Theater Appreciation Review Midterm 1

Why Theater 

• People go to theater for many reasons

  • Immediacy 

  • Relevance 

  • Engagement 

  • Social aspect 

For the visual spectacle 

• Scenery 

• Costumes 

• Lighting 

For the sensation of sound 

• Language 

• Music 

• Special effects 

Theater engages the imagination with its stories and characters 

Theater appeals intellectually by engaging audiences with relevant issues 

Theater = actor(s) + audience + space 

• Without ACTORS, it would be a group of people in a place, wondering why they are there 

• Without an AUDIENCE, you would have no one to perform for 

• Without a SPACE, you wouldn’t have a place to perform or a place for an audience to see your performance

Performance: an activity where some people do something while other people watch 

Shared Traits of performance

• People that do something : performers, actors 

• Something done: a speech, ritual, or play 

• Watchers: spectators, audiences 

• Performance space: stadium, church, theater 

• Time: beginning and ending 

Differences among performances 

• Purpose 

  • Religious services so that people can worship 

  • Sports so that someone can win 

  • Politics to inform or rally a group of people 

• Relationship between audience and performers 

  • Sports fans or spectators interact with each other 

  • They also indirectly interact with players by screaming and cheering 

  • These could also happen in campaign rally, but probably not in a play or some church services. 

Many different kinds of art 

• Poetry 

• Painting 

• Sculpture 

• Music 

• Dance 

• Theater 

Shared traits of art 

• Art is artificial : an artist makes art 

• Art stand alone: does not need a practical purpose in life 

• Art is self-aware: artists know in a general way they’re trying to do something 

• Art produces a kind of response: an aesthetic response, an appreciation of beauty that goes beyond merely intellectual or entertainment. 

Differences between arts 

• Relationship with time and space 

  • Sculptures, paintings, architecture 

    • Exists in space 

    • You walk around it, look at it from different sides and angles 

  • Music, theater, books

    • Takes time to move from start to finish 

• Audience size 

  • Solitary - sculpture, paintings, books 

  • Groups - operas, dance, theater 

Theater as actors 

• A person who impersonates someone other than themselves 

• They are perform live in front of a live audience 

Theater is artificial - it is created by artists 

How to see a play 

• Theater is a social event 

  • Dress accordingly 

  • There really isn’t a dress code

  • It it’s an opening night performance, you might be required to wear an evening gown or a tux 

• TURN OFF YOUR CELL PHONES 

During the show 

• There is an unwritten agreement between actors and audience 

• Yu can respond or react however you feel like 

• Laughing at character who are crying or a nervous laugh 

• Clapping when a character you like stands up for themselves. 

Preliminary work 

• Take a little time to familiarize yourself with the play, by either reading it or reading reviews and articles about it. 

• Have a general idea of what you are about to see 

• Don’t assume you know what the play’s about from the title 

• The physical surroundings within the theater 

  • The set, if visible, can give a sense of time, place and social class 

  • Lighting may establish mood 

  • sound/music 

  • Actors doing things on stage or in audience before start of show 

Understanding specific performances 

• There are three kinds of given circumstances 

1. Previous action 

• Any action mentioned in the play’s dialogue that reveals any incident or action that took place BEFORE the current action of the play 

• Known as EXPOSITION 

2. Environmental facts 

• Geographical location 

• Time 

• Economical environment

• Social environment 

• Political environment 

• Religious environment

3. Polar Attitudes 

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

  • This opposition creates CONFLICT 

  • Conflict 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 actors of a play 

  • In scenic design - when a setting is in a room of a house, a door in that house leads to another part of the house and not backstage  

  • Musicals - actors sing their emotions 

Types of theater spaces 

Proscenium stage

• Identified by having a “proscenium arch” 

• The action of the play fits within a frame 

• Rigging system behind arch and possibly trap flooring 

• Wings 

• Most have an area that extends a few feet in front of arch 

• Audience areas

  • Orchestra seats 

  • Balconies 

• Sightlines can sometimes be bad 

Thrust stage 

• Audience on sides of stage 

• No arch 

• Actors can enter from the aisles 

• Actors can enter from vomitroes that come from beneath the audience 

• Relies on acting, costumes, props rather than elaborate sets 

• Proscenium thrust stage 

  • Defined arch but with larger amount of stage space extending into the audience 

Arena stage 

• Stage is surrounded on all sides by the audience 

• Also called “Theater in the Round” 

• Actors bring on props and set pieces 

• Entrances are through audience 

• Scene changes are done either in blackout or in full view of the audience 

• Can sometimes have trap flooring 

Blackbox theater 

• Versatile: can place any type of stage within it 

• The audience can be placed anywhere 

• Painted all black so that focus is on the performance 

• Often used in schools for classrooms as well as performance spaces 

• Most theater studious and college theater departments have one or more 

• Rutgers Levin Theater is a black box theater. 

