Theatre: The Lively Art

Cover
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
About the Authors
Contents
Acknowledgments
PART 1 Theatre in Today’s World
	Chapter 1 Theatre Is Everywhere
		Theatre Today
			The Unique Quality of Theatre
			The Range and Accessibility of Theatre
			Global and Multicultural Theatre
		Theatre, Television, and Film
			Theatre and Television
			Theatre and Film
		Theatre Is Everywhere
			Theatre and Rock Music
			Theatricality in Amusement Parks, Museums, Las Vegas, and Sporting Events
			Theatre and Digital Media
		Theatre and the Human Condition
		Summary
	Chapter 2 The Audience
		What Is Art?
			Characteristics of Art
			Characteristics of the Performing Arts
		The Art of Theatre
			The Elements of Theatre
			Theatre as a Collaborative Art
		The Role of the Audience
			How the Audience Participates
			Makeup of Audiences: Past and Present
			Where and How We See Theatre
			Audience Responsibility
		IN FOCUS: THE RISE OF AUDIENCE ETIQUETTE IN THE THEATRE
		The Audience and the Critic, Reviewer, and Blogger
			The Critic, Reviewer, and Blogger
			Social Media and the Audience as Critic, Reviewer, and Blogger
			Preparation for Criticism
			Fact and Opinion in Criticism
			Critical Criteria
			The Dramaturg or Literary Manager
			The Audience’s Relationship to Criticism
		Summary
PART 2 Creating Theatre: The Playwright
	Chapter 3 Creating the Dramatic Script
		The Playwright Creates the Script
		The Playwriting Process
		Subject
		Focus
		Dramatic Purpose
		IN FOCUS: QUESTIONING THE PLAYWRIGHT’S ROLE
		Structure in Drama
		IN FOCUS: WRITING FOR THEATRE, FILM, AND TELEVISION
			Essentials of Dramatic Structure
		IN FOCUS: THE GLOBAL INFLUENCES ON THE PLAYWRIGHTS BRECHT AND WILDER
			Sequence in Dramatic Structure
			Two Basic Forms of Structure: Climactic and Episodic
			Other Forms of Dramatic Structure
		Creating Dramatic Characters
			Types of Dramatic Characters
			Juxtaposition of Characters
		Summary
	Chapter 4 Theatrical Genres
		Types of Drama
		Tragedy
			Traditional Tragedy
			Modern Tragedy
		Heroic Drama
		PHOTO ESSAY: Modern Domestic Drama
		Bourgeois or Domestic Drama
		Melodrama
		Comedy
			Characteristics of Comedy
			Techniques of Comedy
			Forms of Comedy
		PHOTO ESSAY: Forms of Comedy
		Tragicomedy
			What Is Tragicomedy?
			Modern Tragicomedy
		Theatre of the Absurd
			Absurdist Plots: Illogicality
			Absurdist Language: Nonsense and Non Sequitur
			Absurdist Characters: Existential Beings
		IN FOCUS: MANY ADDITIONAL FORMS AND THE DEBATE OVER CATEGORIZATION
		Summary
PART 3 Creating Theatre: The Production
	Chapter 5 Acting for the Stage
		Acting in Everyday Life
			Social Roles
			Personal Roles
		Acting in Life Versus Acting on Stage
		Three Challenges of Acting
			Making Characters Believable
		IN FOCUS: DEMANDS OF CLASSICAL ACTING
		PHOTO ESSAY: The Actor’s Range
			Physical Acting: Voice and Body
		IN FOCUS: THE PROFESSION OF ACTING AND TECHNOLOGY
			The Actor’s Instrument: Voice and Body
		IN FOCUS: WARM-UP EXERCISES FOR BODY AND VOICE
			Training for Special Forms of Theatre
			Synthesis and Integration
		IN FOCUS: PUPPETRY AROUND THE WORLD
		Evaluating Performances
		Summary
	Chapter 6 The Director and the Producer
		The Theatre Director
		The Traditional Director
			The Director and the Script
		IN FOCUS: THE EVOLUTION OF THE DIRECTOR
		IN FOCUS: PETER BROOK, GLOBAL DIRECTOR
			The Director’s Collaborator: The Dramaturg
		The Auteur Director and the Postmodern Director
			The Auteur Director
			The Postmodern Director
		IN FOCUS: MODERN VERSUS POSTMODERN PRODUCTION AESTHETICS
		The Director and the Production: The Physical Production
		The Director’s Work with the Performers
			Casting
