Theater Appreciation Midterm 1

Why do people go to theater?

immediacy, relevance, engagement, social aspect, engages imagination

Experiencing theater through senses

spectacle of visual display, sensation of sound

spectacle of visual display

scenery, costumes, lighting

sensation of sound

language, music, special effects

In what ways does theater offer experiences we don't often have?

exotic yet familiar

good vs. evil

funny and sad

TheatER or TheatRE

no real difference

interchangeable

craft = theatre

space = theater

the world uses both

Theater = ?

Actor(s) + Audience + Space

Without audience, rehearsal

without space, radio performance

without actors, group of people in a room

Is theater an action, location, or both? Why?

an action, not just a location

can happen anywhere

Theater as performance

performance = activity where some people do something while others watch

happens in everyday life

Examples of performance in daily life

Job Interview

Students/Teachers

Theater Beyond the Arts

Religion, Sports, Politics

Theater in Religion

services, weddings

predetermined SEQ of events/words

costumes

Theater in Sports

predetermined SEQ of events

audience

time constraints

costumes

Theater in Politics

politicians speak from stage

audience watches

dressing up to create image of politician (aka costume)

Shared traits of performances

people that do something (performers/actors)

something done (speech, play, ritual)

watchers (spectators, audience)

performance space (stadium, church, theater)

time (start, end)

Theater is immediate and ephemeral

theater is live, now

theater is fleeting

never see same performance twice

Differences among performers

purpose, relationship with audience, organizing principles

Differences among performers - purpose

church services: worship

sports: someone wins

politics: to inform/rally

Differences among performers - relationship with audience

sports/campaign: fans/spectators interact with each other, indirectly interact with players

would not happen in play or some church services

Differences among performers - organizing principles

Church services: follow schedule determined by custom, symbolism, doctrine

Sports: events determined by schedule, record, playoffs

Politics: events determined by voting schedules, important dates, unexpected national issues

Different types of art

poetry, painting, sculpture, music, dance, theater

Shared traits of art

artificial

- artist makes art

stands alone

- doesn't need purpose

self aware

- artists generally know they're trying to do something

produces response

- aesthetic response, appreciation of beauty

Differences between art

relationship with time and space, audience

Differences between art - relationship with time and space

sculptures, paintings, architecture

- exist in space

- walk around it, look at it from different angles

music, theater, books

- takes time to move from start to finish

Differences between art - audience

solitary

- sculpture, paintings, books

groups

- operas, dance, theater

Theater as a performing art

has actors

immediate, ephemeral

uses a performance space

moves at its own pace

lifelike, not life

Theater as a performing art - has actors

actor

- person who impersonates someone other than themselves

- they perform live in front of audience

Theater as a performing art - uses a performance space

usually artificial settings

unlike film where camera can take you around the world

- no car chases

Theater as a performing art - moves at its own pace

no rewind/fast forward

can't set it aside and continue later

Theater as a performing art - lifelike, not life

artificial

can be used as metaphors

Theater metaphors

Shakespear

"all the world is a stage and all the men and women merely players"

Horace Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford

"the world is a comedy to those that think, a tragedy to those that feel"

HOW TO SEE A PLAY: THE BASICS

arrive 15-30 minutes before start of show

don't forget tickets

dress accordingly

turn off cell phones

unwritten: respond however you'd like

Preliminary work

the play/musical, the program/playbill,

physical surroundings within theater

Preliminary work - play/musical

familiarize yourself with the play, don't assume about the play from the title

Preliminary work - program/playbill

director's notes, indications of setting, character names/relationships, intermission

Preliminary work - physical surroundings within set

set

- time, place, social class

lighting

- mood

sound/music

- bach vs country

actors doing things on stage/in audience before start of show

Taking in the play

visual and aural spectacle

language

Do you identify with characters?

Does the plot engage you?

Is the plot plausible or absurd?

What are the reactions of the audience?

Performance analysis

How are story and character intertwined?

