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Comedy
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A Concise Introduction to Comedy
A Concise Introduction to Comedy | Digital Theatre+ 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS ● Introduction ● ‘Comedy’ by Michael M. Chemers, University of California, Santa Cruz ● Key Productions on Digital Theatre+ ● Comedy in Theory & Practice ● Discussion Questions
A Concise Introduction to Comedy | Digital Theatre+ 3 INTRODUCTION This is a comprehensive introduction to comedy. This guide: ● Offers a history of comedy and an analysis of key theories and critical contexts in an essay, followed by a list of further reading, written by Michael M. Chemers, University of California, Santa Cruz. ● Includes guidance on other useful related resources on Digital Theatre+ such as information on key productions, lectures, essays and interviews. ● Provides key materials useful for individual student-led research and in-classroom discussions.
A Concise Introduction to Comedy | Digital Theatre+ 4 COMEDY Michael M. Chemers, University of California, Santa Cruz INTRODUCTION Aristotle (384-322 BC) discusses comedy in his Poetics (335 BC) primarily as an example to help him create a definition of tragedy; he creates a sense of dichotomy, indeed of opposition, between comedy and tragedy, as if they were somehow inimical to one another. Modernly, “comedy” may refer to either the dramatic structure or the aesthetic content of a particular performance event or script. When speaking of the structure of a comedy, we follow Aristotle’s notion that conflicts are generally resolved. Comedy, then, is important to psychological health and personal development. But this same characteristic can make comedy threatening to systems of power, particularly authoritarian ones. Because comedy is, by its nature, highly contextual, it must constantly adapt to changes in the cultural milieu in which it works. Comedy also relies on newness and surprise more heavily than other art forms – some jokes just aren’t funny after the first or time one hears them. As a result, new forms and styles emerge constantly, just second as older forms fall out of favour and are abandoned. HISTORY Historically, “comedy” is a combination of the Ancient Greek terms kommai, or “village,” and oida, “song.” The kommai was the home of the kommoi, or “common people,” and these terms carry with them a connotation of rustic simplicity. The kommoi were thought to be uneducated and crude, as opposed to the sophisticated denizens of the city, and so perhaps unprepared to understand the elite culture of the
A Concise Introduction to Comedy | Digital Theatre+ 5 tragedy (tragos+oida, or “goat-song,” referring to the bleating of the sacrificial animal). Aristotle discusses comedy in his Poetics primarily as an example to help him create a definition of tragedy, so he writes tantalisingly little. He alludes to another text of his that concerns itself with comedy, but that text is presumably lost forever, if it was ever written. This is unfortunate, because the Poetics creates a sense of dichotomy, indeed of opposition, between comedy and tragedy, as if they were somehow inimical to one another. It is far more likely that Greece was home to many different forms of laughter-inciting performance that Aristotle grouped together into this single category. The Poetics, for better or worse, had a profound effect on the theatre history and dramatic criticism that followed for the next 2500 years, so the modern student of theatre must resist denigrating comedy as an “inferior” art form and so inadvertently undercut its fascinating history and potential. Indeed, one form of Ancient Greek comedy was known as a “Satyr Play” and was intimately connected to tragedy. A satyr is a mythical creature, half-man and half-goat, known in Greek folklore as a bestial caricature of humanity; not precisely evil, but lascivious, gluttonous, inebriate, and short-sighted. A satyr play was traditionally written by the author of a tragedy, and was presented as a “fourth act” of a tragic trilogy of the Athenian Drama Festival. The Satyr Plays dealt with the same themes of the Tragedies they followed, but as burlesque, featuring satyrs bumbling around where mighty kings and gods once faced serious issues. Only one of these plays survives in complete form: The Cyclops (c.424 BC) by Euripides. The earliest surviving works of comedy are now grouped into a category called Old Comedy, and although this category includes many Ancient Greek writers, only the works of Aristophanes survive. These works are quite funny, but are also dramatically and philosophically sophisticated