			Rehearsals
		IN FOCUS: COLOR BLIND AND NONTRADITIONAL CASTING
			The Director as the Audience’s Eye
			Movement, Pace, and Rhythm
			Technical Rehearsal
			Dress Rehearsal
			Previews
		The Director’s Collaborator: The Stage Manager
			The Director’s Power and Responsibility
		The Producer or Managing Director
			The Commercial Producer
			Noncommercial Theatres
			The Producer and Director’s Collaborator: The Production Manager
		Completing the Picture: Playwright, Director, and Producer
			Evaluating Directing
		Summary
	Chapter 7 Theatre Spaces
		Creating the Environment
		Theatre Spaces
			Proscenium or Picture-Frame Stage: History and Characteristics
			Arena Stage: History and Characteristics
			Thrust Stage: History and Characteristics
			Created and Found Spaces
		IN FOCUS: POPULAR PERFORMANCE SPACES
			All-Purpose Theatre Spaces: The Black Box
		Special Requirements of Theatre Environments
			Evaluating the Theatre Space
		Summary
	Chapter 8 Scenery
		The Audience’s View
		The Scene Designer
		A Brief History of Stage Design
		Scenic Design Today
			The Scene Designer’s Objectives
			Elements of Scene Design
		IN FOCUS: THE TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATIONS OF THE GLOBAL DESIGNER JOSEF SVOBODA
		IN FOCUS: NEW DESIGN MATERIALS: VIDEO AND PROJECTION DESIGN
			The Process of Scene Design
		The Scene Designer’s Collaborators and the Production Process
			Designing a Total Environment
			Evaluating Scene Design
		Summary
	Chapter 9 Stage Costumes
		Costumes for the Stage
			Objectives of Costume Design
			The Process of Costume Design
		PHOTO ESSAY: Stage Costumes Make a Strong Visual Statement
			The Costume Designer at Work
		IN FOCUS: TECHNOLOGY AND COSTUME DESIGN
		Related Elements of Costume Design
			Makeup
			Hairstyles and Wigs
			Masks
		PHOTO ESSAY: Masks
			Millinery, Accessories, and Crafts
		Coordination of the Whole
			Evaluating Costume Design
		Summary
	Chapter 10 Lighting and Sound
		Stage Lighting
			A Brief History of Stage Lighting
			Objectives and Functions of Lighting Design
		PHOTO ESSAY: The Many Uses of Stage Lighting
			The Lighting Designer
		IN FOCUS: ROCK CONCERT AND THEATRE LIGHTING
		Sound in the Theatre
			Sound Reproduction: Advantages and Disadvantages
			The Sound Designer
			Understanding Sound Reproduction and Sound Reinforcement
			Sound Technology
		Special Effects in Lighting and Sound
			Evaluating Lighting and Sound Design
		Summary
PART 4 Global Theatres: Past and Present
	Chapter 11 Early Theatres: Greek, Roman, and Medieval
		Origins of Theatre
		Greece
			Background: The Golden Age
			Theatre and Culture: Greek Theatre Emerges
		IN FOCUS: THEATRE FESTIVALS
			Greek Tragedy
			Greek Comedy
			Dramatic Criticism in Greece: Aristotle
		EXPERIENCING THEATRE HISTORY: Antigone
			Theatre Production in Greece
			Later Greek Theatre
		Rome
			Background: Rome and Its Civilization
			Theatre and Culture in Rome
			Popular Entertainment in Rome
			Roman Comedy: Plautus and Terence
		IN FOCUS: ROMAN AMPHITHEATRES
			Roman Tragedy: Seneca
			Dramatic Criticism in Rome: Horace
		EXPERIENCING THEATRE HISTORY: The Menaechmi
		IN FOCUS: GREEK AND ROMAN POPULAR ARTS
			Theatre Production in Rome
			Decline of Roman Theatre
		The Middle Ages
			Background: Medieval Europe
			Theatre and Culture in the Middle Ages
			Medieval Drama: Mystery and Morality Plays
			Medieval Theatre Production
		IN FOCUS: CONTEMPORARY PASSION PLAYS
		EXPERIENCING THEATRE HISTORY: Noah’s Ark
			Evaluating a Production of an Historic Play
		Summary
	Chapter 12 Early Theatre: Asian
		The Theatres of Asia: Background
		Indian Theatre
			Sanskrit Drama
			Later Indian Drama
			How Was Indian Drama Staged?
