Page i Theatre: The Lively Art TENTH EDITION EDWIN WILSON Professor Emeritus Graduate School and University Center The City University of New York ALVIN GOLDFARB President and Professor Emeritus Western Illinois University Page ii THEATRE: THE LIVELY ART, TENTH EDITION Published by McGraw-Hill Education, 2 Penn Plaza, New York, NY 10121. Copyright © 2019 by Edwin Wilson and Alvin Goldfarb. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. Previous editions © 2016, 2012, and 2010. No part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education, including, but not limited to, in any network or other electronic storage or transmission, or broadcast for distance learning. Some ancillaries, including electronic and print components, may not be available to customers outside the United States. This book is printed on acid-free paper. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 LWI 21 20 19 18 ISBN 978-1-259-91686-1 MHID 1-259-91686-3 Portfolio Manager: Sarah Remington Product Developer: Beth Tripmacher Content Project Managers: Sandy Wille; Melissa M. Leick Buyer: Sandy Ludovissy Design: Tara McDermott Content Licensing Specialist: Ann Marie Jannette Cover Image: ©Sara Krulwich/The New York Times/Redux Broadway’s Come From Away. Scenic Design by Beowulf Boritt, Costume Design by Toni-Leslie James, Lighting Design by Howell Binkley, Musical Staging by Kelly Devine, Directed by Christopher Ashley. Cover Photo features (L to R) Lee MacDougall, Rodney Hicks, Chad Kimball, Jenn Colella, Ian Eisendrath, Romano Di Nillo, Caesar Samayoa, Kendra Kassebaum, Nate Lueck, Joel Hatch. Compositor: Aptara®, Inc. To Elaine Goldfarb and to the memory of Catherine Wilson All credits appearing on page or at the end of the book are considered to be an extension of the copyright page. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Wilson, Edwin, 1927- author. | Goldfarb, Alvin, author. Title: Theatre: the lively art/Edwin Wilson, Alvin Goldfarb. Other titles: Theater Description: Tenth edition. | New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education, 2019. | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2017040502| ISBN 9781259916861 (acid-free paper) | ISBN 1259916863 (acid-free paper) Subjects: LCSH: Theater. | Theater—History. Classification: LCC PN2037 .W57 2018 | DDC 792—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017040502 The Internet addresses listed in the text were accurate at the time of publication. The inclusion of a website does not indicate an endorsement by the authors or McGraw-Hill Education, and McGraw-Hill Education does not guarantee the accuracy of the information presented at these sites. mheducation.com/highered Page iii About the Authors Edwin Wilson attended Vanderbilt University, the University of Edinburgh, and Yale University, where he received an MFA and the first Doctor of Fine Arts degree awarded by Yale. He has taught theatre at Vanderbilt, Yale, and, for over 30 years, at Hunter College and the Graduate Center of the City University. Wilson has produced plays on and off Broadway and served one season as the resident director of the Barter Theatre in Abingdon, Virginia. He was the Assistant to the Producer on the Broadway play Big Fish, Little Fish directed by John Gielgud, starring Jason Robards, and of the film Lord of the Flies directed by Peter Brook. On Broadway, he co-produced Agatha Sue, I Love You directed by George Abbott. He also produced a feature film, The Nashville Sound. He was the moderator of Spotlight, a television interview series on CUNY-TV and PBS, 1989-93, ninety-one half-hour interviews with outstanding actors, actresses, playwrights, directors and producers, broadcast on 200 PBS stations in the United States. For twenty-two years he was the theatre critic of the Wall Street Journal. A long-time member of the New York Drama Critics Circle, he was president of the Circle for several years. He is on the board of the John Golden Fund and served a term as President of the Theatre Development Fund (TDF), whose Board he was on for twenty-three years. He has served a number of times on the Tony Nominating Committee and the Pulitzer Prize Drama Jury. He is the also the author or co-author of two other widely used college theatre textbooks in the U.S. The 13th edition of his pioneer book, The Theater Experience, was published by McGraw-Hill. The 7th edition of the theatre history textbook, Living Theatre (co-authored with Alvin Goldfarb), published previously by McGraw Hill, has been published by W. W. Norton. He is also the editor of Shaw on Shakespeare, recently re-issued by Applause Books and a murder mystery, The Patron Murders, published by Prospecta Press. Alvin Goldfarb is President Emeritus and Professor Emeritus of Western Illinois University. Dr. Goldfarb has also served as Provost, Dean of Fine Arts, and Chair of the Department of Theatre at Illinois State University. He holds a Ph.D. in theatre history from the City University of New York and a master’s degree from Hunter College. He is also the co-author of Living Theatre as well as co-editor of The Anthology of Living Theatre with Edwin Wilson. Dr. Goldfarb is also the coeditor, with Rebecca Rovit, of Theatrical Performance during the Holocaust: Texts, Documents, Memoirs, which was a finalist for the National Jewish Book Award. He has published numerous articles and reviews in scholarly journals and anthologies. Dr. Goldfarb has served as a member of the Illinois Arts Council and Page iv president of the Illinois Alliance for Arts Education. He has received service awards from the latter organization as well as from the American College Theatre Festival. Dr. Goldfarb also received an Alumni Achievement Award from the CUNY Graduate Center’s Alumni Association, and another Alumni Award from Hunter College, CUNY. Dr. Goldfarb currently serves as a member and treasurer of Chicago’s Joseph Jefferson Theatre Awards Committee, which recognizes excellence in the Chicago theatre, as well as a board member of the Arts Alliance of Illinois. Page v Contents PART 1 Theatre in Today’s World Chapter 1 2 Theatre Is Everywhere 5 Theatre Today 5 The Unique Quality of Theatre 6 The Range and Accessibility of Theatre 9 Global and Multicultural Theatre 10 Theatre, Television, and Film 12 Theatre and Television 13 Theatre and Film 14 Theatre Is Everywhere 15 Theatre and Rock Music 16 Theatricality in Amusement Parks, Museums, Las Vegas, and Sporting Events 18 Theatre and Digital Media 20 Theatre and the Human Condition 21 Summary 22 (©Natacha Pisarenko/AP Images) Chapter 2 The Audience 25 What Is Art? 25 Characteristics of Art 26 Characteristics of the Performing Arts 26 The Art of Theatre 28 The Elements of Theatre 29 Theatre as a Collaborative Art 31 The Role of the Audience 32 How the Audience Participates 34 Makeup of Audiences: Past and Present 36 Where and How We See Theatre 37 Audience Responsibility 38 IN FOCUS: THE RISE OF AUDIENCE ETIQUETTE IN THE THEATRE 39 The Audience and the Critic, Reviewer, and Blogger 40 Page vi The Critic, Reviewer, and Blogger 40 Social Media and the Audience as Critic, Reviewer, and Blogger 40 Preparation for Criticism 41 Fact and Opinion in Criticism 41 Critical Criteria 43 The Dramaturg or Literary Manager 44 The Audience’s Relationship to Criticism 44 Summary 45 (©AP Photo/Andy King) PART 2 Creating Theatre: The Playwright Chapter 3 46 Creating the Dramatic Script 49 The Playwright Creates the Script 49 The Playwriting Process 50 Subject 50 Focus 50 Dramatic Purpose 52 IN FOCUS: QUESTIONING THE PLAYWRIGHT’S ROLE 53 Structure in Drama 53 IN FOCUS: WRITING FOR THEATRE, FILM, AND TELEVISION 54 Essentials of Dramatic Structure 55 IN FOCUS: THE GLOBAL INFLUENCEs ON THE PLAYWRIGHTS BRECHT AND WILDER 58 Sequence in Dramatic Structure 59 Two Basic Forms of Structure: Climactic and Episodic 60 Other Forms of Dramatic Structure 65 Creating Dramatic Characters 67 Types of Dramatic Characters 68 Juxtaposition of Characters 73 Summary 74 (©Geraint Lewis/Alamy Stock Photo) Chapter 4 Theatrical Genres Types of Drama 77 77 Tragedy 78 Traditional Tragedy 79 Modern Tragedy 80 Heroic Drama 81 PHOTO ESSAY: Modern Domestic Drama 82 Bourgeois or Domestic Drama 84 Melodrama 86 Comedy 87 Characteristics of Comedy 87 Techniques of Comedy 88 Forms of Comedy 90 PHOTO ESSAY: Forms of Comedy 92 Tragicomedy 94 What Is Tragicomedy? 94 Modern Tragicomedy 95 Theatre of the Absurd 96 Absurdist Plots: Illogicality 98 Absurdist Language: Nonsense and Non Sequitur 99 Absurdist Characters: Existential Beings 99 IN FOCUS: MANY ADDITIONAL FORMS AND THE DEBATE OVER CATEGORIZATION 100 Summary 101 (©T. Charles Erickson) PART 3 Page vii Creating Theatre: The Production Chapter 5 104 Acting for the Stage 107 Acting in Everyday Life 107 Social Roles 108 Personal Roles 108 Acting in Life versus Acting on Stage 108 Three Challenges of Acting 109 Making Characters Believable 110 IN FOCUS: DEMANDS OF CLASSICAL ACTING 112 PHOTO ESSAY: The Actor’s Range 116 Physical Acting: Voice and Body 118 IN FOCUS: THE PROFESSION OF ACTING AND TECHNOLOGY 119 The Actor’s Instrument: Voice and Body 120 IN FOCUS: WARM-UP EXERCISES FOR BODY AND VOICE 121 Training for Special Forms of Theatre 125 Synthesis and Integration 126 IN FOCUS: PUPPETRY AROUND THE WORLD 127 Evaluating Performances 128 Summary 130 (©Sara Krulwich/The New York Times/Redux) Chapter 6 The Director and the Producer 133 The Theatre Director 133 The Traditional Director 134 The Director and the Script 134 IN FOCUS: THE EVOLUTION OF THE DIRECTOR 138 IN FOCUS: PETER BROOK, GLOBAL DIRECTOR 140 The Director’s Collaborator: The Dramaturg 141 Page viii The Auteur Director and the Postmodern Director 141 The Auteur Director 141 The Postmodern Director 143 IN FOCUS: MODERN VERSUS POSTMODERN PRODUCTION AESTHETICS 144 The Director and the Production: The Physical Production 144 The Director’s Work with the Performers 145 Casting 145 Rehearsals 145 IN FOCUS: COLOR BLIND AND NONTRADITIONAL CASTING 146 The Director as the Audience’s Eye 147 Movement, Pace, and Rhythm 148 Technical Rehearsal 149 Dress Rehearsal 149 Previews 149 The Director’s Collaborator: The Stage Manager 151 The Director’s Power and Responsibility 151 The Producer or Managing Director 153 The Commercial Producer 153 Noncommercial Theatres 154 The Producer and Director’s Collaborator: The Production Manager 155 Completing the Picture: Playwright, Director, and Producer 157 Evaluating Directing 157 Summary 158 (©Boston Globe/Getty Images) Chapter 7 Theatre Spaces 161 Creating the Environment 161 Theatre Spaces 163 Proscenium or Picture-Frame Stage: History and Characteristics 163 Arena Stage: History and Characteristics 168 Thrust Stage: History and Characteristics 170 Created and Found Spaces 174 IN FOCUS: POPULAR PERFORMANCE SPACES All-Purpose Theatre Spaces: The Black Box 180 Special Requirements of Theatre Environments 181 Evaluating the Theatre Space 182 Summary 182 (©T. Charles Erickson) Chapter 8 Scenery 185 The Audience’s View 185 The Scene Designer 186 A Brief History of Stage Design 186 180 Scenic Design Today 187 The Scene Designer’s Objectives 187 Page ix Elements of Scene Design 193 IN FOCUS: THE TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATIONS OF THE GLOBAL DESIGNER JOSEF SVOBODA 195 IN FOCUS: NEW DESIGN MATERIALS: VIDEO AND PROJECTION DESIGN 198 The Process of Scene Design 199 The Scene Designer’s Collaborators and the Production Process 201 Designing a Total Environment 204 Evaluating Scene Design 204 Summary 205 (©Geraint Lewis) Chapter 9 Stage Costumes 207 Costumes for