Audiences are getting older and no younger generations are replacing them All cultures have some sort of theatrical performance Represents how cultures were o Theatrical impulse Aristotle wrote The Poetics 335 BC about the innate mimetic imitation desire in humans THET110 Notes Wednesday September 02 2009 Why don t people go to the theatre o Cost o Accessibility o Theatre more aural than visual o Lack of advertising o Graying of the American audience Why study theatre o Universality of theatre Definition of theatre o Must have Performer or actor Audience Text not always written Liveness o Communication interaction model Sender message feedback Receiver o Theatre requires action o Theatre requires a space o Theatre uses actors Actor is a performer who impersonates o Theatre relies on liveness o Theatre is ephemeral Ephemeral Short lasting fleeting o Theatre is aesthetic not efficacious Relating to beauty Has an effect Aesthetic Efficacious A ritual is efficacious because you come out of the ritual changed o Theatre is a hybrid form It combines many different art forms o Theatre is a collaborative art How do audiences negotiate the theatre event o Theatrical conventions Rules or shorthand that the audience agrees to accept EG Lights dimming means that time has elapsed young men may play female roles in earlier times o Willing suspension of disbelief agree for the time we are in the theatre not to disbelieve them o Aesthetic distance We remember that events on stage are not real so we do not intervene Although we know the events of a play are not real we Wednesday September 09 2009 Theatre Etiquette o Before performance Dress should be nicer than usual Arrive early Read the program o During performance No texting No noise No food or candy wrappers o After performance No early departures Choose your standing ovations Be careful what you say when leaving The 11 oclock number How to think critically about performance The big crowd pleasing number featuring the star o The theatrical production is the sum of a set of choices o Generally theatre starts with a playtext from a playwright What and how to convey a story o Producer or artistic director may put on a certain play due to Money Politics Education Bring in a specific audience or cater to one Casting decisions o Director Generally a directory is hired to match the play Director s concept What message the director wants to convey Designers Actors Monday September 14 2009 Guest Lecture Dramaturge A person who is really good at analyzing plays Theatre is the sum of a set of choices o What are the choices o How do they work o 1 Identify o 2 Evaluate Production What you are going to see on stage Play Can be read or seen World of the play Everything that is happening at the play Playwright choices when writing a play o Subject Anything from history Biography Autobiography Current events contemporary life Abstract inspiration Existing source material o Setting o Characters o Dialogue o Actions o Themes o Textures The little details that make it unique o Creating a blueprint for a production How to read a play o Start with the title o Cast of characters o Stage directions Sometimes a subtitle as well Everything in the playtext that isn t dialogue o Throughout the play look for Given circumstances Themes o Plot The order of events in the play Plot types Linear Climactic o Exposition Basic information o Point of attack Something happens that kicks off the rest of the action o Rising action o Climax o Falling action Episodic Cyclical o Story The whole thing o Character types Protagonist Character whose desires sustains the dramatic action Antagonist Character who creates complications for the protagonist Foil Character who sets off another character by contrast Dramaturgs are found in different sittuations o Literary managers Hired by a regional theatre to manage the scripts library Select the season o Production dramaturgs Hired for one specific play to aid in research Research the playwright Research the context of the play Research the major productions Research the context for this production Research visual images Communicate with the production team o Share info from research Director Actors Designers Marketing Communicating with the audience Lobby display Program notes Pre and post show talkbacks o New play dramaturgs Working with playwrights to help completion of play Challenges of scenes o Long distances o References to specific places o Size of cast Translation Every translation is an adaptation o Problems with translation Meaning Tone Poetry Commercial and academic Extra credit Roundhouse 26 Miles Portrait of Dorean Grey Wednesday September 16 2009 Cary Gillett Cary UMD theatre major Wanted to act decided against o Went into stage management Production Manager Sees a production from beginning to end o Sees what play will be done o Starts the ball rolling Researches everything Coordinates design actors everything Communication and coordination Sets up auditions but does not go to them Oversees rehearsal process to ensure communication o Director s job stops when the show opens o All about communication Stage Manager For the show o Focus on one specific show o Sees show from beginning of rehearsals to the end of the run o Responsibilities Rehearsal doesn t take place in the theatre At every rehearsal to ensure that information gets relayed to each department o Tape on floor o Cheap costumes EG Director says that coat needs to be red Stage manager tells art director Takes blocking anything an actor does on stage o EG Enter stage left sit down pickup cup o Useful if an actor forgets what to do or if a new actor comes in o All blocking is kept in the prompt script It belongs to the theatre not the stage manager Off book When an actor has memorized his her lines o Stage manager is always on book to feed actors their lines and takes note of actor s mistakes line notes At every technical rehearsal Takes place onstage with set lights and props Notates everything that takes place onstage so that it can be recreated the same way for every rehearsal Running the show No directors or designers Maintain show as it was originally directed and designed Call the show On headset connected with every operator telling them what and when to do stuff o Operators have to do what the stage manager says An open space that has nothing in it until the play denotes what is needed The arch that goes over the stage is called the proscenium arch Stage on one
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