		Chinese Theatre
			Early Theatre in China
			Theatre in the Yuan Dynasty
			Theatre in the Ming Dynasty
		Japanese Theatre
			Early Theatre in Japan
			Nō
		EXPERIENCING THEATRE HISTORY: Sotoba Komachi
			Bunraku
			Kabuki
		IN FOCUS: KABUKI TODAY
		Southeast Asia: Shadow Plays
		Summary
	Chapter 13 Renaissance Theatres
		The Renaissance: Background
		The Italian Renaissance
			Commedia Dell’arte and Other Forms of Italian Renaissance Theatre
			Italian Dramatic Rules: The Neoclassical Ideals
		IN FOCUS: IMPROVISATION
			Theatre Production in Italy
		EXPERIENCING THEATRE HISTORY: Commedia Dell’arte
		England
			Background: Elizabethan England
			Elizabethan Drama
		EXPERIENCING THEATRE HISTORY: Hamlet
		IN FOCUS: SHAKESPEARE: 400 YEARS LATER
			Elizabethan Theatre Production
		IN FOCUS: THE POPULAR ARTS OF SHAKESPEARE’S TIME
			Theatre after Elizabeth’s Reign
		Spain
			Background: The Spanish Golden Age
			Spanish Drama
		EXPERIENCING THEATRE HISTORY: The King, The Greatest Alcalde
			Theatre Production in Spain
		France
			Background: France in the Seventeenth Century
			French Neoclassical Drama
			Theatre Production in France
		EXPERIENCING THEATRE HISTORY: Tartuffe
		IN FOCUS: COMÉDIE-FRANÇAISE’S LONG HISTORY
		Summary
	Chapter 14 Theatres from the Restoration through Romanticism
		The English Restoration
			Background: England in the Seventeenth Century
			Restoration Drama: Comedies of Manners
			Theatre Production in the Restoration
		IN FOCUS: DRURY LANE THEATRE TODAY
		EXPERIENCING THEATRE HISTORY: The Country Wife
		The Eighteenth Century
			Background: A More Complex World
			Eighteenth-Century Drama: New Dramatic Forms
			Theatre Production in the Eighteenth Century
		IN FOCUS: DROTTNINGHOLM THEATRE TODAY
		EXPERIENCING THEATRE HISTORY: The Marriage of Figaro
		IN FOCUS: ACTOR-DIRECTORS
		The Nineteenth Century
			Background: A Time of Social Change
		IN FOCUS: NINETEENTH-CENTURY POPULAR THEATRICAL ARTS
			Theatre in Nineteenth-Century Life
			Nineteenth-Century Dramatic Forms
			Theatre Production in the Nineteenth Century
		IN FOCUS: THE BAYREUTH FESTSPIELHAUS AND FESTIVAL
		Summary
	Chapter 15 The Modern Theatre Emerges
		Realism and the Modern Era
			Background: The Modern Era
			Theatrical Realism
			Realistic Playwrights
			Naturalism
			Producers of Realism: Independent Theatres
		EXPERIENCING THEATRE HISTORY: The Sea Gull
			Realism in the Twentieth Century
		Departures from Realism
			Departures from Realism—Playwrights: Ibsen, Strindberg, and Wedekind
			Symbolism
			Expressionism
			Futurism and Surrealism
			Unique Voices
			How Were Departures from Realism Staged?
			Russian Theatricalism: Meyerhold
			Artaud and Brecht: The Theatre of Cruelty and Epic Theatre
			Impact of Totalitarianism on Theatre
		IN FOCUS: EVALUATING TOTALITARIAN ART
			Experimentation and Departures from Realism Continue
		EXPERIENCING THEATRE HISTORY: Waiting for Godot
		Eclectics
		Popular Theatre
			American Musical Theatre
		Globalization and Theatre in the Twentieth Century and Beyond
			Some Background on Asian Theatre
		IN FOCUS: TWO IMPORTANT GLOBAL DIRECTORS
			Global Exchanges
		Summary
	Chapter 16 Today’s Diverse Global Theatre
		The Dawning of a New Century
		Today’s Theatre: Global, Diverse, Multicultural and Eclectic
			Performance Art
			Postmodernism
		Diverse and Multicultural Theatres in the United States
			Alternatives to Commercial Theatre in the United States
			African American Theatre
			Latino-Latina Theatre
			Asian American Theatre
			Native American Theatre
			Feminist Theatre and Playwrights
			Gay, Lesbian, and Transgender Theatre
		IN FOCUS: UNDERREPRESENTATION AND MARGINALIZATION OF WOMEN AND AFRICAN AMERICANS IN U.S. THEATRE
		Global Theatre
			A Continuing Global Trend: Documentary Drama
			English and Irish Theatre
			Canada and Australia
			Asia, Africa, and Latin America
		IN FOCUS: TADASHI SUZUKI, GLOBAL THEATRE ARTIST
		IN FOCUS: AUGUSTO BOAL AND THE THEATRE OF THE OPPRESSED
		Today and Tomorrow: A Look Ahead
			Evaluating a Production of a Contemporary or New Play
		Summary
Plays That May Be Read Online
Index