the Stage 207 Objectives of Costume Design 208 The Process of Costume Design 208 PHOTO ESSAY: Stage Costumes Make a Strong Visual Statement 210 The Costume Designer at Work 214 IN FOCUS: TECHNOLOGY AND COSTUME DESIGN 217 Related Elements of Costume Design 218 Makeup 218 Hairstyles and Wigs 220 Masks 220 PHOTO ESSAY: Masks 222 Millinery, Accessories, and Crafts 224 Coordination of the Whole 224 Evaluating Costume Design 225 Summary 226 (©Robbie Jack/Corbis Entertainment/Getty Images) Chapter 10 Lighting and Sound 229 Stage Lighting 229 A Brief History of Stage Lighting 229 Objectives and Functions of Lighting Design 231 PHOTO ESSAY: The Many Uses of Stage Lighting 234 The Lighting Designer 236 IN FOCUS: ROCK CONCERT AND THEATRE LIGHTING 242 Sound in the Theatre 243 Sound Reproduction: Advantages and Disadvantages 243 The Sound Designer 245 Understanding Sound Reproduction and Sound Reinforcement 245 Sound Technology 246 Special Effects in Lighting and Sound 248 Evaluating Lighting and Sound Design 248 Summary 249 (©blanaru/iStock/Getty Images RF) PART 4 Global Theatres: Past and Present Chapter 11 Page x 252 Early Theatres: Greek, Roman, and Medieval 255 Origins of Theatre 255 Greece 257 Background: The Golden Age 257 Theatre and Culture: Greek Theatre Emerges 257 IN FOCUS: THEATRE FESTIVALS 259 Greek Tragedy 259 Greek Comedy 264 Dramatic Criticism in Greece: Aristotle 264 EXPERIENCING THEATRE HISTORY: Antigone 265 Theatre Production in Greece 266 Later Greek Theatre 267 Rome 267 Background: Rome and Its Civilization 267 Theatre and Culture in Rome 270 Popular Entertainment in Rome 270 Roman Comedy: Plautus and Terence 270 IN FOCUS: ROMAN AMPHITHEATRES 271 Roman Tragedy: Seneca 271 Dramatic Criticism in Rome: Horace 272 EXPERIENCING THEATRE HISTORY: The Menaechmi 273 IN FOCUS: GREEK AND ROMAN POPULAR ARTS 274 Theatre Production in Rome 274 Decline of Roman Theatre 275 The Middle Ages 277 Background: Medieval Europe 277 Theatre and Culture in the Middle Ages 277 Medieval Drama: Mystery and Morality Plays 278 Medieval Theatre Production 280 IN FOCUS: CONTEMPORARY PASSION PLAYS 281 EXPERIENCING THEATRE HISTORY: Noah’s Ark 282 Evaluating a Production of an Historic Play 284 Summary 285 (©ArenaPal/Topham/The Image Works) Chapter 12 Early Theatre: Asian 287 The Theatres of Asia: Background 287 Indian Theatre 289 Sanskrit Drama 290 Later Indian Drama 292 How Was Indian Drama Staged? 292 Chinese Theatre 293 Early Theatre in China 293 Theatre in the Yuan Dynasty 294 Page xi Theatre in the Ming Dynasty 296 Japanese Theatre 297 Early Theatre in Japan 297 Nō 298 EXPERIENCING THEATRE HISTORY: Sotoba Komachi 300 Bunraku 301 Kabuki 303 IN FOCUS: KABUKI TODAY 307 Southeast Asia: Shadow Plays 307 Summary 309 (©Koichi Kamoshida/Getty Images News/Getty Images) Chapter 13 Renaissance Theatres 311 The Renaissance: Background 311 The Italian Renaissance 312 Commedia Dell’arte and Other Forms of Italian Renaissance Theatre 312 Italian Dramatic Rules: The Neoclassical Ideals 315 IN FOCUS: IMPROVISATION 316 Theatre Production in Italy 316 EXPERIENCING THEATRE HISTORY: Commedia Dell’arte 317 England 321 Background: Elizabethan England 321 Elizabethan Drama 321 EXPERIENCING THEATRE HISTORY: Hamlet 325 IN FOCUS: SHAKESPEARE: 400 YEARS LATER 326 Elizabethan Theatre Production 326 IN FOCUS: THE POPULAR ARTS OF SHAKESPEARE’S TIME 330 Theatre after Elizabeth’s Reign 330 Spain 332 Background: The Spanish Golden Age 332 Spanish Drama 333 EXPERIENCING THEATRE HISTORY: The King, The Greatest Alcalde 335 Theatre Production in Spain 336 France 338 Background: France in the Seventeenth Century 338 French Neoclassical Drama 338 Theatre Production in France 341 EXPERIENCING THEATRE HISTORY: Tartuffe 342 IN FOCUS: COMÉDIE-FRANÇAISE’S LONG HISTORY 344 Summary 345 (©Geraint Lewis) Chapter 14 Theatres from the Restoration through Romanticism 347 Page xii The English Restoration 347 Background: England in the Seventeenth Century 347 Restoration Drama: Comedies of Manners 348 Theatre Production in the Restoration 350 IN FOCUS: DRURY LANE THEATRE TODAY 353 EXPERIENCING THEATRE HISTORY: The Country Wife 354 The Eighteenth Century 354 Background: A More Complex World 354 Eighteenth-Century Drama: New Dramatic Forms 355 Theatre Production in the Eighteenth Century 356 IN FOCUS: DROTTNINGHOLM THEATRE TODAY 359 EXPERIENCING THEATRE HISTORY: The Marriage of Figaro 363 IN FOCUS: ACTOR-DIRECTORS 364 The Nineteenth Century 364 Background: A Time of Social Change 364 IN FOCUS: NINETEENTH-CENTURY POPULAR THEATRICAL ARTS 365 Theatre in Nineteenth-Century Life 367 Nineteenth-Century Dramatic Forms 368 Theatre Production in the Nineteenth Century 370 IN FOCUS: THE BAYREUTH FESTSPIELHAUS AND FESTIVAL 373 Summary 375 (©Nigel Norrington/Camera Press/Redux) Chapter 15 The Modern Theatre Emerges 377 Realism and the Modern Era 378 Background: The Modern Era 378 Theatrical Realism 380 Realistic Playwrights 381 Naturalism 382 Producers of Realism: Independent Theatres 382 EXPERIENCING THEATRE HISTORY: The Sea Gull 385 Realism in the Twentieth Century 386 Departures from Realism 388 Departures from Realism—Playwrights: Ibsen, Strindberg, and Wedekind 389 Symbolism 389 Expressionism 390 Futurism and Surrealism 391 Unique Voices 391 How Were Departures from Realism Staged? 392 Russian Theatricalism: Meyerhold 392 Artaud and Brecht: The Theatre of Cruelty and Epic Theatre 393 Impact of Totalitarianism on Theatre 395 IN FOCUS: EVALUATING TOTALITARIAN ART Page xiii 396 Experimentation and Departures from Realism Continue 398 EXPERIENCING THEATRE HISTORY: Waiting for Godot 400 Eclectics 401 Popular Theatre 402 American Musical Theatre 403 Globalization and Theatre in the Twentieth Century and Beyond 409 Some Background on Asian Theatre 410 IN FOCUS: TWO IMPORTANT GLOBAL DIRECTORS 412 Global Exchanges 414 Summary 415 (©Bruce Glikas/FilmMagic/Getty Images) Chapter 16 Today’s Diverse Global Theatre 417 The Dawning of a New Century 417 Today’s Theatre: Global, Diverse, Multicultural and Eclectic 418 Performance Art 420 Postmodernism 422 Diverse and Multicultural Theatres in the United States 424 Alternatives to Commercial Theatre in the United States 424 African American Theatre 427 Latino-Latina Theatre 430 Asian American Theatre 431 Native American Theatre 433 Feminist Theatre and Playwrights 435 Gay, Lesbian, and Transgender Theatre 437 IN FOCUS: UNDERREPRESENTATION AND MARGINALIZATION OF WOMEN AND AFRICAN AMERICANS IN U.S. THEATRE 439 Global Theatre 440 A Continuing Global Trend: Documentary Drama 440 English and Irish Theatre 442 Canada and Australia 442 Asia, Africa, and Latin America 445 IN FOCUS: TADASHI SUZUKI, GLOBAL THEATRE ARTIST 447 IN FOCUS: AUGUSTO BOAL AND THE THEATRE OF THE OPPRESSED 453 Today and Tomorrow: A Look Ahead 454 Evaluating a Production of a Contemporary or New Play 456 Summary 457 (©Craig Schwartz) Plays That May Be Read Online Index 462 458 Page xiv Connect: Enhancing the Theatre Experience Several qualities set Theatre: The Lively Art apart from other introductory texts. A particularly important element is our emphasis on the audience. All students reading the book are potential theatre-goers, not just during their college years but throughout their lives. We have therefore attempted to make Theatre: The Lively Art an ideal one-volume text to prepare students as future audience members. It will give them a grasp of how theatre functions, of how it should be viewed and judged, and of the tradition behind any performance they may attend. In addition to serving as an ideal text for nonmajors, Theatre: The Lively Art will also prepare students who wish to continue studies in theatre, as majors, minors, or students from other disciplines who take advanced courses. MASTERING CONCEPTS Theatre is not only an art form; it is one of the performing arts. As a result, its quality is elusive because it exists only at the moment when a performance occurs. To study it in a book or classroom is to be one step removed from that immediate experience. This fact is uppermost in the minds of those who teach theatre in a classroom setting. At the same time, the theatre appreciation course can immeasurably enhance an audience’s comprehension of theatre. The experience of seeing theatre can be many times more meaningful if audience members understand parts of the theatre, the creative artists and technicians who make it happen, the tradition and historical background from which theatre springs, and the genre. When students successfully master concepts with McGraw-Hill’s Connect, you spend more class time focusing on theatre as a performing art, fostering a greater appreciation for the course, and inspiring students to become life-long audience members. Connect helps students better understand and retain these basic concepts, and allow you to reach your student audience and bring the theatre experience to them. Connect is a highly reliable, easy-to-use homework and learning management solution that embeds learning science and awardwinning adaptive tools to improve student results. Page xv LearnSmart® is an adaptive learning program designed to help students learn faster, study smarter, and retain more knowledge for greater success. Distinguishing what students know from what they don’t, and focusing on concepts they are most likely to forget, LearnSmart continuously adapts to each student’s needs by building a personalized learning path. An intelligent adaptive study tool, LearnSmart is proven to strengthen memory recall, keep students in class, and boost grades. Theatre: The Lively Art now offers two reading experiences for students and instructors: SmartBook® and eBook. Fueled by LearnSmart, SmartBook is the first and only adaptive reading experience currently available. SmartBook creates a personalized reading experience by highlighting the most impactful concepts a student needs to learn at that moment in time. The reading experience continuously adapts by highlighting content based on what the student knows and doesn’t know. Real-time reports quickly identify the concepts that require more attention from individual students—or the entire class. eBook provides a simple, elegant reading experience, available for offline reading. ORGANIZATION OF THE TENTH EDITION Chapters are again ordered logically to make studying as intuitive as possible. As in previous editions, Theatre: The Lively Art can be studied in any order the instructor prefers. We listened to instructors who asked us to improve the overall organization by streamlining some material for easier classroom use. As in previous editions, we provide discussions of the unique nature of theatre as an art form and highlight the multicultural nature of theatre that today’s students will experience. In addition, throughout this edition, we focus on the global nature of theatre to give students the groundwork for understanding the wide diversity of theatre today. Page xvi In Part 1, Theatre in Today’s World, we review theatre in everyday life and the theatre audience. The chapters in this part provide a foundation for studying the elements of theatre in Parts 2 and 3. In Part 2, Creating Theatre: The Playwright, we introduce students to the person or group creating a script, the dramatic structure, and dramatic characters. We then continue with dramatic genres and investigate point of view in a text as expressed in tragedy, comedy, tragicomedy, and other genres. In Part 3, Creating Theatre: The Production, we discuss the people and elements that make theatre possible: the actors, the director, the producer, and the designers