Chapter 2- The Background & Expectations of the Audience

What an audience brings to the theatre:

1. Knowledge and personal memories

2. Awareness of social, political & philosophical of the fake world

3.Knowledge of play and playwright

4. Anticipation, Misconceptions

Background information on play or playwright:

-Need to know the language to connect emotionally

Brecht

-German Playwright

-Would use random songs or speeches to evoke thinking in audience

-Aesthetic Distance

Aesthetic Distance

When a reader becomes engrossed by the fictional world and the audience conscious mind

Elizabethan Plays

-A play could move to a number of locations and cover a period of many years

-Expansive # of characters

-Showed murder & blood on stage

Modern Theatre

Diff. races, religions, sexual orientation, more knowledge of other cultures.

- Life is less unified and ordered than before

(Natural disasters & tragedies reflected)

Broadway & Touring

Oldest profession Theatre in New York

1920- 1950s: Plays from Broadway Touring- exact replicas of original plays

Resident Professional

1950s (region theatre)- locals- seasons of new and classic plays and musicals

Alternative Theatre

-Off Broadway- 1950s- Less costly than broadway

-More opportunity for experimental plays

-Off-Off Broadway: churches, lofts, warehouses/small theatre

Children's theatre

Interest for youth & dramatization of historical characters

College/ University Theatre

Includes: Classics & Experimental plays rarely done by professional theatres

Community/Amateur Theatre

People with training but don't pursue careers in acting

Critic

-Someone who observes theatre & analyzes and comments on it.

- Knowledgable & Highly sensitive member

-Must be familiar with plays

-Must know work of the playwright

-Judge design elements

-Make aware of information the audience may not know: helps explain the playwright's purpose

Reviewer

-Someone who tells about the event, describes it and gives slight opinion

Critical Criteria for a Critic

What is being attempted?

Have the intentions been achieved?

Was it worthwhile?

Dramaturg

German for "dramatic advisor"

-A person who consults with the author, director

-Writes program notes and edits scripts

Greek Theatre and Cultere

-usually five scenes interspersed with choral sections

-the drama took place in one local area and within a short span of time.

-Murders, suicides, and other acts of violence occurred offstage.

Today's theater reflects:

-Developments in communications

-Changes in society

-Human-made and natural disasters

The Dramatrug or Literary Manager

Professional Critic

- Discovering promising new plays

- Works with playwrights on the development of new scripts

-Conducting research on previous productions of classic plays

-Preparing reports on the history of plays

-Writing articles for the programs that are distributed when plays are produced