10 Summary Plasti c Theatre Realism in theatre popularised in Europe in late 1900s Ibsen Chekhov depicted real life characters inner states domestic and personal moved away from melodrama ID: 542271
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Slide1
Scene
10Slide2
SummarySlide3
Plasti
c Theatre
Realism
– in theatre – popularised in Europe in late 1900s (Ibsen, Chekhov) – depicted
real life characters
, inner states, domestic and personal –
moved away from melodrama
. Spread to America in early 1900s replacing melodrama (longing for the ‘old country’ for example).Slide4
Plasti
c Theatre
Expressionism
– in theatre – presenting ideas from a
subjective perspective
–
symbolic
– distorting to create emotional effects or change mood –
use of colourSlide5
Plasti
c Theatre
‘Plastic’ theatre
– Williams incorporates elements of expressionism into a realistic play.
Williams insisted that setting, properties, music, sound, and visual effects—all the elements of staging—must
combine
to reflect and enhance the action, theme, characters, and language.
The
visual and audible aspects
of a Streetcar Named Desire are as important as the dialogue. Tennessee Williams uses these
‘plastic’
elements to convey to the audience the psychological states of the characters as well as develop the themes and ideas of the play.
Slide6
Plasti
c Theatre
Some Symbols of Plastic Theatre
The light bulb
– the naked light bulb represents truth and reality.
The paper lantern
– symbolising something flimsy which is used to disguise reality, create an illusion and hide the truth. It cannot last.
White clothes
– symbolising purity and innocence.Slide7
Plasti
c Theatre
Some Symbols of Plastic Theatre
The packet of meat
that Stanley throws at Stella and her eager catching of it represents their sexual relationship.
Bathing
– Blanche’s constant bathing represents her need to cleanse herself of the impurities and disappointments of her past. It also makes her feel ‘girlish’.
Polka Music
– a reminder for Blanche of the way she lost her husband. It haunts her.Slide8
Plasti
c Theatre
What aspects of this ‘plastic theatre’ does Williams utilize in Scene 10?
The stage directions say that the walls of the flat
‘
have become transparent’
symbolising the outside, real and sordid world encroaching on Blanche's imaginary world where she must be shielded from reality.
‘
lurid reflections’
and
‘inhuman voices’
fill Blanche's imagination, allowing the audience to fully appreciate her state of mind, as we also hear them.
?
?
ClothingColourThe mirrorThe blue piano
The sound of the trainThe prostitute and drunkSlide9
Key Quotations
Can you find…
A line that suggests even Blanche’s fantasies contain dark echoes
A sinister reference to the end of Scene 9
A symbol of the gulf between appearance and reality
A symbol of tension bubbling over
A line hinting at Blanche’s delusion
A Biblical allusion
A series of interjections hinting at Blanche’s disintegration
A simile to convey Blanche’s insanity
A line that portrays Stanley as a predator or animalistic
A suggestion of fatalism, or inevitabilitySlide10
The importance of the rape scene
Read the essays you have been given on the issue of the rape scene in the play – and on screen.
Highlight any useful AO5 quotations that might be able to help you critically interpret the scene and play.