AMERICAN THEATRE

Theatre in the United States has been strongly influenced by European drama, but the “musical” is of truly American origin. The musical is a play with spoken lines, songs, and dances. In 1920s and 1930s these plays were called “musical comedies”. They told simple stories with happy endings: “Boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl.”

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 an uncomplicated 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. No longer just light and amusing, they often deal with serious themes, accompanied by sophisticated music and dancing. One example is “West Side story”, a modern version of Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet”, the story of young lovers who die tragically. Leonard Bernstein, an outstanding composer and conductor of the New York Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra wrote the music.

Another highly successful musical play was “My Fair Lady”, the musical version of a play by George Bernard Shaw. It tells the story of a poor London girl who wants to change her accent. The scene in which she studies vowel sounds is particularly popular with students who are studying English pronunciation.

The first important American playwright of serious, non-musical drama was Eugene O’Neill, who wrote deep and sensitive analyses of human relationships. O’Neill remains the country’s most important dramatist, and his plays are performed frequently. Other notable modern American playwrights include Thornton Wilder, Lillian Hellman, Tennessee Williams and Edward Albee. These names are only a few from the long list of contributors to the contemporary stage.

Two important developments in recent years are the “theatre of absurd” and the “black theatre”. There are also some experiments with music and lighting, body movements to replace spoken words in expressing ideas, and spontaneous audience participation in some performances. Such European writers as Eugene Ionesco and Samuel Beckett have largely influenced the theatre of the absurd.

Black theatre presents plays about black people, written by black playwrights, and performed by black casts. In 1970 for the first time the Pulitzer Prize was awarded to a black playwright, Charles Gordone.

New York City is the theatre centre of the United States. The New York theatre world is divided into two parts. One centres on Broadway, which is one of the city’s most important streets. Almost all the large commercial theatres are located on or near Broadway in the midtown area. Plays performed in these theatres are known as Broadway productions. Experimental plays have not been successful on Broadway. Most Broadway theatregoers seem to prefer musicals and sophisticated dramas or comedies featuring one or two highly paid stars.

The other New York theatre division, off-Broadway, has no definite geographic location. Off-Broadway theatres are found throughout the city in buildings once used as garages, offices, and stores. Rents are low, and there is just space enough for small audiences. Sometimes there is no raised stage. Then the cast performs in the centre of the room, surrounded on all sides by audience. This arrangement is known as “theatre-in-the-round”.

Young actors and playwrights who were unable to find employment on Broadway began Off-Broadway productions in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Often they wanted to perform in new and experimental plays. By keeping production costs down and by using unknown casts instead of star performers, producers have been able to offer interesting theatre at low prices.

Many theatre groups are active outside New York. Some of them follow repertory schedules: Different plays are performed several times by the same group of actors within a period of a few weeks or months. There are also travelling acting companies that tour throughout the country. In addition, there are non-professional university and community theatre groups.

The Pulitzer Prize

In 1903 Joseph Pulitzer, a newspaper publisher, gave money to be used for prizes for achievements in various fields, including American literature. A special committee makes an annual award to an author of the best American play. All the American playwrights mentioned here have won the Pulitzer Prize. Eugene O’Neill received the award four times, a record unequalled by any other playwright.