Photo From: https://www.thoughtco.com/game-of-love-william-mycherly-735165
Research Presentation
Reflection on the Work of this Week, Saturday, February 27, 2021
This week has been exciting as we started work on our first IB project, the Research Presentation. This week was focused mostly on deciding which theatre tradition we wanted to focus on. During class, each of my classmates researched different theatre traditions from the IB list of traditions and talked about them to show what each tradition was about. I thought that this was interesting and informative as I was able to learn a little bit about many traditions and see if I was interested in doing my Research Presentation on them. For my first look into a theatre tradition, I focused on Medieval Mystery Plays because the name interested me. I entertained the idea of doing my presentation on this tradition because I liked how it concentrated on bible stories. I have always been interested in religion, though I am not religious, and I thought this tradition would let me explore how faith impacted theatre. I eventually decided not to do this tradition because it was hard to pinpoint a specific convention within the tradition. IB places quite a bit of weight on how a particular convention from the chosen tradition is displayed, making it hard to work with this tradition. After looking into some other traditions, I decided to do my Research Presentation on The Comedy of Manners, or Restoration Comedy. I choose this tradition because it critiques the conventions of the upper-class lifestyle. I felt like this would be a good tradition for me because I love looking into politics and how to improve our society. I feel like theatre should be about causing social change, and the Comedy of Manners uses comedy to create change through questioning the upper-class society. The Comedy of Manners is one of the more difficult traditions to choose from as the specific convention is not very clear. Still, I was immediately drawn to this tradition, I think it is super unique, and I could not give up the chance of working with it, even if it will be a challenge. I believe that by choosing a difficult tradition, I will be able to push myself to think in unconventional ways and come up with a fantastic presentation. Overall, I am pleased to have chosen the Comedy of Manners and cannot wait to start my research on this tradition.
This week has been exciting as we started work on our first IB project, the Research Presentation. This week was focused mostly on deciding which theatre tradition we wanted to focus on. During class, each of my classmates researched different theatre traditions from the IB list of traditions and talked about them to show what each tradition was about. I thought that this was interesting and informative as I was able to learn a little bit about many traditions and see if I was interested in doing my Research Presentation on them. For my first look into a theatre tradition, I focused on Medieval Mystery Plays because the name interested me. I entertained the idea of doing my presentation on this tradition because I liked how it concentrated on bible stories. I have always been interested in religion, though I am not religious, and I thought this tradition would let me explore how faith impacted theatre. I eventually decided not to do this tradition because it was hard to pinpoint a specific convention within the tradition. IB places quite a bit of weight on how a particular convention from the chosen tradition is displayed, making it hard to work with this tradition. After looking into some other traditions, I decided to do my Research Presentation on The Comedy of Manners, or Restoration Comedy. I choose this tradition because it critiques the conventions of the upper-class lifestyle. I felt like this would be a good tradition for me because I love looking into politics and how to improve our society. I feel like theatre should be about causing social change, and the Comedy of Manners uses comedy to create change through questioning the upper-class society. The Comedy of Manners is one of the more difficult traditions to choose from as the specific convention is not very clear. Still, I was immediately drawn to this tradition, I think it is super unique, and I could not give up the chance of working with it, even if it will be a challenge. I believe that by choosing a difficult tradition, I will be able to push myself to think in unconventional ways and come up with a fantastic presentation. Overall, I am pleased to have chosen the Comedy of Manners and cannot wait to start my research on this tradition.
