User:Irene.elias85/sandbox

SPRING 2018

To be added to "references" section:

Trules, Eric. “The Art of Solo Performance.” The Huffington Post, TheHuffingtonPost.com, 4 Feb. 2015, www.huffingtonpost.com/trules/line-please-the-art-of-so_b_6590066.html.

Signature Theatre - Suzan-Lori Parks' Venus at Signature Theatre in New York, www.signaturetheatre.org/shows-and-events/Productions/2016-2017/Venus.aspx.

“Latin History for Morons.” Broadway.com, www.broadway.com/shows/latin-history-moron/.

“In the Body of the world.” In the Body of the World, Manhattan Theatre Club, bodyoftheworldplay.com/?utm_source=Google&utm_medium=Search.

Isherwood, Charles. “'Emergence-SEE!' - Theater - Review.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 23 Oct. 2006, www.nytimes.com/2006/10/23/theater/reviews/23emer.html.

Rimalower, Ben. “'On My Own': The Top 10 Solo Shows on Broadway.” Playbill, PLAYBILL INC., 6 Sept. 2014, www.playbill.com/article/on-my-own-the-top-10-solo-shows-on-broadway-com-328659.

“History of Solo Performance.” Allforone, www.afo.nyc/history-of-solo-performance.

Catron, Louis E. The power of one: the solo play for playwrights, actors, and directors. Waveland Press, Inc., 2009.

David, Cara Joy. “Theater Companies Learn the Value of Flying Solo.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 2 May 2007, www.nytimes.com/2007/05/03/theater/03solo.html.

Young, Jordan R. Acting solo: the art of one-Man shows. Moonstone Press, 1989.

Miller, Bruce J. Acting solo: roadmap to success. Limelight Editions, 2010.

Carlson, Marvin. Performance: a Critical Introduction. Routledge, an Imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, 2018.

Bonney, Jo. Extreme Exposure: an Anthology of Solo Performance Texts from the Twentieth Century. Theatre Communications Group, 2008.

SOLO PERFORMANCE

A solo performance, sometimes referred to as a one-person show, features a single person telling a story for an audience, typically for the purpose of entertainment. This type of performance comes in many varieties, including autobiographical creations, comedy acts, novel adaptations, vaudeville, poetry, music, and dance.

Contents

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• 1Traits of solo performance
• 2History
• 3Types of solo performance
• 4Past productions
• 5See also
• 6References
• 7External links

Traits of solo performance[edit]

In the preface of the book Extreme Exposure, editor Jo Bonney uses the term "solo performance" to encompass those performers who do not necessarily have a comedic history. She suggests that "at the most basic level, despite their limitless backgrounds and performance styles, all solo performers are storytellers." This assumption is based on her assertion that a number of solo shows have a storyline or a plot.

Bonney also suggests that a distinctive trait of solo performance resides in its frequent lack of a fourth wall separating the performer from the audience, stating that a "solo show expects and demands the active involvement of the people in the audience". While this is often the case, as in the shows of performers coming directly from the stand-up comedy tradition, it is not a requirement: some solo shows, such as Nemesis by Natyaguru Nurul Momen or Krapp's Last Tape by Samuel Beckett, are performed without the performer addressing the audience directly.

When creating a show, a solo performer is not limited to creating and performing the show themselves. They can use directors, writers, designers, and composers. An example of how Eric Bogosian builds a character can be found in the published version of his show Wake Up And Smell the Coffee, by Theatre Communications Group, New York City. This is currently copied from another source--> needs to be re-written to reflect original thoughts.

Solo performance is used to encompass the broad term of a single person performing for an audience. Some key traits of solo performance can include the lack of the fourth wall and audience participation or involvement. Solo performance does not need to be written, performed, and produced by a single person-- a solo performance production may utilize directors, writers, designers, and composers to bring the piece to life on a stage. An example of this collaboration is Eric Bogosian in the published version of his show Wake Up And Smell the Coffee, by Theatre Communications Group, New York City.

History[edit]

It is assumed that individuals have told stories in front of other members of their tribe or society for thousands of years. They would have orally passed down many of today's myths and legends in this manner. So it is a style of performance that has been with us for generations developing through theatrical people such as Greek Monologists, the strolling Minstrels of Medieval England and the French Troubadors.

Edgar Allan Poe both lectured and recited poetry as a platform performer between 1843 and 1849; his performances stand as a paradigm of the one-person show hybrid simply called "the lecture-recital". The reading tours of Charles Dickens in Britain and America between 1858 and 1870 created a sensation. His American tour of 1867-68 was unparalleled until the arrival of the Beatles in the early 1960s.

