Play, film or TV program that has a political component
A
political drama
can describe a
play
,
film
or
TV program
that has a
political
component, whether reflecting the author's political opinion, or describing a
politician
or series of political events.
Dramatists
who have written political dramas include
Aaron Sorkin
,
[1]
[2]
Robert Penn Warren
,
Sergei Eisenstein
,
Bertolt Brecht
,
Jean-Paul Sartre
,
Howard Brenton
,
Caryl Churchill
, and
Federico Garcia Lorca
.
Theatre
[
edit
]
In the history of theatre, there is long tradition of performances addressing issues of current events, especially those central to society itself. The
political satire
performed by the
comic poets
at the
theatres
had considerable influence on
public opinion
in the
Athenian democracy
.
[3]
Those earlier Western dramas, arising out of the
polis
, or democratic
city-state
of Greek society, were performed in amphitheaters, central arenas used for theatrical performances, religious ceremonies and political gatherings; these dramas had a ritualistic and social significance that enhanced the relevance of the political issues being examined.
Shakespeare
is an author of political theatre according to some academic scholars, who observe that his history plays examine the machinations of personal drives and passions determining political activity and that many of the tragedies such as
King Lear
and
Macbeth
dramatize political leadership and complexity subterfuges of human beings driven by the lust for power. For example, they observe that
class struggle
in the
Roman Republic
is central to
Coriolanus
.
[4]
Historically in
Soviet Russia
, the term political theatre was sometimes referred to as
agitprop theatre
or simply
agitprop
, after the
Soviet
term
agitprop
.
[5]
Recent political drama
[
edit
]
In later centuries, political theatre has sometimes taken a different form. Sometimes associated with
cabaret
and folk theatre, it has offered itself as a theatre 'of, by, and for the people'.
[
citation needed
]
In this guise, political theatre has developed within the civil societies under oppressive governments as a means of actual underground communication and the spreading of critical thought. Following the war there was an influx of political theatre, as people needed to discuss the losses of the war.
Often political theatre has been used to promote specific political theories or ideals, for example in the way agitprop theatre has been used to further
Marxism
and the development of
communist
sympathies. Russian agitprop theater was noted for its cardboard characters of perfect virtue and complete evil, and its coarse ridicule.
[6]
Realism in theatre
[
edit
]
Less radical versions of political theatre have become established within the mainstream modern repertory - such as the realist dramas of
Arthur Miller
(
The Crucible
and
All My Sons
), which probe the behavior of human beings as social and political animals.
[
citation needed
]
Feminist theatre
[
edit
]
A new form of political theatre emerged in the twentieth century with
feminist
authors like
Elfriede Jelinek
or
Caryl Churchill
, who often make use of the non-realistic techniques detailed above.
[
citation needed
]
. During the 1960s and 1970s, new theatres emerged addressing women's issues. These theatres went beyond producing feminist plays, but also sought to give women opportunities and work experience in all areas of theatrical production which had heretofore been dominated by men. In addition to playwright, producers, and actors, there were opportunities for women electricians, set designers, musical director, stage managers, etc.
Brechtian theatre
[
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]
The Living Theatre
, created by
Judith Malina
and her husband
Julian Beck
in 1947, which had its heyday in the 1960s, during the
Vietnam War
, is a primary example of politically oriented Brechtian performance art in the United States.
[
citation needed
]
Their original productions of
Kenneth Brown
's
The Brig
(c. 1964), also filmed, and of
Jack Gelber
's controversial play
The Connection
and its 1961
film
rely upon and illustrate the
dramaturgy
of Brechtian
alienation effect
(
Verfremdungseffekt
) that most political theatre uses to some extent, forcing the audience to take a "critical perspective" on events being dramatized or projected on screen(s) and building on aspects of the
Theatre of Cruelty
, which developed from the theory and practice of French early
surrealist
and proto-
absurdist
Antonin Artaud
.
