Amonodrama is a theatrical oroperatic piece played by a singleactor or singer, usually portraying one character.
In opera, a monodrama was originally amelodrama with one role such asJean-Jacques Rousseau'sPygmalion, which was written in 1762 and first staged in Lyon in 1770, andGeorg Benda's work of thesame name (1779).
The term monodrama (sometimesmono-opera) is also applied to modern works with a single soloist, such asArnold Schoenberg'sDie glückliche Hand (1924), which besides theprotagonist has two additional silent roles as well as achoral prologue and epilogue.Erwartung (1909) andLa voix humaine (1959) closely follow the traditional definition, while inEight Songs for a Mad King (1969) byPeter Maxwell Davies, the instrumentalists are brought to the stage to participate in the action. Twenty-first century examples can be found inÉmilie (2008) byKaija Saariaho andFour Sad Seasons Over Madrid (2008) orGod's Sketches (2011) both of them byJorge Grundman.
In England the first example of monodrama was on a mythological theme, in this caseFrank Sayers'Pandora (1790),[1] in the form of a recitation with off-stage voices.Robert Southey took up the new form, producing eleven pieces so titled between 1793-1804;[2] so didMatthew Lewis in his publicly performed and highly melodramaticThe Captive.[3] Few others actually appeared on stage and monodrama soon lost its connection with music. The term "dramatic monologue" came to be applied to such works, although the term "monodrama"remained in critical currency. Half a century later Tennyson himself referred to hisMaud (1855) as a monodrama,[4] and William Lancaster (John Warren, 3rd Baron de Tabley) published a verse collection titledEclogues and Monodramas in 1864.[5]
Nevertheless,Nurul Momen (Nemesis, 1944),Samuel Beckett (Krapp's Last Tape, 1958) andAnton Chekhov (On the Harmful Effects of Tobacco, 1886, 1902), among others, have written monodramas in this sense.Patrick Süskind has one person speak to the audience inDer Kontrabaß (1981). A more recent example isA Night in November (1994) by Irish playwrightMarie Jones.
As developed byRussian symbolistNikolai Evreinov (1879–1953) and encapsulated in his bookThe Theatre in Life (1927), it is a dramatic representation of what passes in an individual mind. Everything one witnesses on stage is portrayed from the mental state of the given protagonist.
The largest solo theatre festival in the world,United Solo takes place annually in New York City atTheatre Row. In 2013 it featured over 120 productions.[6] InKiel, Germany, an international theatre festival for monodramas takes place regularly, the Thespis International Monodrama Festival.[7]
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
