Theatre goes on - 1919

Theatre goes on - 1919

The Bauhaus* (the Staatliches Bauhaus in Weimar, a school of Fine Arts and Arts and Crafts) is established by Walter Gropius* (1893-1969). Not principally devoted to stage work, the Bauhaus* attempts to unite all aspects of art into one unified whole, both functional and aesthetic. Its most important influence in the theatre is in the field of architecture. Gropius* designs what he calls a "total" theatre, in which he combines the three basic stage forms - arena, thrust, and proscenium - into one convertible unit. Although never built, the idea influences theatre architecture ever since.

Throughout the First World War, German theater continues without interruption. Now, at the end of the war, the "royal" theaters are renamed "state" theaters but otherwise remained unchanged. It will take the economic disaster of the postwar period to influence German theater. Reinhardt* continues to lead the way, especially in large productions. He remodels the Circus Schumann into a large theater seating more than 3,500 with a revolving stage behind the proscenium and a large platform and arena in front. This theater will flourished through 1922.

One of the best and most mature expressionist playwrights, Ernst Toller* (1893-1939,) is busy writing his first play, Transfiguration*. He is writing it in jail where he was sent (for pacifism) in 1916 after being invalided out of the trenches. He will go on to write many more.

Theater seating is also undergoing change, based on Wagner's theatre at Bayreuth. There are fewer boxes and balconies, and the center aisle is eliminated to improve sight lines. Seating is fanned out with rising rows of seats all facing the stage directly.

After the war, Jacques Copeau* reopens his theatre in France. He encourages his actors to explore all the aspects of theater, including mime, acrobatics, both vocal and instrumental music, dance and improvisation. Among Copeau*'s company are Louis Jouvet* (1887-1951) and Charles Dullin* (1885-1949), both of whom will carry on his ideas under their own companies. Like Copeau*, they feel the text is the essential thing of theater and use extremely simplified sets for all their productions while encouraging their actors to utilize all the forms of dramatic art. Many of the famous surrealist and expressionist painters are employed to design sets for their productions. Art and theater are blending in a way never seen before or since.

1919-1924: Expressionism* is the dominant mode in German theater right after the end of the war. Actors portray moral problems rather than characters. With the culmination of the "war to end all wars" the expressionists see hope for an ideal future, but pessimism begins to rear its head as man does not rise to the expressionists' dream.

Leopold Jessner* (1878-1945), a follower of Reinhardt*, becomes the director of the Berlin State Theater* this year and, between now and 1933, wins international fame for his imaginative use of mobile steps and platforms instead of scenery, and the emotional and symbolic aspects of the costumes and lighting. Jessner* works primarily with the classics, including Shakespeare.

Disillusion Sets In 1920-25

1920 This year Reinhardt* begins his annual production of Hugo von Hofmannsthal* 's Everyman*

at the Salzburg Festival* in Austria. This event is growing in popularity and prestige. Eugene O'Neill* (1888-1953) writes Beyond The Horizon* this year, winning the 1920

Pulitzer Prize for it. This play establishes him as the foremost American playwright. Later this year he comes out with his popular expressionistic* play, Emperor Jones*. His major plays will include:

Anna Christie* (1921 - Pulitzer) The Hairy Ape* (1922) Desire Under The Elms* (1924) Strange Interlude* (1928 - Pulitzer) Mourning Becomes Electra* (1931) Ah, Wilderness!* (1933) The Iceman Cometh* (1946) A Moon For The Misbegotten* (1947) [leaves manuscripts at his death, including Long Day's Journey Into Night*]

This is the year that Great Britain finally comes through with a "Home Rule" bill that calls for the partition of Ireland into six counties of Protestant Ulster and the rest of the island. The whole thing isn't quite finished yet.

The United States finally comes through with Women's Suffrage (that means women can now vote). The end of the war brings a lot of social changes, women bob their hair, men shave their faces, union membership and strikes increase. Warren Harding* (1865-1923) comes in The United States finally comes through with Women's Suffrage (that means women can now vote). The end of the war brings a lot of social changes, women bob their hair, men shave their faces, union membership and strikes increase. Warren Harding* (1865-1923) comes in

In Germany we begin to hear about a guy named Adolph Hitler* (1889-1945,) he is busy announcing his 25-point program in Munich.

In India, Mahatma Gandhi* (1869-1948) is emerging as India's leader in its struggle for independence.

In London a grand-nephew of the actress Ellen Terry*, John Gielgud* (1904- ) makes his first appearance on stage at the Old Vic*. He will go on to a magnificently distinguished career as an actor and as a director.

In America there is a multitalented man, Kenneth Macgowan* (1888-1963,) who is currently

a drama critic and editor of Theatre Arts Magazine,* very intersted in the "New Stagecraft" and, this year, authors a work entitled The Theatre of Tomorrow*. He gave O'Neill* rave reviews for Emperor Jones* last year and this is the beginning of a fruitful association.

