A Doll's House - Language

A Doll's House - Language Towards the end of the 19th century, Henrik Ibsen set out to write a play which represented a realistic society, a play without melodramatic language in unbelievable situations, and a play which attempted to show the realities of modern life. The result was unsurprisingly controversial, yet Ibsen sacrificed audience appeal for the naturalistic language he wanted to portray. The effect of this kind of dialogue meant that audiences were able to relate to the characters they were seeing on stage, and the familiarity of the situations was compelling. People were being shown situations that were possible, and realistic, and for many who preferred to see only the traditional Victorian values society, it was shocking. Unlike many other plays of that time, Ibsen used natural speech patterns and mannerisms appropriate to that time period, but didn't take realism too far that the dialogue was incomprehensible and overlapping. Throughout the play, Ibsen uses pauses to create a sense of awkwardness as well as using interruptions in the dialogue, in an attempt to portray more realistic conversations. Nora If you wanted to give me something, could you - could you - Helmer Say it, say it. The most naturalistic feature of the language is its ability to change within the play, and within characters. There is a clear difference between the styles of language Nora

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  • Level: AS and A Level
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Berkoff's Theatrical Purpose

What is Berkoff's theatrical purpose? Steven Berkoff didn't have an easy childhood but he escaped this through theatre. He started in small theatre groups around the country, but when he formed the London Theatre Group he become known for combining mime and theatre, and now, also, is known as a playwright. In his plays Berkoff intends to provoke his audiences by showing grotesque images of his characters, and, with careful, exaggerated movement, include the audience in the performance and be consumed by the atmosphere of the play e.g. in the Fall of the House of Usher the sense of the 'House' is created before the audience enter by using a sound-scape and not through a set as Berkoff focuses more on the actor. Also Berkoff's idea of 'Total Theatre' aims to challenge the audience using all the aspects offered by the theatre including athletic actors. He used this style to make the audience more than just on-lookers of the performance and to bring the text to life, rather than just to portray what is written. He would also try to replace things on stage such as props and furniture with the actor's bodies so as not to let anything distract from the actors and what they are trying to put across 'why not make a grotesque throne out of bodies if other materials are scarce'. He goes between using stylized movement that seems almost robotic in plays such as 'East' and the very slow,

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As an actor using Stanislavski's system, how would you use his ideas on 'imagination', 'units and objectives' and 'emotion mem

As an actor using Stanislavski's system, how would you use his ideas on 'imagination', 'units and objectives' and 'emotion memory' in the preparation for a role? There are many ways we can use Stanislavski's system when preparing for a role as an actor. We can use 'imagination', 'emotion memory', and we can split the play into 'units and objectives'. Stanislavski believed that "every movement you make, every word you speak ... is the result of your imagination." Using 'imagination' makes the role that the actor has to undertake more convincing. Stanislavski believed that there were three types of imagination: actors who can take the iniative to invoke their own imagination, actors who can be easily aroused by the director and then people who just do not respond at all. The easier it is for the actor to use their 'imagination', the richer their characterizations will be when preparing for and acting a role. The 'imagination' should be focused and based on observations the actor has made so it will not wonder and become unrealistic. The 'imagination' fills in the blanks that the author has missed and so they need to be very precise and use their 'imagination' to provide extra detail to what has happened to the character not only on stage, but before and after as well. This helps the actor to go on an 'imaginative journey', everything must be logical so that the acting still

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  • Level: AS and A Level
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