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Overview
Based on a rich body of primary sources, among which are Belasco's promptbooks and papers, the book synthesizes the aims, methods, and techniques inherent in the naturalistic production style that Belasco developed during the six decades of his career. The elements of that style—the magic reality of his stage settings, his innovations in plastic lighting, his directorial method—are also seen in the context of theatrical developments elsewhere.
On the basis of this synthesis. Professor Marker reconstructs and analyzes four of Belasco's most important productions, each representative of a distinct phase of his directorial art. Her explorations uncover much new information about Belasco and the American theatre around the turn of the century.
Originally published in 1975.
The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780691618104 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Princeton University Press |
| Publication date: | 03/08/2015 |
| Series: | Princeton Legacy Library , #1402 |
| Pages: | 272 |
| Product dimensions: | 6.00(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.60(d) |
Read an Excerpt
David Belasco
Naturalism in the American Théâtre
By Lise-Lone Marker
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS
Copyright © 1975 Princeton University PressAll rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-691-04626-6
CHAPTER 1
Beginnings
David Belasco arrived in New York City, then as now the theatrical heart of the United States, in 1882. Within a short time he had established a reputation as the nation's foremost naturalistic director and, subsequently, as a producer of international renown. The beginning of Belasco's Broadway career in 1882 marked more than simply a significant personal milestone. Changes were taking place at this time which affected world theatre profoundly; stage naturalism was waging a decisive struggle again the older, established theatrical conventions and practices.
In 1881, one year before Belasco reached New York, Zola published his celebrated essay collection, Le Naturalisme au théâ&tre. This manifesto and the earlier preface to his play, Thérèse Raquin (1873), exposed "the decayed scaffoldings of the drama of yesterday" and defined a new goal for the theatre, designed to bring it "into closer relation with the great movement toward truth and experimental science which has, since the last century, been on the increase in every manifestation of the human intellect." "There should," Zola went on to proclaim, "no longer be any school, no more formulas, no standards of any sort; there is only life itself, an immense field where each may study and create as he likes. ... We must look to the future, and the future will have to do with human problems studied in the framework of reality."
For Zola, as for Edmond de Goncourt who in the foreword added to Henriette Maréchal in 1879 characterized the theatre of his time as "cette boite de convention, cette machine de carton," the world of the stage had become a cardboard world of artificial contraptions having nothing in common with observed reality. The new movement called for a complete rebirth of the theatre, replacing stagnation and rigidity with something vital and alive, "giving a shiver of life to the painted trees, letting in through the backcloth the great, free air of reality." Zola, and later Andre Antoine, around whom the scenic realization of the naturalistic concepts in France came to revolve following his sensational directorial debut in 1887, were not blind to the fact that all theatre builds upon convention, including the convention of "naturalness." A barrier always exists between the fictive theatrical world and the real one. The aim of the naturalistic theatre man, however, is to reduce that barrier to a minimum and to increase realistic authenticity to a maximum. The essence of the naturalist's endeavor was an objective, scientific exploration of reality that rejected all readymade formulas and conventions. He should, insisted Zola, attempt to represent on stage "a fragment of existence," or, as the critic-playwright Jean Jullien phrased it, "a slice of life."
To this idea of verisimilitude Zola added another important principle: the concept of environment as a conditioning element and a reality to be reckoned with, or changed, by the individual. The purpose of the realistic, true-to-life stage setting is to make the characters in the drama more real to the audience by placing them in their proper milieu. In dramatizing Thérèse Raquin, wrote Zola, "I tried continually to bring my setting into perfect accord with the occupations of my characters, in order that they might not play, but rather live, before the audience." 2 Hence the set was counted upon to concretize the vital role played by environment in the dynamics of existence. Antoine emphasized that he in fact found it indispensable to create the proper milieu for a production before preceding further with the mise-en-scène. "For it is the environment that determines the movements of the characters, not the movements of the characters that determine the environment. This simple sentence," he continues, "does not seem to express anything new; yet that is the whole secret of the impression of newness which came from the initial efforts of the Théâtre Libre."
The notion of the stage as an environment in which the characters live a life of their own became a fundamental tenet of the theatre of the late nineteenth century. We encounter this concept with increasing frequency both in Europe and America from the 1880s on. It expressed, as John Gassner succinctly observes, "a sturdy allegiance to reality as the middle-class civilization of the late nineteenth century conceived it to be." It provided a reality "of human beings feeling and acting in places and with objects around them about which there could be no mistake: the characters were specifically located and specifically occupied with material realities in a material world." A realistic décor was no mere pictorial accompaniment to the action of a play. It acquired individual character and meaning as a determining force capable of undergoing observation and analysis.