Solo performance shows enjoyed an unprecedented artistic and commercial vogue in the United States during the second half of the nineteenth century (John S. Gentile Calls it the golden age of platform performance). Literary historians often associate the Victorian period with the highest development of the dramatic monologue as a poetic form. There were several discussions about the importance and distinction between the literary monologue and the performance monologue during the nineteenth century, however, this discussions confirms a continuous interchange between literature and performance, which may at times appear competitive but is more often productive. By the time the United States entered the 20th century, the number and variety of professional one-person shows presented throughout the country had grown large. This renaissance of solo performance also created ripples in the larger sense of American theatre; after this "boom" of the one man show had passed, the presentational style seeped into popular theatre productions such as Amadeus, Equus, and Evita among others, modeling a combination of representational theatricality and presentational, direct-address style.

By the 1960s, the term performance art became popular and involved any number of performance acts or happenings, as they were known. Many performers, like Laurie Anderson, developed through these happenings and are still performing today.

ADD:

- Solo performance as an outlet for expression of social and political views (according to Carlson).

Types of solo performance[edit]

While a one-person show may be the musings of a comedian on a theme, the form can accommodate a wider scope. The backgrounds of solo performers over the decades range from vaudeville, stand-up comedy, poetry, music, visual arts, magic, cabaret, theatre and dance.

Solo performers include Lily Tomlin, Andy Kaufman, Rod Maxwell, Lord Buckley, Eric Bogosian, Whoopi Goldberg, Jade Esteban Estrada, Eddie Izzard, John Leguizamo, Marga Gomez, Anna Deavere Smith, Bill Hicks, Brother Blue and Lenny Bruce.

Several performers have presented solo shows in tribute to famous personalities. The blueprint for this type of show may have been drafted by Hal Holbrook, who has performed as Mark Twain in his solo show, Mark Twain Tonight, more than 2,000 times since 1954. Examples since that time include Julie Harris in the Emily Dickinson biography, The Belle of Amherst; Tovah Feldshuh as Golda Meir in Golda's Balcony; Frank Gorshin as George Burns in Say Goodnight Gracie by Rupert Holmes; Ed Metzger in his solo show, performing since 1978, Albert Einstein: The Practical Bohemian; Metzger in another one-person show, Hemingway: On the Edge; and Tom Dugan as Simon Wiesenthal in Wiesenthal.

A few actors adapted entire novels for the stage including Patrick Stewart who played all 43 parts in his version of A Christmas Carol, which played three times on Broadway and at the Old Vic in London; actor Gerald Charles Dickens played 26 characters in his performances from the same work; and Jack Aranson starred in a solo, 13-character production of Moby Dick.

Solo performance may be personal, autobiographical creations. This ranges from the intensely confessional but comedic work of Spalding Gray, the semi-autobiographical A Bronx Tale by Chaz Palminteri, or Holly Hughes' solo piece World without End, in which she attempts to make sense of her relationship with her mother who had died.

Still other shows may rally around a central theme, such as pop culture in Pat Hazel's The Wonderbread Years, relationships in Robert Dubac's The Male Intellect, the history of the New York City transit system in Mike Daisey's Invincible Summer, or fighting the system in Patrick Combs' Man 1, Bank 0.

Sometimes, solo shows are simply traditional plays written by playwrights for a cast of one. Examples: Shirley Valentine by Willy Russell, I Am My Own Wife by Doug Wright, The Blonde, the Brunette and the Vengeful Redhead by Robert Hewett and Topless by Miles Tredinnick. A performer of shows of this type is Chris Harris, whose performances in the genre include Kemp's Jig, That's The Way To Do It!, Ally Sloper's Half Holiday, Beemaster, 'Arris Music 'All and A Night At The Pantomime.

Poetry pervades the work of Dael Orlandersmith, sleight-of-hand mastery informs Ricky Jay's self-titled Ricky Jay and His 52 Assistants, magical and psychic performance skills are part of Neil Tobin's Supernatural Chicago.^{[citation needed]}

There have also been many British comedians who have moved away from performing pure stand-up comedy in recent years. The shows that appear annually at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe can involve stories of pathos and the use of technological equipment such as projectors. Examples include Howard Read, who has performed with the animated character Little Howard which was projected with the aid of computers and Dave Gorman, who has performed several shows described as "documentary comedy".^{[citation needed]}

ADD

Spoken Word

Wikipedia

Preliminary Bibliography

For "Dyskolos":

1) Rzepkowski, Krzysztof. "Stage Movement and Staging in Menander's Dyskolos." Mnemosyne, vol. 65, no. 4/5, Oct. 2012, pp. 584-596. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1163/156852512X585133.

2) Owens, William M. "THE POLITICAL TOPICALITY OF MENANDER'S DYSKOLOS."American Journal of Philology, vol. 132, no. 3, 2011, pp. 349-378, ProQuest Central; Research Library, http://online.library.marist.edu/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/903528273?accountid=28549.

