|
|
|
||||||||
Theatre
History..
is one of the most difficult theatre subjects to teach. Over the years I had given up on the adequacy of available texts to meet the needs of students who know next to nothing about history and the culture of other peoples in other times. Consequently, my teaching notes grew into a text, which, together with videos and play texts, served my teaching needs. The text is in four volumes, to be used over four semesters.
The version included on this web site is, unfortunately, devoid of the original italics, etc. and suffers from frequent * which indicate the inclusion of that word in an index. The index could not be transferred to the web.
For those who might be interested, I include the introduction to each volume and a list of the chapters, there arealso links to all of the chapters.
An Introduction to Theatre History in Relation to Society
[a book in four volumes - copyright 1991 - as yet unpublished]
FOREWORD
In our Theatre History texts we are used to a progression by significant period and by country, often at the expense of chronological development. We expect to be able to turn to chapters on American theatre, Oriental, Baroque, etc. For those who have these expectations this book will prove frustrating.
After nearly half a century of studying and teaching theatre history I have come to the conclusion that there must be a more coherent and informative way of introducing an investigation of theatre history's confusing and extensive array of information. Time and experience have brought me to the realization that each teacher must take hold of this intricate and confusing material and shape it for the student's perception. It is our job to lead the students of today, as best we each can do, through the almost three thousand years of human history reflected and refracted in theatre.
Since many students may never go beyond an introductory acquaintance with theatre, it behooves those of us who teach the beginning course to provide them with a glimpse that is meaningful and useful. We always hope that it will be a tantalizing glimpse as well, one that will lure students into the wonderful and exciting world of learning, where curiosity is piqued at every turn and each satisfying discovery carries a stimulation to embark on even deeper explorations,
Those who prefer more familiar approaches will find a variety of alternative texts annotated in the list in the Appendix. Those who find this approach more useful will, I hope, stimulate and enlighten students as we go lightly but firmly through the years of theatre history.
PREFACE
Theatre is, by its very nature, directly tied to its society and culture. Far more than any other art, theatre is the mirror in which a society examines its defects, admires its virtues and debates itself, moment by moment. Every belief, doubt, aspiration and fear that a society has is paraded on the stage for the delight and concern of the audience.
Sometimes the mirror resembles the exaggerated reflections of the fun house, sometimes it is a prism refracting and isolating elements, at other times it reflects current reality as truly as any highly polished surface can.
Today's world is rapidly moving into a global society. The roots of this international society can be found in the energy and enterprise of a small, rocky Ionian culture which took shape in Greece in sixth century BCE Unlike other cultures of its time, this Ionian culture had a boundless curiosity about the world, singular respect for the individual and for that individual's relation to the state and to other individuals in the state, a belief that the state should be governed with representation and meaningful dialogue among the governed and that the individual had the right to hold religious beliefs not imposed by the state. One other aspect of this culture set it apart. Unlike its contemporaries in other parts of the world, it was fascinated with observing the natural world, collecting facts and making changes to improve the lot of its citizens based on those facts.
Other societies, throughout the ages, and around the world, seemed to lack these particular attributes. Even China, with its earliest inventions of paper, printing, gunpowder and exceptional mastery of smelting and casting metals, was, and is, a society seeking stability rather than change, central authority rather than representation. Culturally, and as a society, China and all other societies with these attributes, have always resisted interrelation with other societies. Insular, self-absorbed and aloof, these societies have been unmoved by the curious enthusiasms cultivated among the European descendants of the Greek culture
There has been a great diversity of societies and cultures throughout the course of human history. Many great civilizations have come and gone: Babylonian, Etruscan, Minoan, Incan, some of them leaving scant traces of their accomplishments. Asian, Indo-European, Near East, Pre-Columbian American and African societies have been and are rich and vital in their contributions to human development. However, in looking back, these contributions appear meaningful in terms of today's society primarily insofar as they have affected, and been absorbed into, the main Euro-centric stream.
If the dominant values evident in the Ionian culture are regarded as the spring from which western civilization flowed, then we have a firm guide to follow through the maze of human history. We can develop a clear mainstream rising in the eastern Mediterranean and flowing through the Roman Empire. A mainstream into which pour numerous streams and rivers as it flows through time. Because of this mainstream effect, theatre history is essentially a history of theatre in western civilization. In a very real sense it is necessarily Euro-centric.
Non-western theatre is relevant in those times and places when it impacted upon and influenced the development of western theatre. There are many streams and rivers from the east which enter the western mainstream at different chronological and geographical points. But the dominant societal development which has brought us to the present day is Euro-centric, and its mirror has always been the theatre.
In other cultures when theatre appears it does not hold a mirror up to the society itself but only to some aspect of it. In India, for example, theatre reflects Hinduism and the desired union with the Supreme World-Soul who is unchanging. This world view is diametrically opposed to the Ionian view of change as the vital force in society.
Today's world is global. Today's theatre is trying to come to grips with a truly international society: multi-faceted, multi-cultural, multi-lingual. A trip to Los Angeles or Louisville or Edinburgh or Paris at theatre festival time reveals something of the diversity. Plays from India, South America, South Africa and Japan jostle with central European, Scandinavian and Texas productions.
Yet these festivals are here, in Europe, England, and in the United States. Any current production with pretensions to contemporary relevance tours the Americas, England, Europe, Asia and Australia. They do not, as yet, appear in many Moslem countries or in the less economically developed areas of South America, Asia or Africa. They are not extensively seen in the areas of Europe and Russia now moving from totalitarian conditions into more open societies. That will come in the very near future.
Economic development and political freedom are societal prerequisites for a viable theatre. Economic development is required because people must be adequately fed and housed before they have the leisure and the inclination to become an audience and enjoy the stimulation of a theatrical production. Although, when produced and toured by endowed organizations and governments, theatre is a popular social and governmental tool for educating, enlightening and propagandizing people who are ill fed and ill housed. Theatre was widely employed in Roman times for entertaining the populace. It is employed today, in South America for example, to spread information on health and hygiene.
Political freedom is necessary because theatre enables a society to express its concerns, articulate opposing views, coalesce opinions and stimulate thought, all of which pose a danger to repressive governments. Hitler was quick to recognize this and to co-opt theatre and employ it as a fascist propaganda tool. In pre Civil War America Uncle Tom's Cabin stirred public opinion across the land. There may even be an interesting correlation between the central European productions of Les Miserables and the fall of the Berlin wall.
What follows is the mainstream of theatre cast in the metaphor of the tree, a more graphic and familiar way of expressing connections while dealing with diversity.
Home page- Home
next: - Introduction to Theatre History