Introduction
From 17th century to modern day drama of 20th century. Every national, cultural, artistic struggle that helped shaped the growth of 20th century modern American Drama.
Mainstream by Eugene O’Neill in 1920s, established it as a powerful literary genre. But American drama was struggling to exist for more than 200 years by then.
Began before the American independence. The puritan settlers brought their English love for theatre with them.
Puritan opposition:
Puritan had the belief in hard work, frugality and piety. For them theatrical activities was a curse. The first theatrical performance Ye Bare and Ye Cubb in 1665 said to have resulted in the trial of the actors.
Furthermore, there were laws which prohibited theatrical activities in the continent.
Theatre in 17th century Colleges:
Theatrical activities were permitted in colleges after initial hesitation to promote intellectual and oratorical activities which, in turn , gave immense relief to te students after the rigors of classical studies.
Colonial drama:
Drama was used as a political tool to represent the growing sense of independence among the Americans.
Androboros 1714, written by the English Governor, Robert Hunter is an example in this regard.
Drama of American Revolution:
Due to the British tendency of dominance and treating the Americans as the colonial subjects, nationalistic feeling among the Americans exploded. There were also loyalist to the crown. Thus, drama became the instrument of either nationalism or loyalty to the crown.
Examples of the drama of the loyalty to the crown includes The Defeat (1773) and The Battle of Brooklyn (1776) in which George Washington was satirized.
Examples of drama for the nationalism includes The Patriots (1779).
William Dunlap is a name to reckon with who have introduced in drama , the most characteristic feature of it i.e the dramatic conflict.
Andre (1798) is a striking example of it.
Romantic and Popular Drama :
The surge of romantic drama swept American theatre in the 19th century.
However, it did not further the cause of drama.
Shifts the focus from nationalistic cause to romantic aesthetic.
The plots have become essentially Transamerican.
Gladiator (1831) by Robert Montgomery is an example of it.
Popular drama such as those dealing with the cause of slavery which divided the nation in half set the task of national re-definition.
Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852) by Harriet Beecher Stowe is a striking example.
Melodrama:
It dominated the 19th century premise of American theatre.
Melodrama means a departure from reality and credibility while working out on a fantasy.
Famous proponents includes, Augustan Daly, Dion Boucicault and David Balesco.
Stage actions became apetising and thrilling to the audience.
Dealt with problems with family, wealth social position and class
It presented two societies one is rich aristocratic and another is poor it works on these conflicting societies and for their reconciliation.
Progress through a world of misunderstanding, intrigue, sudden danger,loss of position and prestige, all this to be pleasantly retrieved at the end of the play.
A female character becomes the protagonist of the play.
The female protagonist of Augustan Daly’s Under the Gaslight is an enthralling character of the 19th century American drama.
Melodrama elevated American drama to the international stage.
The Actorly Tradition :
American stage gave more importance to the actor instead of playwright.
In facet, the Shakespearean actor, Anthony Aston was the first actor to brave the stage of American theatre in a hostile puritan environment in the 18th century and make theatre a possible in America.
The native American actors like Edwin Booth , son of Junius Brutus Booth another Shakespearean actor who established theatre as a popular medium of entertainment in America, further strengthened the Actorly Tradition in America.
These actors brought great maturity in American drama and art.
Theatrical Realism :
Shifted the focus from the actor to the scene.
First significant move towards stage realism was made by Steele Mackage by creating a portable stage.
Further advance was made by David Balesco for his play Gaza (1895) in which realistic effects such as making of the thunder, lighting, wind and galloping horses behind the scenes are achieved.
The Rise of Realism :
William Dean Howells is regarded as the father of realism in America.
He have said that the evolution of drama in America began with its progress from romanticism which also included Melodrama.
Realistic play are linear in plot, enacts an archetypal action with a preordained conclusion.
The next stage in the progress was the French Well-Made-Play which has complex plot, maximum theatrical cleverness and minimum of thought.
After this, it progressed to English Problem Play which dealt with the important socio-economic issues of the contemporary period. Oscar Wilde, George Bernard Shaw, Henry Arthur Jones made literature is, through their problem play, an effective instrument of intellectual reflection.
During 1890s, it was well proliferated in America, however, they lacked the intellectual vigour of the English Problem Play.
Realistic drama had a humble beginning in America during the last decade of 19th century.
The ideal playwright in representing realistic drama was the Norwegien playwright Henrik Ibsen.
Ibsen’s play Ghosts charts out the course of 20th century European and American drama by de-emphasizing the preeminence of man, predestined to toil against the forces of nature.
Howells, asserts Ibsen with the role of a moralist in exploring the ailm society.
Realism in topical issues in American theatre only flourished in the last decade of the 19th century and first decade of 20th century.
James A.Herne attempts an Isbenite drama with plays like Margaret Fleming (1890) dealing with infidelity and double standards in marriage, comes down heavily upon the patriarchal order of society.
His plays triumphs in mastering the realistic art the only thing it lacked was literary drama.
Theatrical preponderance never allowed American theatre to emerge as literature and put American drama in poor light.
It was up until the emergence of Eugene O’Neill that begin the period of great American drama where realistic, literary, insightful and critical dreamt and visualised
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