Twelfth Night

Written around 1601, Twelfth Night is based on the short story "Of Apolonius and Silla", which in turn was based on another story. It is named after the Twelfth Night holiday of the Christmas season.

Twelfth Night marks the end of a winter festival. The Lord of Misrule (sort of the mascot for this holiday...like the Easter Bunny or Santa) symbolizes the world turning upside down. On this day the King and all those who were of high stature would become the peasants and vice versa. At the beginning of the twelfth night festival a cake containing a bean was eaten. The person who found the bean would run the feast--be "king for a day." Midnight signaled the end of his rule and the world would return to normal. The common theme was that the normal order of things was reversed. This Lord of Misrule tradition can be traced back to pagan festivals, such as the Celtic festival of Samhain and the Ancient Roman festival of Saturnalia.

The Winter Solstice (December 21st) historically marked the first day of many winter festivals. The 12 nights following and including the solstice represent the 12 zodiac signs of the year - and the 12th Night (New Years Day) is a culmination and celebration of the winter festivals. Thus, Shakespeare's title refers to New Years Day.

Food and drink are the center of this celebration. A special alcoholic punch called wassail is consumed especially on Twelfth Night, but throughout Christmas time, especially in the UK. Around the world, special pastries, such as the tortell and king cake are baked on Twelfth Night, and eaten the following day for the Feast of the Epiphany celebrations.

What's the connection? Look for reversals (of fortune, as well as gender), drunken revelry (particularly Sir Toby Belch and Sir Andrew Aguecheek), and a general misrule or mayhem that occurs.

Shakespeare's Twelfth Night is one of his most loved comedies. Many of his comedies rely on the mistaken identity shtick, as well as the cross-dressing shtick. These theatrical conventions are taken from the Roman comedies and commedia traditions (remember commedia dell'arte?) Other shtick's or stereotypical characters include the pining lover, the wise fool, and the foolish master. In any case, there's mishaps, misrule, and bawdy drunkenness in this playful play. Enjoy!

Black History Poetry/Performance

The Creative Writing department has been commissioned to participate in the SOTA Black History month performance on Feb. 5. The music department (Mr. Gabriel) is looking for an UPLIFTING, POSITIVE, and G-Rated original poem celebrating Black History. You might write about an important historical character/person, or overcoming obstacles successfully in a difficult world, or about the importance of hope and freedom and achieving your dreams.

Here are a few examples:

Homage to My Hips
I am a Cowboy in the Boat of Ra
Still I Rise

HOMEWORK: Extra Credit: write an inspiring poem for Black History. Use the samples as guidelines. NOTE: While you are welcome to read and perform your own poem, you do not have to to participate. You also do not need to be African American. You can celebrate the success of any culture! Anyone who submits (whether or not your poem is selected) will gain extra participation credit this marking period. Poems need to be collected by 1/18/13.

Realistic 10-Minute Play Project

Today, during period 1, please brainstorm and begin an idea for a realistic short 10-minute script. Your cast of characters should be small (2-5) and the play should be about some realistic social ISSUE. For a few suggestions, please check here. Before you leave today, you should have an idea for a short, realistic style play script. You may use your time in the lab this morning to research and make some choices concerning character, setting, plot events, and social issues/themes. Play scripts will be due by Tuesday of next week. Play scripts are first drafts and should be anywhere from 3-10 pages in play script format. Please note that very little lab time will be given to you to complete this assignment, as we will be using our time in class reading. You will have to complete this script on your own time at home. 

During period 2, we will begin our reading of Shakespeare. He is NOT realistic and is antithesis to the realistic style. We're reading him because you should know him very well, not only for your own literacy, but because his writing is an excellent example of stagecraft. Please take a moment this morning to respond to the Shakespeare survey. Then, before you begin the writing task, read about REALISM.

Realism

Realism is probably the most typical play script form. Not exactly tragedies, realism often relies on verisimilitude, the faithful representation of reality. As Ibsen used it, the form can be very helpful in raising societal issues (issues that are important to us as a society: such as divorce, economic problems, dating/marriage, equality, bullying, inappropriate social behavior, psychological issues, religious crises, parental issues, racial issues, social problems, etc.)  It often represents middle class issues, so characters and setting are often those familiar to the middle class, as opposed to "naturalism" which seeks to represent the lower classes (or the poor). At its heart, realism is a direct reaction against romanticism (and aburdism). This is not life as we WANT it to be, but life as it IS.