who together bring the theatre to stunning life. Important too are the theatre spaces where a production occurs. Design and production techniques (in particular lighting, costume, and makeup) have been updated to include the latest advances in technology. In Part 4, Global Theatres: Past and Present, we offer a survey of theatre history, beginning with Greek theatre and continuing to the present. Chapters 15 and 16 are devoted to theatre of the past one hundred years or so. The forces that came into being just a little more than a century ago—in realism and departures from realism, in acting techniques, in the emergence of the director, and in scene and lighting design—define theatre as it exists today. In these final chapters we cover the contemporary theatre scene around the world and the diverse theatres in the United States, including the LGBT, feminist, African American, Asian American, Native American, and Latino theatres. FEATURES Page xvii Based on feedback from instructors and students, the new Tenth Edition of Theatre: The Lively Art offers both time-tested and newly revised text features that help students deepen their understanding and appreciation of the theatrical experience. URLs to Online Plays Many of the plays referenced in the text that also appear online are highlighted in blue typeface when first mentioned in a chapter. Should you want to read one of these plays, you can refer to the list at the end of the book and find the URL. Titles are listed alphabetically. Playing Your Part A revised and expanded set of critical thinking questions and experiential exercises has been added to each chapter as part of an extended pedagogical program. The feature is divided into two categories: Playing Your Part: Experiencing Theatre and Playing Your Part: Thinking About Theatre. These questions and exercises not only help students to think critically Page xviii about what they have read in the chapter, but also help them to connect what they’ve read to their own experiences. Playing Your Part exercises can be used as homework assignments or to inspire classroom discussion. These sets of questions invite students to engage in experiences relating to the theatre. They may ask students to attend a performance and write about their reactions to it, or to take on the role of playwright by imagining a play about their own lives. These creative activities help students feel the vitality and immediacy of the theatrical experience. In Focus These boxes help students understand and compare different aspects of theatre, whether in the United States or around the world. Some highlight specific examples of global influence on theatre. Artists discussed include Peter Brook, Josef Svoboda, Julie Taymor, Bertolt Brecht, and Thornton Wilder. Boxes on legendary theatre artists Augusto Boal, Ariane Mnouchkine, and Tadashi Suzuki are also included. Other In Focus boxes discuss the audience, the playwright, the actor, and the director, each focusing on a unique issue in the contemporary theatre to engage students in discussion and debate. And some boxes explore the close relationship between theatre and other forms of popular entertainment through the ages, from the mimes and jugglers of ancient Rome to the circuses and vaudeville of the nineteenth century to the rock concerts and theme parks of today. We have also added new In Focus boxes in every chapter to cover technological developments in theatre (such as discussing technology and the actor) and key issues affecting the contemporary theatre (such as audience etiquette as well as color blind and nontraditional casting). In addition all of the theatre history chapters now also have new In Focus boxes that help students see the continuing impact of the past on the contemporary theatre. Two examples are the ongoing tradition of theatre festivals and their relationship to the Greek theatre festivals and contemporary religious drama and its relationship to the Middle Ages. Timelines Timelines are included for each period and country addressed. These timelines have been markedly improved from those in previous editions, with entries much easier to read than before. Each timeline shows landmark Page xix events and accomplishments in the social and political arenas on one side and significant theatre events on the other. Experiencing Theatre History We present in these boxes narratives of actual events in theatre history, taking the readers back in time so they have a sense of being in the audience at a performance of, say, Antigone in Athens in 441 B.C.E., or at the premier of Hamlet at the Globe Theatre in London around 1600. Writing Style A sense of immediacy and personalization has been a goal in our writing style. We have attempted to write Theatre: The Lively Art in the most readable language possible. The book contains a wealth of information presented in a manner that makes it vivid and alive. Production Photos As always, the vast majority of the photos in the book are not only in full color but are generously sized to help students see and appreciate the dynamic and dramatic world of the theatre. Also, a number of global theatre productions have been included in this edition. The illustrations we’ve chosen— both photographs and line drawings—explain and enhance the material in the text. Photo Essays Students are placed in the audiences of important productions in these pictorial essays to bring to life key elements in the text. These essays provide context for theatre-viewing experiences, while highlighting outstanding performances and designs. Page xx CHAPTER-BY-CHAPTER CHANGES In addition to the major changes outlined earlier, we have included significant new material throughout the text, including the following: Chapter 1: Theatre Is Everywhere ∙ Updated examples of the relationship between theatre and popular entertainments. A new discussion of the theatrical qualities of cosplay. Chapter 2: The Audience ∙ New and expanded discussion on “where and how we see theatre.” New and expanded discussion of participatory and immersive theatre as well as the history of theatre etiquette. Chapter 3: Creating the Dramatic Script ∙ Updated the In Focus box on Writing for Theatre, Film, and Television. Chapter 4: Theatrical Genres ∙ New In Focus box on Additional Forms and the Debate over Categorization. Chapter 5: Acting for the Stage ∙ More extensive discussion of contemporary acting techniques and actor training. ∙ New In Focus box on Technology and the Actor. Chapter 6: The Director and the Producer ∙ Expanded discussion of the responsibilities of the stage manager and the casting director. ∙ New In Focus box on Color Blind and Nontraditional Casting. Chapter 7: Theatre Spaces ∙ Description of the transformation of the Broadway Imperial Theatre for the musical Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812 as an example of how space is a key element of a production. ∙ The discussion of stage direction has been moved to this chapter from “Scenery” to help students better understand the proscenium theatre. Chapter 8: Scenery ∙ Enhanced discussion of video and projection design. ∙ New In Focus box on projection design. ∙ Enhanced discussion of the use of technology to assist the scene designer. Chapter 9: Stage Costumes ∙ New In Focus box on Technology and Costume Design. Chapter 10: Lighting and Sound ∙ New In Focus box on Rock Concert and Theatre Lighting. ∙ New discussion of Assistive Listening Devices for hearing impaired audience members under the Sound Design discussion. Chapters 11 through 16: Today’s Diverse Global Theatre ∙ Updated coverage in many of the history chapters, particularly citing recent discoveries (such as the excavation of the Curtain in the English Renaissance section). Page xxi ∙ Updated examples in the final two chapters, such as references to Fun Home and Hamilton in the review of musical theatre and multicultural theatre. ∙ Discussion of additional multicultural theatres and artists in the final chapter. ∙ In Focus boxes in each chapter that help the students understand the continuing influence of theatre history on our theatre. ∙ Questions on how to evaluate a production of a historic play as well as how to evaluate a production of a new or contemporary play. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS In the preparation of this book, we are indebted to a long list of colleagues whose assistance in providing important insights and material has been invaluable. These include the following: Professor J. Thomas Rimer—Asian Theatre; Professor James V. Hatch—African American Theatre; Professor Sam Leiter—Asian Theatre; Professor Ann Haugo—Native American Theatre. We are grateful to Professor Jeff Entwistle for his important contribution to the chapters on design—scenic, costume, lighting, and sound—and we also thank Professor Laura Pulio for her helpful suggestions on acting. For others whose names we have failed to include, we apologize. At McGraw-Hill, we wish to express appreciation to the following people: Sarah Remington, brand manager; Art Pomponio, product developer; Kelly Odom, marketing manager; and Sandy Wille and Melissa Leick, content project managers. Through the years, many instructors have given us helpful comments and suggestions. For their assistance in developing the Tenth Edition of Theatre: The Lively Art, we wish to thank the following people: Daphnie Sicre, Borough of Manhattan Community College Michael Smith, Ohlone College Benjamin Haas, Borough of Manhattan Community College Felecia Harrelson, Borough of Manhattan Community College Greg McLarty, Wharton County Junior College David Wolski, Eastern Illinois University Theresa Layne, Mira Costa College Caleb Stroman, McLennan Community College Amy Dunlap, North Greenville University Michelle Feda, Illinois State University Rachel Tyson, East Central Community College Mary Pratt Cooney, Oakland University Jeremy Peterson, Rowan-Cabarrus Community College Adam Miecielica, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Sam Weakley, Northwest Mississippi Community College Werner Trieschmann, Pulasko Technical College Monique Sacay-Bagwell, Lander University Katherine Kavanagh, Borough of Manhattan Community College Richard Bristow, Gerogia Highlands College Carol Lynne Damgen, California State University, San Bernardino Amanda Labonte, Illinois State University Sandra Grayson, Mississippi College Scott Robinson, Central Washington University Cheryl Hall, University of Alabama at Birmingham Page xxii Phyllis W. Seawright, Ph.D., Mississippi College Claremarie Verheyen, School of Theatre and Dance-University of Houston Gaye Jeffers, University of Alabama at Birmingham Stephen Thomas, Tarrant County College Northeast Shannon Walsh, Louisiana State University Dr. Lawrence James, Tennessee State University Michael Detroit, University of Memphis Rachel Dickson, University of Houston Downtown Edward Muth, Houston Community College Lofton L. Durham, Western Michigan University Courtney Young, University of Houston and Lone Star College Nicholas Basta, University of North Carolina Wilmington For the first nine editions of Theatre: The Lively Art, the amazing photo expert and researcher Inge King located and helped us select every photograph. Though she did not work on this edition, it is impossible to thank her adequately for the contribution she has made through the years to the continuing success of this textbook. We are well aware that she has always played an indispensable role in making its acceptance so widespread and over such a long period of time. Page 