Context (A1 and A2) for my Research Presentation- March 7, 2021
After choosing my theatre tradition of Comedy of Manners, or Restoration Comedy, I have been looking in depth in to the context in which the Comedy of Manners theatre tradition has evolved. Restoration Comedy broadly refers to the comedies that were written in late 17th century, after Charles II was brought to the throne. This tradition is essentially a reaction against Puritanism, specifically the Puritan Interregnum. The Puritan Interregnum was a time period between the execution of Charles I (January 30, 1649) to when Charles II came to London (May 29 1660) and began the Restoration period. During the Interregnum, Puritans promoted a strict lifestyle and restricted 'excesses' of previous regimes. This included the banning of theatre and gambling as they were not virtuous, and suppression of major holidays such as Christmas and Easter. As soon as Charles II came to thrown he licenced two theatre companies to preform and lifted the ban on theatre. Restoration comedies celebrate materialism and sexual freedom. They showcase the upper and middle classes, focusing on decadence and extravagance. Money, sex, infidelity, divorce and marriage are all common themes of Restoration comedies. Restoration comedies are also some of the first plays to allow women on stage because when Charles II lifted the ban on theatre he also changed the rules and allowed women to perform. Due to this new allowance, the female's role in Restoration comedy was about equal to the male's role, for example, if the heros were liberated, than so were the heroines and women talked just as openly about sex and love as men. Another important part about the Comedy of Manners is often reflects and critiques upper class society. The Comedy of Manners style focuses on the use of clever wit and this was often used to critique social standings and upper-class lifestyle. Restoration comedy is satirical and questions/comments on social conventions and manners of what was often viewed as a fake society. Some popular Comedy of Manners writers are: Oscar Wilde, George Bernard Shaw, William Congreve, and Joe Orton, to name a few.
I have enjoyed researching this theatre tradition and think that it is especially interesting how this form of comedy came as a response to restrictions of freedom during the Interregnum. I am interested to know more about women's role in the Comedy of Manners, as it was the first time in England that women were allowed to perform on stage. I believe that researching Restoration comedy has made me respect the art of comedies as much as I respect dramas. I used to think that comedies were shallow and inferior to dramas but after doing this research on the Comedy of Manners I have come to realize that comedies are their own art form and can be just as impactful as dramas can. Comedies can have deep, powerful messages woven into funny lines, which in some cases can be even more impactful than a drama.
Works Cited
Callow, Simon. Acting in Restoration Comedy. Montclair, Applause Theatre & Cinema Books, 1991.
Houghton, Walter E. "Lamb's Criticism of Restoration Comedy." ELH, vol. 10, no. 1, 1943, pp. 61–72. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/2871540. Accessed 8 Mar. 2021.
Hume, Robert D. "Theory of Comedy in the Restoration." Modern Philology, vol. 70, no. 4, 1973, pp. 302–318. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/436350. Accessed 8 Mar. 2021.
Lockhart, J. H. K. "Shaw, Wilde and the Revival of the Comedy of Manners." Hermathena, no. 106, 1968, pp. 18–22. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/23039863. Accessed 8 Mar. 2021.
Scouten, Arthur H., and Robert D. Hume. "'Restoration Comedy' and Its Audiences, 1660-1776." The Yearbook of English Studies, vol. 10, 1980, pp. 45–69. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/3506933. Accessed 8 Mar. 2021.
After choosing my theatre tradition of Comedy of Manners, or Restoration Comedy, I have been looking in depth in to the context in which the Comedy of Manners theatre tradition has evolved. Restoration Comedy broadly refers to the comedies that were written in late 17th century, after Charles II was brought to the throne. This tradition is essentially a reaction against Puritanism, specifically the Puritan Interregnum. The Puritan Interregnum was a time period between the execution of Charles I (January 30, 1649) to when Charles II came to London (May 29 1660) and began the Restoration period. During the Interregnum, Puritans promoted a strict lifestyle and restricted 'excesses' of previous regimes. This included the banning of theatre and gambling as they were not virtuous, and suppression of major holidays such as Christmas and Easter. As soon as Charles II came to thrown he licenced two theatre companies to preform and lifted the ban on theatre. Restoration comedies celebrate materialism and sexual freedom. They showcase the upper and middle classes, focusing on decadence and extravagance. Money, sex, infidelity, divorce and marriage are all common themes of Restoration comedies. Restoration comedies are also some of the first plays to allow women on stage because when Charles II lifted the ban on theatre he also changed the rules and allowed women to perform. Due to this new allowance, the female's role in Restoration comedy was about equal to the male's role, for example, if the heros were liberated, than so were the heroines and women talked just as openly about sex and love as men. Another important part about the Comedy of Manners is often reflects and critiques upper class society. The Comedy of Manners style focuses on the use of clever wit and this was often used to critique social standings and upper-class lifestyle. Restoration comedy is satirical and questions/comments on social conventions and manners of what was often viewed as a fake society. Some popular Comedy of Manners writers are: Oscar Wilde, George Bernard Shaw, William Congreve, and Joe Orton, to name a few.