In American literature, "realism" starts around the Civil War (1860) through the 20th century, with the writings of William Dean Howells, Henry James, Mark Twain, Edith Wharton, Willa Cather, Hemingway, Steinbeck, and others. In playwriting, the works of George Bernard Shaw, Eugene O'Neill, George Kaufman, Tennessee Williams, William Inge, August Wilson, David Mamet, Neil Simon, Sam Shepherd, Marsha Norman, Alfred Uhry, Wendy Wasserstein, Harold Pinter, Alan Aykbourn, Robert Harling, Beth Henley, etc. all have elements of realism in one aspect or another, although playwrights use symbol, subjectivity, and various techniques and styles to create their own unique voice or theatrical "flavor".

Realism:

follows reality closely, and in detail. Stories/plots include the selective presentation of reality with an emphasis on verisimilitude (the appearance of reality/truth), even at the expense of a well-made plot. That means plots do not always resolve, problems are not always "fixed" by the end of a story, etc. Character is more important than action and plot; complex ethical choices are often the subject. Characters in realism must make a CHOICE, even if it's the wrong one. In realistic plays, this is often what the play is about. Class is important; realism is the choice for "middle class" writers/audiences. Events are plausible and "realistic". Realistic plays/novels avoid sensationalist and dramatic elements of naturalistic novels and romances (for example Shakespeare). Diction is natural vernacular, not heightened or poetic; tone may be comic, satiric, or matter-of-fact, but overall should sound realistic, as if it could be heard or spoken by the character saying the line. Objectivity becomes important. Think journalism. We want to see all sides of an issue. Characters often represent or portray one side or another of an issue. Interior is used more often than exterior settings. This also includes getting into the minds of the characters, usually through monologue rather than soliloquy (which is not realistic). The basic difference between realism and sentimentalism is that in realism, "the redemption of the individual character lay within the social world," but in sentimental fiction, "the redemption of the social world lay with the individual". A character needs society (friends, family, etc.), as opposed to the individual character being able to change society him/herself.   Dialogue is written, as we have mentioned before, with fragments, interruptions, digressions, and realistic statements. Characters interrupt each other, trail off, talk "around" a subject they are not comfortable with, and express themselves through dialogue. HOWEVER, remember that an occasional metaphor or the use of imagery and poetic devices can still make your dialogue more interesting (particularly in a monologue!) Avoid the over use of "hmms, and wells, and Ums" (they do not move the dialogue forward and can be added by an actor) and long, complex sentences (difficult to act) in favor of short declarative sentences and fragments. HOMEWORK: Please continue to work on your realistic 10-minute play script. This project is due next Tuesday, Jan. 15.

Hedda Gabler

First published in 1890 and produced in 1891 to negative reviews, Hedda Gabler has become one of Henrik Ibsen's most remembered plays apart from A Doll's House, An Enemy of the People, The Wild Duck, Ghosts, and the Master Builder. This is primarily due to the rigor of the acting role of Hedda Gabler. As a character, Hedda is at once a romantic feminist but also a manipulative, conniving villain. Hedda is neurotic, a child with a stormy ego. Her superego (represented by society and her married life) clashes with her id (her impulses and desires) in Freud's psychology. She is a tempest of a character, full of contradictions and subtext that makes playing her onstage a joy for any serious actress. In the play Hedda is the wife of Jorgen Tesman, but has had an earlier love affair with her husband's rival, Lovborg. In a gentler, simpler age this sort of behavior was considered shocking and inappropriate.

Other characters in the play include:

• Jørgen Tesman, the husband of Hedda; an academic
• Miss Juliane Tesman, Jørgen's aunt
• Mrs. Thea Elvsted, Jørgen's friend and Hedda's school rival
• Judge Brack, friend of the Tesmans; a judge
• Ejlert Løvborg, Jørgen's academic rival whom Hedda previously loved
• Berte, servant to the Tesmans and to Jørgen as a child

The setting takes place in the interior of a reception room (like a living room, it was meant to accommodate guests)

There are four acts: each act has only one scene. The set does not change, so it's just lights up and down to indicate time passing.

HOMEWORK: Please read any one other Ibsen play in the collection and post your response on the forum (this is a graded assignment) by Monday, Jan. 7. Due to inactivity of a large portion of the class, no late posts will be accepted for a grade. Please complete your work on time.

Beckett Response; Holiday Event

During 1st period, please complete your Beckett response on the forum. 2nd period there is a concert.

Ponies.

HOMEWORK: Please read Hedda Gabler and one other Ibsen play over the break.

Workshop, Revision, & Henrik Ibsen

Workshop: Please get into the following groups and workshop your plays.

