The Pillowman

This lesson we finished the run from where we left off last lesson, just after Michal admits to the murders. I think the murder of Michal went well as it was gentle and caring, even though the actual action is not, and shows the love Kat had for Michal deep down as if he is saving Michal from the even crueler fate he would face. Act 3 still needs some work as it is a bit slow at the minute and needs to be delivered more naturally and conversationally between Tapulski and Ariel if it is going to work. I think an important thing that will help this is learning lines which my group is struggling with at the minute. This is the biggest thing that we need to work on before the real performance but other than that the play is looking good and the scenes are becoming more dynamic and intense to watch. With a couple more run throughs I think we will be ready to perform.

The 39 Steps - Vaudeville

Vaudeville grew out of the culture of incorporation that defined American life after the Civil War. Before Vaudeville came along entertainment existed, but on a different scale. The term "vaudeville" refers specifically to the American variety entertainment and was selected "for its vagueness, its faint, but harmless exoticism, and perhaps its connotation of gentility", as Albert Mclean suggests. It came into common usage after the formation of " Sargent's Great Vaudeville Company" in 1871. Leavitt and Sargent's shows differed a little from the earlier entertainment, although their use of the term was an early effort to provide variety amusements to the growing middle class. 

Vaudeville was variety entertainment consisting of a highly diverse series of very short acts, or "turns." The acts ranged from singing groups to animal acts, from comedians to contortionists, from magic tricks to short musical plays. A typical vaudeville bill consisted of approximately 13 acts, most of which were typically 6-15 minutes long. Many of the modes of performance developed in vaudeville had a profound effect on popular culture that continues into the present day. For example, many of the ethnic stereotypes prevalent in television and film -- Jewish, Irish, Italian, African American -- derive from the ethnic caricatures that were a mainstay of Vaudeville comedy. Vaudeville had something for everyone, and particular acts in the vaudeville lineup appealed differently to different groups in the audience. Irish comics and tenors, for instance, found a ready audience among the "lace curtain" Irish in the audience while WASP mothers out shopping with a child might prefer the circus-like entertainment of an animal act or juggling.

In the early 1880's, Tony Pastor ( a ring master turned theatre manager) began to feature "polite" variety programs in several of his New York theatres, hoping to draw a potential audience from female and family groups. He also barred the sale of liquor in his theatres, got rid of questionable material and offered gifts of coal and hams to his attendees. Pastor's experiment proved successful and other managers soon did the same. B.F. Keith and E.F. Albee were also producers who helped to turn the earlier variety performances into respectable family shows by domesticating rowdy spectators and cleaning up the acts themselves. Keith and Albee introduced "continuous vaudeville," which became standard practice at the turn of the century. The performances ran non-stop all day and into the evening, allowing spectators to enter the theatre at any time and stay as long as they liked — much like turning on a television set.

Grand Theatre in Buffalo, NY around 1900

Prior to the Civil War, American audiences boisterously voiced their approval or disapproval at theatrical performances by screaming, hollering, stomping, throwing vegetables and other missiles, or in certain instances even rushing the stage to attack performers or plead for encores. As the century drew to a close, and the process of incorporation discussed by Alan Trachtenberg accelerated along with its related processes of industrialization and the formation of stricter cultural hierarchies, entertainment and audiences were forced to change. In creating and maintaining the air of refinement associated with his theatres, Keith successfully developed a form of variety amusements well-suited for the new middle class and their urban lifestyles. The sheer abundance, variety, and spectacle offered at Keith's theatres helped to educate and transform American audiences in their new roles as passive spectators and consumers of experience and sensation.

Kieth's New Theatre, Boston 1894



Sources: http://www.virtualvaudeville.com
                http://xroads.virginia.edu/~ma02/easton/vaudeville/vaudevillemain.html