Chapter 9



Chapter 9

Suggested Assignments for Theatre in Your Life

1. Since Realism now dominates as a form, why do you think the world seemed to get along fine without it for so long before it evolved?

2. Which of the four “great thinkers” (Comte, Marx, Darwin, Freud) identified in this chapter do you think has the greatest impact on your own view of the world?

3. Why is it that for over 2,000 years, playwrights seemed unconcerned with writing about the average person?

4. Of recent theatre or films you have attended, which came closest to pure realism?

5. Of recent theatre or films you have attended, which came closest to Romanticism and Naturalism?

6. What is the most Naturalistic detail you have experienced as an audience member?

7. What has been the most sweeping, romantic moment you have experienced in the theatre?

8. Consider someone writing or directing the story of your life so far. Which of the four (Realism, Romanticism, Naturalism, Magic Realism) would be likely to be chosen for the style or treatment? Why?

9. Do you determine any trend in films at present to favor one of the three forms examined in this chapter?

10. In order to more fully grasp Magic Realism, identify the weirdest thing that ever happened to you—an encounter with the paranormal or even a miracle that cannot be explained within the confines of realism. Place this experience in the context of the more mundane events of that day and allow yourself to say “yes” to these everyday juxtapositions.

Suggested Activities for Theatre in Your Life

1. Individual: Identify a moment of importance in your own life. Think about your story as a Romantic epic, a Realist social drama, and a Naturalistic “slice of your life.” How does it change the meaning of this event to look at it through these three different lenses?

2. Group: Choose a world news event of interest to you and prepare a Naturalistic docudrama report of it for presentation to class. Then dramatize the event by applying Romantic or Realistic selectivity to it. Which style best represents the story you really want to tell?

3. Long term: Follow an event unfolding in the world around you, whether that is your personal drama or the global stage. Keep a journal in which you try to report just the facts, naturalistically, and then render it as social realism intending to solve a problem. Finally, see what happens if you set this event on the epic stage of the Romantic vision.

Does your participation in the event change depending on your approach? Does the outcome or meaning of the event change?

4. Large Group: Watch a news story together and determine if it is being reported in true “slice of life” fashion or not. Are parts of the story actually dramatized as Social Realism? Does any part of it seem to follow the ideas of the Romantics? Should news reports include anything but the facts?

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