Research Paper on "Dylan Thomas Wrote Sixteen Poems"

Research Paper 7 pages (2964 words) Sources: 9

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" It is reported by Pound that in the eighth century "the dilettante of the Japanese court established the tea cult and the play of 'listening to incense." (2004) In the fourteenth century, Pound reports that the priest and the court "and the players all together produced a drama scarcely less subtle. For 'listening the incense' the company was divided in two parties and some arbiter burnt many kinds and blended sorts of perfume, and the game was not merely to know which was which but to give them a beautiful and allusive name, to recall by the title some strange event of history or some passage of romance or legend." (2004) It was described as being something that refined in times of barbariousness that can be likened to "the art of polyphonic rhyme, developed in feudal Provence four centuries later…" (Pound, 2004) The art of allusion is reported to be that which is "at the root of the Noh. These plays or eclogues, were made only for the few; for the nobles' for those trained to catch the allusion." (Pound, 2004) Art in the Noh was constructed upon "the god-dance, or upon some local legend of spiritual apparation, or later, on gestes of war and feats of history; an art of splendid posture of dancing and changing, and of acting that is not mimetic." (Pound, 2004) The stage in the Noh theatre is such that is "a symbolic stage, a drama of masks." (Pound, 2004)

Origin of Black History Month

Black History month is a month that is set aside for honoring and celebrating the achievements of black individuals in history. Black history month originated with Carter G. Woodson (1875 to 1950) a son of former slaves . Woodson was self-taught until high school. Woodson's realization that the history of blacks had been ignored in written texts resulted in Woodson's idea of 'Negro History Week' in 1937 was formalized in 1976 as Black History Month. According to Younger (2013) "In 1925, the second week of February was deemed Negro History Week since it contained the birthdays of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln. This designated week came before Brown v. Board of Education in Kansas, before Emmitt Till in Mississippi, before Bloody Sunday in Alabama and before the Civil Rights Acts in 1964. In 1976, President Gerald Ford expanded Negro History Week to a full month and named it Black History Month. I bring up this lineage to say Black History is not used so much to highlight the history of Black people, but to reflect on the struggle for freedom." (Younger, 2013)

Ancient Greek Theater

The work of Green, et al. (2003) states that the conditions of the Greek theatre changed during the 1000 years of Greek drama and as well that the time and place of the theater changed. In the early 3rd century BC actor and performer guilds existed and performance was held as an art or profession resulting in the skill being standardized. Green et al. (2003) additionally reports "Perhaps the single most significant issue that Green raises about the theatre and its associated objects, whether those objects are for use in an actual dramatic production or decorate items used in daily life, is their ubiquitous nature. These objects were not restricted to the elite but were bought by the community at large and so indicate the prevalent place theatre enjoyed at many levels of society." (Green et al., 2003) Green et al. (2003) reports that the images of the principal mask types were integrated into common everyday usage and the "fact that many such objects were inexpensively mass-produced in a mould confirms that theatre was an integral part of the daily experience of life and not strictly a festival occasion." (Green, et al., 2003)

Ancient Roman Theater

The work of Beacham (1991) reports that knowledge of early Rome "is very incomplete…most of our information comes from Livy, who is writing in the age of Augustus." (Beacham, 1991) Augustus is reported to record "that the Romans had their first experience of the theater in the middle of the fourth century BC when they witnessed performances by an invited troupe of Etruscans." (1991) Beacham writes that the "art of oratory was nurtured and recognized to be of supreme significance throughout Roman history, not only for obtaining public office, but for exercising effective power both within the institutions of the Roman state, and in times of political crisis, outside of them as well." (Beacham, 1991) Reported as a precursor of the theater in Rome is that of the Fescennine verses which involved farmers in Rome having a celebration following harvest, which included poems of a bawdy nature.

William Shakespeare and The Globe Theater

It is related that the Globe Theater was an open-air theater and one that was used in months in which the temperature was moderate. The Globe was defined as a summer house. The building was open on three sides and featured a large enclosed balcony with smaller roofed galleries at the top. On the stage level hiding places existed for people and objects. The audience at the Globe Theater was either standing or seated close to the stage action and this allowed "both playwright and actor to create unlimited illusions, transporting the audience from Juliet's tomb in one play to raging storm at sea in another." (Baranger, 2005)

Moliere and The French Theater - 17th Century

The work of Hollier (1994) reports that a lifelong and total involvement on the part of Moliere "with the theater undoubtedly provides the best explanation of riches and diversity of Moliere's work," Moliere is reported to have made significant contIributiosn to the development of French Opera. It is reported that Moliere in contrast to Aristole and Cicero had "exposed the most unbearable defects the most monstrous vices…he invited his audience to laugh at a hypocrite and an evil lord." (Hollier, 1994) It is reported that with Moliere "the comic no longer had any limits; it became something universal, a point-of-view on the entire human conditions." (Hollier, 1994) It is noted that Moliere put "society, its language, its hypocrisy, and its false values on trail." (Hollier, 1994) Moliere is reported as having questioning "the principles and the comic mechanisms on which he had been relying."

Commedia dell 'Arte

Commedia dell'arte involves a single person retaining their name, costume and essential basic characteristics in successive plays, but is made to appear in diverse circumstances and in diverse relationships with companions." (Nicoll, 1987) It is reported that in Commedia dell-arte that the individual's "essential personality remains the same, the impression we get is of an individual revealed in different ways through the varying connections he has with his fellows and through the particular positions in life which have been accorded him." (Nicoll, 1987)

The Theater of The Absurd

According to the Dictionary of the Theater: Terms, Concepts and Analysis written by Pavis and Shantz (1998) "Absurd elements are felt to be unreasonable, nonsensical or lacking any logical connection with the rest of the text or performance." Elements of theater are referred to as absurd "when we cannot place them in their dramaturgical, theatrical and ideological contexts." (Pavis and Shantz, 1998)

Two Theater Stages: The Proscenium Stage + The Thrust Stage

There are various types of stage setups in the theater including the Proscenium Stage and the Thrust Stage. There are reported to be both disadvantages as well as advantages to the proscenium model. It is fairly easy to stage a play so that all spectators can see all performer's faces since the actors are viewed by the audience from one direction only. The proscenium theater enables the use of a great deal of scenery due to the picture-frame type construction. Additionally, light is more easily controlled in the proscenium theater. Disadvantages include the division of the actors and the audience. Due to the requirements of scenery by the proscenium model the plays are more expensive to produce. The Thrust Stage is the second most commonly used stage and is referred to as a three-quarter stage. The stage literally 'thrusts' into the audience with the audience sitting on three sides of the stage.

Bibliography

Barranger, MS (2005) Theatre: A Way of Seeing, Cengage Learning.

Beacham, RC (1991) The Roman Theater and Its Audience. Richard C. Beacham. United States of America.

Fenbliosa, E. And Pound, E. (2004) The Noh Theatre of Japan With Complete Texts of 15 Classic Plays. Dover Publications.

Gottfried, M. (2004) Arthur Miller, His Life and His Work. Da Capo Press.

Hollier, D (1994) A New History of French Literature. Harvard University Press.

J.R. Green, Ancient Voices. Modern Echoes. Theatre in the Greek… READ MORE

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