I have enjoyed researching this theatre tradition and think that it is especially interesting how this form of comedy came as a response to restrictions of freedom during the Interregnum. I am interested to know more about women's role in the Comedy of Manners, as it was the first time in England that women were allowed to perform on stage. I believe that researching Restoration comedy has made me respect the art of comedies as much as I respect dramas. I used to think that comedies were shallow and inferior to dramas but after doing this research on the Comedy of Manners I have come to realize that comedies are their own art form and can be just as impactful as dramas can. Comedies can have deep, powerful messages woven into funny lines, which in some cases can be even more impactful than a drama.
Works Cited
Callow, Simon. Acting in Restoration Comedy. Montclair, Applause Theatre & Cinema Books, 1991.
Houghton, Walter E. "Lamb's Criticism of Restoration Comedy." ELH, vol. 10, no. 1, 1943, pp. 61–72. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/2871540. Accessed 8 Mar. 2021.
Hume, Robert D. "Theory of Comedy in the Restoration." Modern Philology, vol. 70, no. 4, 1973, pp. 302–318. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/436350. Accessed 8 Mar. 2021.
Lockhart, J. H. K. "Shaw, Wilde and the Revival of the Comedy of Manners." Hermathena, no. 106, 1968, pp. 18–22. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/23039863. Accessed 8 Mar. 2021.
Scouten, Arthur H., and Robert D. Hume. "'Restoration Comedy' and Its Audiences, 1660-1776." The Yearbook of English Studies, vol. 10, 1980, pp. 45–69. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/3506933. Accessed 8 Mar. 2021.
Reflection on Exploring my Performance Convention- Sunday, March 21, 2021
This week was focused on taking our performance convention, for me, the movement and body of the Fop. I started to physically and practically explore my convention, the Fop, through research and physical practice. With my research I was able to learn about how the Fop moved and acted, as well as the history of the Fop and some important Fop characters with in Restoration Comedy. I used plays, videos, and books in order to gather this information and explore the Fop in the context of Restoration Comedies. I spent a couple of days on this research and then I started to apply this information physically. One of the first practices I started way doing daily stretch routine in order to expand my range of motion because the Fop uses very exaggerated body language as the Fop is an extremely dramatic character. I have mostly focused on arm stretches because the Fops movements are mostly using the upper body. I have also focused in on my posture and how Fops hold themselves physically. Fops are incredible concerned about their physical appearance and are typically part of the aristocracy, allowing them to spend money and time focusing in on their appearance. When Fops stand and move around, they do so with a very straight back, having particularly good posture, and lift their chin high. I have practiced walking around with this type of posture and I have improved much in this area. Another aspect of my convention is the Fop's use of props, specifically the handkerchief. This has been the hardest part of my physical exploration for me because I have never worked with a handkerchief in this way. Fops often use the handkerchief as a way to exaggerate their movement even more, it acts as almost an extension of their arm. As I wrote above, Fops are extremely dramatic and want to always be the center of attention and they use the handkerchief to keep the audience and characters within the play focused on them. I have been working on how to hold the handkerchief and have used videos to see how the actors use the handkerchief effectively. I definitely still need to work on this aspect of my physicality but I have improved much this week. My next step for this project is to apply this physical exploration to my monolouge from the play, The Relapse. I am really excited to start working on my monologue and use this exploration to focus in on the characterization of the Fop.
This week was focused on taking our performance convention, for me, the movement and body of the Fop. I started to physically and practically explore my convention, the Fop, through research and physical practice. With my research I was able to learn about how the Fop moved and acted, as well as the history of the Fop and some important Fop characters with in Restoration Comedy. I used plays, videos, and books in order to gather this information and explore the Fop in the context of Restoration Comedies. I spent a couple of days on this research and then I started to apply this information physically. One of the first practices I started way doing daily stretch routine in order to expand my range of motion because the Fop uses very exaggerated body language as the Fop is an extremely dramatic character. I have mostly focused on arm stretches because the Fops movements are mostly using the upper body. I have also focused in on my posture and how Fops hold themselves physically. Fops are incredible concerned about their physical appearance and are typically part of the aristocracy, allowing them to spend money and time focusing in on their appearance. When Fops stand and move around, they do so with a very straight back, having particularly good posture, and lift their chin high. I have practiced walking around with this type of posture and I have improved much in this area. Another aspect of my convention is the Fop's use of props, specifically the handkerchief. This has been the hardest part of my physical exploration for me because I have never worked with a handkerchief in this way. Fops often use the handkerchief as a way to exaggerate their movement even more, it acts as almost an extension of their arm. As I wrote above, Fops are extremely dramatic and want to always be the center of attention and they use the handkerchief to keep the audience and characters within the play focused on them. I have been working on how to hold the handkerchief and have used videos to see how the actors use the handkerchief effectively. I definitely still need to work on this aspect of my physicality but I have improved much this week. My next step for this project is to apply this physical exploration to my monolouge from the play, The Relapse. I am really excited to start working on my monologue and use this exploration to focus in on the characterization of the Fop.