Group A: Darren, Taina, Tim, Dominic, Julie, Jack, Vanessa
Group B: Hannah, Caleb, Sierra, Samantae, Neriah, Clara, Amelia

Advice about rewriting:

1. Rewriting requires a plan. What are you going to rewrite? Why are you going to rewrite (apart from the fact that I require it of you?)
2. When you know your script isn't ready and you can't figure out what's wrong, you need a new set of eyes to look at the script as if it were for the first time. Time helps here. But in our case, try to envision the play on stage. What might be some of the problems with the script? Can you fix that?
3. Rewriting is repair work. Your idea or a certain character might be great, but is clouded by other characters, misplaced lines, lack of development, and so on. If you can only correct one thing about your play: what would it be? Then correct that first.
4. Keep asking yourself the same question in #3.
5. Can anything be removed or added to the script? You want to cut redundancies and difficult to perform or non-essential action/dialogue. You want to add details, story, characterization, and conflict where appropriate. You also want to think about MESSAGE and theme. What are you trying to communicate? Have you done that? If not, do it.

During the second period please complete the following two assignments:

1. Revise and create a second draft of your absurdist play (This is essentially due (draft two) Wednesday).
2. Research the playwright: Henrik Ibsen.

A major 19th-century Norwegian playwright, theater director, and poet, Henrik Ibsen is often referred to as "the godfather" of modern drama and is one of the founders of Modernism in theatre. His works are what we call naturalistic.

Naturalism (1865-1900) attempts to go further from realism to suggest that social conditions, heredity, and environment affects human behavior. Plots often revolve around social problems, characters are often drawn from lower classes and the poor, perhaps in an attempt to explain their behavior.

In Hedda Gabler Ibsen explores infidelity and betrayal. His use of the "secret" as a conventional plot device is excellent. Hedda remains one of the most interesting dramatic characters of the 19th (and 20th) centuries--a juicy role for an actress!

HOMEWORK: Please read Hedda Gabler & one other Ibsen play in the collection you pick up. You should have completed your reading of Happy Days and you should remember to post a forum response on Beckett by Friday, Dec. 21. During the break, you will read 2 Ibsen plays (Hedda Gabler) and one other play that is not "A Doll's House". You may finish reading these plays by the end of the week if you do the work now, allowing you to have your break free and clear.

Happy Days & Writing an Absurdist Draft

Today you are going to write a short absurdist play. At the beginning of class, gather your ideas, look back over your metaphor and pre-writing we did in class. Write your theme on an index card and place it where you can see it during the class. Come up with 2-5 characters that represent something relating to your theme. Choose a setting.

After 5 minutes of such preparation, please begin writing. I would like you to try writing without too much stopping or pausing. Don't worry too much about plot, just muddle through it. If you get stuck add a new event. Have the hand of God fall from the sky. Have an unexplained event (if it's too crazy it can happen off-stage and a character who has witnessed it can come on stage and report to the others what has happened), etc. The point is: keep writing. Allow panic and fear of not getting this project done spur you to make absurd choices, if need be.

As you write, keep referring to your theme or metaphor. When stuck with something to discuss in dialogue, go back to your metaphor/theme, then digress if you need to.

Again, here are the elements of absurdist style. Use them.

1. Characters are often threatened by an unknown outside force.
2. The world or diegesis of the play/film is unpredictable or lacks meaning which the characters must contend with.
3. There is often an element of horror or tragedy; characters are often in hopeless situations or trapped. Remember the time lock and "the Trap"
4. Dialogue is often playful, full of nonsense, repetition, or engages in silly wordplay or banter.
5. Plays are often funny, although theme is usually serious and symbolic. Absurdist theatre is often called "tragicomedy", having elements of broad humor and tragedy.
6. There is often a good deal of farce (mistaken identity, physical comedy, slapstick, sudden entrances and interruptions, etc.)
7. Theatre of the absurd often presents characters failing at something without suggesting a solution to the problem. Characters are often "losers" who cannot dig themselves out of the problems they find themselves in.
8. Characters are often unable to communicate with others (particularly about their feelings, desires, or needs).
9. Plot is often cyclical or repetitive.
10. Plots have a dreamlike or surreal quality to them, akin to nightmare. Plot events are often taken at face value; characters are unwilling or uninterested in examining "why?" something happens and instead react to "what" happens. Therefore plot is often lacking the cause. The effect is often stressed as being more important.

At the end of the period (about 10 minutes to go, I'll call your attention to this and you should start wrapping up your play). End by focusing on your metaphor one more time. Plays should be a minimum of 3 pages in script format or you have failed this assignment.

HOMEWORK: Please complete your reading of Happy Days. The theme is domestic life. The metaphor is likely to be obvious. Sometimes a person in a relationship feels like they have lost control. Sometimes they might feel trapped or stuck. Sometimes they are powerless to affect change. Sometimes they focus so much on insignificant details and objects, that the bigger picture is lost. How do these statements refer to the play do you think?

• Here is the beginning of Act II.  Read your handout script along with the actor.
• Part Two.
• Part Three.

Please complete your reading of Happy Days (I suggest watching instead. It's more pleasurable, I think.) By next week, you should have posted a forum response on Beckett (due Dec. 21). See forum for question.