Bharata Muni and Western Dramatic Theory

This Paper highlights a few generalizations about the Western dramatic theory represented by Aristotle and Indian dramatic theory represented by Bharata Muni. The purpose of this paper is not to suggest that Indian theory of drama is superior to the western but is to point out their differences. Obviously there is a fundamental difference between the Western and the Indian modes of thinking. Aristotle’s Western dramatic theory is based on tragedy. On the other hand Bharata Muni’s dramatic theory is based on the Indian theory of Karma. In Bharata’s theory “Rasa” is the sole object of dramatic representation. But there is one interesting point. Whereas western dramatic theory cannot be applied to Sanskrit drama, Bharata’s theory of rasa, as S.C. Sen Gupta. has shown, can be employed with profit in appreciating the western drama. The Paper concluded by suggesting that both the Indian and the Western theories of drama as represented by Bharata and Aristotle respectively have broken down and splintered. In fact, the very idea of tradition, which had sustained these theories, has disappeared from the modern world. Its place is now occupied by individualization and experimentation.

The Theatrical R. L. S.: an Evaluation of the Theatrical Aspects of Robert Louis Stevenson

<p>Within a format of Shakespeare's seven ages of man, the seven stages of Robert Louis Stevenson are presented here as an inaugural investigation of his theatricality. The Introduction deals with this theatricality generally and is concerned, in its two parts, with the more technical elements of theatricality as they relate to the principles of dramatic theory. Stage One is a curtailed family history as a general background to his development and deals with his introduction to Mr Skelt's Toy Theatre. Consideration is also given in Section 3 to his first juvenile dramatic writing. Stage Two tells of his beginning to 'act a part' while at Edinburgh University. This stage also covers the amateur theatricals and the friendships with Fleeming Jenkin, Mrs Sitwell and Sidney Colvin. Stage Three introduces William Ernest Henley. With Stevenson he writes Deacon Brodie for Henry Irving. Stevenson courts and marries Mrs Osbourne while the playwriting goes on by correspondence. The London performance of Deacon Brodie is discussed and its American production with Edward J. Henley. Stage Four covers 1884 - the playwriting year at Bournemouth. Beau Austin and Admiral Guinea are discussed with comment and analysis offered under separate headings. The adaptation of Macaire is considered in relation to Beerbohm Tree. The Hanging Judge and the meeting with Thomas Hardy are also considered. Then follow general remarks about all the plays with special reference to Arthur Pinero's 1903 lecture on Robert Louis Stevenson as Dramatist. Stage Five is a consideration of Early Victorian theatre and its influence on the Henley-Stevenson partnership. This Stage features the final years of the two Henleys and includes a consideration of the Henley review of Balfour's official biography of Stevenson. Stage Six shows us Stevenson as the Scotch Tusitala, the Patriarch of Vailiama, reading his work aloud from the verandah. It is the final performance and in four short sections we see him rise only to die. Stage Seven is devoted entirely to adaptations of Stevensonia by other writers for all performing media to date. A comprehensive survey of R.L.S. and the drama is an area of Stevenson scholarship which has been either neglected or ill-considered. It is the intention of this study to offer a new focus to this dimension of his literary oeuvre and thus encourage a fresh approach to the Stevenson plays as a whole. It also offers an opportunity to consider his relationship with W.E. Henley and Mrs F.V. Stevenson, his collaborators in the five finished playscripts. In doing so, it puts into perspective the place of the plays in Victorian dramaturgy. Biographical facts and quotations from the Works are used where they may reflect his lifelong preoccupation with the theatre and where they may argue, by analysis or illustration, the theatrical potential evident, not only in the plays, but in every element of his personality. This is the man of theatre as theatrical man. A complete list of adaptations of his work in all the performing media and also selected reviews of his plays are added in support of the conclusion which is, sadly, that in considering R.L.S. as dramatist - one can only regret the loss to the theatre of what might have been...</p>

The Theatrical R. L. S.: an Evaluation of the Theatrical Aspects of Robert Louis Stevenson

