Rehearsal 3 - Melodrama & Naturalism

This week we compared the differences between melodrama and naturalism and discussed how/why Stanisvalski introduced a new style of theatre around the 1900's.

We began walking around the space in neutral, this allowed us to free up our body's and minds in order to then be ready to receive instruction. Then every so often an archetype would be called out and we would have to change stop and create a freeze frame. I learnt that the main typical archetypes you would find in melodramatic theatre are:

• Henchman                                
• Villan                           
• Damsel in distress
• Prince 
• Princess
• Protective mother

Doing this exercise helped remind me of the types of characters you would find in a melodrama but also how much you have over emphasise your physicality, for example each time i stopped in a freeze frame i would stand almost half heartedly and then as soon as we were told to push it further, i could see from everyone else free frames that is looked 10x better when you make your physicality bolder because, that is what melodrama is all about - over the top, bold, stereotypical characters.

Following this, we got into small mixed groups and devised a small piece of melodramatic theatre using the archetypes we had just been playing. As a group we discussed wanting to make sure each of our characters were really bold and over the top. We learnt that in order to do this we needed to use large movements and react quickly to one another. For example, i was playing the over protective mother so when i was talking care of my daughter (the damsel in distress) i had to give her large hugs and use exaggerated hands and arms when stroking her hair etc. in order to make it clear to the audience what character i was and to be interesting to watch.

Throughout the 1900's melodrama was the style of theatre that everyone knew and loved. The over the top characters were often laughable and crazy which made it fun for the audience and was therefore there for entertainment purposes as suppose to informing or compelling. I have learnt that Stanislavsky obviously felt that there was something lacking in theatre, something of substance and feeling was missing and thats why he wanted to revolutionise theatre and create something for people that challenged them or provoked emotions that people could relate to. This is when the idea of naturalism and realism came into play and began changing what theatre was all about. 

In the next exercise we created a piece of naturalist theatre. We talked about what we think would be in a piece of naturalistic theatre, was types of characters and stories. The main things are:

• Realistic characters - ordinary people you would see walking down the street or typical types of people that every person could relate to

• Realistic story line - could be every day problems like forgetting your keys or harder problems that many people may face, divorce, loss. It could also be about moments of happiness or laughter, anything that an average person could relate to or have experienced.

• Realistic setting - so opposite to a melodrama where you could be in a fantasy land, a naturalistic piece would be based somewhere real like a london street or existing home etc.

• Realistic costume/makeup - in melodramatic pieces the costume and makeup of the characters would be bold and extreme often using substances like white powder or chalk, burnt cork, paper and pigment powders as makeup. This would create a doll like/unrealistic look. Therefore you wouldn't have a melodramatic makeup in a reasltic piece, natural lifelike makeup would be key alongside realistic clothing for the character and or time period.

Throughout both the melodramatic pieces and the naturalistic pieces i was laughing at the characters and funny situations they were in however i noticed i was laughing in a different way. During the melodramatic pieces i was laughing at them rather than with them, i was laughing at the fact there characters were so ridiculous and un relatable whereas, when i was laughing in the naturalistic pieces i was laughing with them because most often or not what was going on on stage had previously happened in my life or i had experienced. I understood that i actually enjoyed watching the naturalistic pieces more because i felt connected to the characters and the scenario, it created a bond between everyone because we all knew what it was like to be in that situation. It was really interesting to understand first hand why naturalistic theatre was so great and why Stanislavsky wanted something more for theatre.