Environmental Stage 

• Theater done in or at specific (usually outdoor) spaces 

• No traditional stage 

• No arch 

• The audience can be anywhere and can sometimes physically move with the actors from scene to scene 

  • New york classical theater 

• A production can take over an entire building 

  • Sleep no more 

• A play can take place in a car 

Alley Stage 

• Audience on opposite sides of the stage 

• Actors perform between them 

Booth 

• Temporary stage 

• Erected curtain 

• Perform in front of curtain 

• Popular with educational tours 

Types of THeater Venues and Contracts 

Broadway 

• Highest level of american theater 

• Falls under a production contract negotiated by the broadway league 

• Defined by how many seats it has - 500+

• There are about 40 broadway theaters 

• Only theaters eligible for Tony Awards (except for the Regional theater award) 

• Is professional theater at its best 

  • Distinguished stars 

  • Elaborate sets and costumes 

  • Sophisticated musicals and plays 

• Expensive 

  • Cost a lot to produce - salaries and material costs 

  • Ticket prices 

    • Average : $189 

• TKTS 

  • Half-priced tickets for broadway shows on the day of the performance 

  • Producers use this to fill seats for performances that are not sold out 

• Only found in NYC 

• Broadway Tours 

  • Seldom use original stars

  • Helps recoup losses from broadway flops 

  • Brings broadway to people that might not ever see it 

Off Broadway 

• Originally named so because of the actual theater’s location, on a street just off of Broadway 

• Now defined by number of seats - 100 to 499

• Some shows transfer to broadway 

  • Rent 

  • Hamilton 

  • Avenue Q 

• Serves as a showcase for new talent 

• Average ticket price : $80 

• Started in late 1950s as a place for experimental, anti-commercial theater 

• Defined by 99 seats or less 

• Performed in various spaces 

  • Coffee houses 

  • Cellars 

  • Churches 

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

• NATASHA, PIERRE AND THE GREAT COMET OF 1812

Regional Theaters 

• Usually not-for-profit 

• Can be more adventurous with 

  • Play selection 

  • Production style 

  • Personnel decisions 

• 5 majors benefits that regional theaters offer: 

  • Provide a place where new and classic plays can coexist 

  • Developing new audiences for live theater 

  • Training ground for theater artists 

  • Help to stretch an actor’s craft 

  • Provide more jobs 

• Can fall under different kinds of contracts: 

  • LORT - League of Resident theaters 

    • A consortium of 70+ non-profit regional theaters

    • 5 categories: A+, A, B, C, D based on weekly box office gross which dictate salaries and ratio of Equity and Non-Equity actors 

  • SPT - Small Professional Theater

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

  • LOA - Letter of Agreement 

    • Individually negotiated 

    • Often reference other contracts such as LORT D

Amateur Theater 

• Educational Theater

  • Rutger Mason Gross is an example 

  • First theater degree in 1914 at Carnegie Institute of Technology

  • After WW2, more colleges created theater undergrad and graduate degrees 

    • Undergrad programs tend to be liberal arts programs or conservatory programs 

    • Graduate programs tend to parallel regional theaters in function 

  • More than 2,000 programs in the US. 

