Learner Resource 5
Modern Tragicomedy
Modern tragicomedy is a genre that challenges the tragedy/comedy binary by reflecting a world that is simultaneously both things at the same time. Typical 20th and 21st century tragicomedies are inconclusive and contradictory, contain problematic and subversive protagonists and offer redemption whilst lacking resolution. Writers of this genre rely on sociopolitical context in order to challenge audience members into questioning why it is they are able to laugh at things they know they should find upsetting, thus bringing the morality of wider society into question.
Use the following table to analyseThat Faceand explore its placewithin this genre.
Core theme / Specific Mechanics/TechniquesSocial Context / Comedy is built around moments of tragedy/sadness/violence; the audience laugh in the knowledge they should actually be feeling sad, leading to guilt and unease. It is this confusion and duality of emotions that can be very moving. Pick out moments in the play which seem to lead you to feel guilty or uneasy when you laugh.
Requires audience members to be aware of a wider socio-political context in order to understand the comedy. Without understanding the humour, the tension and tragedy fail to work. In what ways have you felt that a sense of context has helped you understand the comedy.
Modern tragicomedy aims to highlight the absurdity of the human condition and exists to challenge modernity. From Ibsen onwards plays in this genre have tended to expose the crisis in values and collapse of Western society. Can you point to moments in the play when life was being presented as absurd?
Linguistic Techniques / Dialogue is the most prominent feature of the tragicomedy genre, with sets often being stripped back and laid bare. What have you found interesting about the sets used in the play. Make a list of them and think about what they represent.
Wit and dialogue act to lighten overall tone of the play which acts to disguise the move towards a tragic end or twist. Pick out moments where the dialogue is lighter than the situation the characters are in.
A Tragicomedy protagonist/hero is often given a moment that allows insight into the real tragedy that has perhaps been concealed until this point. Can you pick out any such significant moments when we feel the intensity of tragedy?
Version 11© OCR 2017
That Face
Core theme / Specific Mechanics/TechniquesCharacterisation / Use of comedy and farcical interactions between characters to build toward an ultimately tragic end that lacks resolution. In what ways do you feel the play lacks resolution?
The subversive protagonist is a comic character, often engaging with obscene behaviour, mimicry and impersonation. Their absurdity and opposition to the ‘norm’ allows society to question why these norms exist. Whilst traditional tragicomedy ‘fools’ were happy to subvert the norm, modern ones often are seeking to transcend their socially marginal status.The modern version of the female tragicomedy protagonist is the ‘anti-heroine’; the spinster, the old maid, the femme fatal, the prostitute, the witch, the overbearing mother, the domineering wife. In what ways does Stenham’s presentation of Martha fit this description?
The audience members are allowed insight into the contradictory aspects of the human condition, meaning that placing moral judgments on each character proves difficult. The process of trying to work this out should hopefully illuminate and question the moral position of the audience member as they depart from the theatre. In what ways do you feel it is difficult to place moral judgements on Stenham’s characters?
Whilst characters fail to reach a moral conclusion, there may be redemption and transformation of some kind, particularly for the protagonist. In your view is there any redemption for Martha?
Plots / Dilemmas come to the forefront and are worked through but never resolved. The overarching comedic tone may be subverted by a tragic and inconclusive end. In your view what are the dilemmas that the play has brought to the audience’s attention? How far do you agree that they have not been resolved?
Whilst there is not resolution, the theme of loss often characterises modern tragicomedy, meaning, through the experience of loss, some sort of redemption or transformation takes place. How far do you agree that the play leaves the audience with a sense of loss? What do you feel has been lost?
Essay topic:
"Ibsen was the dramatic poet who firmly established tragicomedy as a much deeper and grimmer entertainment than tragedy." - George Bernard Shaw.
How far would you agree that the comedy in That Face makes it a much ‘deeper and grimmer’ play?
Version 11© OCR 2017
That Face