Specific choices made by the actors and designers

- actor's appearance

- looming set piece/stark set design

Given circumstances

everything that delineates or defines the special world of the play

3 types of given circumstances

previous actions, environmental facts, polar attitudes

previous actions

exposition, any action mentioned in the play's dialogue that reveals any incident/action that took place before the current action of the play

environmental facts

6 types

- geographical location

- time (date, year, season)

- economical environment

- social environment

- political environment

- religious environment

polar attitudes

beliefs held by a character that are in direct opposition to the world in which the live

opposition creates conflict, which creates dramatic action

conventions vs common sense

an agreement between artist and audience to do things a certain way for the good of all

time can pass between between acts of a play

a door in a set can lead to a different room (not backstage)

actors can sing their emotions in musicals

Types of stages

proscenium, thrust, arena, environmental, alley, booth

proscenium stage

has proscenium arch

action of play fits within a frame

rigging system behind arch, possible trap flooring

wings

most have area that extends a few feet in front of arch

audience areas

- orchestra seats

- balconies

sight-lines can be bad at times

thrust stage

audience on 3 sides of stage

no arch

actors can enter from aisles or vomitories (voms) that come from beneath audience

relies on acting, costumes, prop rather than elaborate sets

proscenium thrust stage

defined arch but with larger amount of stage space extending into audience

arena stage

surrounded on all sides by audience

"theater in the round"

actors bring on props and set pieces

entrances are through the audience

scene changes are done either in blackout or full view

can sometimes have trap flooring

blackbox theater

versatile

- can place any type of stage within it

audience can be anywhere

painted all black so that focus is on the performance

often used in schools for classrooms and performance spaces

most theater studios and college theater departments have one or more

rutgers' levin theater is a blackbox

environmental stage

theater done in or at specific (usually outdoor) spaces

no traditional stage or arch

audience can be anywhere, sometimes physically move with actors

- ie NY Classical Theater

A production can take over an entire building

- ie Sleep No More

A play can take place in a car

Alley stages

audience on opposite sides of stage

actors perform between them

booth stages

temporary stage

erected curtain

perform in front of curtain

popular with educational tours

mime

type of acting that uses body instead of words to create character

comes from "mimos"

- greek word for mirror

Why does Bill Bowers mime?

montana

big quiet town/family

gay

familiar with not talking

Charlie Chaplin-inspired

pantomime

Acting without words

Bill Bowers play

silver dollar saloon

greatest mime of all time

Marcel Marceau

- trademark white/black makeup

Types of theater venues

broadway, off broadway, regional theaters, amateur theater

Types of theater venues - broadway

highest level of American theater

falls under a production contract negotiated by The Broadway League

Defined by # of seats: 500+

About 40 broadway theaters

only theaters eligible for Tony Awards (except regional theaters)

Professional theater at its best

- distinguished stars

- elaborate sets/costumes

- sophisticated musicals/plays

Cost of Broadway

Expensive

- due to salaries, materials

Ticket Prices

- avg: $189

- music man: start at around $113-$500

- Hamilton: was selling at $1000 at its peak

TKTS

- half-priced tickets for broadway shows on the day of performance

- producers use this to fill seats for non-sold out performances

Where is broadway found?

only in NYC

Broadway Tours

seldom uses original stars

helps recoup losses from flops

brings broadway to people that may never see it

Off Broadway

located on a street just off broadway

now defined by number of seats: 100-499

Some shows transfer to broadway

- rent: NY theater workshop 1993 and 1996

- avenue q: vineyard theater 2003

- hamilton: public theater 2015

Showcases new talent

average ticket price: $80

off-off broadway

started in late 1950s as a place for experimental, anti-commerical theater

defined by 99 seats or less

performed in various spaces

- coffeehouses

- cellars

- churches

often socially, politically, artistically alien to current American ideals

Natasha, pierre and the great comet of 1812 started at the off-off broadway theater Ars Nova

Average ticket price: $30

regional theaters

usually not for profit

can be more adventurous

- play selection

- production style

- personnel decisions

5 major benefits of regional theaters

new and classics coexist

develops new audiences for live theater

training ground for theater artists

help to stretch an actor's craft

provides jobs

Regional Theater Contracts

LORT: league of resident theatres

SPT: small professional theatre

LOA: letter of agreement

LORT

League of Resident Theatres

a consortium of 70+ non-profit regional theaters

5 categories: A+, A, B, C, D based on weekly box office gross which dictates salary ratio of Equity/Non-equity actors

SPT

Small Professional Theatre

commercial or non-profit theaters smaller than 350 seats outside of NY or Chicago