A Concise Introduction to Comedy | Digital Theatre+ 6 and deal with serious topics including war, civil rights, and the failures of government. Aristophanes was unafraid to use the comedy as a platform for mocking the mighty, not only religious figures like gods and heroes but also powerful political elites of his day, calling them out on their failures and hypocrisies; an excellent example is his anti-war comedy Lysistrata (411 BC) which remains popular among peace activists to this day. Aristophanes’ work is an early demonstration of the power that comedy has to affect social change and make valuable critical commentaries that might be impossible in other forms. In the years following Aristophanes, Greek society became less open to this kind of writing, and playwright became more careful about offending powerful interests. New Comedy focuses more on the kind of low-stakes mockery Aristotle describes, as is the case with The Dyskolos by Menander (c. 342-c. 290 BCE). In this play, a rascally youth helped by his clever servant tries to romance the beautiful daughter of an old grouch. The Romans adapted Greek fashions of comedy, both scripted (including the works of Terence and Plautus and improvisatory, which they referred to as fabulae Atellana after the Italian town where it was invented. This style featured “stock characters” recognisable from Menander, including a clever servant, an elderly fool, a glutton, a miser, and an innocent youth who get into various ridiculous situations. Fabulae Atellana would survive through the Dark Ages of Europe and re-emerge in the Italian Renaissance as Commedia dell’Arte (literally, “professional comedy” to distinguish it from commedia universitatus, which was amateur, written and performed by college students). These ancient stock characters continue to be powerfully influential in comic drama and can still be seen in various forms of television sitcoms (like Cheers) and cartoons (like Bugs Bunny).
A Concise Introduction to Comedy | Digital Theatre+ 7 Dark Ages Europe enjoyed less sophisticated forms of comedy as well, including the work of fools and jesters who entertained the courts of powerful lords. Other official forms of comedy appear in the historical record as Church-sponsored Biblical dramas and mystery plays, many of which featured clowns and comic situations even though they dealt with serious religious matter. Joseph was sometimes depicted as a hapless stepfather to a Jesus he could not understand; Noah was traditionally a henpecked husband; in the play known as the York Crucifixion a group of soldiers argue comically about how to build a cross, ineptly unaware that this is the cross upon which Jesus is to be crucified. No character receives more mockery in this tradition than the Devil himself, who is depicted as grotesque, clumsy, silly, and generally in over his head in his long battle against goodness. This light-hearted approach to dramatic ministry is thought to have as an effective way of getting the attention of festival audiences and communicating, through the vehicle of humour, important theological concepts. In the Renaissance, the distribution of Ancient Greek texts gave rise to a new form of secular playwriting in imitation of ancient forms of comedy as well as tragedy. In most parts of Europe, these new forms, which were generally written by educated (and therefore more or less wealthy) authors were supported by royal authorities ostensibly for the “elevation of aesthetic tastes” but probably just as strongly motivated by the propensity of medieval-style dramas to become rallying sites for religious and political activists. Renaissance monarchs wanted to bring the important, influential theatre under their control, so that they could pre-approve the messages the theatre would send. In France, this meant that all dramas were required by the government to adhere to strict rules gleaned from an extremely narrow interpretation of Aristotle’s Poetics. According to these rules, comic elements had no place in serious drama, and serious issues were not to be discussed in comedies. So the notion that these two forms of drama were separate and inimical to one another came into force again, and these “neo-classical” rules dominated
A Concise Introduction to Comedy | Digital Theatre+ 8 European playwriting for hundreds of years. Of this period, the greatest comic writers included Molière (JeanBaptiste Poquelin, 1622-1673), who managed to slip some cogent political and social critique into his plays, and Voltaire (François-Marie Arouet, 1694- 1778), who although he adhered strongly to the rules of neoclassicism was nevertheless powerfully effective at criticizing dogmatism and intolerance. In the age of William Shakespeare (1564-1616) the neoclassical rules were generally given short shrift by English writers. Although Shakespeare and his contemporaries wrote under a system of close censorship by the Crown, they were free to write comic scenes into their Tragedies, and to produce comedies of great longevity, including Shakespeare’s Comedy of