Text 3 American theatre

What was the American drama like during the nineteenth century?

1. The American theatre is over 200 years old, but a distinctly native drama has been slow in developing. To be sure, there was from the beginning a steady and growing concern with specifically American subjects and characters, as may be seen from the Indian and Yankee plays, plays about slavery, plays dealing with the American Revolution and later with the Civil War. However no truly outstanding American playwright appeared before the 20th century. There are several reasons for this. During the 19th century, the American drama, like the drama in England, suffered from a certain cosmopolitanism, for it borrowed widely and freely from foreign playwrights.

Which theatre form is of truly American origin?

2. One of America's principal contributions to theatre art is the development of the 'musical' which is of truly American origin. The musical is a play with spoken lines, songs and dances. In the 1920s these plays were called 'musical comedies', and they told simple stories with happy endings.

It was not until the 1940s and the production of Oklahoma that musicals began to change in style and content. Although the basic plot of Oklahoma presented a simple love story, the characters in the play seemed more like real people, and, instead of the routine dancing, ballet was introduced. Since Oklahoma many successful musical plays have appeared on the American stage. They often deal with serious themes, accompanied by sophisticated music and dancing.

Who is considered the most important dramatist of the United States?

3. The first important American playwright of serious, non-musi­cal drama was Eugene O'Neill, who wrote deep and sensitive analyses of human relationships. Although he died forty years ago, O'Neill remains the country's most important dramatist. Other well-known modern American playwrights include Thornton Wilder, Lillian Hell-man, Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller, Jack Gelber, Jack Richardson, Carson McCullers and Edward Albee.

Text 4 Street Festival

1. There's a long tradition of street performers in many countries, medieval times, dancers, singers, musicians and actors traveled around, performing at markets, fairs and festivals, wherever there was a crowd to watch them. The tradition is still alive, in many different forms.

2. In some countries, such as France, there are festivals every year, were performers entertain the crowds. These festivals still have the spirit of the medieval fairs. In Germany there's a different kind of festival; it's called "street theatre". Groups of actors and entertainers come from different countries to perform in the open air. Then there's the carnival, which in some ways is very different. The most exciting carnivals are the ones in South America and the West Indies, where people dress in fantastic, brightly coloured costumes and dance to music in the streets. Here, we look at the three different kinds of festi­val: the "saltimbanque" in France, the festival of street theatre in Germany, and the West Indian Carnival that takes place in Britain every year.

3. The town of Aix-en-Provence, in France, has a festival called the "saltimbanque" each year. The festival goes on for three or four days: everybody stops working (except the people who work in bars and cafes) and people come out on the streets and watch the perfor­mers. Everyone dresses up: ordinary people wear costumes of animals, fairies and monsters, or they just wear something strange and unu­sual. Children love the festival. Often, the street players paint the child­ren's faces for them. Many groups of actors and musicians entertain the crowds; there are mime shows, street bands, storytellers and short plays. There are lots of individual performers who thrill the people watching. There are fire eaters and tightrope walkers. In the evening, there are many musicians playing music from different countries. People dance and sing to the bands in the streets.

4. In Hamburg, West Germany, there's a different kind of festi­val. It's the International Street Festival. The festival is relatively new, but already many performers from Europe take part in it. There are performances in the underground; often the people on the platforms don't know what is happening when the performers start their act. The traditional figures from the fair and the circus are at the festival. Dancers perform German square dancing (with the dancers facing inwards from four sides)¹ to the music of bands. But there are also more modern performers who mix with the crowds, surprising people with their strange actions and their odd appearance. Jazz musicians play on a floating platform on the lake. You can see many different kinds of play. The idea of many artists is to show the history of street theatre and to bring back street theatre for audiences today. So you can see actors lead the audience to the main stage on stilts, or put on a play written in the time of the "comedia dell'arte", or something else original.

5. In London, there's a West Indian Carnival every year. People who originally came from the West Indies keep the tradition of the carnival alive. Street bands play on the platforms of lorries driving through the streets. In front of them, groups of dancers, wearing bright costumes, dance to music. The crowds join in with the dancers. You can buy all kinds of West Indian food everywhere in the streets. But there are still racial problems at the carnival; there are fights and people are often arrested by the police. In spite of this, many feel that it's important to have the carnival every year — because it is part of West Indian culture, and because at carnival time all should be able to enjoy themselves.

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