Modern Drama Research Articles

The Biblical History Play: Turning Seventeenth-Century Joseph Plays into Political Drama

Abstract This article examines the shift in popularity from religious to historical and political drama from the late sixteenth century onward, particularly focusing on plays about the patriarch Joseph. The study explores how new historiographical approaches influenced the portrayal of biblical narratives, transforming them to reflect contemporary interests in politics and court life. By analyzing a selection of primarily Jesuit plays, the article demonstrates how the biblical story of Joseph was adapted to align with the baroque fascination for ancient history and the emerging trend of political drama. The shift in Jesuit drama during the baroque period from biblical to more secular subjects is evident in the dramatizations of Joseph’s story, which often incorporate elements of historical exegesis and elaborate depictions of ancient societies, particularly that of Egypt. These plays illustrate how the story of Joseph was recontextualized within a framework of international politics, war, and court intrigue, introducing new characters, plotlines, and subplots. This intermixing of genres reflects a broader tendency in early modern drama to blend sacred and secular elements, resulting in hybrid forms that straddled the line between biblical drama and history plays. The article concludes that this blending not only revitalized biblical drama but also helped bridge the gap between declining religious plays and the rising popularity of political and historical narratives.

Evolution of Theatrical Culture of Ukraine in the context of National Identity

The purpose of the article is to analyse the main aspects in the evolution of theatrical culture in Ukraine in the context of the formation and preservation of national identity. The research methodology is based on a combination of different approaches, including historical, sociocultural and artistic analysis of theatrical events and their interaction with political, sociocultural and economic factors. The historical approach enabled the author to trace the main stages of the development of theatrical culture in Ukraine, in particular the influence of political and social conditions on the formation of the national theatre. The artistic analysis enabled focusing on the aesthetic aspects of theatrical creativity, and the socio-cultural approach – to investigate the relationship between the theatre and society. Scientific novelty. The study is groundbreaking in its analysis of the impact of contemporary events, such as Euromaidan 2014 and the full-scale invasion of 2022, on Ukrainian theatre culture, as well as exploring the process of de-Russification in theatre. In addition, the article emphasises the role of individual artists and the development of modern drama, which underlines the theme of war and national identity. Conclusions. The process of formation of national identity in Ukraine in the context of historical events and cultural transformations was highlighted. Despite the various prohibitions of the desire to destroy national identity, the activities of outstanding national figures, in particular theatre figures, have always popularised Ukrainian culture. A promising direction in the development of theatre culture is to take into account all mental and ideological differences within the framework of Ukrainian values, since every Ukrainian is currently rethinking the question of their identity. The evolution of Ukrainian theatrical culture is an integral part of the process of formation and preservation of national identity. The theatre itself is an important tool of socio-cultural development, which helps Ukrainian society to realise its uniqueness and preserve its cultural heritage.

Biblical Stories on the Medieval and Early Modern Stage: A Transnational Approach

Abstract This contribution offers a survey of the field of biblical drama research and of several approaches. It makes a plea for a transnational approach of studying early modern drama, especially biblical drama. Such a transnational approach is a continuation of many of these earlier approaches, makes use of some and breaks with others. The contribution also shows that it is important to include Neo-Latin drama in the study of early modern drama at the cost of losing sight on a crucial constituent part of the development of this drama and this theatre. Neo-Latin drama contributed to the knowledge and reception of the Bible among the elites and among the ordinary people who attended performances of these plays or of one of the many translations and adapations.

Reading The Dissolution of Traditional Family Values through Harold Pinter’s Betrayal

This paper examines the disintegration of traditional British family values as reflected in Harold Pinter’s play Betrayal (1978). Historical events like the world wars and the Great Depression, along with advancements in technology, have profoundly influenced the Theater of the Absurd by deepening its exploration of existential themes and enhancing its stage capabilities. The devastating effects of wars have deeply impacted the disintegration of society and the fragmentation of the collective spirit, significantly affecting the institution of the family as well. The play vividly portrays the erosion of familial structures, with characters betraying each other in a bid to fill the void left by social upheavals. The paper explores the evolution of British family dynamics from the 1950s onwards. It further conducts a textual analysis of Betrayal, focusing on themes of dysfunctional families, self-betrayal, and communication breakdowns. The paper ultimately argues that the fragmentation of family values depicted in Betrayal mirrors the broader social disintegration post-WWII. The traditional family, once a foundation of stability, is portrayed as increasingly susceptible to internal and external pressures, leading to its eventual collapse. This study provides a critical insight into the transformations of family unit during post-war Britain and their representation in modern drama.