Hence the naturalistic director's justification for his meticulous attention to material, outward details — in setting, props, lighting, and so on — was not rooted in a fascination with these things per se, but was based on the conviction that the sum of them accounted for or aided in establishing an inner authenticity. The stage setting was relied upon to convey the conditions of life which were the subject of the play. The terms "naturalism" and "realism" have today acquired an imprecise meaning that suggests only the trivializing influence of drabness, externality, and lack of selectivity. Originally, however, naturalism sought to present the facts of man's life and environment with a fresh, new, and rich explicitness. "If dramatic art is anything at all, and if it is worthy of being perpetuated," Belasco emphasized, "the reason is that it is, above everything else — far above the mere purpose of supplying pleasurable entertainment — an interpretative art, which portrays the soul of life." At the same time Belasco felt an obligation to confront his audiences with truth: "the mirror which reflects nature to them in the theatre must be neither concave nor convex. Its illusion must be true, and only to the extent that it is true will it successfully stir their imagination."
In terms of actual theatrical practice, the naturalistic emphasis upon the deterministic role played by each significant, verisimilar detail implied a central guiding principle: the necessary integration of the various elements of play production — setting, lighting, costumes, and acting — in a meaningful, unified whole. In achieving this integration, the figure of the director emerged as a power hitherto unequalled in the theatre. It is through no coincidence that the names associated with the establishment of naturalism are frequently those of directors: André Antoine in France, Otto Brahm in Germany, Constantin Stanislavski in Russia, William Bloch in Scandinavia, and David Belasco in America. In the English-speaking countries the traditional actor-manager was replaced during this period by the figure of the producer-director.
The program for theatrical reform promulgated in Zola's naturalistic credo had the distinct character of a battle cry advocating the establishment of a new style and the overthrow of older traditions. In contrast, those usually credited with the actual realization in practice of the principles of naturalism generally resented narrow, programmatic labels. In his memoirs, Mes Souvenirs sur le Théâtre Libre, Antoine emphasizes again and again that his objectives were never narrowly programmatic but were dictated mainly by the desire to create good theatre. Antoine's Théâtre Librewas, as its name suggests, designed as a free, experimental theatre liberated from the restricting and outworn classical traditionalism of institutions like the Paris Conservatoire. J. T. Grein's Independent Théâtre (1891) and Otto Brahm's Freie Bilhne (1889) were established on a similar pattern. Brahm's remark, enunciated in his manifesto proclaiming the establishment of "a Free Stage for Modern Life," is typical in this regard: "We are friends of naturalism and we want to go a good stretch of the way with it — but we should not be surprised if, in the course of the journey ... the road should suddenly turn and astonishing new vistas in art and life should emerge.
The later founding of the Moscow Art Théâtre in 1898 was more in the nature of a direct revolution. "We protested," states Stanislavski, "against the customary manner of acting, against theatricality, against bathos, against declamation, against overacting, against the bad manner of production, against the habitual scenery, against the star system which spoiled the ensemble, against the light and farcical repertoire which was being cultivated on the Russian stage at that time." But, admonished the man whose name has become practically synonymous with naturalism in the theatre, "those who think that we sought for naturalism on the stage are mistaken. We never leaned towards such a principle. Always, then as well as now, we sought for inner truth."
In contrast to these contemporary exponents of new theatrical standards, David Belasco's scenic style did not evolve out of any particular spirit of revolt or desire for freedom. Nor was it hailed at the outset, as was the case with Antoine, as a pioneering realization of a new aesthetic program. This fact should not, however, be taken as a sign that Belasco's significance in the practical theatre of his time was thereby of relatively lesser magnitude. Scandinavia's William Bloch, whose revolutionary productions of Ibsen and Holberg at the Danish Royal Théâtre have become legendary, likewise evolved his naturalistic style without notable conflicts or clashes with the theatrical tradition in which he found himself. Any thorough investigation of the contribution of Stanislavski or Antoine or Bloch to the living theatre of their time would of necessity concern itself with the stage conditions that existed in their respective countries, in order to show why their efforts were or were not compelled to take the form of a revolt. Similarly, for a proper evaluation, the productions of David Belasco must be viewed in their true perspective, with some knowledge of the environment which nurtured them and the contemporary theatrical taste which accepted them. Although Belasco's importance rests on his achievements in the New York theatre, the early part of his career in California should not be neglected. Basic factors influencing his artistic outlook and attitudes can be traced to his early experiences and impressions from the theatre of the West Coast. Countless articles and interviews, including "My Life's Story," the rather inaccurate account of Belasco's life published in Hearst's Magazine from March 1914 to December 1915, provide eloquent testimony to the fascination which this early period held for Belasco. The spirit of romance and extravagant adventure with which the theatre of his youth was imbued continued to manifest itself in subtle ways in his later work, from his selection of dramatic subject matter to the atmosphere which pervaded his productions.
THE ENVIRONMENT in which David Belasco grew up was in itself the stuff of picturesque romance. He was born in San Francisco on July 25, 1853, at the peak of the Gold Rush, of Portuguese Jewish parents who had recently emigrated from England to California and had opened a small shop. When exciting reports of gold in British Columbia touched off a great migration northward in 1858, the Belasco family moved with the stream to Victoria. The highlight of the theatrical season there in 1864 was the appearance of Charles Kean and his wife, on a farewell world tour, in a number of Shakespearean productions. This luminous occasion afforded the eleven-year-old Belasco his first significant professional engagement, as the young Duke of York in Richard III. Legend has it, however, that his actual stage debut occurred several years earlier, when he was "carried on" at the Victoria Théâtre Royal as Cora's child in Sheridan's Pizarro by the lovely Julia Dean Hayne, who made several tours of the Pacific coast during the 1857-1858 season; apparently Belasco was often utilized for small juvenile parts at this theater.
