Plastic Theatre A Streetcar Named Desire What is

Plastic Theatre A Streetcar Named Desire

What is Plastic Theatre? • In the early 1940 s, when Tennessee Williams was working on his first successful play, The Glass Mengerie, he developed an idea he termed ‘plastic theatre, an idea that he believed would launch a new type of theatre, that would move away from what he dismissed as ‘typewriter theatre’ by affording equal value to the nonliterary elements of stage production and to the literary text. 
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Rationale • To express his universal truths Williams insisted that setting, properties, music, sound, and visual effects—all the elements of staging —must combine to reflect and enhance the action, theme, characters, and language.

Realism? • Williams desired a form of drama that was more than just a picture of reality: he insists that his ideal theatre make use of all the stage arts to generate a theatrical experience greater than mere Realism.

Importance of Non-Literary Elements • The visual and audible aspects of a Streetcar Named Desire as important as the dialogue. Tennessee Williams uses these ‘plastic’ elements to convey to the audience the psychological states of the characters as well as develop themes and ideas of the play

Elements of Plastic Theatre: • His vivid and evocative stage directions that help the dramatist envision the scene. • Symbolism • Lighting • Colours • Costumes • Props • Sound Effects-Digetic and Non Digetic

Close Analysis How, and to what effect, does Williams use elements of ‘plastic theatre’ in the following scenes? • • Scene 3 Scene 4 Scene 6 Scene 10