Errors and Volpone by Ben Jonson (1572-1637), which have enjoyed continuous production since they were written. The Puritan Interregnum (1649-1660) put an end to theatrical performance in London, but the Restoration of Charles II (1630-1685) brought a rebirth of English Comedy that more strongly adhered to Neoclassical influences which included “improved” adaptations of Shakespearean comedies, and initiated a new genre known as Restoration Comedy. This includes plays from the thoughtful and proper Marriage a la Mode by John Dryden (1631-1700) to the bawdy and satirical Sodom, or, the Quintessence of Debauchery, thought to have been written by John Wilmot (1647-1680). In the 17th and 18th centuries, English drama produced a wide variety of comic plays, pantomimes, clown shows and other forms of comedy that arguably culminated in the comic operas of W.S. Gilbert (1836-1911) and Arthur Sullivan (1842-1900) which were powerfully influential on 20th century theatre. THEORY When speaking of the structure of a comedy, we follow Aristotle’s notion that conflicts are generally resolved. In most of the comedies with which Aristotle was familiar the action begins in a state of equilibrium, with
A Concise Introduction to Comedy | Digital Theatre+ 9 things going on the way they always have, until something happens that impels a crisis. When the crisis is resolved, matters return to their original state, more or less, often by dint of a wedding (the ultimate reconciliation). In fact, Ancient Greek comedies often end with a kommos, a word that was also used to describe a grand village festival, when all forget their troubles and celebrate together. For this reason, Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) rightly titles his epic 14th century poem Divina Commedia, or “Divine Comedy,” even though the poem contains very few jokes; the “comedy” in this case is the cosmic history of the Christian universe, which is full of suffering and death but all winds up harmonious and happy in the end. So it is the case with many of the plays of Hrosvitha of Gandersheim (935-1002), which include such themes as attempted rape, torture, starvation, and prostitution but are resolved in spiritual harmony (Hrosvitha cited the Roman comic writer Terence as her primary influence). Eventually, plays with serious subjects but happy endings became known as melodrama, and include such plays as The Octoroon by Dion Bouciault (1820-1890). When speaking about the aesthetic content of a script or performance, the term “comedy” generally refers to plays that incite laughter among the spectators. Because so many different human situations can incite laughter, the types of plays that can be grouped into his category are highly diverse, and conventionally include even some funny plays that end tragically (these are sometimes called tragicomedies and include The Visit by Freidrich Dürrenmatt (1921-1990). Other types of plays that can be categorised as comedies include satires (plays designed to mock the behaviour of powerful people with an aim to improve society, as The Government Inspector of Nikolai Gogol (1809-1952) – the relationship of the modern satire to the Satyr Plays of Greece is contested by some historians), black comedies (designed to provoke laughter at situations or behaviours that are normally horrifying, as The Suicide by Nikolai Erdman (1900-1970), blue comedies (which deal openly with erotic themes, as does Oh! Calcutta! by Kenneth Tynan (1927-1980), and
A Concise Introduction to Comedy | Digital Theatre+ 10 comedies of manners (which mock the pretentious behaviours of socially powerful people, as does The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde (1854-1900). There are many more subgenres and styles of comedy, and more are invented continually. Sigmund Freud, in his 1905 book Jokes and their Relation to the Unconscious, argues that a joke is an expression of thoughts normally suppressed by our notions of guilt, shame, and propriety. Allowing the forbidden thought to rise to the surface with humour, he argues, is therapeutic and releases pent-up emotional energy, which gives a pleasurable feeling of relief. It is this ability to speak openly about things that might otherwise be forbidden that gives comedy its most important power, not merely to entertain and divert an audience but to call attention to serious issues and make significant interventions into social discourses. Mikhail Bakhtin would build on this notion in his book Rabelais and his World (1984), a treatise on humour in the Middle Ages. “It was the victory of laughter over fear that most impressed medieval man,” he writes: “It was not only a victory over the mystic terror of God, but also a victory over the oppression and guilt related to all that was consecrated and forbidden (‘mana’ and ‘taboo’). It was the defeat of divine and human power, of authoritarian commandments and prohibitions, of death and punishment after death, hell, and all that is more terrifying than the earth itself” (Bakhtin, 1984, pp.90-91). Comedy, then, is important to psychological health and personal development. But this same characteristic can make comedy threatening to systems of power, particularly authoritarian ones. Since comedy relies on expression of forbidden matters to be effective in generating laughter, it may reveal certain uncomfortable truths that powerful people would rather prefer remain unspoken. In many parts of the world to this day, certain types of comedy (usually political or religious in nature) are