IB Reflection Journal B2, The Monologue- Tuesday, March 30, 2021
The monologue that I have chosen to perform for my research presentation is one of Lord Foppington’s monologues from the Comedy of Manners production, The Relapse. This monologue is Lord Foppington talking about himself, as he so often does, and describing his typical day. I thought that this was a good monologue to choose because it shows off a typical Fop perfectly, vain, unknowing of the other characters' concerns, and long winded. I also enjoyed how this monologue was about Lord Foppington’s day because it shows off the life of a rich person during that time period and the Comedy of Manners side of the monologue makes fun of the fruitless pleasures which Lord Foppington does everyday. I will be applying my convention of movement to this monologue by using posture, props, and extravagant movements. Posture is a very important part of the Fop character as they are aristocracy and thus hold themselves high. I will apply this to my monologue as when I move, I will move with proper posture and hold my chin high. Fops think that they are a picture of perfection and Lord Foppington is no exception so this will fit right into character. I will be using a handkerchief as a prop as that is one of the typical props that a Fop uses. Fops are typically seen either with a handkerchief, cane, or a fan but I have chosen to use a handkerchief because I think it fits with Lord Foppington’s character best. During the monologue I will gesture using the handkerchief, bring it up and wipe my face with it and use it to exaggerate my motions as those are some of the typical things a Fop does with a handkerchief. I think that this makes sense for Lord Foppington because he is extremely dramatic and I will be able to use the handkerchief to show this off. I will also be using very extravagant arm and leg movements as this is typical of Fops and Restoration Comedy characters in general. Due to the fact that their makeup kept actors from having big facial expressions body movements were large to make up for this. Since this monologue is sort of like a story I will use my body movements to clearly show what is going on during the monologue. I think that this also fits in with the character of the Fop as they are typically dramatic and big movements allow for the attention to be all on them. I think that with these applications of my convention will allow my Lord Foppington monologue to develop.
The monologue that I have chosen to perform for my research presentation is one of Lord Foppington’s monologues from the Comedy of Manners production, The Relapse. This monologue is Lord Foppington talking about himself, as he so often does, and describing his typical day. I thought that this was a good monologue to choose because it shows off a typical Fop perfectly, vain, unknowing of the other characters' concerns, and long winded. I also enjoyed how this monologue was about Lord Foppington’s day because it shows off the life of a rich person during that time period and the Comedy of Manners side of the monologue makes fun of the fruitless pleasures which Lord Foppington does everyday. I will be applying my convention of movement to this monologue by using posture, props, and extravagant movements. Posture is a very important part of the Fop character as they are aristocracy and thus hold themselves high. I will apply this to my monologue as when I move, I will move with proper posture and hold my chin high. Fops think that they are a picture of perfection and Lord Foppington is no exception so this will fit right into character. I will be using a handkerchief as a prop as that is one of the typical props that a Fop uses. Fops are typically seen either with a handkerchief, cane, or a fan but I have chosen to use a handkerchief because I think it fits with Lord Foppington’s character best. During the monologue I will gesture using the handkerchief, bring it up and wipe my face with it and use it to exaggerate my motions as those are some of the typical things a Fop does with a handkerchief. I think that this makes sense for Lord Foppington because he is extremely dramatic and I will be able to use the handkerchief to show this off. I will also be using very extravagant arm and leg movements as this is typical of Fops and Restoration Comedy characters in general. Due to the fact that their makeup kept actors from having big facial expressions body movements were large to make up for this. Since this monologue is sort of like a story I will use my body movements to clearly show what is going on during the monologue. I think that this also fits in with the character of the Fop as they are typically dramatic and big movements allow for the attention to be all on them. I think that with these applications of my convention will allow my Lord Foppington monologue to develop.