Problem Graying of the American audience Audiences are getting older and older with no one to replace them Thet 110 notes Thet 110 Why do we prefer movies to theater Price Accessible Less Strict Rules of Etiquette Visual Culture Theater is an oral art Film is edited more for error Quality is always consistent Advertising Why do we Study Theater University of theater Every culture has theatrical performances Theatrical Impulse Aristotle wrote the poetics We have an innate mimetic desire Desire to imitate Definition of Theater Must have an A Actor B Story C Audience D Liveliness Eric Bentley A performs B for C 3 way interactional Model Performer Audience Audience Performer Audience Audience Theater requires Action Theater uses Actors Impersonation Theater is a hybrid form Theater is a collaborative form Theater relies on liveliness Theater is Ephemeral Theater is fleeting and impermanent so you can never recapture a show from the past How do audiences negotiate theater events Theater Conventions Rules practices or shorthand that audiences agree to accept Willing Suspension or Disbelief Although audiences know events of a play are not real they agree for the moment to disbelieve them Aesthetic Distance Audience remember that events on stage are not real so they do not intervene Tragedy and the Common Man Tragedy is man striving for personal dignity Tragic Flaw Inherent unwillingness to remain passive in the face of what he conceives to be a challenge to his dignity Theatre Etiquette 1 Before a Business casual b Arrive early 10 15 min c Read program d Assign seating e Don t smell a Site lines tall hair hat b Avoid noise c Phones 2 During 3 After a No leaving early b Standing ovations c The three block rule give distance by talking about it How to think critically about a performance Theater production is the sum of a set of choices Playwright artistic director director director s concept Playwright Subject character theme Arthur Miller Classic Tragedy Common Man Not likable main character Ironic Ending Charlie Willy s FOIL contrasts what Willy could have been Artistic Loman Low man common man Artistic Director Director Designers Actors Hired by artistic director Director s Concept Overall image for the play What does the director want to say with the play Family Relationships father son Image of the American Dream Writing a response paper Behind every response to theatre there are three primary questions What was attempted Was it accomplished Was it valuable Death of a Salesman What are specific differences between the two productions Biff seemed younger in the first production Different ages mean different places in life chosen by director Playwright and actor influence also Biff cries into shoulder versus into camera Collapses into his dad s embrace in the second production More violent in the first production Cobb fit the worn down role despite being larger Starting point in the kitchen versus outside Cobb seems like he has dementia whereas Hoffman is still fighting it Line changes in both House was rundown in the first production versus nicer more antiques putting up a front in the second house 1st production is living month to month Beige and white was livelier in the first one versus gray in the second How do these two productions feel different Which production was more effective Why First production more dramatic emotional shifts History of Directing Richard Wagner 1813 1883 Unified Production gesam kunstwerk Everything should be telling the same story Master Artist Eyes outside the production to make sure everything was going right Director s concept or thematic Thrust overall image or metaphor for the play Directors main jobs are Interpretation Unification making sure all elements work together for interpretation master artist and Communication Scot Rese Director Music Major at Illinois Degree in theatre and music Days of our live Young and the Restless Talk shows in NY Got MFA Master Fine Arts at northwestern Won daytime Emmy while on Talk shows Interpreter chooses play and then give his view of it to an audience Collaborator unified production with actors designers etc Communicator Get it to the audience Thematic Thrust how far would you go to keep up with the Joneses Read Script 6 10 times Research anything involving play or writer Meet with designers give his research gives his concept concept meeting Designers come back with their own research need to be on the same page designers give roughs of sets ground plan costumes Send the design to the shops Casting monologues Call backs with other people and scenes Has understudy cast Casting to type picking based on specifications of role or casting best person for the job Rehearsal Designers give actors models and research Table read 2 3 days Blocking Rehearsals props standing read scene than talk about it Organic Blocking let the scenes and motion come about naturally Trafficking blocking Director tells them exactly where to go Design Run On stage rehearsal Technical Rehearsal rehearsal with props lights everything besides costume 3 4 days Dress rehearsals Opening Director Leaves Stage manager runs the show Show is frozen Can t change script Acting Differences between theater acting and film acting o More animation in theater o Live no room for error in theater o Actor has to attract attention of audience whereas the director shows in film What is Good Acting Bad Acting o Believability What Is Acting o Impersonate imitate o How would I do that beginning of the actors process o The thing about performance even if it s only an illusion is that it is a celebration of the fact that we do not contain within ourselves infinite possibilities Daniel Day Lewis Skills of the Actor o Focus and Concentration o Openness and Relaxation o Curiosity and Playfulness o Thick Skin Approaches to Acting o Internal Approach Identifying as closely as possible with the emotional life of the character portrayed How does the character feel Konstantin Stanislavsky 1863 1938 Developed a system for acting Most taught acting system in America Key Terms Given circumstances and Imagined circumstances The magic What if personalization Super Objective Objective Intention o External Approach o Putting it Together Shaping character by making conscious physical and vocal choices How does the character walk talk Walking in another s shoes Read the text Study the text Question the text Keep a journal Build characters physical world Build Characters Rhythm
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