A Concise Introduction to Comedy | Digital Theatre+ 11 crimes with grim consequences for transgressing comedians. Even in societies where free speech is protected, comedians run a constant risk of offending their audiences by mocking certain people or ideas. Furthermore, because taboos and tastes constantly change, comedy is powerfully contextual, so today’s knee-slapping joke can be ho-hum or even offensive tomorrow. Because comedy is, by its nature, highly contextual, it must constantly adapt to changes in the cultural milieu in which it works. Comedy also relies on newness and surprise more heavily than other art forms – some jokes just aren’t funny after the first or second time one hears them. As a result, new forms and styles emerge constantly just as older forms fall out of favour and are abandoned. It is rare for a comedy to enjoy much longevity, which is why works like Lysistrata or The Comedy of Errors are so remarkable for their ability to keep audiences laughing across centuries and even millennia. FURTHER READING Bakhtin, M. (1984). Rabelais and His World. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. Chemers, M. M. (2010). Ghost Light: An Introductory Handbook for Dramaturgs. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press. Eco, U. (1998). The Comic and the Rule. In: W. Weaver (trans.) Faith in Fakes. London: Vintage. Frye, N. (1957). Anatomy of Criticism. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. Stott, A. M. (2014). Comedy (The New Critical Idom). London: Routledge.
A Concise Introduction to Comedy | Digital Theatre+ 12 KEY PRODUCTIONS ON DIGITAL THEATRE+ This section provides links to some key productions of comic theatre, from the classical to the contemporary. These are followed by a list of other materials on Digital Theatre+ which will be useful for considering the tragic form in a wider critical context. Quotations from the essay are included to facilitate connections between the content and the critical writing. From the essay: “In the age of William Shakespeare (1564-1616) the neoclassical rules were generally given short shrift by English writers. Although Shakespeare and his contemporaries wrote under a system of close censorship by the Crown, they were free to write comic scenes into their Tragedies, and to produce comedies of great longevity, including Shakespeare’s Comedy of Errors and Volpone by Ben Jonson (1572-1637), which have enjoyed continuous production since they were written.” (Chemers, p.8) Much Ado About Nothing Catherine Tate and David Tennant in Much Ado About Nothing © Johan Persson ● Written by: William Shakespeare ● Directed by: Josie Rourke
A Concise Introduction to Comedy | Digital Theatre+ 13 ● Designed by: Robert Jones ● Produced by: Digital Theatre+ ● Theatre: Wyndham’s Theatre ● 2011 production ● Run time: 02:40:39 From the essay: “In the 17th and 18th centuries, English drama produced a wide variety of comic plays, pantomimes, clown shows and other forms of comedy that arguably culminated in the comic operas of W.S. Gilbert (1836-1911) and Arthur Sullivan (1842-1900) which were powerfully influential on 20th century theatre.” (Chemers, p.8) The School for Scandal ● Written by: Richard Brinsley Sheridan ● Directed by: Stuart Burge ● Produced by: BBC Studios ● 1975 production ● Run time: 01:44:34
A Concise Introduction to Comedy | Digital Theatre+ 14 The Importance of Being Earnest ● Written by: Oscar Wilde ● Directed by: Brian Bedford ● Produced by: L.A. Theatre Works ● Theatre: American Airlines Theatre ● 2011 production ● Run time: 02:23:42 Private Lives ● Written by: Noël Coward ● Directed by: Jonathan Kent ● Produced by: Digital Theatre+ ● Theatre: Gielgud Theatre ● 2013 production ● Run time: 01:36:57
