M Buterfly

Dear Students

You will find below, in 11 parts, the film adaptation of David Henry Hwang's M. Buterfly. Before you may want to watch this video clip where David talks about his most recent play, Yellow face, and about his views on hyphenated drama.

you may also fund interesting the video clip included here, on the occasion of the celebration of Asian-American identity,

Part I

Part II

Part III

Part IV

Part V

Part VI

Part VII

Part VIII

Part IX

Part X

Part XI

David Mamet e Glengarry Glen Ross

Dear Students

This interview with Mamet is a good introduction to his views on what a play should do. watch it ans associate it with the language and rythm of Glengarry.

Now for Glengarry.

Here you can see a scene that Mamet wrote for the film adaptation of the play, where the man from head office explains the challenge- be first on the sales contest of the month because if you are last you are fired, We will discuss theb function of this new scene in class.

In this clip you have a summary of the film version with several short scenes.Richard Roma, interpreted by Al Pacino makes his speech to the client to whom he wants to sell property, James Lingk

In this clip Moss and Aronov are "talking" about the idea od stealing the leads and sell them to a competitor. Watch the way the language works here (it is repeated for effect in this cut.

Away from the film, see how actors and directors talk about the play and their roles.

And again an actor who plays Shelley Levene in the same production talks about his role.

Sam Shepard's True West

Uma boa psquisa da carreira multifacetada de Sam Shepard pode ser traçada neste site que lhe é dedicado.

Podem-no ver aqui a ler excerto do seu livro Motel Chronicles.

Aqui podem ver uma cena de True West, numa produção que não consegui identificar.

Cena 1

mas mais interessante é esta entrevista com John C. Reiley e Philip Seymour Hoffman que desempenharam os papeis dois dois irmãos numa das mais famosas produções da peça, em que trocavam de papeis ao longo da peça.

Identidades Afro-Americanas em palco: A Raisin in the Sun

O título da peça de hoje é extraido de um poema de Langston Hughes, um poeta Afro-Americano da Harlem Renaissance, nos anos 20.


What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?


Or fester like a sore--
And then run?


Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over--
like a syrupy sweet?

Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.

Or does it explode?


Podem ver Denzel Washington declamar um dos seus mais famosos poemas, I too Am America, no filme Great Debaters.

Antes de verem excertos de A raisin in the Sun, recomendo-vos que vejam o trailer do filme que David Susskind realizou a partir da peça homónima.


Desta vez temos acesso a todo o filme, 14 partes.

Part I
Part II
Part III
Part IV
Part V
Part VI
Part VII
Part VIII
Part IX
Part X
Part XI
Part XII

Part XIII
Part XIV

Há também uma versão muito recente do filme, baseado na mesma peça.
Junto- vos o trailer desta versão

Aqui vai tamb+em a cena com o representante da Associação de Moradores

Edward Albee- Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf

Dear students

A good place to start with Edward Albee is this short Clip where he explains what his views on what drama should convey to to the audience.

You may also watch this talk Albee gave recently at Ermory University where he talks with a moderator on his creative process.

Here are some excerpts from the film version of the play.

Arriving home

Fix me a drink

Intro.with the guests

Humiliate the host

Getting angry, baby?

Houseboy

Get the Guests

Final fight

Arthur Miller e Death of a Salesman

Dear Students

In preparation for our discussion of Death of a Salesman, I recomend that you watch this interview with Arthur Miller. It comes in three parts and it begins with his prosecusion during the McCarthy years and the writing of The Crucible.

Part I

Part II

Part III

Next, I am including a film tribute on the ocasion of his death, in 2005.

Here he talks about Death of a Salesman~, in Part I

More about his career in Part II.

Now some scenes from a 1996 production of Death of a Salesman

Here is scene 12

Card playing scene/ time folds, the past in the present.

Scene 14 where Willy and Biff finally confront each other.

Enjoy

A Streetcar Named Desire

Dear Students

As promissed, I am including the links to some scenes of Elia Kazan version of A Streetcar Named Desire. I thought I might be able to send you the whole film but someone must be cleaning youtube.