1 Theatre: The Lively Art Page 2 PART 1 Theatre in Today’s World THE AUDIENCE SALUTES THE ARTISTS The essence of theatre is a live audience in the presence of actors performing a dramatic script. Today, there is more live theatre available to audiences than perhaps at any time in history, with a wide variety of theatre sites and an impressive variety of the types of theatre offered. Central to the theatre experience is the interaction between audience members and live performers. Here we see the audience giving a standing ovation as cast members take their curtain call. (©Eddie Linssen/Alamy Stock Photo) 1 Theatre Is Everywhere Page 3 2 The Audience Page 5 THEATRE IS EVERYWHERE 1 THE PERVASIVENESS OF THEATRE Symbolic of the far reach of theatre today is the performance of this production of Fous de Bassin, created by the French company Ilotopie, on the water canals around the Puerto Madero neighborhood as part of the opening of the IX Buenos Aires’ International Festival in Argentina in 2013. (©Natacha Pisarenko/AP Images) As you begin your introductory theatre course, some of you may be asking: Why should I study theatre? For those of you who are theatre majors, you could be asking: Why am I studying theatre? I just want to learn how to be an actor, director, playwright, designer, or to work in production. The answer is knowledge of the basics of theatre is essential to anyone who wishes to pursue a theatre career. For those of you who are not majoring in the subject, this is perhaps an elective for your general education. For you, it should be pointed out that having a general understanding of theatre and its history is important to anyone who has never before gone to live theatre as well as someone who already enjoys attending the theatre and wishes to enhance that experience, an experience that will be with you the rest of your life. In our textbook we will explain the elements that make up live theatre— acting, directing, design, playwriting, as well as briefly survey its history—but before we turn to specifics we should be aware of two significant facts. One is the longevity and endurance of theatre, and the other is its widespread popularity, the fact that despite the pervasive competition of electronic, digital, and other forms of dramatic entertainment, there is today in the United States more widespread engagement in live theatre than perhaps at any time in its history. To begin with let us explain what we mean by the term “live theatre,” and then turn to how various competing media and popular entertainments have borrowed from it and challenged it in the last 100 years. THEATRE TODAY Prior to the modern period, for more than 2,000 years in the West and 1,500 years in Asia, the only way audiences could see theatre of any kind was to attend a live performance. Spectators left their homes and went to a space where a theatrical event was taking place where they joined others to watch a Page 6 production. If people wanted to see a tragedy, with kings and queens, heroes and villains, or a comedy making fun of human foibles, they would have to become audience members to watch a live performance. Then, after all those centuries, at the beginning of the twentieth century, everything began to change. In rapid succession a series of technological innovations offered alternative ways to hear and observe drama. First, there was radio, and then silent film, and after that, movies with sound. Black-and-white film soon gave way to movies in color and not much later, film was joined by television, first in black and white and after that in color. Film and television now also use 3D technology as well as computerization to create amazingly realistic effects. Today, the computer and a series of hand-held electronic devices, including smartphones and tablets, allow viewers to watch films, television shows, and digitized performances anywhere. With all of these inventions, arriving in quick succession, viewing drama has become much more accessible and much less expensive. With the development first of radio and silent film, there were predictions that such inventions would sound the death knell of live theatre. Surely, it was argued, with the advent of sound film and television, especially when color came in, live theatre was doomed. Consider what had happened to both film and television: talking pictures eliminated silent film, just as later, color television obliterated black-and-white TV. It seemed likely, therefore, that drama on film and television, and even more, on computers and other digital devices, might well eradicate live theatre. The term for live theatre that is not observed through an electronic medium is nonmediated theatre. Contrary to the predictions, nonmediated theatre, or live theatre, has not only survived but has thrived. In fact, today it is more vibrant, more widespread, and more accessible than at almost any time in history. The Unique Quality of Theatre In the face of the formidable competition that has arisen from all forms of electronic media, why do we continue to go to the theatre? There are a number of reasons, but the most important single reason can be found in the title of this book. We call theatre the lively art not only because it is exciting, suspenseful, and amusing, but also because it is alive in a way that makes it different from every other form of dramatic presentation. It is this live quality of theatre that makes it so durable and so indispensable. The special nature of theatre becomes more apparent when we contrast the experience of seeing a drama in a theatre with seeing a drama on film or television. In many ways the dramas presented are alike. Both offer a story told in dramatic form—an enactment of scenes by performers who speak and act as if they are the people they represent—and film and television can give us many of the same feelings and experiences that we have when watching a theatre performance. We can learn a great deal about theatre from watching a play on film or television, and the accessibility of film and television means that they have a crucial role in our overall exposure to the depiction of dramatic events and dramatic characters. Nevertheless, there is a fundamental difference between the two experiences, and we become aware of that difference when we contrast theatre with movies. This contrast does not have to do with technical matters, such as the way films can show outdoor shots made from helicopters, cut instantaneously from Page 7 one scene to another, or create interplanetary wars or cataclysmic events by using computer-generated special effects. The most significant difference between films and theatre is the relationship between the performer and the audience. The experience of being in the presence of the performer is more important to theatre than anything else. No matter how closely a film follows the story of a play, no matter how involved we are with the people on the screen, we are always in the presence of an image, never a living person. We all know the difference between an image of someone and the flesh-andblood reality. How often do we rehearse a speech we plan to make to someone we love, or fear: We run through the scene in our mind, picturing ourselves talking to the other person—declaring our love, asking for help, asking the boss for a raise. Sometimes we communicate with them via text messages, imagining them in our mind. But when we meet the person face-to-face, it is not the same. We freeze and find ourselves unable to speak; or perhaps our words gush forth incoherently. Seldom does the encounter take place as we planned. Like films, television seems very close to theatre; sometimes it seems even closer than film. Television programs sometimes begin with words such as “This program comes to you live from Burbank, California.” Recent televised musicals have had titles such as Hairspray Live! But the word live must be qualified. Before television, live in the entertainment world meant “in person”: not only was the event taking place at that moment; it was taking place in the physical presence of the spectators. Usually, the term live television still means that an event is taking place at this moment, but “live” television does not take place in the presence of all of the viewers. In fact, even if there is a live studio audience, it is generally far removed from the vast majority of the viewing audience, possibly half a world away. In television, like film, we see an image—in the case of TV, on a screen—and we are free to look or not to look, or even to leave the room. Our fascination with being in the presence of a person is difficult to explain but not difficult to verify, as the popularity of rock stars attests. No matter how often we as fans have seen a favorite star in the movies or heard a rock singer on a CD, computer, tablet, smartphone, or other digital device, we will go to any lengths to see the star in person. In the same way, at one time or another, each of us has braved bad weather and shoving crowds to see celebrities at a parade or a political rally. The same pull of personal contact draws us to the theatre. At the heart of the theatre experience, therefore, is the performer–audience relationship—the immediate, personal exchange whose chemistry and magic give theatre its special quality. During a stage performance the actresses and actors can hear laughter, can sense silence, and can feel tension. In short, the audience itself can affect, and in subtle ways change, the performance. At the same time, as members of the audience we watch the performers closely, consciously or unconsciously asking ourselves questions: Are the performers convincing in their roles? Have they learned their parts well? Are they talented? Will they do something surprising? Will they make a mistake? At each moment, in every stage performance, we are looking for answers to questions like these. The performers are alive—and so is the very air itself—with the electricity of expectation. It is for this reason that we speak of theatre as the lively art. It is for this reason, as well as a number of others, that we study theatre as an art form. Page 8 THE AUDIENCE APPLAUDS The audience is an integral, indispensable part of any theatre performance. Here, the audience watches a performance of a classical theatre piece in the outdoor theatre of Regents Park in London, England. (©Eric Nathan/VisitBritain/Getty Images) In the next chapter, we will examine in detail the dynamic of the actor– Page 9 audience relationship. Before we do so, however, other qualities of live theatre are worth exploring. One, as we’ve suggested, is the astonishing popularity of live theatre in the face of the competition it faces. Another is the amazing way in which theatre permeates every aspect of our lives, in ways of which we are often not even aware. The Range and Accessibility of Theatre One measure of the amazing health of live theatre today is the astounding range of opportunities we have of attending theatre, with locations, not only in the United Sates but throughout the world, presenting a greater variety of theatre offerings perhaps than ever before. For a long time Broadway in New York City was the fountainhead of live theatre in the United States. Though it is still thriving, and Broadway shows, particularly popular musicals, regularly tour to major and mid-size cities throughout America, theatre that originates on Broadway is not as predominant as it once was. Performing arts complexes in all parts of the country that continue to present