A Concise Introduction to Comedy | Digital Theatre+ 15 COMEDY IN THEORY & PRACTICE Below is a list of further links to materials on Digital Theatre+ which explore comedy, including interviews with key artists who have been involved in major productions of comedies, and wider critical context. On Playing Shakespeare’s Clowns: Pearce Quigley ● Run time: 00:28:11 Acclaimed actor Pearce Quigley, who has played many of Shakespeare’s great comedic roles – including Bottom in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Jacques in As You Like It – discusses his clowning practice, the particular craft of playing these kinds of roles and his experiences of working at Shakespeare’s Globe. Comparing Comedy: Love’s Labour’s Lost and Much Ado About Nothing A detailed essay from Shakespeare Birthplace Trust scholar, Dr Anjna Chouhan, who compares the comedic aspects of two plays which have commonly been thought of as paired. Chouhan analyses broad themes such as tone, wordplay and language, alongside specific features which
A Concise Introduction to Comedy | Digital Theatre+ 16 link the two plays – such as Shakespeare’s impeccable “overhearing” scenes, and bittersweet farewells. DramaWorks: Plays Through Practice – Tartuffe by Molière A comprehensive practical guide to exploring Tartuffe, perhaps the most famous play from 17th century playwright Molière, one of the most significant and enduring comedic playwrights in theatre history. Jeni Whittaker’s resource offers an introduction to Moliere’s context and influences, before digging into the play in detail through a series of scene-by-scene provocations and exercises which allow for Tartuffe to be explored not only as a work of literature, but as a blueprint for performance. Talking About Plays – One Man, Two Guv’nors: An Interview with Richard Bean ● Run time: 00:36:30 The playwright Richard Bean offers an insight into his work adapting Carlo Goldoni’s 18th century play A Servant of Two Masters into the smash-hit modern comedy classic One Man, Two Guv’nors. He delves into his own sense of humour, what drew him to the project, the process of working from a literal translation, and developing the text through rehearsal in collaboration with the director Nicholas Hytner.
A Concise Introduction to Comedy | Digital Theatre+ 17 FURTHER CONCISE INTRODUCTIONS Below are links to other concise introductions on the platform which relate to key concepts and practitioners mentioned in this guide. They provide more in-depth biographical and critical information, as well as links to key productions and further resources available on Digital Theatre+ where possible. A Concise Introduction to Tragedy Michael M. Chemers, Associate Professor of Dramatic Literature at the University of California in Santa Cruz, details the origins of tragedy – a theatrical practice that emerged in ancient Greece, involving highly sophisticated dramas with serious themes. Referring to Aristotle’s Poetics, Chemers explains how tragedies were often presented in three parts and were designed to produce eleos (empathy) and phobos (fear). A Concise Introduction to Aristophanes Michael M. Chemers, Associate Professor of Dramatic Literature at the University of California in Santa Cruz, introduces one of the most celebrated comic playwrights of all time, Aristophanes. Chemers examines some of Aristophanes’ surviving works, including Lysistrata and The Clouds, and considers how his plays were influenced by both the politics and the philosophy of the time. A Concise Introduction to Audience Associate Professor of Theatre and Dance at Texas Tech University, Dorothy Chansky, provides an introduction to the role of the audience in relation to theatre and performance. Chansky examines how the perception of audience has changed throughout history and considers
A Concise Introduction to Comedy | Digital Theatre+ 18 the way different forms of theatre offer further exploration into the audience as a performing phenomenon. A Concise Introduction to Melodrama Melodrama was the dominant dramatic form of the 19th century, c. 1810-1860, having grown out of Gothic drama. The French revolution’s iconic moment – the storming of the Bastille (1789) – provided Gothic drama with its most potent image: the castle as prison to be broken open. Melodrama repudiated literature: it was a genre of performance.
A Concise Introduction to Comedy | Digital Theatre+ 19 DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 1) How relevant are the Greek comedies of Aristophanes, or the Italian traditions of Commedia dell’arte, to contemporary audiences? 2) Think about modern television sitcoms. Are there any, or aspects of any, which you would identify as being comic in the classic, Aristotelian sense? How and why do you think they conform to those classical ideals? 3) ‘All comedy is about one thing: laughter.’ To what extent do you agree? 4) As is discussed above, there are a great many subgenres of comedy. How many more can you think of? Why do you think these subgenres have emerged? 5) As the adage commonly attributed to the playwright George Bernard Shaw has it, ‘if you want to tell people the truth, make them laugh, otherwise they’ll kill you.’ What do you think this means? Do you agree? Can you think of any plays or other works of art that heed this advice?
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