Museum of Modern Theatre

Thérèse is a woman who is tired of being a woman. She becomes a man and her breast float away like ballons, grows a beard and mustache. She yells out into a megaphone about her change to the world. Her husband doesn’t like this and tries to stop her but she ties him up and dresses him as a woman. Thérèse goes off to conquer the world as General Tiresias. Tiresias is successful in stopping child bearing. Her husband fearing that the population will die off takes a vow to bear children without women. He bears over 40,000 children in one day. The husband is a rich man due to his children being very successful. The husband now has a new problem; the population is dying of hunger. The husband goes to a card reader and tells him that he will be a millionaire. The card reader is actually Therese and revels herself to her husband and they reconcile.

This megaphone was used by Therese as she grew a beard and mustache and turned into a man.

Once Five Years Pass written by Federico Garcia Lorca (1931)

The play is about a young man who vowed to return after five years to marry his bride. Upon his return, he learns that his bride to be has fallen in love with a huge football player who is not nice to her. The football player blows smoke in her face and squeezes her. The young man heartbroken wanders into the forest and circus who is being taunted by a clown, a harlequin and a girl.

This cigar was used by [football player] as he blew smoke in [girl who was supposed to wait for young man] face.

This harlequin taunted [young mans name] as he wandered through the forest.

Racism

The Glass Menagerie written by Tennessee Williams (1943)

The Glass menagerie is about a girl named Laura whose family is trying to find her a gentleman caller. Her mother Amanda is always boosting about her 17 gentleman callers she had when she was younger. Amanda’s son Tom works at a shoe factory supporting for the family. Tom is not very happy when his mother brags about men. Later in the play, Amanda questions Laura about a boy she likes. Laura tells her the boy she likes is Jim O’Conner and she liked him since grade school. Amanda tells Tom to invite a gentleman caller for Laura. Upon Tom’s return, he tells his mom Amanda that he has invited Jim O’Conner to dinner. Amanda and Laura get excited. The next day both Amanda and Laura are hard working on dinner preparations and get dressed for dinner. Later that day after dinner, Laura and Jim are left alone to talk. Jim accidently breaks Laura’s unicorn which Laura doesn’t mind the accident. Jim kisses Laura then apologizes for the act. He tells Laura that he did not intend to kiss her and that he was already engaged. Laura is devastated and fights with Tom for not telling her that Jim was engaged. Tom was not aware of his engagement and he leaves never to return.

This is the glass unicorn whose horn was broken by Jim O'Connor

Tennessee Williams was a brilliant man. He wrote honestly and didn’t care what other thought about him. In his play The Glass Menagerie, he writes about the African American family living in the United States and the struggles they go through to make it in life. Writing a play about a black family in the 40’s was not popular, he did it anyways and help to upstart the black culture into light in America.

Spinning Into Butter written by Rebecca Gilman (1999)

The play takes place at Belmont College, Vermont. The College is predominantly white. A black student, Simon Brick goes to Sarah Daniels, Dean of Students about a hate note that he had received. She immediately lets the administration know about it. Some students want to form a forum called Students for Tolerance. After a few meetings, the notes keep coming to Simon. Sarah is told to write a 10 point plan to eliminate racism at Belmont. She stays late one day to work on this task when Ross, a professor at the college walks in to talk to Sarah, in which Sarah is very upset and starts with racial remarks. We find out later that Sarah is not so fond of blacks. She tells Ross that before working at Belmont, she worked at a Lancaster, mostly black college. She says blacks are lazy, stupid, scary, loud, belligerent, abusive, and rude. Sarah also finds hate notes in her notebook. Sarah later learns that Simon had been writing those hate notes to himself. Sarah gives her resignationfrom the college and Simon is expelled from the college.

This is Sarah Daniels notebook where the hate crimes were written in Spinning Into Butter.

Racism continues to be a problem in our country and throughout the world. There are some people that are racist and there are other people that don’t know they are racist. This play, although controversial, brings to light the realities of society.

This is the box Sarah Daniels used to pack the belongings of her office after she gave her resignation to the school.