Early in 1865 the Belasco family made their way back to San Francisco, where David distinguished himself at the Lincoln School through his precocious declamatory abilities, in recitations of such promising pieces as Matthew Gregory Lewis's The Maniac, and took his first faltering steps as a dramatist with Jim Black, or The Regulator's Revenge and similar efforts now fortunately lost. During these early years the stage-struck Belasco appeared occasionally as a supernumerary at the local theatres, and he succeeded in organizing an amateur theatrical society. Hence he was no stranger to the world of the theatre when he embarked in earnest upon his chosen career in 1871, following graduation from Lincoln School. During the years that followed he worked furiously to establish himself in the theatrical profession, touring up and down the coast with any company that would hire him. He acted parts, served as an extra, copied promptbooks and scripts, "doctored" plays, and gained his first experience as a stage manager under the rigorous and primitive conditions to be encountered "on the road." "Many a time," Belasco told his biographer with relish, "I've marched into town banging a big drum or tooting a cornet. We used to play in any place we could hire or get into — a hall, a big dining room, an empty barn; anywhere! ... and in that way I got my first experience as a stage manager — which meant being responsible for everything." "In all my study of theatrical history," the redoubtable William Winter noted, "I have not encountered a person more downright daft, more completely saturated in every fibre of his being, with passion for the Stage and things dramatical than was young David Belasco." It was a time to plan and dream, and as Belasco later recalled with satisfaction: "One cannot begin to dream too soon if one expects to transform the dream into reality, and I believe that most men who have accomplished anything have had the dream in early boyhood."
The repertory to which Belasco was exposed during these early years represented a broad and colorful cross-section of nineteenth-century American theatre, ranging as it did from minstrels and burlesque to the plays of Boucicault, Bulwer-Lytton, and Shakespeare. His barnstorming ventures as a strolling actor included a wide variety of bigger parts: Uncle Tom, Claude Melnotte in The Lady of Lyons, Fagin in a stage version of Oliver Twist, Armand Duval in Camille, Mercutio, Antony, and even Hamlet. During the years until 1876, when Belasco gained a more permanent foothold in the San Francisco theatre as a stage manager and later as a director and dramatist, he continued to play innumerable bit parts in a generous sampling of the popular melodramas of the nineteenth century. Their titles, legendary as they are, conjure powerfully and speak for themselves: Rip Van Winkle, The Hunchback, London Assurance, The Ticket-of-Leave Man, The Corsican Brothers, The Child of the Regiment, The Marble Heart, Under the Gas-Light, The Two Orphans, The Rough Diamond, and many more. Because Belasco never achieved any particular distinction as an actor, his endeavors in this area are generally regarded merely as a footnote to his subsequent accomplishments in the theatre. These endeavors provided him, however, with an effective introduction to the art of acting generally and to the techniques of some of the greatest actors and actresses of the age: Lawrence Barrett, John McCullough, Walter Montgomery, E. A. Sothern, James O'Neill, and Edwin Booth among the former, Adelaide Neilson, Lotta Crabtree, Charlotte Cushman, and Helena Modjeska on the distaff side. These stars, who illuminated a brilliant, golden era in the American theatre, made an indelible impression on young David Belasco. "There was something in their facial expressions, something in their voices, that thrills me in memory even now," he wrote thirty years later. "It was not, I am sure, because they were the first great actors and actresses that I had seen — it was something in them, something that impressed and would impress us today. You take a woman like Charlotte Cushman. She had what we call the heavy attack ... she had none of the subtle, refined ways that we desire in our players; but should she play today, you would find that she would impress us just the same as she did the last generation. She might have to change her methods, for the methods are now different, but she was always human in what she did; so she would be human now, and it would be through that humanity that she would reach us."
(Continues...)
Excerpted from David Belasco by Lise-Lone Marker. Copyright © 1975 Princeton University Press. Excerpted by permission of PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS.
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Table of Contents
- Frontmatter, pg. i
- Contents, pg. vii
- Illustrations, pg. ix
- Foreword, pg. xi
- Introduction Legend's End, pg. 1
- Chapter One. Beginnings, pg. 7
- Chapter Two. Transition, pg. 34
- Chapter Three. Vision and Method, pg. 46
- Chapter Four. Costume Plays of Manners and Customs: "Sweet Kitty Bellairs", pg. 119
- Chapter Five. American Frontier Drama: "The Girl of the Golden West", pg. 139
- Chapter Six. Sociological Realism: "The Easiest Way", pg. 161
- Chapter Seven. Shakespeare and Naturalism: "The Merchant of Venice", pg. 178
- Epilogue New Theatres for Old, pg. 203
- Notes, pg. 211
- Chronology, pg. 226
- Bibliography, pg. 229
- Index, pg. 239