[7]
American regional theatre
[
edit
]
In American regional theatre, a politically oriented social orientation occurs in
Street theatre
, such as that produced by the
San Francisco Mime Troupe
and ROiL. The
Detroit Repertory Theatre
has been among those regional theaters at the forefront of political comedy, staging plays like
Jacob M. Appel
's
Arborophilia
, in which a lifelong Democrat prefers that her daughter fall in love with a poplar tree instead of a Republican activist.
[8]
In 2014, Chicago's
Annoyance Theater
produced
Good Morning Gitmo
: a one-act play by
Mishu Hilmy
and Eric Simon which lampoons the
US Detention Center at Guantanamo Bay
.
[9]
David Hare
's play
Straight Line Crazy
focuses on the life of
Robert Moses
, played by
Ralph Fiennes
, the controversial urban planner who worked in
New York
.
English political theatre
[
edit
]
Kitchen sink realism
or kitchen sink drama was a movement that developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s in theatre, art, novels, film, and television plays, whose protagonists usually could be described as "
angry young men
" who were disillusioned with modern society. It used a style of
social realism
to depict the lives of
working class
Britons, and to explore controversial social and political issues ranging from abortion to homelessness. The film
It Always Rains on Sunday
(1947) is a precursor of the genre, and
John Osborne
's play
Look Back in Anger
(1956) is an example of an early play in this genre.
[10]
The
Iraq War
is the focus of some recent British political drama; for example,
Stuff Happens
, by
David Hare
.
David Edgar
and
Mark Ravenhill
also satirize contemporary socio-political realities in their recent dramatic works.
Banner Theatre
in
Birmingham
, England, in the
United Kingdom
, is an example of a specific kind of political theatre called
documentary theatre
.
Scottish political theatre
[
edit
]
John McGrath
, founder of the Scottish popular theatre company
7:84
, argued that "the theatre can never 'cause' a social change. It can articulate pressure towards one, help people celebrate their strengths and maybe build their self-confidence… Above all, it can be the way people find their voice, their solidarity and their collective determination."
[11]
Television
[
edit
]
The television series
The West Wing
created by
Aaron Sorkin
which focuses on the fictional
Democratic
administration of President
Josiah Bartlet
is widely considered one of the best TV shows of all time,
[12]
[13]
[14]
[15]
[16]
having won three
Golden Globe Awards
and 26
Primetime Emmy Awards
, including the award for
Outstanding Drama Series
, which it won four consecutive times from 2000 to 2003.
[17]
Yes, Minister
and its sequel
Yes, Prime Minister
were British
political satire
sitcoms
.
Other
television series
that have been classified as political dramas include
Borgen
,
Boss
,
Jack & Bobby
,
The Bold Ones: The Senator
,
Commander in Chief
,
House of Cards
(
UK
and
US
versions),
Madam Secretary
,
Designated Survivor
,
Spin
,
Ingobernable
,
Scandal
,
Billions
,
The Looming Tower
, and
The Mechanism
.
The Good Wife
can also be considered a political drama, especially in its critically acclaimed
second season
and
fifth season
. Races for political office, including
state's attorney
,
governor
, and even a Presidential run, move in and out of the show's narrative and the story of its main character, Alicia Florrick. However, Alicia's primary profession as a litigator for the most part takes precedence in the narrative, and so the show more often focuses on her cases and related office politics, making it primarily a
legal drama
.
[
citation needed
]
Film
[
edit
]
There have been notables films that have been labeled as political dramas such as
Thirteen Days
and
The Ides of March
. A famous literary political drama which later made the transition to film was Robert Penn Warren's
All the King's Men
.
See also
[
edit
]
Notes
[
edit
]
- ^
"Aaron Sorkin"
.
IMDb
. Retrieved
2017-07-04
.
- ^
"The Dramatist: How Aaron Sorkin Made Politics Entertaining"
.
TVGuide.com
. 2009-12-07
. Retrieved
2017-07-04
.
- ^
Henderson, J. (1993)
Comic Hero versus Political Elite
pp.307-19 in
Sommerstein, A.H.; S. Halliwell; J. Henderson; B. Zimmerman, eds. (1993).
Tragedy, Comedy and the Polis
. Bari: Levante Editori.