The Study and Development of Patriotism in the Plays of Modern Dramatist Shantinath Ghosh

The Study and Development of Patriotism in the Plays of Modern Dramatist Shantinath Ghosh

Stephen Abbott. The Proof Stage: How Theater Reveals the Human Truth of Mathematics

This book illuminates how modern playwrights like Brecht, Beckett, Frayn, Jarry, Wilson, Auburn, and especially Stoppard incorporate mathematical concepts into their works. Abbott’s study presents insightful readings that interweave theatre and mathematics in its chosen examples.

A character of modern drama in the aspect of communicative strategy of self-presentation (based on the oeuvre of Nikolay Kolyada)

A character of modern drama in the aspect of communicative strategy of self-presentation (based on the oeuvre of Nikolay Kolyada)

Nora Helmer and Thora Helmer: Henrik Ibsen at Play with the Vaudeville

ABSTRACT This article gives evidence for considering the vaudeville genre as a factor that complicates our received understanding of the plays of Norwegian dramatist Henrik Ibsen. It situates Ibsen’s activity as a theater practitioner in relation to both the prolific French dramatist Eugène Scribe and the Danish theater director and dramatist Johan Ludvig Heiberg, explores Ibsen’s own critical writing about the popular theater, and then traces intertextual resonances with the work of yet another Danish dramatist, Erik Bøgh. In particular, the author links Bøgh’s all-but-forgotten 1853 vaudeville, Et enfoldigt Pigebarn (A Guileless Girl) with Ibsen’s universally acclaimed modern dramas, Et Dukkehjem (1879; A Doll’s House) and Hedda Gabler (1890; Hedda Gabler). What this re-contextualization reveals, is an Ibsen who was far more oriented toward and influenced by transnational popular theater genres than previous scholarship has recognized.

Tyranny and Usurpation: The New Prince and Lawmaking Violence in Early Modern Drama by Doyeeta Majumder (review)

Tyranny and Usurpation: The New Prince and Lawmaking Violence in Early Modern Drama by Doyeeta Majumder (review)

Educating Rita and the Gendered Tutorial Relation in Modern Drama

Educating Rita and the Gendered Tutorial Relation in Modern Drama

Ugotavljanje avtorstva in materialnost zgodnjenovoveških dramskih besedil

The digitization of texts and the advent of big data analyses have transformed our understanding of authorship and collaboration in early modern drama. However, these advancements ought to be carefully contextualized within the material realities of early modern playwriting. The scarcity of surviving dramatic manuscripts underscores the significant role of agents like compositors, printers and editors, and the loss of the majority of plays from English commercial theatres casts doubt on the reliability of comparisons based on unique or common verbal parallels. The article focuses on drama from the Elizabethan and Jacobean periods, particularly the recently proposed collaboration between Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare on the Henry VI plays. Applying the IT concept of GIGO (garbage in, garbage out), it highlights the impact of textual transmission intricacies on authorship attribution, emphasizing that even the most sophisticated attribution techniques are only as reliable as the (often unreliable) data they utilize.

