DRAMA & THEATRE STUDIES
UNIT 1: Exploration of Drama and Theatre Exploration Notes Contextualising the Play The social, historical, cultural context ‘The Visit’: a/ written and first performed in 1956 b/ in Europe c/ which was the focus of two World Wars and where certain important theatre practitioners/performance styles, artists, philosophies had been particularly influential – *Brecht (epic theatre) *expression *existentialism (very much a 20th century play – experimental, avant-garde – but with its roots in something more traditional: the dramatic parable). Question: So, to what extent has the writing of ‘The Visit’ been influenced by any of this? NB1 As part of your answer on the social, cultural and historical contexts of the play you should include, where applicable, reference to: a/ the context of any new production of the play you might know about (or the context of a new production of the play that you might envisage). NB2 Research: In addition to the play itself and any essays printed within it, see what the Library, the Resource Base (E18) or the Internet might have to offer on ‘The Visit’ , Durrenmatt, Modernism in the Theatre (especially European developments – epic theatre, expressionism, etc), the dramatic parable, modern productions of the play, etc. * A note on assessment: In order for you to attain top marks for this you need to have discussed in some detail the social, cultural and historical context of the play and have considered the relative importance of each as a factor in the writing, producing and interpretation of the play. ********
Renier van Loggerenberg Drama and Theatre Studies Blog 