- ^
Jonathan Dollimore
and
Alan Sinfield
, eds.
Political Shakespeare: Essays in
Cultural Materialism
(Manchester, Eng.: Manchester UP, 1985),
ISBN
0-7190-4352-2
; John Drakakis, ed.
Alternative Shakespeares
, New Accents Ser. (New York and London: Routledge, 1985),
ISBN
0-415-02528-1
.
- ^
"Definition of agitprop | Dictionary.com"
.
www.dictionary.com
.
- ^
Richard Pipes
,
Russia Under the Bolshevik Regime
, p303,
ISBN
978-0-394-50242-7
- ^
The Living Theatre is currently still functioning and has produced a new production of
The Brig
; see its website:
The Living Theatre
. Retrieved 18 Sept. 2007.
- ^
"Daughters in Love Fuel Mom's Dismay,"
Detroit Free Press
, November 14, 2006.
- ^
Hayford, Justin
Review:
Good Morning Gitmo
.
Chicago Reader
. Retrieved on November 24, 2014.
- ^
"An introduction to Look Back in Anger"
.
The British Library
.
- ^
John McGrath
,
A Good Night Out, Popular Theatre: Audience, Class, Form
(London: Nick Hern Books, 1991),
ISBN
1-85459-370-6
;
The Bone Won't Break: On Theatre and Hope in Hard Times
(London: Methuen, 1990),
ISBN
0-413-63260-1
.
- ^
"The West Wing ? The 100 Best TV Shows of All-TIME"
.
Time
. September 6, 2007. Archived from
the original
on October 22, 2011
. Retrieved
March 28,
2010
.
- ^
Roush, Matt (February 25, 2013). "Showstoppers: The 60 Greatest Dramas of All Time".
TV Guide
: 16?17.
- ^
Fretts, Bruce; Roush, Matt (December 23, 2013).
"TV Guide Magazine's 60 Best Series of All Time"
.
TV Guide
.
Archived
from the original on November 19, 2017
. Retrieved
October 22,
2015
.
- ^
"The 50 Best TV Shows Ever"
.
Empire
. April 24, 2018.
Archived
from the original on June 13, 2018
. Retrieved
July 16,
2018
.
- ^
Sheffield, Rob (September 21, 2016).
"100 Greatest TV Shows of All Time"
.
Rolling Stone
.
Archived
from the original on October 24, 2016
. Retrieved
October 24,
2016
.
- ^
"Best of the Decade: Emmy Winners"
.
TV Guide
. Archived from
the original
on November 10, 2013
. Retrieved
November 10,
2013
.
References
[
edit
]
- Bottaro, J.
El Teatro Politico de Protesta Social en Venezuela, 1969-1979
.
Lewiston, New York
:
Edwin Mellen Press
, 2008.
- Broyles-Conzalez, Yolanda.
El Teatro Campesino: Theater in the Chicano Movement
. Austin: U of Texas P, 1994.
- Fischer-Lichte.
Theatre, Sacrifice, Ritual: Exploring Forms of Political Theatre
. London:
Routledge
, 2005.
- Filewod, Alan, and David Watt.
Workers' Playtime: Theatre and the Labour Movement Since 1970
. Currency Press, 2001.
- Godiwala, Dimple.
Breaking the Bounds : British Feminist Dramatists Writing in the Mainstream Since c. 1980
. New York:
Peter Lang
, 2003.
- Jezer, Marty. "Abbie Hoffman: American Rebel" (p.xiv, Introduction). Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick, 1993
ISBN
978-0-8135-1850-3
ISBN
978-0-8135-2017-9
- Meier, Christian.
The Political Art of Greek Tragedy
. Cambridge: Polity Press, 1993.
- Patterson, Michael.
Strategies of Political Theatre
. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge UP, 2003.
- Piscator, Erwin.
The Political Theatre: A History 1914-1929
. New York: Avon, 1978.
- O'Corra, Simon, Taking the Medicine, A Play, Duality Books 2012
ISBN
978-1-291-07600-4
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