Line #20 GenreDeconstruction/Theatre


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3	%%Note: If you wish to add examples, please explain in detail. For instance, sketch the basic premise of the genre that is being deconstructed and how the example deconstructs the genre.
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5	%%Also remember: Darker and Edgier is not inherently Deconstruction, nor is the inverse true.
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8	!!By Author:
9	* OlderThanFeudalism: Creator/{{Euripides}}' ''Theatre/TheTrojanWomen'' and ''Hecuba'' portrayed UsefulNotes/TheTrojanWar as a human tragedy rather than a sweeping epic tale of martial valor in the Creator/{{Homer}}ic tradition. In general, his tragedies are regarded as more "modern" than those of his predecessors because of their morally ambiguous protagonists, pervasive sense of [[{{Wangst}} anxiety and despair]], religious skepticism and overall portrayal of mythologycal subjects and characters as real people.
10	* Various plays of Creator/WilliamShakespeare have been interpreted as genre deconstructions:
11	** ''Theatre/{{Hamlet}}'' has been read as a massive deconstruction of Elizabethan revenge dramas. Although most of them end in tears for everyone, ''Hamlet'' deconstructs the genre by having the characters react to events like the ghost's appearance like a real person would (in a standard revenge play, the appearance of a vengeful ghost was an expected part of the genre, but Hamlet doubts the ghost's reality for half the play, as a real person who saw a ghost probably would).
12	** ''Theatre/MeasureForMeasure'' might do the same for comedies. The whole thing is a source of much debate.
13	** ''Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet'' has been interpreted as a genre deconstruction of ''CommediaDellArte''. The stock characters are nearly all there, and the StarCrossedLovers plot, the ZanyScheme... only this time the zany scheme doesn't work, and five young people die.
14	*** It also deconstructs DeathFakedForYou. If you think this is CrazyEnoughToWork, it doesn't.
15	** In a like manner, ''Theatre/TitusAndronicus'' can be read as a Deconstruction (or even a Satire) of revenge dramas. The over-the-top blood and gore, and the obvious mental instability of ''everyone'', including the play's purported "heroes," have led some modern audiences to call this play the most "[[Creator/QuentinTarantino Tarantino-esque]]" of Shakespeare's works.
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17	!!By Title:
18	* Music/StephenSondheim's ''Theatre/IntoTheWoods'' spends its first act as simply a retelling of the stories of "Literature/JackAndTheBeanstalk", "Literature/LittleRedRidingHood", "Literature/{{Rapunzel}}", and "Literature/{{Cinderella}}", all tied together with the story of a baker and his wife who are cursed with infertility unless they can procure certain items from all four. In the end it looks like everyone's gotten what they want and is happy, but suddenly the narrator announces "To be continued!" Act two begins with the idea that the giant was just minding his own business when Jack came up the beanstalk and killed him, and just builds from there into an incredibly brutal AnyoneCanDie deconstruction of fairy tales.
19	* ''Theatre/MButterfly'' is a deconstruction of the Western fantasy of [[MightyWhiteyAndMellowYellow getting with an Asian chick]] in general, and Puccini's opera ''Theatre/MadameButterfly'' in particular.
20	* ''Theatre/NoisesOff'' is a backstage comedy that deconstructs a typical door-slamming sex {{farce}}, and how plays work in general, by exploring everything that can go wrong with [[ShowWithinAShow Nothing On]], a poor farce being performed by a troupe of actors. Personal relationships get in the way between cast members and ever the show's director, and by the third act ''Nothing On'' descends into a madhouse.
21	* ''Theatre/AStreetcarNamedDesire'' did not deconstruct any genre in particular, but it did deconstruct gender roles, physical relationships, and the American system of social classes in a rather harsh way.
22	* ''Theatre/{{Urinetown}}'' deconstructs a typical {{Dystopia}} story. It has downtrodden people fighting to overthrow the oppressive system that heavily taxes and regulates their bathroom usage during a worldwide massive drought. They succeed, but [[spoiler: they are so caught up in the "freedom" that they don't control themselves at all and end up squandering all the remaining water.]]
23	* ''Theatre/TheYeomenOfTheGuard'' plays much like any of Creator/GilbertAndSullivan's other comic operas, except the DeusExMachina never shows up, so everybody gets married to the wrong person.

Context GenreDeconstruction / Theatre