Papers: Essays and Articles in Drama and Literature

By Alessandra Raed

Papers is a compilation of essays and articles in Drama and English literature. It reflects the author’s experiences, views, and studies in the areas of drama (theatre, production and performance), and writing (journalism and creative writing). The works from other authors cited and/or mentioned in this book are referenced.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris AU
• Release date: Sep 28, 2020
• ISBN: 9781664100589

Alessandra Raed

Alessandra Raed is a Brazilian journalist, creative writer, actress, director and drama teacher. She lives in Australia with her daughter Isabella who was the inspiration for Alessandra’s first published kids book Naughty Nana in 2016 (1st ed). She has published its sequel Naughty Nana and the old House around the corner in 2019 (1st ed), and a third book Noise – a collections of short stories and poems set in Rio de Janeiro also in 2019 (1st ed). Papers: Essays and Articles in Drama and Literature is Alessandra’s fourth published book. Back in Brazil, in early 2000, Alessandra completed Degrees in Journalism and Theatre Studies. In 2017, Alessandra completed Associate Degree of Creative Writing via Southern Cross University, Australia. She is on her way to completing Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Education in 2021 with majors in Drama and English. Alessandra is the founder and director of Starlettes Dance Theatre Australia that offers drama classes, rehearsals, and stage productions in the Far North area of New South Wales. In creative writing, Alessandra won third prize in 2016 Fusion Poetry Competition at Australia Southern Cross University with her poem ‘Hummus and Herbs’ about family of immigrants, and won second prize with the same poem at Wilda Morris Poetry Challenge 2017. Her creative writing works have appeared on the American literary magazines, Anti-Heroin Chic, The Borfski Press, Basil O’Flaherty, Academy of the Heart and Mind, Tiny Spoon, Event Horizon and Comstock Review. In India, she has poems published on the OPA Anthology of Contemporary Women’s Poetry. In Australia, her works have appeared on Northerly Magazine. Some of her published works found online are under her previous married name Salisbury.

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Copyright © 2020 by Alessandra Raed.

ISBN:      Softcover      978-1-6641-0059-6

                eBook            978-1-6641-0058-9

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Rev. date: 08/26/2020

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Contents

The Origins of Theatre, and The Relationship between Theatre and Ritual Drama: exploring Harrowing of Hell (2014) and Midsummer Night’s Dream (2008)

A Study Overview on Brazilian Theatre Director and Dramatist Augusto Boal

Plays Dealing with The Lives and Cultures of Minority Groups Must Discover Unconventional Dramaturgical Techniques if They are to Successfully Convey a Sense of ‘Otherness’ to Audiences

Theatre for The Community: The Views of Brazilian Educator Paulo Freire on The Pedagogy of The Oppressed (1970)

The Death of The Author: How Does Barthes’s Concept of The Author Differ from Foucault’s?

Identity, Authenticity, and Intertextuality: Exploring My Life as A Fake (2004) and The Hours (2003)

How Is Toni Morrison’s Beloved (1987) A Crime Mystery, Love Story, and Magic Realism?

Indigenous People Stories Make A Difference To How We See And Understand History

About Being a Playwright

Production Proposal of The Maids by Jean Genet: How Would I Bring The Play to The Stage

How Does The Play Still Point Turning by Priscila Jackman Use Theatrical Form to Portray Mcgregor’s Inner World? and What and How is Different from The Choices Made in Who is Afraid of The Working Class Play

Exploring The Play Life Without Me (2010) by Daniel Keene

How Would I Stage The Room Set for A Contemporary Production of Harold Pinter’s Play The Dumb Waiter (1996) to Highlight its Political Content?

How to Adapt Historical Facts Into a Work of Fiction?

What are The Post-Colonial Writing Strategies Employed by Jean Rhys In Wide Sargasso Sea (1997), and How Does The Author’s Own Identity Contribute These Strategies?

Language is Power: Should English Take Precedence Over The Local Aboriginal Language in Remote, Predominantly Indigenous Schools?

