Styles Of Plays
What is a musical?
A musical is a form of theater that incorporates the spoken word in addition to songs, music and dance, in varying degrees. You can have a musical that doesn't have dance for instance. You can have a musical that doesn't have spoken word. It's very closely related to the operatic tradition. Operas are always sung throughout and, at the same time, musicals can be sung through, like Les Miserables for instance. But usually, in general terms, it incorporates all of those elements.
How long have musicals been performed?
As early as the fifth century BC. The Greeks incorporated song and dance and music into their comedies and tragedies. So if you think about it that way, its been around that long. When we think of the musical today, people normally think that the start of the American musical theatre tradition started with Oklahoma and Rodgers and Hammerstein. That was really the first musical that where the songs actually told the story, in a way. It furthered the plot. Whereas before that, it had sort of been the story, the play interspersed with moments of music.
What is an Opera?
We have the Italians to thank for Opera. It's an Italian tradition that dates back to the 1600s. Viceroys and princes would create elaborate, very expensive sets and costumes; the townspeople would participate in these fantastic productions that would last a day. Very lavish, over the top production values. Incorporates a lot of different traditions than other musical forms, for instance: by and large operas are all sung through. There is also a different vocal technique used in opera singing than, say, in musical theater singing, different conventions, but there is a close link between musical theater and opera. Opera is also usually performed in an Opera House. Certain examples of opera include Tosca, Carmen, those are probably some of the most famous ones. Pavarotti has become sort of a popular cultural icon. That just goes to show how popular opera music is around the world
What is a 'straight play'?
When people talk about a straight play, they really are talking about the traditional theatrical production. And a straight play usually does not include any music or songs although in some cases it can used songs, but they're used more as characterizations instead of to further the plot. And it's usually a term that's used to basically differentiate between a musical and a non-musical. Some of the best examples of straight plays include Tennessee William's Glass Menagerie, Death of a Salesman is something that most people will be familiar with. And it's also amazing, you might be surprised at how many movies are based on what used to be originally straight plays.
What is the 'theatre of the absurd'?
The Theatre of the Absurd, also known as the New Theatre Movement, is a style of theatre that emerged in the late 40's, 50's, and 60's, in Europe, mainly out of France. The four vanguards of this movement, who started it, or who are attributed for starting it, are Lonesco, Beckett, Jean Genet, and Adamov. And some of the best examples include Lonesco's "Rhinoceros" and Samuel Beckett's "Waiting for Godot". In general terms, the Theatre of the Absurd incorporates nonsensical dialogue, non sequiturs, in a way to sort of capture the chaos of life, the seeming nonsensical nature of life. And this was really sort of a push after World War II, and the sort of the atrocities that were created. People were just living in an insane world. And what's interesting about it is that, as sort of nonsensical as it may be, as the incorporation of surrealistic elements may be, it also has an underlying layer of truth to it. And, in fact, perhaps we can learn more about the chaos we live through a depiction of life as chaos. If that makes sense.
What is 'avant-garde' theater?
Avant-garde theater has become known as a catch-all term these days for anything that's known as experimental. If you think of actually the movement of avant-garde theatre, it started in the 20th century; it's a western tradition. It really started as a result of playwrights and artists who wanted to throw away conventions of theatre up to that point. I mentioned earlier the neo-classical norms of theatre that were created by the Greeks. It was sort of a movement away from that. It was doing away with time and space, incorporating surrealistic elements. There have been a lot of dramaters and historians, theatre historians, who have sort of postulated that the avant-garde movement, really, if you look at playwrights such as Antonin Artaud and his "theatre of cruelty" for instance. It really is sort of a move toward more primitive theatre; toward visceral, emotional theatre. But in this day and age it's also sort of progressed to encompass performance art, for instance; one-person shows, Karen Finley, for instance, anything that sort of perverts the mainstream and the social conventions of the time.
