文档介绍：Chapter 16: Drama
20TH-CENTURY AMERICAN DRAMA
American drama imitated English and European theater until well into the 20th century. Often, plays from England or translated from European languages dominated theater seasons. An inadequate copyright law that failed to protect and promote American dramatists worked against genuinely original drama. So did the "star system," in which actors and actresses, rather than the actual plays, were given most acclaim. Americans flocked to see European actors who toured theaters in the United States. In addition, imported drama, like imported wine, enjoyed higher status than indigenous productions.
During the 19th century, melodramas with exemplary democratic figures and clear contrasts between good and evil had been popular. Plays about social problems such as slavery also drew large audiences; sometimes these plays were adaptations of novels like Uncle Tom's Cabin. Not until the 20th century would serious plays attempt aesthetic innovation. Popular culture showed vital developments, however, especially in vaudeville歌舞杂剧(popular variety theater involving skits小丑, clowning, music, and the like). Minstrel吟游诗人 shows, based on African-American music and folkways社会习俗-- performed by white characters using "blackface" makeup -- also developed original forms and expressions.
Colonial Theater and Drama
A. Drama in the Colonies
1. The First American Play
2. Early American Plays on Stage:
a. Ye Bare and Ye Cubb by William Darby, 1665;
b. Other Plays written and performed
3. First Play printed in America: Androborus by Robert Hunter, 1714
B. Actors and panies in the Colonies
1. Problems of the Actors in America
2. Early Theaters and panies: Walter Murray and Thomas Kean
3. pany edians from London: Lewis Hallam
4. The pany: David Douglass
An Outline History Of American Drama
C. Drama in the Colonies
1. First Play written by an American and performed in America by Professional Actors - The Prince of Parthia (1759?) by Thomas G