PINTER (1930-2008)

PINTER (1930-2008)

It was his early plays that made his reputation such as ‘The Homecoming’ (1964) and his middle-period work such as ‘No man’s land’ (1976) that have been called ‘Comedies of Menace’. Typically, they all use what a first seems like an Innocent Situation and develop into an absurd and threatening environment through actions that usually are inexplicable to the audience and sometimes even to the other characters in the play. Typically a PINTER drama is dark and claustrophobic. His language is full of menacing pauses. The lives of Pinter’s characters usually are revealed to be stunted by guilt and horror. The duality and absurdity of Pinter’s theatrical world-view gave rise to the adjective ‘Pinteresque’ 

His works:

·         The Birthday Party (1958)

Steppenwolf Theatre: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6p6v6mGGtSI

·         The Caretaker (1960)

·         The Homecoming (1965)

Standard Deviation Theatre: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imeo3wZgcdA

·         Old times (1971)

·         No Man’s Land (1975)

·         The Hothouse

National Theatre: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmjU5YZVnac

TENNESSEE WILLIAMS (1911-1983)

TENNESSEE WILLIAMS (1911-1983)

As a Playwright, it was HENRIK LBSEN who had the greatest impact on Tennessee Williams. Williams learned Scandinavian literary dialect used by Lbsen to better understand his plays. He suffered from depression, and feared ging mad. He was briefly institutionalised in 1969 after a severe nervous breakdown, and never forgave his younger brother for allowing his to be put into a madhouse.

His works:

·         The Glass Menagerie (1945)

Chorn Theatre Greece: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5tPoZ8xnT0

·         A Streetcar Named Desire (1947)

Dr Challoner's Grammer School: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROITJKWK3P4

Dr Challoner's Grammar School have contextualized A Streetcar Named Desire by putting a Young  Cast in the roles that had adult play, they also brought a tiny bit of modern day aspects to the production, Another thing that they did was that Students Produced and Directed the play which added it's very own twist to the production.

·         Cat on a hot tin Roof (1955)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0MYTrWMAA0

·         Orpheus Descending (1557)

·         Suddenly last Summer (1958)

·         Sweet Bird of Youth (1959)

Old Vic Theatre: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X12x1DwcQBc

SAMUEL BECKET (1906-1996)

SAMUEL BECKET (1906-1996)

He was one of the twentieth century’s most important writers, winner of the Nobel Prize for literature in 1969. Samuel becket was the author of ‘Waiting for Godot’ (1952) one of the few plays in theatrical history to redefine the possibilities of the medium long fascinated by the cinema (especially silent comedies, which was a huge influence on much of his work including ‘Godot’) 

Waiting for Gobot (2010): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dm96MZS48lA

WYPlayhouse: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHJslbN8dpg

Other works:

·         Krapp’s last tape (1958)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpZ9MnUGfU4

·         Endgame (1957)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pfvp2rsWasM

·         Happy Days (1961)

National Theatre: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0e-ulwCL5U

·         Not 1 (1973)

CONTEMPORAY THEATRE: IBSEN (1828-1906)

CONTEMPORAY THEATRE (Usually Plays After 1930’s)

IBSEN (1828-1906)

Ibsen was a playwright in the late 1800’s, he wrote many plays but two in particular caused some controversy.

A Dolls’ House:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOuFocD10hU

a Short film responding to a Doll's House: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CY8s2MqPyM

This Short Film is a Contextualized version of A Doll's House, Nora the main character is the same as the original play, it shows a hectic day in her life from the morning to the evening, but then we see Nora leave the children in the garden for the dad to find when he got home, the whole 9 minutes is a modernized twist on the original but keeping on the same plot line.

A Doll’s House explores the oppression of women.  The female character Nora leaves her husband and children because she wants a life of her own. To 19^th Century Europe the idea of a woman not only forsaking her marriage vows but also displaying a mind of her own and renouncing her duty of unquestioning obedience to her husband was considered indecent and scandalous.

Ghosts 1882:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FcxIyC5Dy8

Ghosts touched on subjects that were completely forbidden, dealing with Syphilis, Adultery, Free Love, Incest and Euthanasia. It caused a violent uproar and none of the theatres staged it.

Biography's: 

http://www.biography.com/people/henrik-ibsen-37014

http://www.mnc.net/norway/Ibsen.htm