Theater Appreciation

Midterm I

Why do people go to the theater?

• For engagement, relevance, and its immediacy

• Being a part of something

• Visuals (Costumes, sets, etc.)

• Sound (language, music, etc.)

• Relevant issues

Theater = ?

Actors + Audience + Space

Examples of performances

• Politics

• Sports

• Religion

Similarities between theater and other forms of performance

• People

• Something done

• Audience

• Space

• Time

Differences between theater and other forms of performances

• Purpose

  • Religion: Worship

  • Sports: To win

  • Politics: Inform/rally

• Relationship

  • Sports: Cheering, hugging, etc.

Similarities between theater and art

• Artificial: Created by an artist

• Stands alone: No practical purpose

• Self-aware: Artist knows they’re trying to do something

• Produces a response: Appreciation

Differences between theater and art

• Relationship between time and space

  • Exists in space

  • Takes time to move from beginning to end

• Audience & size

Given circumstances

Everything that defines the special world of the play.

What are the 3 kinds of given circumstances?

• Previous Action

• Environmental Facts

• Polar Attitudes

Previous Action

A kind of given circumstance.

Any action mentioned in the play’s dialog that reveals any incident or action that took place before the current action of the play.

Environmental Facts

A kind of given circumstance.

• Geographical Location

• Time: Date, year, season, or time of day

• Economical environmental

• Social Environment

• Political Environment

• Religious Environment

Polar Attitudes

A kind of given circumstance.

Beliefs held by a character that are in direct opposition to the world in which they live.

• Opposition creates conflict

• Conflict creates dramatic action

Proscenium Stage

Type of stage the audience watches from one side

• Action takes place within the frame.

Thrust Stage

Audience watch from 3 sides.

• No arch

• Actors can come from the audience, vomitories/vooms come from beneath the audience

• Relies on stuff other than elaborate sets

Arena Stage

Surrounded by audience on all sides

Blackbox Theater

Any stage and audience can be placed anywhere in it.

• Painted all black

• Often used in college theater departments

Environmental Stage

Usually done in outdoor spaces

Audience can be anywhere and sometimes physical move with the actors from scene to scene

• No arch, traditional stage

• Can take place in a car

• Production can take over an entire building

Alley Stage

Audience are on opposite sides of the stage

Actors perform between them

Booth Stage

Temporary stage

• Erected curtain

• Perform in front of the curtain

Off-Off Broadway

Experimental, anti-commercial theater

99 seats or less

Performed in various palces

• Church

• Cellars

• Cafes

Often socially, politically, or artistically alien to current American ideals

Regional Theater

Usually not for profit

More adventurous

Provides more jobs

Training ground for new artists

LORT

League of Resident Theaters

An organization of 70+ non-profit regional theaters

5 Categories: A+, A, B, C, D based on weekly box office gross which determine salaries & ratio of equity and non equity actors.