Writing Homework Help

1) Research a director, actor, playwright, THEATRE choreographer, or composer/lyricist whose work we studied this semester. The only playwright you may NOT research is Shakespeare, because the topic is huge. Seems like an easy idea, right? It’s not! These papers sometimes turn out poorly because they become like encyclopedia lists rather than essays. If you do this, you must love the person (intellectually, artistically) and have something you really want to say about him or her: “Samuel Beckett’s bleak world view expressed the horrors of his time,” etc. “Ira Aldridge, the first black man to play Othello, transcended but ultimately succumbed to the racism of the English speaking theatre.” Why is your person important? It is a lot of men, I know. That’s theatre history for you! Please note, I added a few names to the list (Aeschylus, Viola Davis, Lin-Manuel Miranda (6/24), Anna Deavere Smith (Week 5), and took away Marlon Brando (because he is really more of a film actor). Below is a partial list: ONLY PICK TO RESEARCH ABOUT

SOPHOCLES

ARISTOPHANES

AESCHYLUS (the Oresteia)

SAMUEL BECKETT

BERTOLT BRECHT

ANTONIN ARTAUD

TENNESSEE WILLIAMS

AUGUST WILSON

JULIE TAYMOR

KONSTANTIN STANISLAVSKI

IRA ALDRIDGE

VIOLA DAVIS

TONY KUSHNER

LIN-MANUEL MIRANDA

ANNA DEAVERE SMITH

BOB FOSSE (choreographer–t.k. next week)

JEROME ROBBINS (choreographer–t.k. next week)

STEPHEN SONDHEIM

RODGERS AND HAMMERSTEIN