R.E.D.I. 2011- Modern Drama
With
Professor Elin Diamond
and Ryan Kernan
THERE ARE LOTS OF WAYS TO APPROACH THEATRE
TOP DOG?:
UNDERDOG?
THE N#W YORK TIMES
http://theater.nytimes.com/show/25970/The-Shaughraun/overview
Right now on You Tube?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHHlvaGkrGs
From the Irish Rep!
http://www.irishrep.org/
Question #1: Why look everywhere?
THINK COMP LITTY-WITTY!
On Fenian “Terrorism”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fenian_Rising
Robert says:
The Fenian Brotherhood presented a significant threat to British-ruled Ireland in the time period of The Shaughraun. The play portrays the average Irishman as having a personal concern with the actions of the terrorist group; regular citizens feel the need to go out themselves and stop any possible terrorism. In today’s media, terrorism is often portrayed as being close to home as well. Even those living in residential areas are told to be wary of “suspicious behavior” such as unattended baggage. The paranoia generated by fear is something that is used by governments, or those with sufficient power, to support nationalist fervor, which allows for a “united front” against a perceived enemy, whether true or not.
Where do we see this in the play?
The Fenians were of course reacting to being colonized. They were thinking “global” and “cellular.” Who else does that?
- Chaia picked up on a very heavy point! She’s reminding me of Fanon!
The political statements resonant in The Shaughran are apparent with the male characters in the play, specifically Kinchela and Conn. Kinchela is the representation of the colonizer who seeks political gain. On the other hand, Conn acts as a heroic agent in order to protect the well-being of some of the other characters. Kinchela and Conn work together to showcase contrasting necessities of political consciousness and colonization in The Shaughran.
HE’S CERTAINLY ARMED!
- On Con
Daniel Observes
The character of Conn in The Shaughraun, is subversive because he is a conflation of several qualities of melodrama . Throughout the play, the drunken-trickster character of Conn is juxtaposed with the presumably heroic characters of the falsely accused Robert Ffolliott, the pious Father Dolan, and the gentlemanly Captain Molineux. While Boucicault provides these three explicit examples of heroes, it is Conn who saves the day. In fact, he proves his heroism throughout the entire work by smuggling Robert from Australia and protecting Robert by assuming his identity and getting shot by him. Even his “death motivates a mob to go hunt down the people that killed him and kidnapped Moya and Arte. Conn is essential to this plot and clearly subverts the role of providing comic relief. He is much more than that. His character’s heroism becomes a statement about the “lower class.” Conn’s heroism allows audiences to question the idea of heroism and virtue as a whole.
- Ryan thinks there’s a lot there!
Question #2: What do you think?
Question #3: Fools or Tricksters?
What kind of tom foolery is this?
Did you know many credit
- With Writing the First African American Play?
BOUCICAULT, DION (1820-1890), Irish actor and playwright, was born in Dublin on the 26th of December 1820, the son of a French refugee and an Irish mother. Before he was twenty he was fortunate enough to make an immediate success as a dramatist with London Assurance, produced at Covent Garden on the 4th of March, 1841, with a cast that included Charles Matthews, William Farren, Mrs. Nesbitt and Madame Vestris. He rapidly followed this with a number of other plays, among the most successful of the early ones being Old Heads and Young Hearts, Louis XI, and The Corsican Brothers. In June 1852 he made his first appearance as an actor in a melodrama of his own entitled The Vampire at the Princess’ theatre. From 1853 to 1869 he was in the United States, where he was always a popular favourite. On his return to England, he produced at the Adelphi a dramatic adaptation of Gerald Griffin’s novel, The Comedians, entitled Colleen Bawn. This play, one of the most successful of modern times, was performed in almost every city in the United Kingdom and the United States, and made its author a handsome fortune, which he lost in the management of various London theatres. It was followed by The Octoroon (1861), the popularity of which was almost as great. Boucicault’s next marked success was at the Princess’ theatre in 1865 with Arrah-na-Pogue, in which he played the part of a Wicklow carman. This, and his admirable creation of Con in his play The Shaugraun (first produced at Drury Lane in 1875), won him the reputation of being the best stage Irishman of his time. In 1875 he returned to New York City and finally made his home there, but he paid occasional visits to London, where his last appearance was made in his play, The Jilt, in 1886. The Streets of London and After Dark were two of his late successes as a dramatist. He died in New York on the 18th of September, 1890. Boucicault was twice married, his first wife being Agnes Robertson, the adopted daughter of Charles Kean, and herself an actress of unusual ability. Three children, Dion (b. 1859), Aubrey (b. 1868) and Nina, also became distinguished in the profession.
- The Octoroon or Life in Louisiana (1859)/ Boucicault, ‘Merican Playwright
The Oxford English Dictionary cites The Octoroon with the earliest record of the word mashup with the quote: “He don’t understand; he speaks a mash up of Indian, French, and Mexican.” [Boucicault’s manuscript actually reads “Indian, French and ‘Merican.” The last word, an important colloquialism, was misread by the typesetter of the play.]
Question #4: What do you make of THAT!?
Comp Lit on the Borders
What’s so special about New Orleans? Is this an Irish Play
Question #5 How can we correlate that with Fenian terrorism in the U.S. and its staging?
Did you know that
In 1926, in the paged of the Crisis, Du Bois (Hughes childhood [and life-long] hero) called for a Little Theater movement in black communities, stipulating that the plays be “about us,” “by us,” “for us”, and “near us.”
He wrote also:
Thus all art is propaganda and ever must be, despite the wailing of the purists. I stand in utter shamelessness and say that whatever art I have for writing has been used always for propaganda for gaining the right of black folk to love and enjoy. I do not care a damn for any art that is not used for propaganda.” Du Bois “Criteria for Negro Art (1926)”
Did you know our playwright was often criticized, in his own terms, as a poor playwright who wrote for his audience.
What is going on here?
Alain Locke thought the same, and, curiously enough, looked to the Irish Abbey Players too! Why is this not a bit weird AND relevant? This Diasporic, Alain Did!
Question: How can this help us re-think the uses of diaspora?
Damaris wrote
The play presents a political commentary in a clear cut obvious manner. The names of the characters, their appearance, and dialogue blatantly tell the readers what is being criticized by this work. The elements of this text that are being “staged,” for example the deception, as a production makes it more appealing to the masses because it is done in such an exaggerated manner.
Question #6: Simplicity is often hard. Why make it the goal?
How would class fit into all of this?
- Hashim’s Got Something To Say About It!
That point resonates as a feminist critique on class. What happens when a woman is demoted beyond her own agency to a class void of participation in art and activities of privilege? There’s clearly resentment in Arte and the audience might confuse that resentment as strength, but that strength is negated by her abduction. What Boucicault knows though is that Arte must be abducted for purposes of simply preserving a “sensational” plot, but with a twist on the melodramatic frame, a point can be made, however inorganic it might be. Because of a salient interaction with cognitive dissonance, this play’s audience can conceptualize Arte’s character and the situation of her abduction in a constructive way and a point is allowed space to speak.
Lastly!
How do class, terrorism, and colonization find a coalesce in this work?
Think About The Hero’s and the Mob… What politics are at work?
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