3)Dugdale, Eric. "Illinois classical studies." Coincidence in Menander's Dyskolos, vol. 40, no. 2, 2015, pp. 321.

4) Kantzios, Ippokratis. "'Old' Pan and 'New' Pan in Menander's Dyskolos." The Classical Journal, vol. 106, no. 1, 2010, p. 23+. Academic OneFile, online.library.marist.edu/login?url=http://go.galegroup.com.online.library.marist.edu/ps/i.do?p=AONE&sw=w&u=nysl_se_marist&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA353321120&sid=summon&asid=f0aa018530b267ca291bdb53cbbc5a5e. Accessed 23 Sept. 2017.

5) Krauss, Amanda, and Jess Miner. "From 'G' to 'PG-13': the passion of Sostratos in Menander's Dyskolos." Helios, vol. 36, no. 2, 2009, p. 99+. Academic OneFile, online.library.marist.edu/login?url=http://go.galegroup.com.online.library.marist.edu/ps/i.do?p=AONE&sw=w&u=nysl_se_marist&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA232740705&sid=summon&asid=0063c8bd6d21d9941b5683291ddd0afe. Accessed 23 Sept. 2017.

6) Cox, Cheryl A. "Crossing Boundaries through Marriage in Menander's Dyskolos."Classical Quarterly, vol. 52, no. 1, 2002, pp. 391-394, ProQuest Central; Research Library, http://online.library.marist.edu/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/201678794?accountid=28549.

7) Rosivach, Vincent J. “Class Matters in the ‘Dyskolos’ of Menander.” The Classical Quarterly, vol. 51, no. 1, 2001, pp. 127–134. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/3556334.

8) Special Correspondence THE NEW,YORK TIMES. "FOUR LOST PLAYS OF MENANDER FOUND." New York Times (1857-1922), Sep 22, 1907, pp. 1, ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The New York Times with Index, http://online.library.marist.edu/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/96671660?accountid=28549.

9) Menander." Britannica Academic, Encyclopædia Britannica, 2 Apr. 2014. academic.eb.com.online.library.marist.edu/levels/collegiate/article/Menander/51959. Accessed 23 Sep. 2017.

About the Playwright

http://www.encyclopedia.com/people/literature-and-arts/classical-literature-biographies/menander

Born to Diopeithes and Hegistratein in 342 B.C. in Athens, Greece. Being born in a wealthy family, Menander was said to have been well-mannered in his demeanor; he thrived in his life-style of elegance demonstrated in his dress and his behaviors. They key relationships in his life include his father who had great wealth and significance, and his uncle Alexis, a playwright who is said to have served as a mentor to him in comedic writing. His other relationships greatly impacted and influenced his outlook and his writing. Stemming from his childhood friend Epicurus, a Greek philosopher, whom was an indirect pupil of Aristotle through his direct successor Theophrastus. Having these figures as role models, Menander's life and work reflects the teachings, views, and way of life of those who he was most closely associated with. He died at age 51 after drowning in Piraeus in 291 B.C.

"Menander." Encyclopedia of World Biography. . Encyclopedia.com. 22 Oct. 2017 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

Character Reference

ORIGINALLY FROM ARTICLE:

• Pan
• Sostratos
• Kallippides, Sostratos' father
• Sostratos' Mother
• Chaireas, "the gofer"
• Pyrrhias, a slave
• Getas, a slave
• Knemon, "the grouch"
• Myrrhine, Knemon's estranged wife who has gone to live with Gorgias to flee her husbands bad temper.
• Girl, Knemon's daughter
• Gorgias, her brother
• Daos, a slave
• Simiche, a slave
• Sikon, a cook

http://www.csun.edu/~hcfll004/Menander-Dys.html

http://faculty.fairfield.edu/rosivach/cl103a/dyskolos.htm#cast_of_characters

Lowe, N. J. "III NEW COMEDY AND MENANDER." Greece & Rome, vol. 54, no. 37, 2007, pp. 63-80, ProQuest Central; Research Library, http://online.library.marist.edu/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/199968473?accountid=28549.

• Pan: controls elements of the play, acting as a driving force by putting the play in motion. He is the god of garden fertility and the countryside, where the play takes place.
• Sostratos: an Athenian man who is hunting in the forest. He falls in love with Girl due to Pan's interference.
• Kallippides: Sostratos' father, a wealthy Athenian man
• Sostratos' Mother: not named in the play
• Chaireas: best described as a "parasite" or "the gofer" for Sostratos.
• Pyrrhias: a slave for Sostratos and his family. He resides mainly in the family's townhouse.
• Getas: a slave for Sostratos and his family. He resides mainly in the family's countryhouse.
• Knemon: "the grouch" of which the play is named. He is Girl's father and Gorgias' stepfather.
• Myrrhine: Knemon's estranged wife and Gorgias' mother. She has gone to live with Gorgias to flee her husbands bad temper.
• Girl: Knemon's daughter with whom Sostratos falls in love with.
• Gorgias: Girl's half-brother who helps Sostratos in his plans to win over Knemon in order to marry his sister.
• Daos: a slave of Gorgias.
• Simiche: an older woman who is a a slave of Knemon
• Sikon: a cook hired by Sostratos' family.

