroAq_E075Y

Rex Harrison said that he was playing Leslie Howard playing Henry Higgins. 

As I mentioned, Audrey Hepburn lip-synched the songs in My Fair Lady.  The singing voice you hear was Marni Nixon's.  Julie Andrews played Eliza on Broadway earlier, and whose voice could compete with hers?!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJqBaA0CqOo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpn0aQ1fyzs

Here are some modern versions of Pygmalion:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qR9TY1nvQE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFXfrNv_tio


Claire Danes has recently played Eliza in Pygmalion:

http://www.observer.com/2007/we-ve-grown-accustomed-musical-pygmalion-shaw-little-out-whack


Oh yes, and here are the links to Upstairs Downstairs and Sarah's attempts to live by her wits:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mZnjBdB1CM&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Hz4nm37xvg&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAGDHrijR_M