"Taking a range of plays studied on the course show how the play texts are affected by the particular style and cultural context of the theatre from which they are drawn."

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Danielle Abulhawa – DRA 1006

“Taking a range of plays studied on the course show how the play texts are affected by the particular style and cultural context of the theatre from which they are drawn.”

For this essay I will be looking at The Menaechmi by Plautus, Once upon Four Robbers by Femi Osofisan, Therese Raquin by Emile Zola, Hernani by Victor Hugo, Riders to the Sea by J.M. Synge, Aoi no Uye by Zenchiku Jinobu and East Lynne by Mrs Wood, adapted by T.A. Palmer. I have chosen this selection of plays as I feel it gives an accurate cross section of the plays which have made up the course this year. From delving into the culture surrounding these different plays I will be examining the cultural and political aspects which have affected their creation, and how these plays may reflect or affect reality.

        Plautus having been born in Italy became a Roman soldier, “This is probably when he was exposed to the delights of the Greek stage”. After the Macedonian conquest, Greek comedy moved away from “The daring personal and political satire of Aristophanes”. The Three era’s of Greek Comedy are categorised as Old, Middle and New, and the development of comedy is said to be “mainly due to the political and social conditions of Athens, it finally held up a mirror to all that was characteristic of Athenian life.”  Plautus made adaptations of Plays by the Popular Greek playwright Menander. However the refined work of Menander would hold little interest for a rowdy Roman crowd. So Plautus’ plays are, as the Romans would have loved to watch, full of debauchery and brashness. This can certainly be seen in The Menaechmi, from the very beginning of the play. The Prologue in its entirety encourages the audience to pay attention, with the rhyming language appealing to all classes and making the play very easy to listen to and understand. The character Menaechmus 1 is the epitome of infidelity and licentiousness; he says to his mistress Desiree “now can you guess what I want to do?” Desiree, your typical subservient sex object, replies “Yes, I know and what’s more, I’ll do what you want”. The language Plautus uses throughout is loaded with sexual innuendo “twist in it, won’t you?” and “Your Tight pants.” Plautus seemed to pander to the wants of his Roman audiences, with great success. Another playwright of the time who took ideas from Menander’s comedies was Terence. However Terence, unlike Plautus “cared little about public taste, instead he devoted himself to capturing the spirit of the Greek originals which he adapted”.

        East Lynne, adapted by T.A. Palmer, is another play which is a pure product of the popular culture of its time. One source of information I used in my research on East Lynne said “The story’s extreme emotionalism made it popular in its time, especially in the U.S. Today it is seen as the epitome of melodramatic excess.”  This quotation, I believe, really does sum up the feel of the play. The Victorian Era, from which the play is drawn, was filled with similar performances. The style was known as “Pictorial Theatre” as it conveyed absolutely no sense of realism, and simple pictures were used to make scenery. Looking at the play itself you can see the ‘stock’ characters very clearly, the insipid female roles, the strong over-bearing and controlling males, and the almost sickening displays of emotion that signify this romanticism. Particular lines that demonstrate this clearly within the text are this from Isabel: “Love and contentment can make the humblest home happy.” And: “When he leaves me it seems as though the sunshine had faded from my life”. The playwright makes little attempt to influence the actor’s interpretation of characters, with highly brief stage directions that literally just indicate each characters entrances and exits. Costumes at this time were contemporary clothing, and like every other aspect of this style, suggestively un-realistic – well at least it was consistent! Though this style was very popular at the time, interesting things were happening in Ireland…

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        “The hundred years between 1840 and 1940 saw Ireland struggle for, achieve, and deal with the consequences of political liberty and new nationhood.” The realism of theatre created by the likes of Synge, Yates, and Wilde eventually carried over to Britain and “is commonly known as the Irish Renaissance.” Personally I feel that this resurgence was brought on by the political liberty of Ireland and the desire to find a cultural identity.  J.M. Synge wrote plays about Irish peasant life and considering the popularity of melodrama in Britain the differences between East Lynne and Riders to the sea is enormous. The most ...

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