The Biblical References Of The Bible

13) The Creation of the World; the Garden of Eden; Adam and Eve; Original Sin; the Fall

“Social Issues in Theatre” How has theatre reflected social issues throughout time? Olivia Little W.B. Ray High School Candidate Number: 006241-0009 Session: May 2015 Category: Theatre Supervisor: Mr. James Stroud Word Count: 3,092 Citation Style: MLA Abstract

Going into the 20th century, many theatre productions were very melodramatic. They had over-exaggerated motions and actions, and were aimed towards an upper class audience. However, once realism was introduced, spurred by the influence of photography, the audience of plays shifted from the upper class to the middle class. And it was at this point that plays like Trifles, Waiting for Lefty, and Mulatto began ushering in the type of theatre we know today, where the setting often reflects the society of the time of production.

The history of theatre in the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries is one of the increasing commercialization of the art, accompanied by technological innovations, the introduction of serious critical review, expansion of the subject matters portrayed to include ordinary people, and an emphasis on more natural forms of acting. Theatre, which had been dominated by the church for centuries, and then by the tastes of monarchs for more than 200 years, became accessible to merchants, industrialists, and the less privileged and then the masses.

42 And when evening had come, since it was the day of Preparation, that is, the day before the Sabbath,

After the Revolution the theatre changed to help people deal with what was going on in the world. “Many European playgoers, like their counterparts in Paris, also sensed that the older forms of comedy and tragedy could no longer accommodate what they were reading about in their newspapers” (Zarrilli, 247). To adjust to the changing events, Melodrama had much to offer their new audiences. .“ Melodrama elevated nature and intuition over reason as better guides to morality and possible utopia. “The first melodramas presented a traditional utopia of order and happiness was just around the corner if only the good people used their intuition to root out and banish the bad people from society” (Zarrilli, 247). There was a high demand for melodramas,

Commedia Dell'Arte was a new form of theatre created in mid-16th century Italy. The style of comedy they developed centered on people and their specific world. The styles and techniques of Commedia Dell’ Arte has impacted artists ever since then from Shakespeare to modern day television. When present-day acting methods don’t offer all the solutions, actors may look back and gather inspiration from the past.The multiple concepts about the acting practices, designs, teachings and comical personas of these past performers, provides a clearer perception of Italian comedy and its Winifred states in Commedia Dell’Arte that audiences were struck by the “fundamental perplexities connected”(Smith 18), because instead of creating a new successful form of entertainment out of thin air they made a combination of many practices upon the multiples stages in different impact in modern theatre, film and television.

Greek theatre is based on religious and political performance with prestige playwrights. The roles are always played by men who wear masks and costumes and the performance were always outdoors. Greek theatre has had comedy and tragedy where comedies the heroes are ironic and disengaged to the situations. With the tragedy, heroes often respond with emotions such as pride, rage, lust, envy or grief. This essay will focus on the tragedy side of Greek theatre. Aristotle says that tragedy “is not the imitations of persons but of actions and of life.” (Butcher 1961). Here “imitation” meaning ‘mimesis’-poet creating a image out of nothing, representing reality itself giving it form and meaning. Furthermore the actions are the mimesis of the poet

Still held up by many to be The holy grail of theatre texts , sacred in many quarters. The Holy Theatre section attempts to rediscover ritual and the spritual aspects of drama, a revaluation of a lost sense of euphoric communion. The notion of ‘Holy’ is allowed to mean an (artistic) attempt to reach essences that are neither only physical nor even mental. Peter Brook defines it as “the Theatre of the Invisible – Made – Visible.”

Since the theater perforce exaggerates, amplifying its pathos and stylizing its diction, it takes a specially marked degree of amplification and stylization to dramatize the theatrical, as Schlegel realized. Conversely, when matters pertaining to the stage are

Greek theatre and medieval drama were both very popular artistic events in their own periods of performance. However, from ancient Greece to the renaissance, time has set them apart in terms of methodology; their practitioners use a creative process based off of different mindsets. Therefore, the significant time lapse between the two genres has had an evident impact on the way theatre was perceived and presented. In comparing aspects such as religious motivations, conditions of violence and character development, the distinct theatrical natures of Greek theatre and medieval drama will be made apparent.

In “Le théâtre de la cruauté,” Antonin Artaud writes that “on ne peut comparer une image de cinéma qui, si poètique soit-elle, est limitée par la pellicule, à une image de théâtre qui obéit à touts les exigences de la vie” (“Premier Manifeste,” 1932, 150). In this way, cinema is supposedly incommensurable with the values of the theatre of cruelty, which places importance upon the theatre’s connection to real life and the impact it can have upon the spectator through its physical manifestation However, Artaud’s earlier writings on film seem to often put forward very similar ideals to those of the theatre of cruelty. It cannot be ignored that the writings on film and those

The book of Exodus is noted as a narrative though is gradually changes to the book of law as chapter 20 where God reveals to Moses the Ten Commandments. The narrative is around 400 years after Jacob's family moved to Egypt and had many descendants. These descendants were under extreme torture and slavery by the Egyptians. Moses, though raised as an Egyptians in the king's palace he was born of an Israelite and tossed away by the mother to escape the terrible times the Israelites were going through. Once Moses escapes from Israel, God uses the burning bush to tell him that he was to deliver the Israelites. Moses was handed signs, to show Pharaoh that it was God who sent him, in the form of plagues every time Pharaoh refused to let Israelites go. The last plague where first born sons died among the Egyptian households made Pharaoh to let them go hence the Passover ritual. Moses led them to Mt. Sinai where God gave him the Ten Commandments.

The Bible is one book that has one grand author. It was written by humans over a period of approximately 2000 years. It is comprised of 66 different books, all with one main theme, that everlasting life comes through one’s faith in God and by obeying God’s rules. This theme is the central part of all 66 books, from Genesis to Revelation. (Sostre 2015) The Bible is divided into two main sections; the Old Testament and the New Testament. The Old Testament begins with Genesis and the New Testament ends with Revelation.

The relationship between Christianity and theatre was always a complicated one, however, it was the Church that played a vital role in the revival of theatre in Medieval Western Europe. After a drought of theatrical performance, the Church slowly evolved from presenting liturgical readings to dramatic tropes. Quem Quaeritis tropes were not plays, but aimed to amplify the experience of devotion to the commemoration of Christ. This being its purpose is what causes it to be interpreted as drama. These tropes and other aspects of the Church’s presentation became increasingly dramatic, causing the Church to become a residence for theatre. However, theatre was banned within the Church as acting or ‘false truth’ was seen as sinful. From there, theatre instead was performed outside, developed further and spread around Medieval Western Europe.