productions of Broadway shows, in addition, often have other spaces which feature different types of live theatre. These might include 1,000-seat, 500-seat, or 200-seat theatres that offer new plays, revivals, intimate musicals, and other kinds of dramatic entertainment. As we shall see, in New York, as in other cities throughout the United States and the world, there are also smaller spaces and companies that focus on more cutting edge dramas or experimental works. In addition, we shall also discuss the many theatre companies that focus on underrepresented groups. At the same time, during the last half-century there has been a burgeoning of what are known as regional theatres: permanent, professional, nonprofit theatres that offer a season of first-class productions to their audiences each year. Their association, the League of Resident Theatres, lists a total of 74 such theatres scattered across the country. Added to the above are approximately 120 Shakespeare theatres found in virtually every state in the United States that feature, especially in the summer months, high-quality productions of Shakespeare and the classics as well as modern plays. Another important component of today’s theatre landscape is the many college and university theatres found in every one of the fifty states, as well as Canada and elsewhere. Many colleges have not one but perhaps two or three theatre spaces in which students and guest artists perform. There might be, for instance, a 500- or 600-seat theatre, a smaller 200-seat theatre with a different configuration, and a 100-seat “black box” for more experimental or intimate productions. Finally, in every corner of the United States, there are an astonishing 7,000 socalled community theatres. These are semiprofessional and experienced amateur groups who present a series of plays each year that appeal to their audiences. It might surprise many of us to learn that these several thousand theatres present roughly 46,000 productions each year to audiences that number in the millions. Obviously, taken together, the total number of theatre events presented each year in the United States is a staggering, almost unbelievable figure. Page 10 It is not, however, just the vast range and number of annual productions that is surprising, it is the diversity of offerings. First, there is the rich mixture of traditional theatre from the past with the latest theatre offerings of today. Theatre from the past begins with the Greek theatre, the foundation of all Western theatre, and moves through Shakespeare in the Elizabethan era, the Spanish playwright Lope de Vega from the same era, through the French playwright Molière in the seventeenth century, the great playwrights at the beginning of the modern era—Ibsen, Strindberg and Chekhov—through the outstanding American playwrights of the twentieth century—such as Eugene O’Neill, Arthur Miller, Tennessee Williams, and August Wilson. The works of these playwrights, along with many others, are being offered year in and year out by professional nonprofit, community, and university theatres. PLAYING YOUR PART: EXPERIENCING THEATRE 1. Locate as many theatre venues in your area as you can—professional, amateur, college theatres. Also, locate theatres that may be in nearby cities or towns. (The Internet can be helpful in this search.) 2. Find out the size and shape of the theatres you have identified in your area and surrounding area. 3. Learn what kinds of productions each of the theatres presents: musicals, comedies, classics, new plays, and so forth. 4. Make plans to attend a production at one or more of the nearby theatres. (This could be incorporated into a class assignment.) Alongside these plays from the past there is a constant stream of new plays from young playwrights, both in traditional and experimental forms. The latter includes experimental and avant-garde theatre of all kinds. Two such approaches are site-specific theatre and performance art. Site-specific theatre offers presentations in nontraditional theatre settings, such as warehouses, churches, firehouses, street corners and public parks. The idea is that the unusual locale together with a fresh approach in the material will make audiences conscious in a different way of what they are seeing and experiencing. Performance art is usually highly individual and presented by only one person but never by more than a small number. The content is usually quite personal, and may be combined with art, dance, film or music. We will discuss both of these forms later in our review of contemporary theatre. Global and Multicultural Theatre Two additional types of theatre should be mentioned when we speak of the wide diversity of theatre available to today’s audiences. One is global theatre, which means theatre not just in the Western tradition, but theatre from around the world. As in the West, there is a rich tradition of theatre in Asia. In India theatre began more than 2,000 years ago, and Chinese theatre, a few centuries after that, while Japanese theatre was established by 800 C.E. In other parts of the world, in Africa, in pre-Columbian Latin America, and in the Native American cultures of North America, there are rich traditions of rituals and ceremonies that have recognizable elements of theatre: costumes; song and dance; and impersonation of people, animals, and divinities. The various ways in which we see theatrical traditions from different nations and cultures influence one another today were relatively rare prior to 1900. Today we live in a world where such cross-cultural relationships are extremely easy, owing to modern transportation and communication. Thomas Friedman, in his acclaimed book The World Is Flat, analyzes how globalization has affected business and industry in contemporary society. One can no longer tell whether a product is made by a company in a specific country since most major corporations are multinational. The automobile industry clearly reflects the trend toward industrial globalization, as does the technology industry. A car created today by a Japanese, Korean, or German manufacturer may be fully or partially assembled in the United States. A PC, cell phone, or tablet may be manufactured in China and sold in the United States, but the 24-hour help desk may be located in India. The same is true in today’s theatre. Theatre artists cross national boundaries to stage their works with artists of other countries. Popular works tour the world and cross-pollinate other theatrical ventures. International theatre festivals bring artists of various nationalities to interact with those in the host community. In addition, traditional theatrical techniques from differing countries may be fused together to create a unique contemporary work. Page 12 DIVERSE OFFERINGS Today’s theatre offers a wide choice in the places where we see theatre and in the types of theatre we can enjoy. One important aspect involves the many diverse and multicultural theatre experiences that are available. An example would be the scene above from the Bale Folclorico Da Bahia in a performance of Sacred Heritage at the Sunset Center in Carmel. (©Education Images/Universal Images Group/Getty Images) People throughout the world are becoming aware of the multiracial and multicultural aspects of our society, as are Americans themselves. In the late nineteenth and the early twentieth centuries, the United States was known as a “melting pot,” a term implying that the aim of many foreign-born people who came here was to become assimilated and integrated into the prevailing white, European culture (and we might add, male, as women during this era still had to fight for basic rights, such as the right to vote). In recent decades, however, it has come to be seen that such a homogeneous culture has many biases; as a result, we find a trend to recognize, maintain, and celebrate our differences. This consciousness of diversity has been reflected in theatre. Many organizations have emerged that present productions by and for groups with specific interests including feminism; gay, lesbian, bi-sexual and transgendered points of view; and many others relating to diversity in politics, race, gender, ethnic background, and sexual orientation. Again, we will discuss global and multicultural theatre more fully when we survey our contemporary theatrical landscape. THEATRE, TELEVISION, AND FILM Theatre is the fountainhead of all drama in whatever form it appears: film, television, computer, tablet, or theme park. The ancient Greeks, 2,500 years ago, established the categories of tragedy and comedy that are still used today. They also developed dramatic structure, acting, and theatre architecture. Roman domestic comedies are the prototype of every situation comedy we see in the movies or on television. In other words, though we may not be aware of it, each time we see a performance we are taking part in theatre history. Wherever theatre or other media arts occur, their foundation, their roots, are always found in historical forerunners and antecedents. When audiences watch a performance of a Shakespearean play in an outdoor theatre—for example, at the Shakespeare festival in Ashland, Oregon, or at the Old Globe in San Diego, California—they are not only watching a play by a dramatist who lived 400 years ago but are also sharing in an environment, a configuration of audience and stage space, that goes back much farther to the ancient Greeks. In the same way, when an audience sees a drama by the French playwright Molière, they are partaking not only of a theatrical tradition that traces its roots to seventeenth-century France, but also of a tradition that goes back to Italian commedia dell’arte, which came to prominence a century earlier. And the theatre space in which it is performed goes back to the proscenium stage, which originated during the Italian Renaissance in the early seventeenth century. Similarly, at a college production of Bertolt Brecht’s The Good Person of Page 13 Szechwan, the audience members are not only seeing a play by one of the most innovative playwrights of the twentieth century; they are seeing a play that was strongly influenced by techniques of ancient Asian theatre. And, as we noted, whenever we watch films or television shows, on whatever electronic device we choose, we are seeing popular works clearly influenced by these traditions, practices, and forms of theatre. Theatre and Television The characters of film and television—the heroes, the villains, the victims, the comic figures—all come straight from predecessors in theatre. The way stories are structured—the early scenes, the succession of crises, the withholding and revealing of information—were there first, hundreds of years ago, in the theatre. In other words, the structure, the dynamics, the subject matter of both television and film can be traced directly to antecedents in theatre. On television, we can see a wide range of dramatic offerings that have a clear counterpart in theatrical prototypes. Daytime soap operas present a variety of domestic crises in family and other relationships. These dramas use many theatrical devices to ensure our continued viewing. A suspenseful moment concludes each segment; heightened music and emotions capture our attention. Recognizable character types—young lovers, difficult parents, doctors, lawyers, and criminals—inhabit the world of the all daytime soap operas. Nighttime hospital and police shows, as well as earlier popular westerns, present the thrills and suspense of traditional melodrama. The stereotypical