استخدام العناصر الواقعية في هنرك ابسن بيت الدمى

Henrik Ibsen (1828-1906) is considered Norway's most distinguished playwrights, besides being the father of modern drama. He started handling realistic themes around the last quarter of the nineteenth century after he had given up writing romantic plays. He turned to the problem play with The Pillars of Society (1877) and kept tackling realistic subject-matters especially in A Doll's House (1879), Ghosts (1881), An Enemy of the People (1882), and The Wild Duck (1884). In these particular plays, he relentlessly attacked the false values of society which made many people suffer. He used the prose dialogue in his realistic plays to replace the unrealistic elements of the previous romantic plays. In the realistic plays, Ibsen also subordinated action to thought since ideas are more important than action in this kind of drama. Thus, the action is more psychological than physical in A Doll's House, which is the central notion in this article. At the same time Ibsen's realistic plays came as a surprise to the people who were influenced by the existing conventions. It is no wonder that such plays were not appreciated by the censors and banned in some European countries, especially at the first time of their appearance. Ibsen surprised Europe when he volunteered to speak of subjects no other playwright dared to speak so openly and fearlessly. Thus Ibsen's Ghosts could not be staged in England until 1891, ten years after its introduction in Norway. It was J. T. Grein who helped to stage the English version of Ghosts in The Independent Theatre, a private theatre, in order to escape the censorship imposed on the public theatres. The play was already translated into English by William Archer. The subject-matter of Ghosts revolves on a hereditary issue when a son inherits a venereal disease from his father, and also on a conventional situation when a wife is forced to remain with an immoral husband whom she hates.

Harry R. McCarthy. Performing Early Modern Drama Beyond Shakespeare: Edward’s Boys. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2020.

This review considers Harry R. McCarthy's Performing Early Modern Drama Beyond Shakespeare: Edward’s Boys.

ROUND TABLE “FROM TEXT TO GAME...”: TALK ABOUT TODAY AND ETERNAL. REPORTAGE

The constant attention to dramaturgy at the Department of History of Contemporary Russian Literature and Modern Literary Process is associated with the scholarly heritage of its former head, Doctor of Philology, Professor B.S. Bugrov (1936-2002). He brought the plays of Russian symbolists back from oblivion, published the plays by L. Andreev, explored modern drama, and directed his students along this path. The round table, reviewed in this article, brought together colleagues whose academic interests were in one way or another connected to the theater and drama. The problems of theatrical and dramatic language and the synthesis of arts; innovations in drama and theater of the 20th and 21st centuries; representative texts by contemporary playwrights; adaptations of plays for theater and cinema, as well as non-dramatic material for the stage; reception of Russian drama outside Russia; contribution of B.S. Bugrov to the study of dramaturgy of the 20th century were discussed.

Innovative Application of Traditional Chinese Opera Elements in Modern Dramatic Costume Design

In the field of drama, especially in clothing design, designers are actively exploring how to combine traditional opera elements with modern drama to create clothing images that are both rich in traditional charm and in line with contemporary audience aesthetics. This innovation not only inherits traditional culture, but also challenges and extends modern aesthetics. Traditional Chinese opera elements, as an important component of Chinese culture, provide rich inspiration and materials for modern drama costume design with their unique symbolic meanings and aesthetic characteristics. The article conducts research on the innovative application of traditional Chinese opera elements in modern theatrical costume design, in order to enrich theatrical images and provide new paths and possibilities for the dissemination and inheritance of traditional culture in contemporary society.

Hamlet and the Saying of What Is Said

Abstract: On the one hand, Hamlet resists a propositional and objectified approach to meaning and draws us toward shared and rooted historical contexts of saying and appearing. On the other hand, the inherent reproducibility of early modern drama frustrates Hamlet's capacity to belong to history in a meaningful way. Historical time in Hamlet is therefore out of joint, and this time is at the root of the play's tragic promise and frustration.

Characteristic of Western and Kannada Absurd Dramas

In the literary heritage of modern Kannada theatre, innovative methods of writing such as stories, poetry, novels, etc., which are limited only to plays, should be taken into consideration. After the 19th century, modern Kannada theatre under the influence of Western theatre took a path of innovation and expanded its range of features. Along with the Kannada Renaissance literature, the modern Kannada dramas that came to light are mostly imitations of Western and Indian Sanskrit dramas. Apart from that, important Western plays like Samuel Beckett, Eugène Ionesco, Jean Genet, Arthur Adamov, Harold Pinter, Sart, Albert Camus, Brecht, are found to have built upon modern dramas on a satvika basis. Following this Kannada Absurd dramatists can be divided into two groups. The material portrays incongruous things through a coherent technique using coherent language. Playwrights like Kirtinath Kurta Koti, G.B. Joshi, Girish Karnad can be identified. The second group includes Chandrasekhar Patil, P. Lankesh, Chandrasekhar Kambar can be named. Kalyan Karnataka dramatist Chandrakant Kusunur is popular among Absurd dramatists. He wrote the most plays among the Absurd plays. We did not see any western influence in many of his plays. He has written Ani Bantani, Dindi, Mane, Rekke, Vidushaka. Ratto Ratto Rayana Magale etc. play an important role in the development of Kannada anomaly. Western Kannada Absurd plays can thus be observed in a geographically adequate traditional setting. This article attempts to analyse the different types of dramas, and dramatists, who contributed to the field of Absurd dramas in Kannada theatre due to the influence of western Absurd dramas in Kannada drama literary tradition.

