VAUDEVILLE

1881-1920

Pre Vaudeville
Before the American Civil War, theatre was mainly dominated by burlesque clubs in America. They featured many risqué things. Theatre was not only a place to be entertained, it was for men to have a drink. It was mainly focused towards a male audience, with the middle class being the main target audience, as higher classes were generally venturing towards the theatre over these burlesque clubs.

After The Civil War
In 1881 a man named Tony Pastor decided that theatre shouldn't be just for men and that these shows that feature a wide variety of different performances in one evening are missing a completely separate audience.

So he conducted an experiment and put on a cabaret and called it Vaudeville. This featured a performance of Shakespeare, acrobats, singers, presentations of dance, and comedy all in the same evening. However, he removed all the risqué and inappropriate content and aimed not just to a rich audience, but to the middle class too. He banned drinking from the theatre, as he wanted a family oriented show, rather than a prominently male audience.

What Did He Find Out?
He found out that they could make a huge amount of money if they kept putting on performances like this, and as the years went by, more and more amusements became available. Circus acts toured, dime-museums appealed to the curious, amusement parks, riverboats, town halls featured "cleaner" productions of variety entertainment, while saloons & music-halls and burlesque houses catered to those with a taste of the risqué.

What Was The Purpose?
The performance should not make the audience get emotionally attached to a character or situation. The sole purpose of Vaudeville was to entertain their audience. Over the years from 1880 to the early 1920s they realised the easiest way to this was to make people laugh. This is why an increasing numbers of Vaudevilles featured comedy sketches. These were often slapstick in nature.

The Demise Of VaudevilleAs the years went on, Vaudeville became more popular and appealed to many different audiences, and featured for the first time both Irish and Black performers. However, the jokes that were featured were often highly racist towards themselves.

Technology became Vaudevilles competition. Silent movies had started to come out and the cinema was a much cheaper option for the general public. The theatre wasn't the cheapest form of entertainment.

So consequently Vaudevilles in theatre became less common as they could not support themselves as much as before.

So What Now?
As we have progressed, Vaudeville has been reborn into shows like Britain's Got Talent and the Royal Variety performances. However, we also have kept the comedy sketches that were brought to life by Vaudeville. Morecambe and Wise, Laurel and Hardy, two entertainment duos that sparked from Vaudeville.

This is called New Vaudeville. 39 Steps, which we are each doing scenes from, is a spoof of Vaudeville performances.

What Makes It New Vaudeville?- Over the top physicality
- Comedy sketch type performance
- No character relationship with the audience
- Often recognising the audience, and general acknowledgement of their presence

Shaw and Lee - Vaudeville Legends (1949)
General notes made from watching the YouTube video:
Some seriousness but used to make the comedy more effective. A guy tries to sing to entertain the audience, but other people (who I presume are Shaw and Lee) keep walking on and distracting the audience and the singer himself. Turns out he is a presenter or the opening act, and welcomes Shaw and Lee. Comedy duo with some slapstick, killer jokes and general wisecracks. Dance moves that work well with just the two of them. It is Charlie Chaplin but on stage!

What We Covered In Lesson
We had to mime part of the scene to work on the physicality of our characters. We did the section where I beckon Margaret in and order her about, and I question what Hannay's sleeping arrangements should be. Crofter was clearly identified by the audience as the old man with the power in the scene. He is a loud mouthed Scot who controls the conversation, unaware of the other characters who are gazing upon each other.
We each then had to decide in our groups who had the power and authority in the scene. My group consists of myself, and old man named Crofter who owns the house in the scene, (not the big house mentioned, but one just off stage). Dan McKay played Hannay, a gentleman who is looking for a place to stay, but his goal is to reach 'Alt na Shellach'. Meg Robinson plays Margaret, Crofter's wife. As a group we concluded that Crofter has the power in the scene, as he can decide where the scene goes (if Hannay stays or has to leave). He also has power over Margaret, who succumbs to his every order.

Evaluation
Our