Postmodernism

Hamletmachine written by Heiner Müller's (1977)

Hamletmachine is a play loosely related to William Shakespeare’s Hamlet. The play is filled with death. There are number of scenes where Muller picks death as a theatrical act. A scene in Hamletmachine, Hamlet enters the University of the Dead and sees bodies hanging from the rafters which Hamlet sees them as exhibits in a museum. In another scene, Ofelia destroys everything she owns and walks through the streets drenched in her own blood for everyone to see. Hamlet also discusses the death of society. He states the government never meets the needs of its people and eventually the people rebel. The government then takes action to protect itself no matter the cost even the cost of life. Hamlet describes a soldier and the machine gun turret he holds as a man who is empty and feels nothing. Hamlet feels that he doesn’t have what it takes to be a man and wants to be a woman to hide from what the world expects from him.

This machine gun represents a soldier under the machine gun turret as a man who is empty underneath the helmet as portrayed by Muller in Hamletmachine.

Muller was describing communism in Germany in his play Hamletmachine, but can be applied to us today. Society can destroy people with demands and stereotypes. Which eventually leads to conflict and a war with society begins.

Buried Child written by Sam Shepard (1979)

Buried Child is about a family living in Midwestern farmhouse. Dodge and Halie are married and have three sons. Dodge is a clan leader and is not a model husband. Halie is disconnected with her husband and only remembers the good times she had with him. Their oldest son Tilden loves his mom, but that love turns into incest where she bares a son. Dodge eventually drowns and buries the baby behind their farmhouse. Dodge later becomes a drunk, Halie turns to religion for comfort and Tilden went insane for what he did. He returns back to the farmhouse to make things right.

This farmhouse was the inspiration for the set of the play Buried Child. It was behind this farmhouse that the character, Dodge, drowned and buried a baby boy who was

This rosary was used on the set of Buried Child. It was Halie's rosary she used when she turned to religion to help cleanse her of her past acts.

Naturalism

The Power of Darkness written by Leo Tolstoy (1886)

The Power of Darkness is about a twisted love affair between a man named Nikita, hired help on Peter’s farm and Peter’s wife Anisya. Peter is a rich Russian peasant who places riches above anything else, including his health, which is deteriorating but still very functional. Peter works Anisya very hard, almost Cinderella like with slave work. She detests her husband and falls in love with Nikita. Nikita is a ladies’ man and his weakness is women. With the help of Nikita’s mother, Anisya kills Peter by poisoning him. She then marries Nikita and gives him all the money Peter had. Eventually, Nikita finds another women, Peter’s eldest daughter from his previous marriage before Anisya and marries her. Nikita is once again serving Nikita and his new wife. Later, his new wife gives birth and Anisya and Nikita’s mother persuade Nikita that the baby died during birth and has to bury the baby. While buring the baby he notices the baby is not dead and gets infuriated and kills the baby with a board. He later feels remorse and turns himself to the authorities.

This is a story all too familiar in our time, love and money, the roots of all evil. Love and money make people so things they would normally wouldn’t ever think of doing until they are put in certain predicaments.

This ruble was used in the play The Power of Darkness written by Leo Tolstoy in 1886. The great Russian theater practitioner Constantin Stanislavski felt it appropriate to use real rubles in his play.

Stanislavski used this picture of real Russian peasants as a inspiration for his costuming in the play The Power of Darkness.

Miss Julie written by August Strindberg (1888)

The play Miss Julie takes place in Sweden. Miss Julie is the daughter of a count who owns the estate they live in. Julie lives with her father. Her mother, who taught her to act and think like a man, passed away years before. Jean, a valet at the estate is engaged with the cook named Christine but eventually have a sexual relationship with Jean after a dance they went to where she wore some elegant shoes. Julie does not know how to act. She jumps from being the powerful Miss Julie, daughter of the powerful count and submissive to Jean. They both plan to leave the estate and start their own inn. Christine, after hearing their plan of leaving the estate, tells the stablemasters not to let them take any horses. Christine talks to Jean and Julie about God and forgiveness then goes to church. Then Miss Julie hears that the count has returned from his trip and doesn’t know what to do next. The last scene of the play shows Jean giving a shaving razor to Miss Julie, hinting to commit suicide.

Miss Julie wore this shoe when she went and danced at the servants annual midsummer party where she becomes involved with Jean.

Museum of Modern Theatre

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

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