But please watch first this documentary on Tennessee Williams

Wounded Genius Part I

Part II

Part III

Part IV

Part V

Time now for Streetcar; here go aome key scenes:

You must be Stanley

What's a rhynestone?

Hey Stella

Blanche and Mitch- I once loved someone...this is the famous scene where Blanche talks about her dead young huaband. Notice the differences between the play and the film, with regard to Allan Grey's homosexuality.

A birthday rememberance

The rape scene

The kindness of strangers (last scne)

Long Day's Journey into Night

Dear students

You may find it interesting to watch excerpts from the famous Sidney Lumet's film adaptation of today's play.

For copywright reasons the play is not avalialable in its entirety, but you can watch bits from the IV and last act.

Act IV

Jamie's confession, Act IV

Here also is the final scene of the play.

Eugene O'Neill, o Little Theatre Movement e o modernismo dramático Americano

Dear students
I hope you enjoyed reading the play Triffles, by Susan Glaspel. It was made recently into a film and you can see here the trailer and a short scene. You may also find interesting a student report on the play which you can read here.

Susan Glaspel was involved with the Provincetown Players, the pioneer company that introduced modern theatre in the United States.

The playwright most responsible for the new, moderm, American Drama was Eugene O'Neill, who staged his first play in an abandoned warf used by the Provincetown players, in the small fishibg village of cape Cod, where many young intellectuals and artists of the period spent their summers.

On Thursday, we will talk about O' Neill, and watch a documentary on his life and work, but as preparation, watch these taped interviews with some actors who have acted in recent production of this plays. You will hear Christopher Plummer talk about the character of James Tyrone, from A Long Day's Journey into Night, which we will study next session, and Al Pacino, reading from the play The Iceman Cometh.
You may also watch a famous old film adaptation of O'Neiil's Anna Cristie, with Greta Garbo in her first speaking role.

Part I

Part II

Part III

Part IV

Part V

Part VI

Part VII

Part VIII

A actividade teatral americana até ao limiar do século XX

Dear Students

To satisfy everybody, this message is issued in English with a bit of Portuguese thrown in.

First I am sending you the direct link to the Secção de Estudos Ingleses e Norte Americanos, which you should save, as it publishes regularly information that might interest you. If you open the link to cursos, on your right, and scroll the page down, you will find a list on recent dissertations that may give you an idea of what has been done in our Mestrado, namely in the area of American Studies.

I am also enclosing, as promissed, the link to the syllabus of this seminar, so that you may open the three links included, namely the exhibition, the glossary and the chronology.

As to the three plays you will be discussing next Thursday, you might like to know that the 1778 comedy The Contrast has been recently revived, in an updated version. Open the link to read a review. You may also read on Royall Tyler here. You may also see here its original bookcover.

The Octoroon, the second play to be discussed is by Dion Boucicault and was first staged in 1859 (the year before the start of the Civil War). Here you may see a poster advertising its performance.

It has also been staged recently as you may read.
Boucicault addressed the anti-slavery message of the play though a narrative of passing, as we will no doubt discuss.

Margaret Fleming, by James A, Herne, from 1890, is often considered the first modern American play. It bridges the tradition of American melodrama and the new realist tendencies introduced, among others, by Ibsen. Read here about recent production of the play.

You may also read about James A. Herne, often called "the American Ibsen".

Next Thusday these plays will be discussed in the second half of the session. Each one of you will have about ten minutes to let the rest of the group know about the plays they have not read.
You should be prepared to give a brief idea if the plot, but especially to contextualise the play in its time and context, as well as your personal reading and impressions. You may use notes. Both English and Portuguese are accepted as working languages or a mixture of the two.

Good readings

PS. Richard Zimler will be speaking in room 44, edifício B1 (the low building on your left as you enter the faculty (on the first floor) and not where I first told you. That will be at 3, on Wednesday.

INÌCIO DOS SEMINÀRIOS DE ELNA

Bem vindos ao blogue do Seminário de Estudos Literários Norte-Americanos.

A primeira sessão terá lugar dia 1 de Outubro, pelas 18 horas.

Teresa Botelho