  • Sometimes have Guest Artist contracts 

• Community Theater 

  • Found throughout the country

  • In towns where there’s no professional or educational theater, they introduce new audiences to live theater 

  • Very little pay, if at all 

  • Rely on volunteers 

  • A mix of amateur and professional actors and designers 

• Children’s Theater 

  • Created to produce plays geared toward young audiences to instill a love of theater 

  • Can vary in content 

    • Creative retellings of fairy tales, myths, and legends 

    • Plays that discuss social issues like 

      • Drugs 

      • Divorce 

      • Sexual abuse 

Play from start to finish 

• Playwright - writes the play 

• Producer - willing to produce the play 

• Director - hired by producer to direct the play 

• Designers - chosen by director, approved by producer 

• Actors - auditions are held and play is cast by director 

• Designers - begin building sets and costumes 

• Rehearsals begin 

• Tech rehearsals begin 

• Preview performances begin 

• Opening night 

• Closing night and strike 

The Playwright 

Wright = maker 

Playwriting 

• Playwrights create copies of human life by creating a “language” for characters 

• They create dialogue for characters to say to one another that 

  • Forwards the plot 

  • Reveals character 

  • Express ideas 

• Unlike a novelist, playwrights must write words that are: 

  • More active 

  • More intense 

  • … then everyday speech or a novelist’s words 

Where do playwrights get their ideas? 

• Ideas can come from anywhere 

  • Overheard conversation 

  • Current events 

  • News headlines 

  • Injustice 

• How long does it take to write a play? 

  • 7 days to 7 years, it depends on the playwright 

  • There’s even 24 hour play festivals that happen around the country. Usually in major cities, but not always 

Playwrights work in various ways 

• Some work alone and some collaborate with theatrical colleagues 

• For musicals: 

  • Playwrights that write the dialogue for musicals are called Book-writers 

  • Lyricists write the words for the music 

  • Librettists write both the dialogue and the words for the music 

Where do playwrights come from? 

• Most work within the “theatrical world” 

  • Perhaps they are actors now or were previously 

  • Perhaps they write for his/her own theater troupe 

    • Moliere wrote for himself and his troupe 

    • Shakespeare wrote for his fellow actors based on their strengths 

• Some come from outside the theater world - “newcomers” 

  • Newcomers have the gift of ignorance and might not follow traditional: 

    • Form 

    • Style 

    • Length 

    • Subject matter 

• Some come from outside the theater world 

• The “insider: 

  • Social insiders write about specific topics 

  • Examples 

    • African- american playwrights 

    • LGBTQ

    • Feminist 

PLaywright Training 

• Unlike actors, directors, and designers, playwrights don’t always go through formal training 

• There are university programs that do offer training 

• No real rules for playwrights, but there are maxims to follow 

  • Write what you know

  • Write action, not speeches 

  • Write for actors, not readers 

Playwright as Screenwriters 

• Playwrights will often write for TV shows and films 

• Film scripts are often called “screenplays” 

• Similar style of storytelling between playwriting and screenwriting 

  • Length 

  • Dialouge 

Other professions that playwrights can thrive in 

• Copywriters: create advertising copy and marketing materials for companies 

• Editors: editing things like books, poetry, other playwrights’ scripts, or articles 

• Content writers: a playwright could write blogs, manage social media accounts, or write articles online 

Getting the play produced 

• recently , the number of theaters that produce new plays has increased, mostly by not-for-profit theaters 

• NYC is the goal 

  • Best reviews 

  • Most prestigious 

• Often, playwrights will have workshops of their plays or simple read-through to hear their play out loud. 

The play in rehearsal 

• Many changes can happen to the script from the first read-through to first rehearsal and even up to opening night 

• Some changes can be “painful” to make because they might be great scenes, but need to be cut for time purposes or for other reasons 

• Actors can get a better sense as to why the characters they’re playing say the things they say when they say their lines out loud. 

Paying the Playwright 

• Broadway standard: a percentage of the theater's weekly gross from the production. 

• Usually 6% 

  • A broadway hit = $1,000’s per week 

  • A modest success = $1,000 or less per week 

• Shifting more towards a profit share model with a small weekly guarantee 

• Amateur or stock productions 

  • 2 of the more prominent organizations that handle rights to plays: 

    • Dramatist Play service 

    • Concord theatricals 

  • They collected royalties for the life of the play’s copyright 

    • Royalties are payments the playwrights for permission to produce their play 

What is good playwriting 

• Good plays must do more than just entertain, although they must do that at minimum. 

William Shakespeare

• Born April 23rd, 1564 

• Died april 23rd, 1616 

• Born in stratford-upon-avon 

• Married Anne Hathaway 

• 3 children - susanna and twins Hamnet and Judith 

• He wrote 38 plays, including: 

  • Midsummer Night’s Dream 

  • Hamlet 

  • Macbeth 

  • Othello 

• He also wrote 154 sonnets and 2 narrative poems : 

  • Venus and adonis 

  • The rape and lucrese 

• His plays have been translated into every major living language on Earth 

• His plays are performed more often than any other playwrights. Even after 400 years. 