characters, including the heroes and villains; the focus on the spectacular and the grotesque; and the neat and happy resolutions are all related, as we shall see, to nineteenth-century melodrama. The popularity of CSI, Chicago PD, Chicago Fire, The Walking Dead and Game of Thrones is related to their use of traditional characteristics of the suspenseful melodramas staged in the theatres of earlier eras. Situation comedies depict young as well as middle-age characters in farcical and humorous encounters. These comic television shows have, throughout the history of the medium, focused on domestic situations, language filled with sexual double meaning, physical humor, exaggerated characters, and recognizable situations. Classic situation comedies, such as I Love Lucy, Will & Grace, Seinfeld, Modern Family, Big Bang Theory, Transparent, and Black-ish, all reflect comic traditions, techniques, characters, and structures developed earlier in theatre. Popular television variety shows throughout the medium’s history have all been influenced by earlier popular theatrical forms that we will discuss later, such as minstrelsy, burlesque, and vaudeville. The long-running format of Saturday Night Live, which combines take-offs of serious films or literature, satire of political figures, exaggerated fictional characters, and popular musical acts, is a close replica of vaudeville, a popular theatre form of the early twentieth century. The NBC network has also televised live stage musicals annually, frequently casting major film, theatre, TV, pop music, and stage stars. To reflect the desire to emulate an actual musical theatre experience, the shows all have Live attached at the end of their traditional titles. Those staged for TV productions include: The Sound of Music (2013), Peter Pan (2014), Hairspray (2016), and Bye, Bye, Birdie (2017), featuring Jennifer Lopez. On television, even news documentaries are framed in dramatic terms: a car crash in which a prom queen dies; a spy caught because of an e-mail message; a high government official or corporate officer accused of sexual Page 14 harassment. Extremely popular reality shows are also staged like theatrical events. Many of the shows focus on highly dramatic situations and turn the real-life individuals into theatrical characters. And we all know that the reality shows are theatrically manipulated to create a sense of dramatic tension, ongoing suspense, and heightened conflict among the participants. Theatre and Film Film has been influenced by theatre even more clearly than television has. Movies provide dramatic material of many kinds: science fiction; romantic and domestic comedies; action-packed stories of intrigue; historical epics; and even film versions of classical plays, such as Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Othello, and Romeo and Juliet. And we should note that there is a combination of film and video when we watch movies at home on a DVD, a Blu-ray, or streamed through our smart 4K Ultra HDTV, Blu-ray player, game console, tablet, smartphone, or other device. Various types and categories of theatrical offerings have been appropriated by film. Successful film musicals, such as Into the Woods (2014), are movie versions of hugely successful stage musicals. As mentioned earlier, classical and contemporary plays are frequently adapted into movies, such as the Pulitzer Prize winning Fences. FILM AND THEATRE From the beginning theatre has had a profound effect on film, as well as on other media. Stories, characters, even dialogue are lifted straight from theatre and put on film. The scene above is from a popular film of 2016, Fences, which is based on a play written by August Wilson in which Denzel Washington, seen above, also appeared previously on Broadway. Playing his wife in the film, as she did in the Broadway production, is Viola Davis. (©Joan Marcus) In addition, most film genres borrow from past theatrical traditions. For example, popular cinematic melodramas, such as the films based on comic book heroes, reflect the characteristics of the theatrical genre and earlier theatrical innovations. We shall see that the intense interest in creating awe-inspiring special effects was as prevalent in nineteenth-century theatre as it is in twentyfirst-century film. At the same time, since the inception of commercial film, there has been a great deal of crossover by theatre and film artists. As we shall see, many film stars began their careers in theatre. For that matter, Hollywood frequently raided the New York theatre for actors, directors, and writers during the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s. Many current film and television stars began their careers in theatre and return to it on occasion; one example is Denzel Washington, who won a Tony Award for a Broadway revival of Fences in 2010, which he made into a critically acclaimed film in 2016. And many playwrights, from the earliest days of film and television, write for these media. Sam Shepard, David Mamet, Tony Kushner, Neil LaBute, Theresa Rebecki, Sarah Treem, and Beau Willimon are examples of successful theatre, screenplay, and teleplay authors. In recent years, many movie and television stars, whose entire careers have been in these media, have performed onstage as an artistic challenge. For example, Daniel Radcliffe, from the Harry Potter movies, starred in London and Broadway productions, including the musical How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (2011), The Cripple of Inishmann (2014), Privacy (2016), and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (2017). In 2013, the film stars Daniel Craig, a recent James Bond, and his wife Rachel Weisz, also a film star, appeared on Broadway in Harold Pinter’s Betrayal; Craig, along with Page 15 stage and movie actor David Oyelowo, also starred in Othello (2016) offBroadway. Among other well-known film actors to star in Broadway productions are Tom Hanks, James Franco, and Scarlett Johansson. What attracted audiences to these, and many other examples, were the production’s media stars. And just as film stars are admired for their wealth and status, while at the same time their personal lives are viewed suspiciously—for example, consider the constant attention on their romantic breakups—so, too, were theatrical stars from the earliest times on. This obsession with the lives of stars is reflected today in the popularity of such tabloids and magazines as Star, National Enquirer, and People as well as Hollywood gossip television shows, including TMZ; and in just the same way, there were earlier theatrical publications that reported about the lives of stage personalities. THEATRE IS EVERYWHERE The connection between theatre and both television and film probably does not come as a surprise to most people. On the other hand, most of us would no doubt be surprised at the great extent to which theatre permeates and informs so many other aspects of our lives. Think of how often we use theatre as a metaphor to describe an activity in daily life. We say that someone is melodramatic or highly theatrical or acts like a “prima donna.” When we don’t believe children, we say that they are play-acting. We refer to the battleground on which a war is fought as a “theatre.” Clearly, theatre is an activity that we use to describe how we live. Religious and civic ceremonies and rituals also have theatrical qualities. (We shall see in the chapters “Early Theatres: Greek, Roman, and Medieval” and “Early Theatre: Asian” how the origins of theatre may be connected to religious rituals and ceremonies.) Weddings, funerals, other religious ceremonies as well as family and society celebrations have strong elements of theatre in them. Costumes, a set script, various roles to be played: all of these are similar to counterparts in theatre. In addition, as we will note in a later chapter, acting is part of our everyday lives. We describe the role-playing we do in our professional and personal spheres as if we were performers on the stage of life. Children and adults imitate behaviors that they admire in the same way that actors and actresses mimic behavior. As we go through our college careers, we play many roles, such as student, friend, romantic partner, organization member, and student government leader. As adults we also play a number of roles: doctor, lawyer, engineer, nurse, parent, teacher, spouse, political figure. Theatre is incorporated in our lives in other ways. Taken in its broadest sense, it is everywhere around us. A Thanksgiving Day parade, a trial in a courtroom— all of these have recognizable theatrical elements: costumes or uniforms, a formal structure, performers, and spectators. The same is true of such activities as a presidential nominating convention, a Senate hearing, or a White House press conference. Even seemingly spontaneous, unrehearsed events, such as a high-speed automobile chase or a gunman holding hostages in a suburban home, have been imbued with theatrical qualities by the time they are broadcast on television. The person holding the television camera has framed the “shots” showing the event; and for the evening news, the people who edit and Page 16 report a segment on a real-life tragedy have taken great care to present the story as a brief drama, with an attention-grabbing opening followed by a suspenseful or shocking revelation and then a closing quotation, perhaps from a relative or neighbor. We even encounter drama in seemingly real-life reports on television: not only the evening news but documentaries and so-called “reality” shows. THEATRICAL ELEMENTS IN RITUALS AND CEREMONIES Weddings, funerals, other religious ceremonies as well as family and society rituals have strong elements of theatre in them. Costumes, a set script, various roles to be played: all of these are similar to counterparts in theatre. Shown here is a wedding ceremony with the bride and groom in appropriate attire, and a presiding official. Often the one officiating is a priest, minister, or rabbi. (©Stewart Cohen/Getty Images RF) Among our popular activities and institutions, rock concerts, amusement parks, museums, sporting events, and digital media all display and rely on strong theatrical components. Theatre and Rock Music When we turn from electronic and digital media to live performance, we see that theatre has pervaded and influenced a popular music form with which we are all familiar: rock. Throughout its history, rock has appropriated theatrical elements. The singer and dancer Lady Gaga is a perfect example. Her extravagant outfits and over-the-top visual effects are directly derived from theatrical antecedents, as are her lighting and special effects. The purpose, of course, is to draw Page 17 attention to the performer. “One of my greatest art works,” she has said, “is the art of fame.” Her “Monster Ball (2009–2011)” and “ArtRave: The Artpop Ball (2014)” tours were highly staged theatrical events. For that matter, a New York Times article describing her Monster Ball performance at Radio City Music Hall was entitled, “For Lady Gaga, Every Concert Is a Drama.” The same is true of the highly theatrical performances of many other contemporary pop stars. Numerous other rock stars have created theatrical characters for their performances. Beginning with Little Richard and Elvis Presley in the 1950s, and continuing with the Beatles in the 1960s, through punk rock, glam rock, rap, hiphop, and other forms, popular musical performers have used exaggerated characterizations, gender-bending personas, costumes, props, and