Above is a picture of American artist Bob Rauschenberg's Radioactive I (1964). It is initiating us into the more avant-garde section of the semester. As you may remember, Rauschenberg's work inspired contemporary playwright Charles Mee's bobrauschenbergamerica, and Anne Bogart whose books I've reviewed directed the play's premiere.
Here is a link to a site on aspects of the postmodern:
And here are some links to videos that we've seen in class:
Below are links to the performances that we saw, starting with Hedda.
Here is the review of the production:
Let's look at Charles Mee's bobrauschenbergamerica:
Next is Suzan-Lori Parks' The America Play:
Finally, we have a scene from Tarell McCraney's Brother/Sister Plays, the ones that I consider more enjoyable to read.
What do the playwrights and directors seem to be trying to do in these plays?
See this blog entry.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Are we trying to make drama and theater too safe? Should we embrace productions like Hedda?
The picture below is from the NYC production of Marcus, or the Secret of Sweet.
Yikes! I forgot Trifles. The link to my entry on this play is below:
Here are links to the movie versions that we saw:
Below are theatrical versions of this play:
If only there had been a video of the 2005 production at Theatre Unbound!
Let's move on to Brecht and The Good Person of Szechuan:
Here is the definition of the alienation effect:
See this link for more about epic theater:
Let's start with our clips from The Threepenny Opera (words, Brecht; music, Weill)
Below is a poster for the 1931 film version of Brecht and Weill's play.
Mother Courage is another of Brecht's plays. Recently Tony Kushner translated it. Meryl Streep has starred in a production that used his translation.
Here is a song from Mother Courage (but from a different production and translation):
On to the Good Person of Szechuan!
Below is a picture from a 2010 production staged in Berlin, Germany.
Here is a trailer (much music, no words) from this production:
We'll finish up with Waiting for Godot.
See this link for my Multiply entry on this play:
Here is a link to Beckett's Film with Buster Keaton:
(and here is a film with Keaton:
These are the links to versions of Waiting for Godot:
How has watching these videos helped you with Waiting for Godot?
Here are some clips of other plays by Beckett:
And here is an entry on The Metamorphoses:
