Chekhov worked with Stanislavski at the Moscow Art Theatre.
Ibsen is widely referred to as the 'father' of modern drama.
(Pretty strong references...I think you'll agree)
These authors believed in the acting method that was proposed and developed by Stanislavski; their plays had scenic reality, a linear timeline, thematic realism etc...
Basically they were written with this method of acting in mind.
For each of the following plays provide a short summary that makes note of the main events of the play, some of the characters, the moral/message and the context (time and place).
Anton Chekov
Three Sisters
The Cherry Orchard
The Seagull
Uncle Vanya
An Enemy of the People
Henrik Ibsen
Hedda Gabler
Ghosts
Peer Gynt
A Doll's House
A Dolls House
ReplyDeleteThis play was written in 1879 by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. It is a three act play about a seemingly typical housewife who becomes disillusioned and dissatisfied with her condescending husband.
Main Characters
Torvald Helmer - He is a lawyer who has been promoted to manager in the bank.
Nora - She is Torvald’s wife who is treated like a child by Torvald’s but leaves in the end because of it.
Krogstad - He is the man Nora borrowed money from to pay for the trip to Italy.
Dr. Rank - He is an admirer of Nora who has spinal TB and announces his death at the end of the play.
The main message of A Doll's House is that a true marriage is a joining of equals and the play centers on the dissolution of a marriage that doesn't meet these standards. At first the Helmers seem happy but over the course of the play, the imbalance between them becomes more and more apparent. By the end, the marriage breaks apart due to a complete lack of understanding between them.
Ghost
ReplyDeletethe play was written in 1881 but first staged in 1882 and was written by Hendrik ibson.
the play is also a scathing commentary on 19th century morality.
the play is about a character who wants to dedicate an orphanage that she has built in the memory of her dead husband.
she also goes to see a spiritual adviser to tell her she has built this orphanage so that the characters son wont inherit any of his dads wealth.
the main characters are
Mrs. Helene Alving, a widow.
Oswald Alving, her son, a painter.
Pastor Manders.
Jacob Engstrand, a carpenter.
Regina Engstrand believes she is the daughter of Jacob Engstrand, but is actually Captain Alving's child. She is also Mrs. Alving's maid.
the message is to show people disease as not many people used to talk about it in them days and that even a person who followed society's ideals of morality had no protection against it
Peer Gynt
ReplyDeleteThe five act play, Peer Gynt was written by the Norwegian dramatist, Henrik Ibsen, and was first published in 1867.
Peer Gynt is a pretty wild guy who runs through the mountains instead of helping his widowed mother Aase. He gets into the cavity of the Troll King. Peer Gynt asks a Trollin to be his wife, but the Troll King is the condition that peer must first himself become a troll...
Charcters:
*Aase, a peasant’s widow
*Peer Gynt, Ase’s son
*The Old Man of the Mountains, a troll king (Also known as, The Mountain King)
*The farmer at Hegstad with his daughter, Ingrid
*A green-clad woman- a troll princess
*A man and a wife, newcomers to the district with their daughters Solveig and little Helga (where just Solveig important is)
I think the message of this play is that Peer is someone who makes fun of everything and doesn’t see the seriousness of the challange in the life. He will understand it after having a big journey and a hard time until he is old and comes back to his hometown. (I’m not sure about that)
The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov-Premiered at the Moscow Art Theatre 17 January 1904 in a production directed by Constantin Stanislavski.It was Chekhov's last play.
ReplyDeleteThe Cherry Orchard was an estate owned by Madame Ranevsky ,an aristocrat, who loved it because of its romanticism and she had a deep attachment with the place because of the memories of her ancestors. However, she loses the orchard because even though it is beautiful and she likes the idea that lovers can stroll through it (and blah blah), it doesn't pay the bills. Lophakin tries to encourage the family to build villas on the land or do something in order to pay debts, but as first Madame Ranevsky won't hear of it. Eventually, when she is desperate it's bought by Lophakin who has risen from the serfs(out of the liberation of the serfs in Russia) and he is greedy and lets commercialism of the orchard go ahead, devastating its beaty and aristocratic status; he ends up building those villas he suggested. One theme of the play is social change- that the aristocrats lose power and the former serfs rise up in modern times. A message of the play could be to let go of the past or let modern times take over- as Mmw. Ranevskys downfall throughout the whole play was that she couldn't let go of her old, impractical way of life and couldn't adapt to the new Russia, so she loses her estate.
Mme. Ranevsky
Anya- Mme. Ranevsky's daughter
Varya-Ranevsky's adopted daughter
Gaev/Gaef/Gayev?- Mme. Ranevsky's brother
Lopakhin-Liberated surf who makes it big
Trofimov-Student at the local university
Simeonov-Pischin-Nobleman who is also in financial difficulties.
Charlotta-Anya's governess
Yephikodov-Klerk at the Ranevsky estate
Firs-Ranevsky's 87 year old man-servant
Yasha-Young man-servant of Mme. Ranevsky, following her ever since she left for France.
Dunyasha-Maid on the estate.