makeup to create theatrical characterizations. The actual performers were often less recognizable than their stage personae. The connection between rock performance and theatre is also illustrated by the many rock stars who have acted in films, television, and stage. For example, the hip-hop and rap star Mos Def has appeared on Broadway and in numerous movies. The popularity of music videos also reflects the integration of theatrical elements into rock and roll. These videos turn many songs into visual, dramatic narratives. As noted earlier, current rock concerts are also highly theatrical events, using live performers, lights, sound, projections, and properties in ways that are like multi-media presentations. For example, Beyonce’s 2016 Formation tour incorporated all of these elements almost blurring the distinction between rock concert and theatrical spectacle. Other pop stars such as Justin Timberlake and Christina Aguilera have staged their concerts like theatre performances, Page 18 with spectacular lighting effects and gymnastic-like dance routines. Even classic rock groups have added highly visual theatrical elements to their touring shows to appeal to more contemporary fans. Each year, the Grammy Awards becomes a more theatrical event, showcasing incredibly spectacular lighting, costuming, multimedia, and special effects to enhance the show. THEATRICALITY IN ROCK MUSIC PERFORMANCES Good examples of the crossover of theatrical elements between the popular arts and traditional theatre are the elaborate, outsize presentations of individual performers and music groups in their live stage presentations. Extravagant costumes, spectacular lighting, sound and scenic effects are the hallmark of these performances. A good example was Lady Gaga’s performance at the Super Bowl in 2017. (©Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images) Acoustic and less spectacular tours by some well-known rock stars are a reaction against these intensely theatrical concerts and reflect a desire to return the focus to the live performer, stripping away much of the stage effects. We shall see that some contemporary theatrical theorists and experimental artists also argue for diminishing spectacular scenery and using fewer special effects, to reestablish the primacy of live performance. In the past few years, there has also been a new phenomenon in musical theatre: the use of previously recorded rock and pop music as the score for musicals. The most popular example of such musicals is Mamma Mia! (1999), which used the songs of a group from the 1980s, ABBA. Other examples include All Shook Up (2005), which used Elvis Presley’s hits; Jersey Boys (2004), which traced the career of a pop group of the 1960s, the Four Seasons; Rock of Ages (2006), which used 1980s rock music; American Idiot (2009), adapted from Green Day’s concept album; Motown (2013), which used the 1960s pop music by African American performers from Detroit; and Beautiful (2014), based on the early life and music of Carole King. Some rock composers have also composed scores for musicals, including Elton John for Aida (1998) and Billy Elliott (2005), David Bryan, keyboardist for Bon Jovi, for Memphis (2009), Bono and Edge of U2 for Spiderman: Turn Off the Dark (2011), Cindy Lauper for Kinky Boots (2012), and Sarah Bareilles for Waitress (2016). We will discuss the influence of rock on the American musical more fully later when we survey the history of this popular theatrical form. Theatricality in Amusement Parks, Museums, Las Vegas, and Sporting Events Rock illustrates that we have come to expect theatrical elements as part of our popular entertainments and that theatre is around us in many unexpected venues. Amusement parks like Disney World, Sea World, and Universal Studios incorporate theatrical material; most, for example, present staged productions based on films, which attract huge audiences. The rides at these amusement parks also incorporate theatricality by placing the participant in a theatrical environment and a dramatic situation. Rides based on the Indiana Jones, Jurassic Park, and Harry Potter films, among many others, allow us, as riders, to be actors in a dramatic plotline, in a space that functions as a kind of stage setting. Disney World has announced plans to build an “immersive” hotel that will allow guests to become part of a Star Wars story. We can also see theatre around us in many other everyday activities. Many restaurants, such as the Rainforest Cafes, have theatrical environments. Shopping centers and specialty stores, such as Niketown and American Girl, contain spaces for performances that highlight specific holiday seasons or product lines. Museums have recently adopted some of these theatrical techniques to attract visitors. For example, the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield, Illinois, includes stage presentations, with live actors and high tech special effects, about this famous president as well as about how historians and archivists work. The museum also contains many exhibits that function like stage settings, including a reproduction of the log cabin in which Lincoln Page 19 originally lived. Many museums now host performances, such as the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago and the Walker Center in Minneapolis. LAS VEGAS AS THEATRICAL ENVIRONMENT Almost the entire central part of Las Vegas, Nevada, is a gigantic stage set. Everything from the pyramids to the Eiffel Tower and New York City is re-produced there. Seen here is a re-creation of a canal in Venice to house shops at the Venetian Hotel, Las Vegas. (©Andreas Sterzing/VISUM/The Image Works) In cities such as Orlando, Florida, dinner theatres present theatrical entertainments based on Roman gladiators, medieval knights, and gangsters of the 1930s. Medieval Nights is an extremely popular dinner theatre entertainment in Orlando, New Jersey, and Chicago. Las Vegas is a highly theatricalized environment. Its hotels—such as New York, New York; the Bellagio; Luxor; and Mandelay Bay—are constructed like huge theatrical sets. Lavish stage shows use all the elements of theatre to entertain audiences. Possibly the most spectacular is KA, a $165 million production of Cirque du Soleil, staged at the MGM Grand by the avant-garde Canadian director Robert LePage, and which gained notoriety for the death of a performer in 2013. In addition, many performance artists and Broadway musicals have set up companies in Las Vegas. These theatre productions are even modified to meet the time limitations of the traditional Las Vegas stage show. Contemporary sporting events also integrate significant theatrical elements. Sports arenas, as we will note later, function much like theatre spaces. The introduction of sports teams before the start of competitions is often highly staged, with spectacular sound, lighting, and visual effects. Halftime shows, particularly at championship games such as the Super Bowl, are often huge stage spectacles with musicians, dancers, and special effects. Lady Gaga’s 2017 Super Bowl performance, for example, included lighting effects, flying her in, and the use of drones. THEATRICALITY IN SPORTS EVENTS Sporting events are often highly theatrical—football, basketball, and baseball, as well as many other sports, have a definite theatrical component. One prime example is the half-time show at the annual Super Bowl. Shown here is the half time show at the Super Bowl in 2017 at which the performer Lady Gaga appeared and which featured stunning lighting and special effects. (©Cal Sport Media/Alamy Stock Photo) Theatre and Digital Media Page 20 At the start of the twenty-first century, digital media are omnipresent, ranging from the computer to the Xbox to the iPad to the multitude of smartphones. One result is the immense popularity of video games and other interactive activities accessed through the Internet, on all of these devices, and which are clearly influenced by theatre. These digital entertainments usually present a theatrical plotline in which we engage. Many of these storylines are based on popular melodramatic premises taken from films, comic books, and other entertainments. Some are based on historical events, such as actual wars and battles; others are fictional tales. Their goal is to make us feel as if we are actors within the universe of the game. The desire to create realistic special effects graphics continues a tradition that began with nineteenth-century stage melodrama, continued into film and television, and now is an engaging element of these digital games. There are also interactive theatrical role-playing websites on the Internet. These sites all allow us to feel as if we are actors in a theatricalized fantasy world. Even websites that are supposedly realistic chat rooms allow us to play roles as if we are actors in a performance for an unseen audience. Page 21 PLAYING YOUR PART: THINKING ABOUT THEATRE 1. Attend a theatre performance. Note the following: (a) What it is like arriving at the theatre, entering the lobby, then entering the theatre itself. (b) As the performance begins, how you become aware of the type of theatre you will see: musical, historical play, modern domestic drama, comedy, or something other than these. 2. As the play gets under way take note of the following: a. The scenery: Is it life-like or fantasy? Is it complete or merely suggestive of time and place? Is it beautiful to look at or is it depicting something frightening or strange? Is the stage filled with scenery, or relatively bare? As the play progresses, does the scenery remain constant or are there frequent scene changes? b. The lighting: What kind of lighting is there? Is it the lighting of a rock concert or nightclub, or does it seem like the natural lighting of a home or an outdoor park or patio? What are the colors of the lighting? Are the colors appropriate to the situation? Does the lighting change frequently or only rarely? c. The acting: Are the performers supposed to be ordinary people, of the type you would recognize from friends, family, or everyday characters on TV? Or are the characters historical people or larger-than-life figures? Is there anything special about the way one or more actors perform? Are they believable and ordinary, or is there something unusual or distinctive? The term cosplay is a contraction of costume and play. It describes a combination of role-playing, costuming, and social interactions and became a worldwide popular culture phenomenon because of the Internet. Cosplay, which began in the 1990s, refers to people, known as cosplayers, dressing up as characters from cartoons, video games, films, television series, and other entertainments. Often those engaged in cosplay attend large fan conventions for popular television shows, comic book conventions, and cosplay competitions. The combination of online social networks and dedicated websites allows cosplayers to interact virtually and at any time of day or night from across the globe. Another impact of digital technology is that audiences can attend live broadcast and digitally streamed productions from theatres across their nation and across the globe. The National Theatre, for example, established National Theatre Live, which broadcasts productions via satellite to film houses. Some theatres stream performances to audience members’ computers, laptops, tablets or smartphones. Broadway HD was established to allow individuals anywhere to stream Broadway quality shows to their digital devices. But like live television, these streamed