Discussing The Concept of Being A Citizen of The World in Three Aspects: Cosmopolitanism, Global Citizenship Education Through Travel, and Multiculturalism

The Origins of Theatre, and The Relationship

between Theatre and Ritual Drama:

exploring Harrowing of Hell (2014) and

Midsummer Night’s Dream (2008)

It has been known that the use of ritual in theatre is a strategic function to influence and support the dramatic action or the comedy insights. I will look into The Harrowing of Hell (2014) and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2008), and discuss how or if the ritual form of drama contributed beneficially or not to the dramatic action in the plays.

The origin of theatre is a very controversial topic in the theatre studies, however, it is widely accepted, in the West, that theatre emerged from the Ancient Greece ritual and myths, such as ‘storytelling, imitation and fantasy’ (Meyer-Dinkgräfe 2001 p.4). Even though the classic Greek tragedies are not an original ritual, they were still staged as entertaining plays through religious festivities. Even nowadays, theatre productions of Greek tragedies still use the word tragedy (that means literally ‘the song of the goats’ in Greek) as the remains of what the importance and origin of the chorus meant in the past. Some differences in between theatre and ritual drama are considered by Csapo and Miller (2007). They assert ritual drama is mainly religious with a fixed text, where the performers and spectators are all participants, and its purpose is to produce a wanted effect. On the other hand, they affirm theatre is a secular activity, it shows a separation between audience and actors, it has a very flexible text, and its purpose is purely to entertain. Nietzsche’s essay The Birth of Tragedy Out of the Spirit of Music (1872) pointed out that ancient rituals could possibly lead to the origins of theatre. For Nietzsche (1872) the original performance of the chorus alters actors and audiences, and this is how drama is created.

According to Esslin (1978) drama is a concept that interprets ideas into concrete human terms ‘like setting up a scene and working out its consequences.’ (p.24), and in this context, the audience is one of the most important part in the theatre experience. He states that the feedback and reaction of the audience is a fundamental element for the impact of drama. In A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2008), Shakespeare envisioned the dramatic scene in the forest to be effective to the audiences as well as to the characters. Clary (1996) speaks about drama and ritual as a ceremony in the play that both offer a chance to establish and also to disturb the human and theatre experience. The audience and the characters are somehow unsettled by the passage in the forest. Another ritual in the play is the wedding night celebrations. Clary (1996) assesses the impact of Thisbe and Pyramus interval. He opinions that the break is not only an episode of the transition between the marriage ceremony to the marriage’s physical consummation but also a ritual of initiation for Hippolyta, who is the outsider entering the Athenian society.

Another appearance of the use of ritual in A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2008) is the movement from city to country and back again that links the play to the May Day festivities which is a famous ritual performance. To do observance to a morn of May (I.I.I p.167) when Lysander met Hermia with Helena. Shakespeare brings to the play the whole spectacle of festive comedies – including songs, music, and lyrics - which is another strategy of ritual drama. The festival itself was the product of popular culture whose Christian beliefs were related to fertility and its mysteries. The ritual of festivity was to entertain the audience but also to bring together the spirit of dancing that complements the rituals of love and brings back harmony to the end of the play.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2008) can be also linked to ritual by Shakespeare’s writing strategies such as the use of spells and magic in the forest. However, according to Rozik (2002), these words might not be the ‘true metaphorical description of its nature’, and then their use in the play are not necessarily linked to ritual. Rozik (2002) bases his study in a criticism of the fact that theatre originates from ritual. He believes that linking theatre roots to ritual is misleading because it does not provide substantial insight into the understanding of theatre. He argues that theatre, like dance or music, is a sui generis kind of human creativity (2002) a form of communication whose roots are in the ‘spontaneous ability of the human psyche.’ Rozik (2002) states that ‘ritual is a mode of action and theatre a kind of medium.’ He believes that even though theatre uses ritual that does not prove that theatre comes from it.

I understand Rozik (2002)’s arguments, however, there are plays