Dreamlike Worlds of the Subconscious in Strindberg’s A Dream Play and The Ghost Sonata

: Modern drama is characterized by the emergence of many revolutionary and avant-garde movements which attempted to resonate the dilemmas of the ‘Modern Man’. August Strindberg who is acknowledged to be the father of Expressionism, in his plays; A Dream Play and The Ghost Sonata uses distorted images and disjointed plots in order to project a dreamlike arena in which the images from the realm of subconscious maneuver freely. In this manner he creates worlds in which personages become character types who commentate on the question of human condition. This paper studies these plays in order to shed light on the Expressionist techniques that are employed by the author. It studies the techniques that are employed by the author to make the images that originate from his subconscious accessible to the audience. Moreover, in addition to associating the play’s thematic structure to the playwright’s personal life, it examines it from a philosophical standpoint, as it questions the paradoxical nature of Man’s existence.

현대 비극의 ‘사라지는 하마르티아’와 ‘투쟁의 운명’

This paper analyzes the specific characteristics of classical tragedies and the essence of tragedy in modern drama, mainly focusing on John Millington Synge’s Riders to the Sea. Arthur Miller defined the possibility of modern tragedy as the tragic experience of the common man in relationship to the environment. However, in the modern era, the environment is often represented or segmented by capitalism, leading to the misconception that modern tragedy may be succinctly defined by the struggles of ordinary people facing continuous situational hardships in pursuit of their dreams. In contrast, Synge’s tragic drama Riders to the Sea (first performed in 1904), which this paper observes, is grounded in an isolated natural setting while still remaining connected with the realm of the divine or the universe. Focusing on the phase of vanishing hamartia, the escape from guilt of the subjects, and the expansion of the concept of necessity from outer to their inner sphere, this paper argues how classic tragic essence is also manifested in modern plays, provoking profound thoughts among the audience and elevating their souls through elegant suffering and intellectual clarification in its own way. In its characteristic of stillness, where the conclusion is drawn out over an entire lifetime of struggle and disguised to obscure emotional suffering beneath a veneer of pessimism or idealism, the modern tragic drama establishes its own tragic genre with catharsis and magnitude. This contributes to a deeper level of meaningful understanding in the lives of all ordinary people in the contemporary world.

The Defective Image of Man in Modern Drama: A Critical Study of August Strindberg's The Father

As a matter of fact, the "defective male" is a new form of masculinity that appeared in late 19th-century modern drama, while traditional ideals portrayed strong, heroic men driven by reason and duty. Strindberg's The Father introduced complex male characters who faced inner conflicts and social pressures. Captain Adolph struggles hard to establish a male-identity not only as a good father but also as a loyal, sincere husband, hard-working researcher and scholar and eventually a man with strong morality and convictions. His tragic victimization by his extremely dominant wife, Laura, the monstrous mother, and how her domination leads to the madness of the father. Strindberg challenges traditional notions of paternal authority, exposing the helplessness that lies beneath the surface of apparent strength. The purpose of this study is to highlight the negative effect of a mother's dominance over her children and others. It critically examines the portrayal of man and the father figure in The Father by August Strindberg, focusing on the portrayal of defective masculinity and the challenges to traditional gender roles. The play digs deeply into the complexities of human relationships, particularly the breakdown of the paternal figure and the psychological turmoil. The narrative reveals Captain Adolph, a once authoritative and confident father, conflicts with the loss of his identity and the destruction of his reality. It is nothing compared to a father's tormented suffering.