Friday, January 22, 2010

Project #1: Genres

CENTERSTAGE (Professional)

The Importance of Being Earnest by: Oscar Wilde

"There's a reason why Oscar Wilde's last social comedy...is regarded as his best play."
http://www.curtainup.com/importanceofbeingearnestberk.html

"In this satire, being earnest is made as superficial a trait as possible..."
http://www.angelfire.com/home/qaf/earnest.html


Ma Rainey's Black Bottom by: August Wilson

"Wilson’s first major drama shortchanges the audience in layers of dilemma and meaning."
http://chicagotheaterblog.com/2009/10/02/review-ma-raineys-black-bottom-at-court-theatre/

""Ma Rainey's Black Bottom" is an important play in African-American theater."
http://gonyc.about.com/cs/broadway/gr/marainey.htm


Caroline, or Change Book and Lyrics by: Tony Kushner Music by: Jeanine Tesori

''Caroline, or Change,'' the carefully wrought chamber opera by Tony Kushner and Jeanine Tesori.
http://theater.nytimes.com/mem/theater/treview.html?res=9800E2DF103AF932A35751C1A9659C8B63

"As a result, the musical is less emotionally moving than intellectually stimulating."
http://www.minnesotamonthly.com/media/Blogs/Front-Center/April-2009/Review-quotCaroline-or-Change-quot-grooves-at-the-Guthrie/


Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? by: Edward Albee

"We dub it a tragicomedy, because it blends elements of both tragedy and comedy."
http://www.shmoop.com/afraid-of-virginia-woolf/genre.html

"'Virginia Woolf' may be the most vicious portrait of a marriage this side of Strindberg, it is also - deeply and truly - a love story."
http://theater.nytimes.com/2005/03/21/theater/reviews/21wool.html?_r=1&pagewanted=2


A Little Night Music Music and Lyrics by: Stephen Sondheim Book by: Hugh Wheeler

"Broadway Musical Comedy"
http://www.jimsdeli.com/theater/2009-2010/little-night-music.htm

"Highly stylized (this is a musical costume drama)"
http://www.broadway.com/shows/little-night-music/


Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead by: Tom Stoppard

" The play is an intellectual comedy, with intricate word plays"
http://theater.nytimes.com/mem/theater/treview.html?_r=1&res=9B0DE2DD133FF93BA25756C0A961948260&oref=slogin

"Stoppard's play brings a Shakespearian twist to the Theatre of the Absurd"
http://www.gradesaver.com/rosencrantz-and-guildenstern-are-dead/study-guide/about/


Arsenic and Old Lace By: Joseph Kesselring

"Queens Shakespeare, Inc. presentation of this brilliant black comedy"
http://blogcritics.org/culture/article/theater-review-queens-ny-arsenic-and/

"Dark Comedy Arsenic and Old Lace at Northwestern University"
http://www.goldstar.com/events/evanston-il/arsenic-and-old-lace.html


The Three Sisters by: Anton Chekhov

"Elements that validate the play as a tragi-comedy"
http://www.curtainup.com/3sisterscsc.html

"...is one of the saddest and most haunting dramas written in this century or any other."
http://www.nytimes.com/1989/11/23/theater/reviews-theater-chekhov-s-three-sisters-and-the-riddle-it-poses.html?pagewanted=1


King Lear by: William Shakespeare

"a tribal, tense production of Shakespeare’s tragedy"
http://www.curtainup.com/kinglearcth.html

"King Lear is at least as much a comedy as a tragedy."
http://www2.hawaii.edu/~lady/lit/shakespeare/


Picnic by: William Inge

"Picnic- A Summer Romance."
http://dreamweaverstheatre.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=98&Itemid=62

"The Shape of Picnic is comedy-drama."
http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1129&dat=19540511&id=ViINAAAAIBAJ&sjid=5GoDAAAAIBAJ&pg=3290,2719720