<p>Within a format of Shakespeare's seven ages of man, the seven stages of Robert Louis Stevenson are presented here as an inaugural investigation of his theatricality. The Introduction deals with this theatricality generally and is concerned, in its two parts, with the more technical elements of theatricality as they relate to the principles of dramatic theory. Stage One is a curtailed family history as a general background to his development and deals with his introduction to Mr Skelt's Toy Theatre. Consideration is also given in Section 3 to his first juvenile dramatic writing. Stage Two tells of his beginning to 'act a part' while at Edinburgh University. This stage also covers the amateur theatricals and the friendships with Fleeming Jenkin, Mrs Sitwell and Sidney Colvin. Stage Three introduces William Ernest Henley. With Stevenson he writes Deacon Brodie for Henry Irving. Stevenson courts and marries Mrs Osbourne while the playwriting goes on by correspondence. The London performance of Deacon Brodie is discussed and its American production with Edward J. Henley. Stage Four covers 1884 - the playwriting year at Bournemouth. Beau Austin and Admiral Guinea are discussed with comment and analysis offered under separate headings. The adaptation of Macaire is considered in relation to Beerbohm Tree. The Hanging Judge and the meeting with Thomas Hardy are also considered. Then follow general remarks about all the plays with special reference to Arthur Pinero's 1903 lecture on Robert Louis Stevenson as Dramatist. Stage Five is a consideration of Early Victorian theatre and its influence on the Henley-Stevenson partnership. This Stage features the final years of the two Henleys and includes a consideration of the Henley review of Balfour's official biography of Stevenson. Stage Six shows us Stevenson as the Scotch Tusitala, the Patriarch of Vailiama, reading his work aloud from the verandah. It is the final performance and in four short sections we see him rise only to die. Stage Seven is devoted entirely to adaptations of Stevensonia by other writers for all performing media to date. A comprehensive survey of R.L.S. and the drama is an area of Stevenson scholarship which has been either neglected or ill-considered. It is the intention of this study to offer a new focus to this dimension of his literary oeuvre and thus encourage a fresh approach to the Stevenson plays as a whole. It also offers an opportunity to consider his relationship with W.E. Henley and Mrs F.V. Stevenson, his collaborators in the five finished playscripts. In doing so, it puts into perspective the place of the plays in Victorian dramaturgy. Biographical facts and quotations from the Works are used where they may reflect his lifelong preoccupation with the theatre and where they may argue, by analysis or illustration, the theatrical potential evident, not only in the plays, but in every element of his personality. This is the man of theatre as theatrical man. A complete list of adaptations of his work in all the performing media and also selected reviews of his plays are added in support of the conclusion which is, sadly, that in considering R.L.S. as dramatist - one can only regret the loss to the theatre of what might have been...</p>

Christ as performance

This essay will explore Hans Urs von Balthasar’s Christology as performance from below. It will begin by introducing Balthasar’s theodramatic project as presented in his five-volume work Theo-drama. Here, it will be shown how Balthasar engages with and uses the conceptual resources of drama and the theatre to develop a theological dramatic theory with the performance of Christ at its very centre. This will be followed by an investigation into Balthasar’s dramatic Christology and what he saw as the re-performance of the Christ-drama on the world stage. The essay will then conclude with a few brief remarks on the continued relevance of Balthasar’s dramatic Christology, especially for those interested in doing – and performing – theology from below.

Schiller als Multiplayer im Theater

The idea of the sublime is a key concept in Friedrich Schiller’s later dramatic aesthetic. This study demonstrates how the concept of the sublime in Schiller’s plays is implemented and transformed, starting from dramatic theory and then progressing to the written text before being portrayed on stage. Using the example of Schiller’s drama ‘Maria Stuart’, which was first performed in 1800, the author highlights how the sublime is depicted in the play according to its underlying concept and how it was realised in the first theatre productions of the play. Moreover, the author analyses a new stage adaptation of the play from the 21st century and shows to what extent its realisation of the concept differs from how it is represented in a literary form. By means of his analysis of the literary and theatrical depictions of the concept of the sublime, the author breathes essential new life into research into Schiller.

Momma Rose: An Aristotelian heroine in the mother of all musicals

The character of Rose from Gypsy has been compared to tragic characters such as Medea, King Lear and Willy Loman. She has been credited as one of the most psychologically complex characters in musical theatre history and is a role coveted by performers. Equally appalling and compelling, Rose, like characters in ancient Greek tragedies, is an imperfect human struggling to do her best in difficult situations but is ultimately misguided and suffers a tragic reversal of fortune. This article applies dramatic theory from Aristotle’s Poetics and Arthur Miller’s article ‘Tragedy and the common man’ to discover the dramaturgical practices the authors of Gypsy used to structure Rose, a figure from musical comedy, within the theoretical constructs of a tragic heroine.

Introduction

This chapter gives an introductory overview of the book, with biographical information about Pieter Langendijk, his literary career, and the times in which he lived. It explores the influence of French neo-classical dramatic theory in the Netherlands (the comedy of manners and the theatrical unities of time, place, and action) and the example of the French playwright Molière.

Theodramatic Themes and Showtime in Nassim Soleimanpour’s White Rabbit Red Rabbit

This essay engages the experimental playwright Nassim Soleimanpour’s White Rabbit Red Rabbit alongside the theological dramatic theory of Hans Urs von Balthasar. Every Soleimanpour play can only happen once. Actors receive the script as they begin the show; any given actor must perform Soleimanpour’s drama as a cold reading unique in history. I propose “Showtime” to theorize this theatrical temporality, exemplified by White Rabbit Red Rabbit and shared by von Balthasar’s theology, on analogy to stage space. This article further examines the play’s themes of identity, self-sacrifice, free obedience, and writing about time through a “theodramatic structural analysis” keyed to von Balthasar. Soleimanpour expands Balthasarian theodramatics in unexpected and unintended directions. So too did the performance of White Rabbit Red Rabbit I attended in 2016 that featured Wayne Brady as the actor. This essay concludes with analysis of that performance and how it places this essay’s theodramatic structural analysis into contexts of race and the history of anti-Black racism in the United States.