LOA

letter of agreement

individually negotiated

often references other contracts such as LORT D

Types of Amateur theater

educational, community, children's

Types of Amateur theater - educational

ie Rutgers Mason Gross

First theater degree in 1914 at Carnegie Institute of Technology

After WWI, more theater degrees

- undergrad: usually liberal arts/ conservatory progams

- graduate: tends to parallel regional theaters in function

Over 2000 US programs

Sometimes have guest artist contracts

- no more than 2/production

- 3 tiers based on number of performances

Types of Amateur theater - community

In towns without professional/educational theater

- introduce new audiences to live theater

very little pay, if at all

mix of amateur and professional actors/designers

sometimes have guest artist contracts

- no more than 2/production

- 3 tiers based on performance

Types of Amateur theater - children's

created to produce plays geared towards young audiences to instill love of theater

can vary in content

- creative retelling of fairy tails, myths, legends

- plays that discuss social issues (drugs, divorce, sexual abuse, ie bubbalonian encounter)

Play from start to finish

playwright

- writes play

producer

-willing to produce play

director

- hired by producer to direct play

designers

- director chooses, producer approves

rehearsals begin

tech rehearsals begin

preview performances begin

opening night

closing night and strike

wright

wright means maker

- playwrights make plays

playwriting

creates copies of human life by creating language for characters

creates dialogue that

- forwards plot

- reveals characters

- expresses ideas

Unlike novelists, playwrights must write words that are

- more active

- more intense

- more selective

" A play exists as a literary form until the first moment you sit down in a rehearsal room and allow a group of actors to red it. Then it becomes a dramatic form. During the rehearsal process, you make discoveries because there are things that work beautifully on a page as literature but have no dramatic life"

lynn nottage

Where do playwrights get their ideas?

Anywhere

- overheard convos

- current events

- news headlines

- injustice

How long does it take to write a play?

7 days to 7 years

24 hour play festivals happen around country

Playwrights work in various ways

some alone, some collaborate

book-writers

playwrights that write for musicals

lyricists

writes the words to the songs

librettists

write dialogue and words for music

Lin-Manuel Miranda

wrote the book, lyrics, and music for HAMILTON

Where do playwrights come from

Most work within theater

- actors

- write for theater troupe (ie Moliére, Shakespeare)

Newcomers

- may not follow traditional form, style, length, subject

Social Insiders

- write about specific topics within their respective community

August Wilson

wrote Pittsburgh cycle

- series of 10 plays, each set in a different decade, depicts various aspect of AA experience

Recent Broadway production of Jitney won Tony Award for Best Play Revival

fences

Playwrights as Screenwriters

often write for TV shows/films

screenplays = film scripts

similar styles of storytelling

- length

- dialogue

Theresa Rebeck

Plays

- the understudy

- dead accounts

TV

- Law and Order: Criminal Intent

- LA Law

- created, executively produced 1st season of smash

Movies

- cowrote CATWOMAN

Aaron Sorkin

Plays

- a few good men

- the farnsworth invention

- to kill a mockingbird

Film

- a few good men

- the social network

- moneyball

TV

- the newsroom

Getting plays produced

NYC is goal

- best reviews

- most prestigious

Often, playwrights have workshops of their plays or read-throughs to hear their play out loud

Play in rehearsal

many changes to script from first read-through to first rehearsal to opening night

- notes from read-through

- producer ideas

- director ideas

- actors ideas

actors better understand their characters when they say their lines out loud

stephen adly guirgis

won Pulitzer Prize in Drama for Between Riverside and Crazy

- follows Walter "Pops" Washington, a retired NYC cop

stanford meisner

1905-1997, acting from the heart, the ability to live TRUTHFULLY under false circumstances, internal and external

Playwright pay

amateur/stock

- 2 major orgs: dramatist play service, Samuel french inc.

- collect royalties for life of play's copyright

royalties

payments to playwrights for permission to produce play

Copyright Law of 1977: Author's life plus 50 years

William Shakespeare

Born April 23, 1564 in Stratford-upon-avon

Died April 23, 1616

married anne hathaway

3 children

susanna and twins hamnet and judith

began career as actor, playwright, partial owner of Lord Chamberlain's Men acting company 1585-1590

How piece did Shakespeare write?

38 plays

- a midsummer night's dream

- hamlet

- macbeth

- othello

154 sonnets, 2 narrative poems

- venus and adonis

- rape of lucrese

Shakespeare fun facts

plays have been translated into every major living language

plays are performed more than any playwright

invented 1700+ words

- eyeball

- bedroom

- puking