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Drawing-room Play
A drawing room play is a type of play, developed during the Victorian period in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. They set upper- and middle-class characters confronting a social problem of the time with a comedic twist. The play is formed from a blend of three parts: part well-made play, part society drama, part comedy of manners. Exponents of this style include Henrik Ibsen, Arthur Wing Pinero, George Bernard Shaw, Oscar Wilde, Edward Martyn and George Moore. The name ''drawing room play'' has its origins in the upper and middle classes of Victorian society, who with time on their hands, enacted amateur plays for the pleasure of their families in the drawing room. The style was later revisited by playwrights such as Noël Coward and J. B. Priestley; with in turn John Osborne and the Angry young men, in reaction to the revival, creating kitchen sink dramas. Examples *''Dying for Love'' by John Maddison Morton *''Orange Blossoms'' by J. P. Wooler *''Romantic Att ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Play (theatre)
A play is a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for theatre, theatrical performance rather than mere Reading (process), reading. The creator of a play is known as a playwright. Plays are staged at various levels, ranging from London's West End theatre, West End and New York City's Broadway theatre, Broadway – the highest echelons of commercial theatre in the English-speaking world – to Regional theater in the United States, regional theatre, community theatre, and academic productions at universities and schools. A stage play is specifically crafted for performance on stage, distinct from works meant for broadcast or cinematic adaptation. They are presented on a stage before a live audience. Some dramatists, notably George Bernard Shaw, have shown little preference for whether their plays are performed or read. The term "play" encompasses the written texts of playwrights and their complete theatrical renditio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Gay Lord Quex (play)
''The Gay Lord Quex'' is an 1899 comedy play by the British playwright Arthur Wing Pinero. It depicts the vicissitudes of a reformed philanderer attempting to embark on monogamy. The original production provoked controversy, some critics finding the plot at best questionable and at worst immoral. The play premiered at the Globe Theatre (Newcastle Street), Globe Theatre, London, on 8 April 1899, and ran for 300 performances. It was produced by John Hare (actor), John Hare, who also played the title role. Others in the cast included Charles Cherry, Frank Gillmore, May Fortescue, Irene Vanbrugh and Mabel Terry-Lewis. The play was revived in the West End theatre, West End in five productions during the 20th century and has been adapted for the cinema, radio and television. Background and original production By 1899 Pinero was established as a leading playwright, with a series of long-running plays from the mid 1880s onwards. His works ranged from farces such as ''The Magistrate (pla ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Comedy Of Manners
In English literature, the term comedy of manners (also anti-sentimental comedy) describes a genre of realistic, satirical comedy that questions and comments upon the manners and social conventions of a greatly sophisticated, artificial society. The satire of fashion, manners, and outlook on life of the social classes, is realised with stock characters, such as the braggart soldier of Ancient Greek comedy, and the fop and the rake of English Restoration comedy. The clever plot of a comedy of manners (usually a scandal) is secondary to the social commentary thematically presented through the witty dialogue of the characters, e.g. '' The Importance of Being Earnest'' (1895), by Oscar Wilde, which satirises the sexual hypocrisies of Victorian morality. The comedy-of-manners genre originated in the New Comedy period (325–260 BC) of Classical Greece (510–323 BC), and is known from fragments of works by the playwright Menander, whose style of writing, elaborate plots, and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chamber Play
A chamber play is a play of usually three acts which can be performed with a small cast and practically no sets or costumes in a small space. The form became popular in the early 20th century, with leading exponents being Max Reinhardt and August Strindberg. The first cinema adaptation was ''Kammerspielfilm'' in the 1920s, and the format was later adapted for cinema by Ingmar Bergman and Carl Theodor Dreyer. The name is derived from the term chamber music. See also * Closet drama * Drawing room play * List of films set in a single location This page lists films that are set fully, or almost entirely, in only one location. Such films are sometimes referred to as "bottle movies" or "chamber pieces". In June 2023, film critic Chris Stuckmann speculated that the limitations that chamber ... References Drama {{drama-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Edward Albee
Edward Franklin Albee III ( ; March 12, 1928 – September 16, 2016) was an American playwright known for works such as ''The Zoo Story'' (1958), ''The Sandbox (play), The Sandbox'' (1959), ''Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'' (1962), ''A Delicate Balance (play), A Delicate Balance'' (1966), and ''Three Tall Women'' (1994). Some critics have argued that some of his work constitutes an American variant of what Martin Esslin identified as and named the Theater of the Absurd. Three of his plays won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and two of his other works won the Tony Award for Best Play. His works are often considered frank examinations of the modern condition. His early works reflect a mastery and Americanization of the Theatre of the Absurd that found its peak in works by European playwrights such as Samuel Beckett, Eugène Ionesco, and Jean Genet. His middle period comprised plays that explored the psychology of maturing, marriage and sexual relationships. Younger American playwr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?
''Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'' is a play by Edward Albee first staged in October 1962. It examines the complexities of the marriage of middle-aged couple Martha and George. Late one evening, after a university faculty party, they receive unwitting younger couple Nick and Honey as guests, and draw them into their bitter and frustrated relationship. The three-act play normally takes just under three hours to perform, with two 10 minute intermissions. The title is a pun on the song " Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?" from Walt Disney's '' Three Little Pigs'' (1933), substituting the name of the celebrated English author Virginia Woolf. Martha and George repeatedly sing this version of the song throughout the play. ''Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'' won both the 1963 Tony Award for Best Play and the 1962–1963 New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best Play. It is frequently revived on the modern stage. The film adaptation was released in 1966, written by Ern ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
An Inspector Calls
''An Inspector Calls'' is a modern morality play and drawing room play written by English dramatist J. B. Priestley, first performed in the Soviet Union in 1945 and at the New Theatre in London the following year. It is one of Priestley's best-known works for the stage and is considered to be one of the classics of mid-20th century English theatre. The play's success and reputation were boosted by a successful revival by English director Stephen Daldry for the National Theatre in 1992 and a tour of the UK in 2011–2012. The play is a three-act drama which takes place on a single night on 5 April 1912. The play focuses on the prosperous upper-middle-class Birling family, who live in a comfortable home in the fictional town of Brumley, "an industrial city in the north Midlands." The family is visited by a man calling himself Inspector Goole, who questions the family about the suicide of a working-class woman in her mid-twenties. Long considered part of the repertory of cla ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Relative Values (play)
''Relative Values'' is a three-act comedy by Noël Coward. A satire of snobbery in all its guises, it deals with the clash of cultures between Hollywood stars and the English aristocracy, and with "the ancient and inaccurate assumption that, as we are equal in the eyes of God, we should be equal in the eyes of our fellow creatures." It was first produced in London in 1951 with success, enjoyed several revivals and was made into a film in 2000. Background Coward had been entertaining the troops and the home front during World War II, and since '' Blithe Spirit'' in 1941 he had not written any comedies (other than musicals). It seemed, after the war, that his idiom of "gay insouciance" was out of fashion. ''Relative Values'' marked his return to comic playwriting.Orman, Tony"About Noël Coward" Bournemouth Little Theatre News, 13 May 1999 It also came as Coward was just beginning a new career, for it opened just a few days after his personal triumph in his first "cabaret" show at ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frederick Lonsdale
Frederick Lonsdale (5 February 1881 – 4 April 1954) was a British playwright known for his librettos to several successful musicals early in the 20th century, including '' King of Cadonia'' (1908), '' The Balkan Princess'' (1910), '' Betty'' (1915), ''The Maid of the Mountains'' (1917), '' Monsieur Beaucaire'' (1919) and '' Madame Pompadour'' (1923). He also wrote comedy plays, including '' Aren't We All?'' (1923), '' The Last of Mrs Cheyney'' (1925) and '' On Approval'' (1927) and the murder melodrama '' But for the Grace of God'' (1946). Some of his plays and musicals were made into films, and he also wrote a few screenplays. Born and raised in Jersey, Lonsdale began writing comic sketches while serving in the army. His first play, ''Who's Hamilton?'', was produced in 1903. In 1904 he eloped with Leslie Brooke Hoggan, through whom he was introduced to Frank Curzon. Curzon began to produce Lonsdale's musicals and comic plays in 1908 in the West End with ''The King of Cadon ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aren't We All?
''Aren't We All?'' is a stage play in three acts by Frederick Lonsdale. The plot of this drawing room comedy concerns the Hon William Tatham, whose wife catches him kissing another woman at a party, but she had an extramarital kiss of her own; meanwhile a society lady works to secure the hand of William's father, Lord Grenham. The play premiered in London in 1923, has been revived both in the West End and on Broadway, and has been adapted for film, radio and television. Productions The play premiered in London on 10 April 1923 at the Globe Theatre,"Globe Theatre", ''The Times'', 11 April 1923, p. 10 running for 58 performances. The play was then seen on Broadway at the Gaiety Theatre on 21 May 1923. Despite warm reviews, the production lasted only 32 performances. A revival two years later at the same theatre lasted 16 performances. Marie Lohr, who played the young Margot Tatham in the first production, returned to the play in a 1935 revival at the Court Theatre, this ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
An Ideal Husband
''An Ideal Husband'' is a four-act play by Oscar Wilde that revolves around blackmail and political corruption, and touches on the themes of public and private honour. It was first produced at the Haymarket Theatre, London in 1895 and ran for 124 performances. It has been revived in many theatre productions and adapted for the cinema, radio and television. Background and first production In June 1893, with his second drawing room play, ''A Woman of No Importance'', running successfully at the Haymarket Theatre, Oscar Wilde began writing ''An Ideal Husband'' for the actor-manager John Hare. He completed the first act while staying at a house he had taken in Goring-by-Sea, after which he named a leading character in the play. Between September 1893 and January 1894 he wrote the remaining three acts. Hare rejected the play, finding the last act unsatisfactory; Wilde then successfully offered the play to Lewis Waller, who was about to take temporary charge of the Haymarket in t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