• He invented over 17000 works including: 

  • Eyeball 

  • Bedroom 

  • Puking 

  • Elbow 

His plays are broken up into 4 major categories 

1. Tragedies 

   1. Hamlet 

   2. Macbeth 

2. Comedies 

   1. A midsummer night's dream 

   2. As you like it 

3. Histories 

   1. Henry !V

   2. Richard 111

4. Romances 

   1. Pericles 

   2. The winter’s table 

The Actor 

• Without them, there is no theater 

  • An empty stage 

  • Directors cannot direct 

  • Designers cannot design 

  • Playwrights have no one to write for 

• They are also good performers 

  • Not all performers high-wire acts require good performers, but do not require both high level performers and actors 

• Actors portray characters for the audience that do more than just perform 

A paradox: being and pretending 

Paradox 

• The actor both is and pretends to be the character 

• Successful acting is making the audience believe that the falseness on stage is true 

• The paradox is … 

  • To be convincing, the actor must lie. 

2 approaches to acting 

• Inspiration 

  • Use mental and emotional techniques to reach their “center” 

  • Often use past personal experiences to inform characters 

  • Which then turns into onstage movement and vocalization 

• Technique 

  • Builds a character out of careful and conscious use of body and voice 

  • Rehearses inflections or carefully chooses specific poses and hand gestures 

  • Can sometimes be thought of as “full of tricks” with no life or imagination in their work 

• Most actors are a combination of both approaches to acting 

The actor and the character 

• The character 

  • In a play 

    • The character is an imitation of a human being created by the playwright 

  • Characters don’t always affect the plot 

    • Restaurants scene in a book 

    • Restaurant scene in a play 

  • The actor is a person, the character is a construct 

Actor Training 

• Formal training at colleges or private studios have taken the place of the “old” way 

• Most colleges, university and private studios use various actor-training systems 

• Almost all systems involved at least the following 3 characteristics: 

  • Analyzing the script 

    • The script is the foundation of the actor’s work 

    • Script analysis - 2 main goals 

      • Understand the entire play 

        • The first reading - judgments and impression are made 

        • The overall shape of the play 

        • Actors will also find out what demands will be put upon them in the production 

      • Understand the details and the place of the character in the whole play 

        • More character details can be found from repeated readings of the play 

        • Character traits can be found in 

          • Stage directions 

          • Character’s own speeches 

          • Speeches of other characters 

  • Training the actor’s “instrument” - Body and Voice 

  • Training the actor’s imagination 

Training the “Instrument” 

• The body 

• The voice 

The Actor’s Body 

• The goals of the actor’s body: 

  • Resistance to fatigue 

  • Quick responsiveness 

  • Adaptive ability 

Neutral Mask Work 

• “Neutral masks are used so that the character or image is expressed through the body 

• The actor is not able to use facial expressions to convey emotion 

• It must all be expressed through  the body 

Body Language and Nonverbal Communication 

• Using your body to express ideas and emotions without words 

• Simple gestures - hand waving 

• Complex statements - postures that convey something different than the words said 

Body language and nonverbal communication 

• Practical applications 

  • Rhythmic movements - dancing 

  • Period movement and the use of props 

    • Using hand fans 

    • Canes 

    • Swords - stage combat 

The actor’s voice 

• The actor must learn to control the muscles involved in speaking, including the resonance chamber or chest 

• The actor must learn how to project their voice 

• Unlearning and relearning is often necessary for most beginning actors 

• Actor’s train to maximize control over every word and sound their voice makes 

  • This can be achieved through 

    • Breath control exercises 

    • Vocal relaxation 

    • Articulation exercises 

    • Dialect work 

Training the Actor’s Imagination 

• Actors are encouraged to re-discover their imaginations

• Actors are encouraged to play games, often children’s games 

Creative Exercises 

• Teachers use exercises to free actors from embarrassment and inhibition 

• Image exercises 

  • Teachers the actor to grasp the mental pictures  the brain offers 

    • Using a memory to create a character 

  • Creating simple characters around objects : 

    • The actor is verbally given object 

    • The actor is told to create a character related to that object 

• Improvisation exercises 

  • Creating characters, scenes or plays without the givens of traditional drama can help: 

    • Create theater without a playwright 

    • Enlighten an actor about a character 

The Group Theatre 

Founders: 

• Lee Strasberg 

• Harold Cluman 

• Cheryl Crawford 

• The group theatre was a collection of theater artists formed in 1931 to create a natural and disciplined form of theatre 

• What they began became an “american acting technique” based on the teachings of Konstantin Stanislavski 

Konstantin Stanislavski 

• A russian actor and director known for his system of actor training, preparation and rehearsal techniques

The American Stanislavski System 

• The actor is trained to analyze character to discover 

  • Given circumstances

  • Motivation 

    • To play character, an actor must look for motivation behind each action 

    • In this system, all behavior is motivated 

• The actor is trained to analyze character to discover 

  • Objective 

    • What is the goal of the character 

    • What is the goal of the scene 

  • Super objective 

    • What all the objectives of the character are for the entire play 

    • The “through-line” of the character 

Method Acting 

• Actor training system created by members of the Group Theatre 

• Lee Strasberg is considered the “Father of Method” 

• The process of connecting to a character by using personal experiences, emotions and memories, or “affective memory” to portray the role 

• Actors imagine themselves with thoughts and emotions of the character to give a like-kind performance

• Actors that use this technique: 

  • Jared Leto 

  • Dustin Hoffman 

  • Christian Bale 

Meisner Technique 

• Created by Sandford Meisner, a member of the Group Theatre 

• Taught here a rutgers 

• Does away with “affective memory” and puts the emphasis on “the reality of doing” 

• Strives to “get the actor out of their head” and react more to their surroundings 

• The actors “live truthfully under the given imaginary circumstances” 

• Jame Franco, Chadwick Boseman, and, Sebastian Stan ( rutgers alum) 

The Business of Acting 

• You’ve graduated. Now you’re in the real world 

  • Approx. 51,000 union theater actors in the country 

  • Appox. 30,000 of those actors are in east coast 

  • Approx. 26,000 of those actors are in NYC 

• These numbers are for union actors. Imagine the number of non-union actors. Imagine the number of non-union actors trying to make it! 

• Most likely, coming straight from college, you’re not in a union yet 

  • AEA - Actors Equity Association - Theater Union 

  • SAG/AFTRA - Screen Actors Guild/American Federation of Television and Radio Artists- film/TV/Radio Union 

    • This used to be 2 separate unions until they merged in 2012 

2 major markets for Actors 

• New York City 

• Los Angeles 

Other markets 

• Chicago, IL 

  • Could easily be considered a 3rd major market 

  • Increasing number of film.tv jobs as well as a solid theater community 

• Atlanta, GA 

• Vancouver and Toronto, Canada - “Hollywood North” 

20 years ago 

• If you wanted to pursue a film/tv career, you went to Los Angeles 

• If you wanted to become a theater and Broadway star, you went to New York City 

• You’d go to Chicago if NYC didn’t work out, because Chicago only had theater with very little film/tv work 

Now 

• Los Angeles is still primarily film/tv, but they have a thriving theater community there as well 

• NYC is still primarily theater, but with a lot more film/tv opportunities. However, the cost of living is very expensive

• Chicago is thriving with both theater and film/tv. Plus, it’s not as expensive as NYC 

You picked NYC now what? 

• Once you find a place to live, you’ll need a “survival job”

  • waiter/waitress 

  • Temp employee 

  • Teaching 

  • Any job that pays the bills, but still gives you the flexibility to go to auditions 

• You’ll need to get headshots taken and pull your acting resume together 

Headshots 

• Professional pictures taken of you for the purpose of identification. They are the primary tool for actors to promote themselves 

• They should represent you

• A photo session can cost you anywhere from $100-$700 + 

  • It includes 1000’s of shots taken, thanks to digital technology

  • You can have numerous outfits or “looks” during the session 

• Most submissions nowadays are done digitally. You’ll still need to take a physical copy of your headshot to an audition 

2 primary Headshots 

1. Dramatic 

2. Comedic 

Resumes 

• Shows the director what experience you have and what you’re capable of doing 

•  Includes personal info such as : 

  • Height 

  • Hair color/eye color is no longer required on the resume 

  • Contact information: either personal contact or agent contact info. 

• Includes 

  • Acting experience 

    • Theater 

    • film/TV 

    • This information can be switched around depending on what you are auditioning for 

  • Education 

    • Acting 

    • voice/movement 

    • Stage combat 

    • Dialects 

  • Special skills 

    • Juggling \tricks 

    • Driver’s license 

Gaining real world experience

• Where to find work 

  • Backstage magazine 

  • Online services 

    • playbill.com 

    • Actor’s access 

    • Broadway world 

    • Individual theater websites 

Websites and Social Media 

• Instagram and facebook 

  • One actor might be chosen over another because that actor has more followers on instagram and/or facebook 

• Create and website that includes” 

  • headshot/resume 

  • Reel 

  • reviews/photo galleries 

Auditions 

Non-Equity Actors/ Auditions 

• Usually the director and/or casting director in the audition room 

  • A reader is in the room if SIDES are used 

    • Sides - scenes or portions of scenes given to an actor ahead of time to be performed in front of the director 

  • You might find out if you got the part that day, within a week or 2, or sometimes never 

Becoming an Equity Actor 

• The goal for a non-equity actor is to become an equity actor. To become an equity actor, one can either: 

  • Equity membership candidate - work at least 25 weeks at a participating professional theater. 

  • Get hired by a theater that will “turn” you Equity 

  • NEW - “Open Access” : if you’ve received payment for acting from professional theater, you can join Equity 

• $1800 Initiation Fee, $176 annual dies, 2.5% of pay 

Equity Actor Auditions 

• Equity actors auditioning WITHOUT AN AGENT 

  • Equity Principal Auditions - EPA’s 

    • You can sign up for time slots online 

    • Usually doesn’t have the director in the room 

• The Callback 

  • The director or the representative in the room might bring you back in to: 

    • Have you audition in front of the director 

    • See you do more sides from the play 

The Agent 

• They can get you into the “Big” auditions 

• Agent showcases 

  • College 

  • Trade papers and online services - ie Backstage 

  • Acting classes and studios 

• The agent negotiates the contract, if you get the part 

Equity Actor Audition 

• Audition WITH AN AGENT 

  • The casting director send out a notice stating the project their casting and what types of people they’re looking for 

    • The casting director is hired by the theater 

    • Works with director and various agents to find the right actors for the roles benign cast 

  • The agent reads the notices and submits your headshots if they think you fit the type 

  • The casting director accepts the submission and gives the Agent an audition time for the actor 

• Who is in the audition room? Some of all the following 

  • Director 

  • Casting director 

  • Artistic director of theater 

  • Associate casting director 

  • Directors assistant 

  • Reader or readers 

• If it’s a musical 

  • Musical director 

  • Choreographer 

  • Accompanist 

• Random people 

• Pets 

Rehearsal 

• First rehearsal 

  • Begins with a meet and greet 

  • Director speaks 

  • Design presentations 

  • First read-through of the play with full cast 

  • After read-through, start “table work” 

  • Table work 

    • Breaking down the script for meaning and understanding by analyzing every moment of the play 

    • Table work can last a few days 

• Once table work is done, the actors get on their feet and begin “blocking” the play

  • Blocking - the stage movements created by a collaboration between the actor and the director 

• Once the show is “blocked” 

  • Will do a run-through of show 

• Technical Rehearsals 

  • It’s when all of the technical and artistic elements of a production come together on stage without an audience 

    • First time the actors are on stage 

    • The stage manager sets…

      • Light cues 

      • Sound cues set piece move cues 

Previews 

• 1st preview - first time performing in front of an audience

• A chance for the actors to sense whether or not something in the show works 

• Useful for getting the technical “kinks” out 

• Rehearsals are still held for about 5 hours during the day 

Opening Night

• First time critics are in the audience 

• All the kinks are worked out, this is what audiences will see for the rest of the run 

• Opening night party 

The run of the show 

• Now that the show has opened, the stage manager maintains the shape and integrity of the show 

• Actors must continue to review character work and notes 

Closing Night 

• Can be bitter sweet 

  • You’ve created a bond with the cast and crew 

  • If it’s been a long run, you might be ready for something new 

• The set is struck that night or the next day 

  • Strike: the taking down of the set or removal of set pieces or props in rehearsal 

• Sometimes there’s a closing night party 

This whole process took around 2-4 months