Johns Hopkins University Theatre (Educational)


The House of Blue Leaves
by: John Guare

"
Archetypal artifact of late 1960's black comedy."
http://theater.nytimes.com/mem/theater/treview.html?res=9A0DEEDA1538F933A15750C0A9609482600

"Full Length, Farce"
http://www.samuelfrench.com/store/product_info.php/products_id/1735


Book of Days By: Lanford Wilson

"As a genre it might be classified as a mystery."
http://74.125.93.132/search?q=cache:bjXCPSx_svgJ:www.curtainup.com/bookofdays.html+Book+of+Days+Lanford+Wilson+Genre&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

"It can also be debated that this is in fact a tragedy."
http://74.125.93.132/search?q=cache:7WWOLSXB51sJ:www.amazon.com/Book-Days-Lanford-Wilson/dp/0822217678+Book+of+Days+Lanford+Wilson+Genre+Drama&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us


The Marriage of Bette and Boo by: Christopher Durang

"American playwrights who delve into the oeuvre known as dark comedy."
http://www.curtainup.com/marriageofbettyandboo.html

Dramatists Play Service - "Comedy"
http://www.dramatists.com/cgi-bin/db/single.asp?index=0&key=1180


Five Women Wearing the Same Dress by: Alan Ball

"The physical comedy is made extra entertaining by the ridiculous gowns."
http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Issue/review?oid=oid%3A5915733

"Five Women Wearing The Same Dress is a comedy-drama about five bridesmaids."
http://truebloodnet.com/kirby-theatre-presents-alan-balls-five-women-wearing-same-dress//


Follies Music and Lyrics by: Stephen Sondheim Book by: James Goldman

'“Follies,” Stephen Sondheim and James Goldman’s beautiful, broken-hearted musical"
http://theater.nytimes.com/2007/02/10/theater/reviews/10foll.html

'"Follies [Revival, Musical Drama]"
http://www.ibdb.com/person.php?id=12430


The Light in the Piazza Book by: Craig Lucas Music and Lyrics by: Adam Guettel

"Significant step forward for the endangered American musical"
http://nymag.com/nymetro/arts/theater/reviews/11817/

"A musical drama by Adam Guettel and Craig Lucas"
http://www.onlineseats.com/theatre/the-light-in-the-piazza-tickets/index.asp


Picasso at the Lapin Agile by: Steve Martin

'“Picasso at the Lapin Agile” is a comedy of ideas"
http://74.125.113.132/search?q=cache:-ySHRsNbHIgJ:www.tuscaloosanews.com/article/20091106/news/911059951%3FTitle%3DSteve-Martin-s-Picasso-at-the-Lapin-Agile-+picasso+at+the+lapin+agile+absurdist+comedy&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

"Steve Martin's Absurd Comedy Picasso at the Lapin Agile"
http://www.goldstar.com/events/fullerton-ca/picasso-at-the-lapin-agile.html


The Glorious Ones Book and Lyrics by: Lynn Ahrens Music by: Stephen Flaherty

"a new musical about the roistering life of the clowns ."
http://theater.nytimes.com/2007/11/06/theater/reviews/06glorious.html

"world premiere of a new musical comedy."
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07120/782088-325.stm


The Arabian Nights by: Mary Zimmerman

"Sprawling her drama across a stunning landscape of the imagination."
http://www.villagetheatrewaterdown.ca/Arabian%20Nights/arabian%20nights%20spectator%20review.htm

"Emphasize slapstick and vaudeville-like comedy"
http://newcitystage.com/2009/06/01/review-arabian-nightslookingglass-theatre/




The Threepenny Opera Book and Lyrics by: Bertolt Brecht Music by: Kurt Weill

"Famous and popular example of what Brecht called "epic theater."'
http://theater.nytimes.com/2006/04/21/theater/reviews/21thre.html

"A pivotal work in the history of musical comedy."
http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1P3-1153900061.html


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