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Lecture 1/30- Quiz moved to next Wed (2/8) not this week- Why our generation prefers film to theatreo Cost, accessibility, visual culture, advertising- Concern: theatre is fading out because the audience is elderly- Why we study theatreo Universality, all cultures have some sort of theatrical performanceo Theatrical impulse Poetics by Aristotle- Innate mimetic desire in humans (imitation)- Definitiono Must have an actor, story, audience, live-ness- Communication interaction modelo Message via sender and receiver with feedback, either verbal or nonverbal- 3 way theatrical interactiono performers and audienceo audience and performero audience and audience- Similarities and differenceso Jugglers: o Football:o Film: - Theatre requires action, uses actors, is a hybrid form, is a collaborative art, is ephemeral- How audiences negotiate theatre eventso Theatrical conventions Rules, practices or shorthand that audiences agree to accepto Willing suspension of disbelief Audiences agree for the moment not to disbelieve events of a playo Aesthetic distance Audiences remember that events on stage are not real so they do not intervene- Theatre etiquetteLecture 2/1- Death of a Salesmano Basis for further material- Theatre Etiquetteo Before Appropriate dress (business casual), arrive early, read program, perfume/smokingo During Site lines (be sensitive to how you are sitting), avoid noise (some theatres are very amplified with acoustic sound), no phoneso After No early departures (especially at curtain call), standing ovations, the “three block rule” (wait until you are a distance away from the theatre to start talking about the performance)o Patty Lupone goes ape c**p on a rude audience- How to think critically about performanceo The theatre production is the sum of a set of choices of collaborative arto Playwright often has a story he/she wants to tell or an idea to explore Death of a Salesman- takes place in the Bronx Ex: Arthur Miller interested in political theatre- Not a straight, linear narrative, moves back and forth in time and a lot happens in Willie’s imagination, tells story via flashbacks Jo Mielziner’s set for play mirrors the image See choices in dialog and how people talk Artistic director- In essence the CEO of the theater, picks the plays for the place- Reasons for choosing a specific play, making a statement, responding to a current event, personal connection to the audience, season, enjoyable- Whether or not you are trying to bring in a current audience or a new one Director- Make choices about the production that guides the actors and producers- Usually hired by artistic director- Director’s concepto What do you want the play to say? Importance about the play?o Overall image or metaphor for the playo Theme: how the American dream can be a lieo Theme: difficulty of family dynamics- Designerso Where light should go, which characters should stand out- Actorso Willie Loman: how you hold your face, whether to feel more guilt or anger- Depictions of Romeo and Julieto Zepharelli sets it in the time period more so than the modern movie with Leonardoo Older one emphasizes the love story while the modern attracts more of the audience2/6 Lecture- Writing a response papero Three primary questions What was attempted Was it accomplished Was it valuableo May not be obvious but need to assess it for yourselfo Writing reviews: Title, grabber, brief summary, themes/goals, preview—make direction of review clear, body—address prompt—should discuss how well the production achieves goals Support with specifics, look at the details, make your argument interesting, conclusion, proofreado Avoid these: muddy organization and disconnected paragraphs use italics for play titles, avoid passive voice (write in first person), do not confuse the character and the actor or the playwright and director, refer to the actor, designer etc., by name, write in past tense, give your review a title- what are specific differences between the two productionso difference in the way the scene was staged, aggressiveness with willy in the newer one- how do these two productions feel differento newer version- costumes looked older, old one has yellow lighting to affect the mood- which production was more effective and whyLecture 2.8- History of directingo Relatively a new job in the theatre world Richard Wagner (1813-83) Unified production was strongest production- Wanted the audience fully engaged in the performance Master artisto Interpretation, unification and communication are the three jobs of a directoro Thematic thrust and director’s concept are the same thing- Guest lecturer: Professor Scot Reeseo Will be directing Everything in the Gardeno Professional director, actor as wello What made you decide to work as an actor and director? How did you train for the jobs? Started out as music major, went to theatre in UCLA but kept music, started doing shows in school, sitcoms and soaps for six years, moved to new york, got mfa (master of fine arts) which is a three-year degree in directing, moved here and started teaching and directing, won daytime emmy for his talk show, o What do you see are the job of a director Choose whether or not to do a play if given the script Interpret the script- Figure out your point of view, in the way you see it, decide what you want to highlight Unification- Unify the production with everyone else, collaborative production with others Communication- If play is collaborated, have to communicate it to the audienceo Process the director goes through from the time he is hired to the opening night Production meeting to present his point of view of the show, present back to him after two weeks of research, test/light/costume design, settle the differences to create unison, work independently for a few weeks then report back with sketches, white model from designer, everyone gives their ideas and go into final design,  Hired to do the show, reads script roughly six times, collect images and ideas such asproduction history and biographical information on the author, find music that relates to the period, develops directors concept or thematic thrust, express conceptpeers, cast the show, give callbacks to chosen ones, finalize cast list and give it to thedesigner, casting to type- best person for the role, start rehearsing- actors research their parts, design presentation for first rehearsal,


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UMD THET 110 - Lecture notes

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