Ernst Toller* is in the vanguard of the post-war playwrights. His Man and the Masses* (1921) tells of a woman's struggle to aid the common worker and her defeat by those who place ideological position above humanitarian principles. A later work, Hurrah, We Live!* (1927) shows former idealists settled into comfortable lives repeating the mistakes they once rebelled against.

Jurgen Fehling* (1890-1968) is the director of Berlin's Volksb• hne* in Berlin and this year presents Toller*'s Man and the Masses*. He's into producing lots of the new expressionist plays and tries a lot of other styles.

In New York, Arthur Hopkins* creates a sensation with his production of Macbeth*. It is the expressionistic settings by Robert Edmond Jones* that really rock the professional theatre.

Antonin Artaud* (1896-1948) starts working in theatre, first as an actor for Lugne-Poe. He will go on to act and direct for other prominent Paris managers.

1921 The German foreign minister is assassinated. Hitler*'s storm troopers (SA) begin to terrorize political opponents. There is a rapid fall of the German mark and the beginning of inflation.

In China Sun Yat-sen* is still leading the Kuomintang,* sets up another secret revolutionary government in Canton and becomes the president of a self-proclaimed national government at Canton. Remember that the warlords are still pursuing a civil war, so there's hardly a unified China for anyone to rule.

In Mongolia, Outer Mongolia breaks away from the Chinese influence (actually the warring warlords) and forms the Mongolian People's Republic*. Inner Mongolia stays under Chinese control.

This year Jean Cocteau* (1892-1963) makes a big splash with his new version of Sophocles'* Antigone*. It is directed by Charles Dullin.* Cocteau* uses surrealism's techniques in several diverse ways. The ballet Parade*, the pantomime The Ox on the Roof,* and reworkings of several of the classic Greek dramas all receive surrealist treatment. His plays and their staging both come from the surrealist movement then popular in France. In the ballet, The Married Couple of the Eiffel Tower,* Cocteau* has dialogue spoken by actors costumed as phonographs.

In Germany, from 1922 through 1924, Reinhardt* moves his headquarters to Austria and adds an annual production of The Great Theatre of the World* to the Salzburg Festival*. This year

he also becomes the director of Vienna's Theatre in dem Redoutensaal (a converted Imperial ballroom) where he produces intimate theatre and the plays and operas of the eighteenth century. You will notice that by this time he is producing in three theatres in Berlin and two in Austria, all at the same time.

In America, Kenneth Macgowan* and Robert Edmond Jones* collaborate on a book this year, Continental Stagecraft*.

1922 Great Britain comes through with a treaty giving the remainder of Ireland (all but those six Protestant counties) Dominion status in the British Empire as the Irish Free State*.

Russia finally incorporates the Soviet Far East into the USSR this year. Problems with China, Mongolia and Japan continue along the various borders.

In Italy the first official advocate of fascism*, Benito Mussolini* (1883-1945,) marches on Rome. Once there he forms a Fascist* government.

The Irish struggle of 1915-22 provides the material for a brilliant new Irish playwright, Sean O'Casey* (1880-1964) who gets his first play, The Shadow of a Gunman*, produced at the Abbey Theatre* in Dublin. His work will lead to a revitalization of the Abbey Theatre* and a second Irish Renaissance.

A new actor-playwright, Noel Coward* (1899-1973), comes out with his first play this year, The Young Idea*. He will go on to illuminate the comedy stage with a series of classic comedies, revues and musical efforts. He will also act extensively, especially in his own shows.

In the German Bauhaus*, Oskar Schlemmer* (1888-1943) is director of the stage workshop. He does some fascinating basic research on analyzing each visual element.

In America the innovative theatrical designer, Norman Bel Geddes* (1893-1958,) wins instant recognition and fame for his magnificent designs for Reinhardt*'s American production of Volmueller's The Miracle*. Kenneth Macgowan* writes another book about the new theatre, Masks and Demons*, with Herman Rosse*.

Also in the 1920s several Russian Moscow Art Theatre artists emigrate to America to escape the changes that are beginning to dampen experimentation at home. Richard Boleslavsky* and Maria Ouspenskaya* found the American Laboratory Theatre* as a training and producing company in New York. They introduce the acting methods of Constantin Stanislavsky* to the American theatre. Their students will become the next generation of innovative and dynamic theatre leaders (especially Lee Strasberg* and Harold Clurman*, see below in the 1930s).

This year Eugene O'Neill* asks the theatre critic Kenneth Macgowan (1888-1963) to take over the direction of the Provincetown Players*. He does, while continuing his work as editor of the Theatre Arts Magazine.* Macgowan* will direct some of the major American plays as well as continuing as an author. Latew he will direct and produce motion pictures and teach theatre at UCLA.*

In Paris, Artaud* is becoming one of the most original of the French surrealists between 1923 and 1927. He feels that theater should reach the audience's unconscious, and deal with the things which cause divisions between peoples. Similar to the ancient Greeks, he feels that theater could solve some of the world's problems. His works tend to be dark, a 'theatre of cruelty*', where discordant noises, a "vibrating, shredded" lighting, and oddly positioned acting areas will act directly on the senses and purge people of their more destructive tendencies.

