Lefties
The three founders of the American theatre company influenced by Stanislavski and the Moscow Art Theatre.
Harold Clurman, Lee Strasberg, and Cheryl Crawford
Alienation
A style of Realism which abandons traditional plot structure and aims to capture everyday life as authentically as possible.
This playwright revived drama as a serious art form, and introduced the "discussive element" to the theatre.
Henrik Ibsen
Eugene O'Neill's magnum opus, written about his own family.
Long Day's Journey Into Night
In a massive break from tradition, this playwright considered duty to oneself above the duty to one's family.
Henrik Ibsen
This play, costing only eight dollars to produce, ran for 144 performances and yielded a forty-five minute standing ovation on opening night.
Waiting for Lefty
Theatre of the Absurd was largely conceived in response to this major world event.
WWII
Russia's most prominent playwright.
Anton Chekhov
Ibsen considered this element of Aristotle's tragedy to be the most important, and was the first playwright to do so.
Character
Theatre Company at which Eugene O'Neill got his start.
Provincetown Players
Post-Shakespearean English theatre which satirized the upper class.
Restoration Comedy
Author of Golden Boy and Awake and Sing!
Clifford Odets
Sam Shepard, Will Eno, and Annie Baker are all playwrights of this theatrical era.
Postmodernism
Theatre company founded by Constantine Stanislavski and Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko.
Moscow Art Theatre
This famous psychologist was influenced by Henrik Ibsen.
Sigmund Freud
Eugene O'Neill play featuring Charles Gilpin, the first black actor to appear as a lead in a drama on Broadway.
The Emperor Jones
Eugene O'Neill revived the Aristotelian idea of the "three unities," consisting of these three elements.
Time, place, action
Known communist who "named names" during the McCarthy Era including Arthur Miller even after directing Miller's finest work, Death of a Salesman.
Elia Kazan
This famous anti-realist was responsible for the "Theatre of Cruelty," and described actors as "athletes of the heart."
Antonin Artaud
This play required "real" acting in order to work, and was the first play which Stanislavski used to try out his new findings as an actor/director.
The Seagull
Play in which a son inherits syphilis from his father.
Ghosts
This conflict yielded the most casualties on American soil since the Revolutionary war, and was prompted by a bitter rivalry between two Shakespearean actors.
Astor Place Riot
In addition to Ibsen and Chekhov, Eugene O'Neill was heavily influenced by this Swedish playwright.
August Strindberg
A movement loosely started by Tennessee Williams in which the author distorts reality in order to portray subjective feelings of the character(s).
Expressionism
Everything you see/hear in a play but the text.
Mise en Scene
These two American acting teachers formed a bitter rivalry over their respective interpretations of Stanislavski's work.
Stella Adler and Lee Strasberg
The middle class was non-existent until this major world era.
The Industrial Revolution
The melodrama which "ruined" James O'Neill's chances of becoming a great shakespearean actor.
The Count of Monte Cristo
A law passed in 18th century England which paved the way for a major 19th century dramatic form.
The Licensing Act of 1737