Hey there, I'm Mike Rugnetta. This is Crash Course Theater, and today—we're discussing theater in 1930s America.
嘿 大家好 我是迈克·鲁格内塔 这里是“戏剧速成课堂” 今天我们将讨论20世纪30年代美国的戏剧
Don't cross any picket lines, ya boney scab.
别越警戒线哈 你这个流氓
The 1930s was a fine decade if you're into worldwide economic collapse.
如果你即将进入全球经济崩溃的状态 那么20世纪30年代是一个不错的十年
It was also pretty great for theater. Go figure!
这段时期对戏剧也很友好 来看看吧!
We'll be looking at the Group Theater, a hugely influential collective that tried to bring Stanislavski's theories to America.
我们会讲到“团体剧场” 即一个试图将斯坦尼斯拉夫斯基的理论带到美国的极具影响力的团体
And then we'll turn to the Federal Theater Project, a Works Progress Administration scheme that employed
之后我们还会讲到“联邦剧场计划” 即一项工程发展管理计划 雇佣了
thousands of out-of-work theater professionals—even Orson Welles—and created full-length plays about...farming.
数千名失业的戏剧专业人员(甚至包括奥森·威尔斯) 创作了一些关于……务农的多幕剧
And syphilis. Let's rock that cradle. Lights up!
还有梅毒 摇篮摇起来!打灯!
The Group Theater was founded in New York in 1931 by Lee Strasberg, Cheryl Crawford,
“团体剧场”于1931年由李·斯特拉斯伯格、谢丽尔·克劳福德
and Harold Clurman—three kids with guts, hearts, and a pretty all-encompassing interest in creating a socially conscious,
以及哈罗德·克莱门三人在纽约创立 三个有勇气、有爱心的孩子 并且对创造一个以一种适合现代生活的自然主义表演风格
politically motivated theater embodied in a naturalistic style of acting that felt right for modern life. Modern in 1931, at least.
来体现的有社会意识、有政治动机的剧院有着浓厚的兴趣 至少在1931年是现代的
Here's how Clurman put it: "Our interest in the life of our times must lead us to the discovery
克莱门是这样说的:“我们对我们这个时代的生活的兴趣必须引导我们去发现一
of those methods that would most truly convey this life through the theatre."
些能够通过剧院最真实地传达这种生活的方式。”
They wanted to form an ensemble as unified and skilled as the one Konstantin Stanislavski had created at the Moscow Art Theater.
他们想要组成一个像康斯坦丁·斯坦尼斯拉夫斯基在莫斯科艺术剧院创造的那种统一而多艺的团体
Because they were superfans of the Moscow Art Theater.
因为他们是莫斯科艺术剧院的超级粉丝
So in 1931, they convinced the Theater Guild to give them $1000 and permission to rehearse a new play in Connecticut.
所以在1931年 他们说服戏剧协会给他们1000美元允许他们在康涅狄格州排练一出新剧
They gathered up 28 actors and got to work, calling themselves the Group.
他们召集了28名演员开始工作 并自称为“团体”
They rehearsed Paul Green's "The House of Connelly," a tale of a romance on a plantation.
他们排练了保罗·格林的《康奈利庄园》 讲述的是一个关于种植园的浪漫故事
Green was one of those white writers who won prizes for writing in black dialect, while black theater struggled to prove its legitimacy on the world stage.
格林是那些因用黑人方言写作而获奖的白人作家之一 而黑人戏剧则努力在世界舞台上证明其合法性
The Theater Guild said they'd fund it if the Group fired a couple of their actors and restored the original downer murder ending.
戏剧协会表示:如果“团体”解雇他们的几名演员并恢复原来那种令人沮丧的谋杀结局 那他们才会资助这部剧
The Group said no—collectively!—and Eugene O'Neill stepped in with a little cash.
“团体”说:不 一致反对!之后尤金·奥尼尔加入并投资了一些钱
The play was a critical success, but not a big financial success, because the Group was too idealistic to care about box office.
后来这部剧广受好评 但收益甚微 因为“团体”太理想主义了 这导致他们根本不关心票房
That would eventually become… a problem.
而这最终会演变为……一个问题
Listen, I know that y'all wanna do it for the art–but take it from an actual theater professional (me):
听着 我知道你们都想为了艺术而表演 但是(我)作为一个真正的戏剧专业人士要告诉你们的是:
sometimes you gotta do it for the money, IN ORDER to do it for the art. I know it's tough.
有时候你必须先为钱而表演 然后才能为艺术而表演 我懂 这很难
Rehearsing the play meant drilling actors in the Stanislavski system.
排练这部剧意味着要以“斯坦尼斯拉夫斯基体系”来训练演员
Or at least the Stanislavski system as Strasberg understood it.
或者至少是“斯特拉斯伯格所理解的斯坦尼斯拉夫斯基体系”
This is what we now call "the method" or "method acting".
也就是我们所说的“体验派表演方法”
So if you're an actor who has ever felt that you have to torture yourself in service of a role,
所以 如果你是一名演员 你感觉自己曾为了某个角色而折磨自己
or access some really, really dark memories, you can thank those guys!
或者说你有过一些非常非常黑暗的记忆 那么你可以“谢谢这几位的帮助!”
Affective memory or emotion memory is what Strasberg taught, and it goes a long way to explaining intense actors like Marlon Brando, or Daniel Day Lewis.
斯特拉斯伯格教授的是“情绪记忆” 这很能解释得通为什么会有像马龙·白兰度或丹尼尔·戴·刘易斯这样激情四射的演员
In 1934, Clurman and his wife Stella Adler actually met and worked with Stanislavski.
1934年 克莱门和妻子斯特拉·阿德勒遇到了斯坦尼斯拉夫斯基并与之进行了合作
And they came back to tell everyone that Strasberg had it all wrong.