1923 In Japan there are terrific earthquakes. The centers of Tokyo and Yokohama are destroyed. At least 120,000 die.

In Washington D.C. they begin to have hearings on the Teapot Dome oil scandal. This one brings down quite a few politicians. Harding* dies suddenly and escapes the decimation of his corrupt cabinet. Calvin Coolidge* (1872-1933) succeeds to the presidency as the 30th of that office. In Oklahoma martial law is established to protect people and property from attacks by the Ku Klux Klan*.

In Italy, all non-fascist parties are dissolved. In Great Britain Stanley Baldwin* forms a new government with Neville Chamberlain* as

Chancellor of the Exchequer.

In Germany, Reinhardt* moves his headquarters back to Berlin, but keeps up all his Austrian theatre work. By this year in Germany Expressionism* is practically dead. The optimism that came with the end of the war has turned to disappointment, disillusion and, now, pessimism. Expressionism* will continue in other countries (notably in America) and gradually be absorbed into other styles, but, as a discreet movement, it is over.

A more militant descendent of Expressionism* begins to appear. Erwin Piscator* (1893-1966) is appointed director at Berlin's Volksbuhne* this year. Between now and 1927 be will be busy trying to create a "proletarian drama" and will be developing a style that will be known as "Epic Theatre*." [We'll hear a good deal more about this soon.]

In France, a talented man of the theatre, Georges Pitoeff* (1887-1939, also spelled Pitoev) takes a company to the Th‚ƒtre des Arts* (and later, 1934, to the Theatre des Mathurins*. He In France, a talented man of the theatre, Georges Pitoeff* (1887-1939, also spelled Pitoev) takes a company to the Th‚ƒtre des Arts* (and later, 1934, to the Theatre des Mathurins*. He

Surrealism* shows up this year as the focus of a new periodical, La R‚volution surrealiste*. The first issue features Andre Breton*'s Surrealist Manifesto* which emphasizes "pure psychic automatism."

In Ireland, Sean O'Casey* comes out with his second play, Juno and the Paycock*. All of his plays are quickly picked up and produced in London and New York following their original productions at the Abbey Theatre* in Dublin.

In England (Hammersmith, actually), a fine performance as Millamant* in Congreve's* The Way of the World* establishes Edith Evans* (1888-1976) as one of the outstanding actresses of her generation. She will have a very long and distinguished career. She will move on to the Old Vic* for the 1925-6 season.

In America a Canadian comedy and revue actress, Beatrice Lillie* (1898-?), makes her first appearance on the New York stage. This year she is in one of Andr‚ Charlot's revues. She plays in them in England and in New York through 1926. Her unique comic talent will delight English-speaking audiences into the eighties.

1924 Lenin* dies this year and Petrograd is renamed Leningrad. His death leads to a terrific power struggle in the USSR. Trotsky* and a formerly obscure guy named Joseph Stalin* (1879-1953) are the two major players. Stalin* had come up as a regional party leader (in Georgia) in 1912 to St. Petersburg and got on the central committee. Like the others he paid his dues in Siberian exile. When the revolution started he got to be head of Pravda* (the party paper,) then people's commissar of nationalities, and,finally, in 1922, general secretary of the party. Despite the fact that Lenin* left a "testament" saying specifically that the party should get rid of Stalin* because he couldn't be trusted, he comes out on top in the power struggle. It takes a little while, but Trotsky* will be out as commissar of war next year, and, in 1927 he'll

be expelled from the party and deported from the country. In China Sun Yat-sen* and the Kuomintang* form an alliance with the Communists under

Sun's* Three People's Principles (nationalism, democracy and livelihood). This year they accept help from the USSR so they can take on the warlords in their conquest of Northern China.

In Germany, Hitler* is sentenced to five years imprisonment. Actually he is released after eight months.

Calvin Coolidge* wins the presidential election. J. Edgar Hoover*(1875-1972) is appointed director of the Bureau of Investigation (it'll become the FBI in 1935).

In America by this year, nearly 2,000 community or little theatre groups are registered with the Drama League of America.

Peter Godfrey* (1899-1971), unable to get a license for the only hall he can afford, opens the Gate Theatre* as a private club. He presents the new expressionist theatre to England, including Kaiser*'s From Morn to Midnight*.

Between 1922-1934, in addition to the strictly expressionist plays being shown at the Gate Theatre*, other producers are doing interesting things. Barry Jackson* (1879-1961), founder and director of the Birmingham Repertory Company* (and, later, in 1929, the Malvern Festival*,) produces several modern dress

Shakespearian plays in London and offers a wide range of theatrical experiences to his home audiences.

1925 In China Sun Yat-sen* dies this year and the Kuomintang* comes under the leadership of Chiang Kai-shek* (1887-1975). Much more will happen in this part of the world soon.

Hitler* reorganizes the Nazi Party* (it has 27,000 members) and publishes the first volume of Mein Kampf*. Hindenberg* (1847-1934) is elected President of Germany.

Japan finally introduces general suffrage for men.