Looks like I don't do short...Soz.
ReplyDeleteThe Seagull - Anton Chekhov
ReplyDeleteThe play is set on a Russian estate and farm with natural scenery settings used for the performance. A school teacher named Medvedenko believes he will be more happier and more attractive to suit Masha if he had more money as he is poor. Masha is the daughter of the estate manager. The play is a dramatises the romantic and artistic conflict between Irina, Nina, Treplyov and Trigorin.
The characters in the play are;
Treplev who is in his twenties and is an only child. His mother is a famous actress. He is in love with Nina, he kills himself when it is revealed that she can not love him back.
Irina is one of the central protagonists and is a middle ages woman. Beauty and fame is passed in her prime. She is the lover of the famous actor Trigorin. Irina is also a very likeable flawed character.
Nina compares herself to a seagull. She returns to Treplev but still loves Trigorin. She becomes stronger and wiser throughout the play and is capeable to do things on her own. She copes with negative things that arise in her life unlike Treplev.
Boris is Irina's lover and he is a writer. He is faithful to Irina although he is tempted to Nina for her beauty and flattery and so he has an affair with her. One of his hobbies is fishing.
Sorin is a sixty year old land owner of the estate. He retired from working for the government and lived on his country farm. He is very wise and wistful.
Yevgeny is the local doctor and was once a popular and handsome ladies man. He offers an outsiders perspective to the play and functions as though he was the audience.
Masha is the daughter of Paulina and Shamrayev. She always wears black as she is depressed and hates her life. Masha is a heavy drinker and snuff addict.
Illya acts as manager of Sorin's farm. Adores Irina's fame and fortune and flatters her alot.
Semyon is a local school teacher who is poor and supports his family as well as supporting his later family with Masha. He also complains about his poverty alot.
Paulina is the mother of Masha and manages Sorin's estate. She is a very unhappy woman.
an enemy of the people is a play by Henrik Ibsen in 1882 ... also seen in a film in 1989 called Satyajit Ray.
ReplyDeleteDr. Thomas Stockmann is a popular citizen of a small coastal town in Norway. The town has recently invested a large amount of public and private money towards the development of baths, a project led by Dr. Stockmann and his brother, Peter Stockmann, the Mayor. The town is expecting a surge in tourism and prosperity from the new baths, said to be of great medicinal value, and as such, the baths are a source of great local pride. However, just as the baths are proving successful, Dr. Stockmann discovers that waste products from the town's tannery are contaminating the waters, causing serious illness amongst the tourists. He expects this important discovery to be his greatest achievement, and promptly sends a detailed report to the Mayor, which includes a proposed solution which would come at a considerable cost to the town. the town cant afford the money an could go bankrupt.
Dr. Thomas Stockmann.
Mrs. Stockmann, his wife.
Petra, their daughter, a teacher.
Ejlif & Morten, their sons.
Peter Stockmann, Dr. Stockmann's elder brother.
Morten Kiil, a tanner (Mrs. Stockmann's adoptive father), also known as the badger.
Hedda Gabler, published in 1890, was first performed in Munich, Germany, on January 31, 1891, and over the next several weeks was staged in a variety of European cities, including Berlin, Stockholm, Copenhagen, and Christiania (Oslo). Its premier performance in English occurred in London, on April 20 of the same year, in a translation by Edmund Gosse and William Archer (a translation that has continued to be employed throughout the twentieth century).
ReplyDeleteA doll's house by Henrik Ibsen 1879
ReplyDeleteIt is about a housewife Nora who is always treated like a doll by both her husband and father. She ends up leaving her husband and children so as to start her own lifeworking for herself.
Main Characters
Torvald Helmer- He is a lawyer who has been promoted to be a bank manger
Nora Helmer- She is Torvald's wife and also a housewife.
Krogstad- Works with Torvald and lent money to Nora so that she could take Torvald for a holiday.
Dr Rank- Torvald's friend who has spinal TB and also likes Nora.
Mrs Linde- Nora's friend who is a widowed. She used to be in love with Krogstad.
The message of the the text is about marriage and treatment of women. The marriage between Helmer's is dillusional as they think their marriage is running smoothly it turns out they break up after 8 years of marriage. Nora is treated like a doll by his husband. He calls her "little Squirrel" as if she is a toy which he controls.
A Doll's House (Norwegian: Et dukkehjem) is an 1879 play by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. Written one year after The Pillars of Society, the play was the first of Ibsen's to create a sensation and is now perhaps his most famous play, and required reading in many secondary schools and universities. The play was controversial when first published, as it is sharply critical of 19th century marriage norms.[1] It follows the formula of well-made play up until the final act, when it breaks convention by ending with a discussion, not an unravelling. It is often called the first true feminist play. The play is also an important work of the naturalist movement, in which real events and situations are depicted on stage in a departure from previous forms such as romanticism. The influence of the play was recognized by UNESCO in 2001 when Henrik Ibsen's autographed manuscripts of A Doll's House were inscribed on the Memory of the World Register in recognition of their historical value
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