What is Theatre Notes 1 How would you define theatre at this moment 2 How do theatre profesisonals and scholars define theatre what makes theatre unique 3 How do audience members negotiate the theatrical event Question 1 1 How do you define theatre at this moment Drama that takes place on stage Experiencing what it is like to be another person and in another world 2 What kinds of different elements define theatre 3 What makes theatre unique or different from other forms of art 4 What is not theatre Question 2 Aristotle is the original theatre scholar Aristotle started to take theatre apart his text poetics 355 BCE Used as a starting point for research on theatre Poetics book about a scientific approach to dissecting theatre Wants to figure out how theatre began he talks about the difference between how people go from telling a story to about enacting a story He concludes that all human beings have mimetic impulse Mimetic impulse memesis imitation Aristotle argues that humans have an innate desire to imitate called a mimetic impulse Because of this theatre is universal Aristotle argues that it goes all the way back to early human times Mimetic impulse someone acting out a story the mimetic impulse LARPing relates back to mimetic impulse What must be present to make theatre exist 5 things i Actor performer ii Audience iii Theatrical Space iv Liveness Action v Text Arrangement Text Arrangement o Theatrical event must have some kind of overall plan such as a script or outline that has a designated ending o Can be arranged in many different ways o You know how things are going to end in theatre Liveness Action o Liveness makes theatre sparkle makes it interesting and exciting because it is different than all the other art forms out there and it s always changing o Theatre is ever changing impacted by audience participation and reaction Changed by an actor doing something a little different or a lighting error all these live dynamic events that must be reacted o Theatre has a strong relationship between How theatre is different from Drama Drama is different from theatre Drama is thinking about the text it s rigid and clear Theatre is the whole production sensory experience communal response It s a reading experience and individually your experience of drama Fixed no changing drama from audience theatre is seeing heard and experienced with other people interpretive act and is ever changing Drama is the skeleton base structure not changing Theatre is the skeleton plus muscles plus skin plus all other stuff that makes up human body and it s ever changing What makes theatre unique Theatre is ephemeral ever changing Theatre is like a puff of smoke you see it and then its gone It s a collaborative art form it involves every one on cast and production Director designer light staff laundering costumes ticket office Hybrid Art form o Richard Wagner o Gesamtkunstwerk Complete total work of art o Combines all other different art forms literature music visual art set design use of color choreography dance o Theatre is the highest art form because it combines them all How do audience members negotiate the theatrical event Three major ways KNOW THESE AND UNDERSTAND THESE 1 Theatrical Conventions Rules of the game Mutual agreement about what words gestures images and actions mean Something that the audience walks into the theatre agreeing which reinforce the internal logic of the play Through these conventions audience can understand what s happening on stage Color creates meaning in US red could o mean lust valentines day o stop signs stop lights for danger o Red connected to blood and murder In south Africa red signifies mourning In China red is something that signifies happiness and prosperity brides wear red Theatrical conventions can come social conventions o In Japanese theatre puppeteers who are dressed in all black are invisible and it is known among the audience Women were played by men in the Renaissance and this was known A convention rules the audience agrees to accept when they walk in to among the audience the theatre 2 Willing Suspension of Disbelief Audience agrees to not disbelieve what they see onstage while in the theatre Japanese puppet theatre people dressed in black willing to believe that they are not there In movies James Bond jumps off mountain and into door of plane while watching movie you believe it even though you know it cant happen Superhero movie you know it cant happen but accept it while watching 3 Aesthetic Distance Allows audiences to separate themselves form the events onstage and to recognize that these events are not part of their objective reality You see Romeo and Juliet you don t scream that Juliet isn t dead you just You know this isn t really happening and you know that intervening wont watch change how the play ends Children don t know this kid watching fire on tv and kid got upset and thought house was on fire on the show the house fire got put out and the kid thought he saved the day and changed the outcome Theatrical conventions set up the audience to whats going on onstage and to interpret those events in a certain way Willing suspension of disbelief allows people to walk into theatre and immerse themselves in whats going on onstage and to not doubt everything Aesthetic distance allows them to put a wall between whats happening on stage and in reality All 3 very important Theatre is the sum of a set of choices What choices are made How Well do they work Is there a unified meaning Question 4 How does theatre Function In Society Should it be entertainment Or should it be more educational a way to share morals and history and culture A way to show social change and cultural diversity All of the above