How the script survived to the present day (e.g. what manuscripts include Dyskolos? how and when was the script was discovered? etc. -- this info can be found in the introduction to any published version of the play) publication and translation after its discovery, etc.

Fontaine, Michael, and Adele C. Scafuro. The Oxford handbook of Greek and Roman comedy. Oxford University Press, 2014.

--> add date in which it was published (1958 by Victor Martin) -- link to "Oxyrhynchus Papyri" where the text was discovered

--> first major performance after publication by the undergraduate Classical Society of the University of Sydney, Wallace Theatre at Sydney University on 4th July 1959 (Wallace Theatre at Sydney University on 4th July 1959)

how other surviving fragments of Menander compare to Dyskolos (e.g. Samia)

Dyskolos is the only one of Menander's texts that has survived nearly completely in tact. (Menander's Dyskolos Study Guide, 18 Sept. 2016, www.ucl.ac.uk/classics/classical-play/archive/2010-2019/2016DyskolosStudyInfo.)

Other plays, such as Samia, Aspis, Heros, Epitrepontes, Perikeiromene have survived in fragments. (Fontaine, Michael, and Adele C. Scafuro. The Oxford handbook of Greek and Roman comedy. Oxford University Press, 2014.)

where the manuscript(s) "live" today (i.e. what libraries/archives have copies)

Vatican Library (Wasserman, Tommy. “Papyrus 72 and the Bodmer Miscellaneous Codex.” New Testament Studies, vol. 51, no. 1, 2005, pp. 137–154., doi:10.1017/s0028688505000081.)

bibliotheque bodmer, cologny near genea (Robinson, James M.. Story of the Bodmer Papyri, The : From the First Monastery's Library in Upper Egypt to Geneva and Dublin, James Clarke & Co, 2014. )

play's "legacy" -- what other plays did it inspire, whether in ancient Rome, the Renaissance, or another time period? 

SYNOPSIS

The play begins with Pan, the god who acts as the driving force behind the play's main actions. Setting the scene, he tells the audience about the farm belonging to Knemon, "the grouch" of the play, a bad-tempered and irritable old man, living with his daughter, Girl and his servant, Simiche. He tells about the old man's past, telling about Knemon's wife, who had a son with and was widowed by her first husband. She had given birth to their daughter and not long after, she left Knemon because of how poorly he treated her and went to live with her son, Gorgias, leaving Knemon with their daughter and Simiche. Pan, who feels a fondness for Girl, makes Sostratos fall in love with Girl at first sight of her.

The play continues with Sostratos telling Chaireas, about how he saw and fell in love with Girl. He had sent Pyrrhias to talk with Knemon, who hits him in the head with a farming tool and chases him away for being on his property. Sostratos instructs Doas to get Getas and explain what has happened, but instead Doas tells Gorgias about Sostratos as he is weary of Sostratos intentions.

Gorgias meets Sostratos, warning him to stay away and not mistreat his sister because of their class differences. Sostratos convinces Gorgias that he is in love with his sister and will do anything necessary to marry her. It is divulged that Knemon will only allow his daughter to marry someone exactly like him, presenting a problem for Sostratos. To help make his case, Sostratos puts on a rough, sheepskin coat and goes to work in the fields under Gorgias guidance.

Knemon's servant cries out that her master has fallen in a well to fetch a bucket she mistakenly dropped down there earlier. Gorgias jumps in to save Knemon while Sostratos comforts and admires Girl as she cries about her father's misfortune. Sostratos pulls the rope up to bring Knemon and Gorgias out of the well. After being faced with the possibility of death, Knemon tells Gorgias to find Girl a husband, as he knows that no one will please him enough to find one for her himself. Gorgias betroths his sister to Sostratos and introduces him to Knemon, who is indifferent about the marriage.

Sostratos excitedly tells his father, Kallippides, about the marriage to Gorgias' sister. He also suggests a marriage between his own sister and Gorgias . While Kallippides was content with Sostratos marrying Girl, he is not readily accepting of his daughter marrying Gorgias, to have two "beggars" in the family. Sostratos convinces him that money is an "unstable business" and it could be taken from him at any moment. Kallippides agrees with Sostratos that his money "belongs to luck" and it is better to have "a visible friend than invisible wealth which you keep buried away;" he, in turn, supports both marriages.

During the weddings, Sikon and Getas go to Knemon's house to torment him when he wakes from his rest. They tease and trick him into joing the rest of the wedding party celebrations.