后来他们告诉大家说斯特拉斯伯格错了
Stanislavski wasn't interested in feelings; he was interested in actions and circumstances.
斯坦尼斯拉夫斯基其实对情绪并不感兴趣 他感兴趣的是“动作和氛围”
This led to a pretty epic fight between Adler and Strasberg—a feud that lasted sixty years—and to Strasberg taking a reduced role within the company.
这导致阿德勒和斯特拉斯伯格之间的长达60年的争斗 同时斯特拉斯伯格在公司的地位被削弱
The Group Theater dissolved in 1940. The company was smart about a lot of things, but money wasn't really one of them.
“团体剧场”于1940年解散 这家公司在很多方面都很精明 唯独在“钱”方面缺了一根筋
They produced their non-commercial plays in big, commercial Broadway theaters, and funding was a strain.
他们在大型的商业百老汇剧院制作非商业的戏剧导致资金非常紧张
Also, they had trouble figuring out a workable power structure.
同时他们也很难找到一个可行的权力结构
You might be shocked to learn that there's a lot of ego in theater.
你可能会震惊于戏剧中的自我元素之多
Still it's hard to overstate the influence of the Group on American playwriting, acting, and directing.
尽管如此 “团体剧场”在美国的剧本创作、表演和导演方面还是产生了很大的影响
Keep in mind, as we talk about their plays, that most of the most famous acting teachers in America,
记住 在我们谈论他们的戏剧时 美国大多最著名的表演老师
including Strasberg, Adler, Sanford Meisner, and Bobby Lewis—all worked for the Group.
包括斯特拉斯伯格、阿德勒、桑福德·迈斯纳和鲍比·刘易斯 都为“团体剧场”工作过
Elia Kazan, Crawford, and Lewis would later go on to found the Actors Studio, who trained pretty much everyone.
伊利亚·卡赞、克劳福德和刘易斯后来成立了演员工作室 该工作室几乎训练了每一位演员
Not all of the Group Theater's plays were strictly realistic, but
“团体剧场”的戏剧并不都是严格的现实主义 但
the company helped to further a distinctly American naturalism that depended on big conflict and big emotion.
它推动了一种独特的依赖于大的冲突和大的情感的“美国自然主义戏剧”
Many of these plays were idealistic or at least interested in questions of idealism, encouraging a yea-saying rather than a nay-saying view of humanity.
这些戏剧很多都是理想主义风格 或者至少对理想主义的问题感兴趣 它们鼓励人们说“是”而不是说“不”的人性观点
"Every good play is propaganda for a better life," Clurman said.
克莱曼说:“每一部好剧都是对美好生活的宣传。”
An early hit was John Howard Lawson's "Success Story," about an ad man who risks losing his soul as he climbs the corporate ladder.
早期比较火爆的作品是约翰霍华德劳森的《成功故事》 讲的是一个冒着失去灵魂的危险攀登公司阶梯的广告人
And the Group had a rare financial success with Sidney Kingsley's Pulitzer Prize winning "Men in White,"
“团体剧场”以西德尼·金斯利获得普利策奖的作品《白衣男人》罕见地赚了一笔
a story of heroic doctors and their coats at a New York City hospital.
这部剧讲的是纽约一家医院里英勇的医生和他们的外套的故事
But the playwright most indelibly associated with the Group is Clifford Odets.
但是 和“团体剧场”联系最紧密的剧作家是克利福德·奥德茨
Odets had joined the Group as an actor, and he'd been begging them for years to stage one of his plays.
奥德茨以演员的身份加入该团体 并且多年来一直恳求团体演出他的一部戏剧
And the Group was like, ha ha—no.
“团体”说:哈哈哈 不
And Odets was like, no you guys, it's "Awake and Sing!" Come on!
奥德茨说:不 伙计们 就这部《醒来歌唱》 来嘛!
And the group was still like, ha ha ha—no.
“团体”还是:哈哈哈 不
Another company staged his play "Waiting for Lefty" in a benefit performance, and it was a huge hit.
不过另外有家公司在义演中演出了他的作品《等待老左》并获得巨大成功
The Group was finally like, "Cliff, baby—let's do some shows!"
“团体”最终说:小克 宝贝儿 来嘛 咱们一块儿搞些剧!
Odets's plays are talky, scrappy, heartbreaky dramas of the American immigrant experience.
奥德茨的戏剧台词多、散乱、令人心碎 讲的是美国移民的经历
Conflicts typically arise from the tension between tradition and family, and what character's feel they owe to themselves.
冲突通常产生于传统和家庭之间的紧张关系 以及角色觉得他们欠自己什么
As the grandfather in "Awake and Sing!" says to his grandson:
比如《醒来歌唱》中爷爷对孙子说:
"Wake up! Be something! Make your life something good.
醒醒!做点儿什么!让自己的生活变得美好。
For the love of an old man who sees in your young days his new life, for such love—take the world in your two hands and make it like new."
为了一个老人的爱,他在你年轻的时候看到了他的新生活,为了这样的爱,把这个世界捧在你的手中,让它焕然一新。”
Odets's characters speak in contemporary, dialect-driven speech.
奥德茨笔下的人物说话都是当代的、受方言驱动的语言
But this ordinary language can soar into a kind of poetry when the characters are moved—sometimes by desire, sometimes by oppression.
但是 当人物被感动时这种平凡的语言可以升华为诗歌——有时是被欲望 有时是被压迫
"Waiting for Lefty," had its historic premiere on January 6, 1935.
《等待老左》于1935年1月6日进行了历史性的首映
Is it theater? Or propaganda? Yes! Help us out, ThoughtBubble:
是戏剧吗?还是宣传?没错!来看思想泡泡: