Ch. 1 (7th Ed) Ch. 1 (8th Ed) -- Experiencing Today's Theater

Chapter 1

A Historical Reason to Attend Theatre Theatre is the foundation of all drama

▪ Ancient Greeks established the categories of tragedy and comedy

▪ Roman domestic comedies were the prototype of situation comedy

Seeing a performance means taking part in theatre history

© 2013 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 2

Theatre incorporates profound, provocative, timeless observations about the human condition

Theatre is an art form with its own characteristics: Quality Coherence Integrity

© 2013 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 3

What Is Art? Characteristics of Art

▪ A mirror or reflection of life▪ An extension or a projection of how we live, think,

and feel▪ It reveals to us what we treasure and admire and

what we fear most deeply▪ It may be an absolute necessity for human survival

© 2013 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 4

What Is Art? continued Three Categories of Art

▪ Literary▪ Novels, short stories, poetry

▪ Visual▪ Painting, sculpture, architecture, photography

▪ Performing▪ Theatre, dance, opera, music

© 2013 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 5

What Is Art? continued Another characteristic of Art is its relationship

to time (temporal) and space (spatial).▪ Visual

▪ Exists in space, but not in time

▪ Music▪ Exists in time, but not in space

▪ Theater, Dance and Opera▪ Exists in both space and time

© 2013 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 6

What Is Art? continued Three Characteristics of the Performing Arts

▪ Have movement through time▪ Require interpreters as well as creators▪ Require an audience

▪ Relationship between audience and performers is key

© 2013 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 7

The Art of Theatre Elements of Theatre

▪ Audience▪ Performers▪ Script or Text▪ Director▪ Theatre Space▪ Design Elements

© 2013 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 8

© 2013 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 9

The Art of Theatre continued Theatre as a Collaborative Art

▪ The various elements of theatre must be brought together and coordinated by a host of people—collaboration!

© 2013 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 10

Nations and cultures influence one another’s theatrical traditions Global connections were rare prior to the

1800s Theatre can no longer be easily classified by

specific national designations▪ Beginning around 1900, Asian and other non-

European theatres were influenced by developments of modern theatre in the West

© 2013 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 11

Nations and cultures influence one another’s theatrical traditions continued Diversity – types of theater available and

audience members attending Multicultural – wide variety of social groups

and concerns

© 2013 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 12

Nations and cultures influence one another’s theatrical traditions continued Theatre is a global activity

▪ Interaction▪ Adaptation▪ Collaboration

© 2013 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 13

Types of theatre are wide-ranging Audiences are diverse Diversity in Contemporary Theatre

Contemporary theatre is: ▪ Complex▪ It mirrors the society in which it is produced▪ It is fragmented and reflects the complexity of

today’s life

© 2013 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 14