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General terms in drama, theatre, and acting.

Action

[edit]

Need to incorporate Barba's notion of action from Dramaturgy in Dictionary of Theatre Anthropology.

"It is evident that the possible worlds of the drama are never simple and static states of affairs but, rather, complex successions of states."[1]

"Thus the fictional world [...] is not constituted by the initial or final state of affairs represented but by the entire sequence of actions, events and situations dramatized."[2]

"A dramatic event is thus a change within the existing state of affairs".[3]

Action constitutes the most important type of dramatic event. As Elam explains, an "action" is performed when "there is a being, conscious of his doings, who intentionally brings about a change of some kind, to some end, in a given context." Dramatic events also include occurrences that not considered to be "actions" because they are beyond or beneath human volition (such as death by natural causes, natural disasters, deus ex machina interventions, or unconscious human behaviour). Elam goes on to identify six constitutive elements of an action: "an agent, his intention in acting, the act or act-type produced, the modality of the action (manner and means), the setting (temporal, spatial and circumstantial) and the purpose." Elam (2002, 109). Combinations of actions are distinguished as "sequences" (where an over-arching purpose links the actions) or "series" (where actions succeed one another without a connection). In order to demonstrate the distinction between an action's "intention" and its "purpose", Elam provides the following example: "a family decides to spend a Sunday afternoon at the zoo, and so sets out in the family car only to find, on arrival, that the zoo is closed. In this case the intended action sequence (driving to the zoo) is duly performed, but its purpose (to allow the family to spend the afternoon looking at animals) is not fulfilled" (2002, 110). Elam's description resembles Kenneth Burke's "dramatism" (his analysis of the components of action) and its "dramatistic pentad": act, scene, agent, agency, and purpose; see his A Grammar of Motives (1945). Alice Rayner provides a book-length study of the nature of dramatic action in her To Act, To Do, To Perform (1994).

Action unifies the different semiotic systems of theatre language. Pavis suggests that this unifying function of action was stressed by the Prague Linguistic Circle: "Action—the very essence of dramatic art—fuses word, actor, costume, scenery and music in the sense that we recognize them as conductors of a single current that travels through them, passing from one to the other or through several at a time"; Jindřich Honzl, quoted by Pavis (1998, 346).

"Aristotle's concept of action has a strong moral content; it means a purposeful action, resulting from a decision, for which its agent is to some degree responsible. Good and bad decisions are fundamental expressions of character, which differs by virtue and vice."[4]

A scene is


Conventional divisions.

"Where 'breaks' are signified to the reader by means of acts and scenes, in performance such divisions may not be apparent."[6]

In French neoclassical drama, for example, a new scene begins each time a character enters or exits.[7]

Interesting bit on Maeterlinck's subversion of dramatic form via lyrical "tableaux".[8] Then the "cyclical mirroring" of the two acts of Waiting for Godot.

problem play as successor to well-made play.[9]


"It is evident that the possible worlds of the drama are never simple and static states of affairs but, rather, complex successions of states."[11]

"Thus the fictional world [...] is not constituted by the initial or final state of affairs represented but by the entire sequence of actions, events and situations dramatized."[12]

"A dramatic event is thus a change within the existing state of affairs".[13]

Action constitutes the most important type of dramatic event.[14] Action unifies the different semiotic systems of theatre language.[15]

Elam objects to the use of the "quest" pattern to exemplify the dramatic structure of all drama: "while it is unquestionable that much classical, popular and folk drama adopts such a form (Oedipus and Everyman being notable examples), it is by no means clear that this is the appropriate framework in which to consider, say, Miss Julie or Travesties."[16]

Notes

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  1. ^ Elam (2002, 105).
  2. ^ Elam (2002, 105).
  3. ^ Elam (2002, 109).
  4. ^ Janco (1987, 71).
  5. ^ Aston and Savona (1991, 16).
  6. ^ Aston and Savona (1991, 17).
  7. ^ Aston and Savona (1991, 17).
  8. ^ Aston and Savona (1991, 18).
  9. ^ Aston and Savona (1991, 20).
  10. ^ Harrison (1998, 235-236).
  11. ^ Elam (2002, 105).
  12. ^ Elam (2002, 105).
  13. ^ Elam (2002, 109).
  14. ^ As Elam explains, an "action" is performed when "there is a being, conscious of his doings, who intentionally brings about a change of some kind, to some end, in a given context." Dramatic events also include occurrences that not considered to be "actions" because they are beyond or beneath human volition (such as death by natural causes, natural disasters, deus ex machina interventions, or unconscious human behaviour). Elam goes on to identify six constitutive elements of an action: "an agent, his intention in acting, the act or act-type produced, the modality of the action (manner and means), the setting (temporal, spatial and circumstantial) and the purpose." Elam (2002, 109). Combinations of actions are distinguished as "sequences" (where an over-arching purpose links the actions) or "series" (where actions succeed one another without a connection). In order to demonstrate the distinction between an action's "intention" and its "purpose", Elam provides the following example: "a family decides to spend a Sunday afternoon at the zoo, and so sets out in the family car only to find, on arrival, that the zoo is closed. In this case the intended action sequence (driving to the zoo) is duly performed, but its purpose (to allow the family to spend the afternoon looking at animals) is not fulfilled" (2002, 110). Elam's description resembles Kenneth Burke's "dramatism" (his analysis of the components of action) and its "dramatistic pentad": act, scene, agent, agency, and purpose; see his A Grammar of Motives (1945). Alice Rayner provides a book-length study of the nature of dramatic action in her To Act, To Do, To Perform (1994).
  15. ^ Pavis suggests that this unifying function of action was stressed by the Prague Linguistic Circle: "Action—the very essence of dramatic art—fuses word, actor, costume, scenery and music in the sense that we recognize them as conductors of a single current that travels through them, passing from one to the other or through several at a time"; Jindřich Honzl, quoted by Pavis (1998, 346).
  16. ^ Elam (2002, 118).

Sources

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  • Aston, Elaine, and George Savona. 1991. Theatre as Sign-System: A Semiotics of Text and Performance. London and New York: Routledge. ISBN 0415049326.
  • Burke, Kenneth. 1945. A Grammar of Motives. California edition. Berkeley: U of California P, 1969. ISBN 0520015444.
  • Elam, Keir. 2002. The Semiotics of Theatre and Drama. 2nd edition. New Accents Ser. London and New York: Routledge. ISBN 0415280184. Originally published in 1980.
  • Harrison, Martin. 1998. The Language of Theatre. London: Routledge. ISBN 0878300872.
  • Rayner, Alice. 1994. To Act, To Do, To Perform: Drama and the Phenomenology of Action. Theater: Theory/Text/Performance Ser. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. ISBN 047210537X.

Scratchpad

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