Kabuki Theatre

Kabuki is a Japanese theatre practice, one of three major styles. Highly dramatic plays with actors in heavy make up are charecteristic of Kabuki. Chikamatsu Monzaemon was one of the first playwriters of Kabuki, his piece Sonezaki Shinju is a deragotype of the practice.
Kabuki is an acting style, and was both influnced by, and influenced sociopolitical events.

Origins of Theatre

Greek Theatre (PBS)  http://www.pbs.org/empires/thegreeks/background/24a_p1.html

Holistic Theatre (Ronald W. Vince) http://books.google.com/books?id=5uM3qSQikdIC&pg=PA14&lpg=PA14&dq=origins+of+theatre+egypt&source=bl&ots=Ct-f-c7BKQ&sig=WZYzrdV6Z4zwTeDtMQmagDH0cJ4&hl=en&ei=5IfnSs2fIoKcswPS6qiqBQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CBMQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=&f=false

(Sorry for the super-long Hyperlink)

Both sources cite the difficulty of nailing down how theatre started because it is so broadly defined, and existing records are hard to find. PBS focuses extensivley on th evolution of Greek drama. It all started with the worship of  Dionysus, the god of wine, and one of the twelve olympians. Vince uses a more holistic interpretaion of the begining centuries of theatre. His writing is peppered with quotes and citations from other sources. Vince also talks about the reasons behind theatre, and why we even do it.

 

Numero Uno

As of yet nothing exiting has happened, but I will add my previous journal enties.

Weeks from 9/9/09 to 10/2/09

9/9/09 Began to think about art forms outside of American theatre. On my list: something Inuit or Siberian, and something Irish (not dance) or Scottish. I don’t know why I am drawn to these, other than I am completely unfamiliar with them.
9/11-15/09 Preformed a skit modeled on the aims of IB theatre. We replaced the word “theatre” in the aims with the word “Doomsday”. Our skit used theatre to express how the arts are looked upon by the world. Everyone is one of the following: a maker, a observer, a recorder, or a critic.
9/17/09 Watched other aim skits, going to try out for one acts after school. Spontaneity is an important thing to have as an actor, going to keep this in mind at auditions. Also talked about the aspects of Theatre in the World, Making, and Performance.
9/18/09 Improv activity today. Changing emotions, this requires a good vocabulary, quick thinking, and an ability to keep the story going after a random change of mood. I did ok, but there is always room to improve. I can work on not getting trapped in the norm of what is “supposed” to happen.
9/21/09 Ensemble activity today. Typewriter, a rhythm, teamwork, and concentration based game. In our group of four we stomped, clapped, and put a hand straight out, while saying the letters of the alphabet. After realizing we did not know the letters of the alphabet, we switched to numbers. A greater degree of success was achieved by using numbers.
9/23/09 Stimulus practice today. Black is the Color of My True Love’s Hair. As a stage piece I see a stage with some sort of wall bisecting into two starkly contrasting scenes. On one side is a man imprisoned long to see his lover again. He is dressed in a burlap smock, cheaply made. His hair is unkempt, his face bloody and dark from repeated beatings. He tries to stand tall and proud despite his pain. He laments his situation and reminisces about his lover beyond the walls of his cell. A few brief conversations with his guard are heard. On the outside a knight tries to go along with his daily life. He finds it difficult because his lover is in prison for sodomy. The only reason the prisoner is still alive is because the knight ordered him not to be killed. The knight would rather be in jail with his lover than in the real world without him. The knight is brave and valiant, serving his king well. He is often seen in tableaus of his victories, pictured in dark reds, greens, and yellows. The king is not happy with the knight though, for he talks of radical new ideas. On the day the prisoner is finally sentenced to death, the king also sends the knight on a suicide mission into enemy lands. The prisoner and the knight are finally reunited in death.
9/25/09 Another stimulus practice today. Bereft by Robert Frost. A man who is hated on both sides for his radical ideas of religion and politics stands at the stairs of a government building. A group of protester is assembling around him, and government officials wait behind closed doors. The man is well dressed, in a suit; the officials are in crisp dark jackets, the protesters their everyday wear. A storm cloud is seen in the distance as well as a sunset. He goes on in length about the errs of the world. Protesters challenge his right of free thought. The entire world is waiting to see what will happen next. The crowd is staggered so it appears there are more in the group than there actually are. In the end the officials decide he is a threat, and execute him in front of everyone. Outrage is felt by all sides, and some of the protesters and officials take on his views, and start a new campain.
9/28/09 Migrant mother. The youngest son of the family that owns the pea farm is troubled. He alone is left to deal with the madness of the early frost, and the scores who now have no work, and soon no place to stay. He does not know how to kick the needy families of his land. He goes to his priest; he offers solace but looks troubled. The priest has his own personal demons to deal with. After mentally building up our characters we did some improv with them. This exercise provided some of the most depressing scenes ever.
10/2/09 Dignity village. Connecting a modern day struggle of poverty with the dust bowl. The leader of dignity village is eying a pair of empty lots owned by ODOT on water ave. as a new tent city site. Everybody brainstormed production ideas. On the short list: interactivity, actors in costumes in a tent city set, acting as homeless, and audience interacts, meanwhile staged conflicts occur among actors; Day in the life of a homeless person; An envisioning of the space on water ave, as everyone wants it, Big question, What really matters to the people?