events do not place audiences in the presence of the live performers as theatre does. Although there is an abundance of dramatic materials available in movie houses, on television, on Blu-ray or DVD, streamed digitally into our homes, in amusement parks, at sporting events, in video games, and on the Internet, theatre itself is also a highly diverse and eclectic art form that attracts a wide spectrum of audience members and artists and is, in stark contrast to these others, a truly live, nonmediated art form. THEATRE AND THE HUMAN CONDITION There is one additional, highly significant, but often overlooked reason for us to attend and study theatre. Throughout its history theatre has had a two-fold appeal. One attraction is the sheer excitement or amusement of a theatre event. The other is the unique ability of theatre to incorporate in dramatic Page 22 material profound, provocative, timeless observations about our human condition. Ideas, moral dilemmas, probing insights—these have long found vivid expression in exceptional plays and exceptional performances. Moreover, in theatre these performances are live, not reproduced on a film, television screen, or digital device. In Greek and Shakespearean tragedy, and in the works of modern playwrights like Henrik Ibsen, Anton Chekhov, Eugene O’Neill, Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller, Lorraine Hansberry, and August Wilson, we encounter questions and issues that strike at the very heart of our human existence. In the comedies of the French playwright Molière, we see personal foibles exposed as they have rarely been before or since. Finally, theatre also differs in significant ways from other types of live entertainment such as performances by rock stars. Rock musicians, for example, make no pretense of offering the same kind of experience as a production by a theatre company. A drama or a piece of performance art has a structure—a beginning, middle, and end—a purpose, a cast of characters, a unique completeness that a concert by a rock artist would never aspire to. In other words, theatre, which influences so much of the world around us, is an art form with its own characteristics: its own quality, coherence, and integrity. SUMMARY 1. During the past century live theatre has faced a number of daunting challenges from other dramatic media: films, television, electronic media, etc. 2. Live theatre has been able to meet these challenges not only because of its unique characteristics, but chiefly because it is only in live theatre that the audience is physically present at a performance by live actors. 3. Live theatre today is available in a wide variety of venues: commercial theatre, nonprofit professional theatre, college and university theatre, amateur theatre, children’s theatre. 4. There is also a wide range of the types of theatre available today: classic, traditional, experimental, avant-garde. 5. Theatrical elements are part of many other activities in which we engage: religious services, rock concerts, theme parks, sports events. Design elements: Playing Your Part box (theatre seats): ©McGraw-Hill Education; In Focus box (spotlight): ©d_gas/Getty Images Page 25 2 THE AUDIENCE THE ACTORS MEET THE AUDIENCE The essence of the theatre experience is the exchange between performers and audience members. The electricity, the vibrations, the chemistry between the two is at the heart of theatre. Here we see the audience applauding the actors at the conclusion of a 2006 production of Hamlet at the Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis. (©AP Photo/Andy King) This chapter is devoted to the role we play as audience members. Before focusing on that role, however, we will examine two important background subjects that will enhance audience participation and awareness. The first is a look at theatre’s relationship to the arts in general and to other art forms. The second is knowledge of how a theatre production is conceived, developed, and presented, including a brief examination of the various elements of which a theatre production consists. Though we touch on these elements of theatre here, we will examine them in greater detail in the part “Creating Theatre: The Playwright.” In the second half of the chapter we will focus on the indispensable role the audience plays at a live theatre production. We examine how we, as spectators, might prepare for attending a production and also explore the variety, diversity and range of audiences at various kinds of theatrical presentations. Beyond that, we look at the way in which critics, reviewers, and bloggers can help us become more informed evaluators of a production and how we, as audience members, can develop our own criteria to evaluate our theatre experiences. WHAT IS ART? As has often been observed, art is a mirror or reflection of life: an extension or a projection of how we live, think, and feel. Art reveals to us what we treasure and admire, and what we fear most deeply. Art is not only something we find desirable and enjoyable; it is an absolute necessity for human survival. There are feelings, emotions, and ideas that cannot be expressed in any way other than through art. The beauty of a face or a haunting landscape may be impossible to convey in words, but it can be revealed in a painting; a complex personality can be captured in a novel or a play in a way that reveals the person’s innermost soul; joy or anguish can often be communicated most directly Page 26 and completely through music, poetry, or drama. Without these modes of expression—that is, without art—human beings would be as impoverished and as helpless as they would be if they tried to live without language. Characteristics of Art Art can be divided into three categories: literary, visual, and performing. The literary arts include novels, short stories, and poetry. The visual arts include painting, sculpture, architecture, and photography. The performing arts are theatre, dance, opera, and music. (Film, another art form, partakes of both the visual and the performing arts.) One characteristic of all art—visual, literary, or performing—traditionally has been that it is selective. As the three categories suggest, different art forms usually focus on certain elements and eliminate others. The visual arts, for example, deal solely with sight and touch—what we can see and feel—and they exclude sound. When we visit an art gallery, there is a hush in the air because the concentration is purely on what the eye observes. Moreover, in the visual arts, a composition is frozen and constant. We value the visual arts partly because they capture subjects—faces, landscapes, a series of colors or shapes—and hold them fast in a painting or a sculpture. We can look at a statue of a Roman soldier from 2,000 years ago, or a Madonna and Child painted 500 years ago, and see exactly the same artifact that its first viewers observed. Music, on the other hand, concentrates on sound. Although we may watch a violinist playing with a symphony orchestra or observe a soprano singing at a recital, the essence of music is sound. We prove this whenever we close our eyes at a concert, and whenever we listen to recorded music. In both cases, the emphasis is totally on sound. By concentrating on sound, we block out distractions and give our full attention to the music itself. This kind of selectivity is one quality that has traditionally defined each art form. However, art does not have rules. While we are describing the selectivity of traditional art forms throughout history, experimental artists have often tried to break down the barriers between them. In the contemporary art world, installations mix visual, sound, and performative elements. There are concerts that use lights and projections. But these are more the exceptions and also reflect the constant experimentation within all of the arts. Another characteristic of art is its relationship to time or space; thus a second way to differentiate the arts is in temporal and spatial terms. The visual arts are spatial arts; they exist in space, which is their primary mode of existence. They occupy a canvas, for instance, or—in the case of architecture—a building. By contrast, music moves through time; it is a temporal art. It does not occupy space; musicians performing a symphony exist in space, of course, but the music they perform does not. The music is an unfolding series of sounds, and the duration of the notes and the pauses between notes create a rhythm that is an essential part of music. This, in turn, becomes a time continuum as we move from one note to the next. Unlike painting and sculpture on the one hand or music on the other, theatre, dance, and opera occupy both time and space. Let’s now consider the special characteristics of the performing arts. Characteristics of the Performing Arts The performing arts, of which music, theatre, opera, and dance are a part, have several characteristics in common. One is the movement through time described above. Another is that they require interpreters as well as creators. A Page 28 playwright writes a play, but actors and actresses perform it; a composer writes a piece of music that singers and instrumentalists will perform; a choreographer develops a ballet that dancers will interpret. THE PERMANENCE OF THE VISUAL ARTS If they are preserved, painting and sculpture—unlike performing arts such as theatre, dance, and music—are permanent and unchanging. An example is this sculpture of the Nike of Samothrace, goddess of victory, on display at the Louvre Museum in Paris, France. The torso enfolded in flowing robes and the outstretched wings appear much as they did when the sculpture was first created on the island of Samothrace in Greece around 200 B.C.E., about 2,200 years ago. (©Crystaltmc/iStock/Getty Images RF) THE PERFORMING ARTS Like theatre, opera, and music, dance shares a number of characteristics with these other performing arts. For example, all these arts move through time, they require interpreters as well as creators, and they must be seen live by an audience. In this photo, we see the Kremlin Ballet performing Swan Lake in Skopje, Macedonia. (©Boris Grdanoski /AP Images) Another quality shared by the performing arts is that they require an audience. A performance can be recorded on film or tape, but the event itself must be “live,” that is, it must occur in one place at one time with both performers and audience present. If a theatre performance is recorded on film or tape without the presence of an audience, it becomes a movie or a television show rather than a theatre experience. To put this distinction another way, when an audience watches a film in a movie theatre, there are no performers onstage; there are only images on a screen. In addition to the general qualities we have been discussing, each art form has unique qualities and principles that set it apart from other art forms and help us to understand it better. When we know how shapes and designs relate to overall composition, for instance, and how colors contrast with and complement one another, we are in a better position to judge and understand painting. In the same way, we can appreciate theatre much more if we understand how it is created and what elements it consists of. THE ART OF THEATRE We now turn our attention to the specific elements and qualities of theatre that make it a unique and lively art. Page 29 The Elements of Theatre When we begin to examine theatre as an art form, we discover that there are certain components common to all theatre. These elements are present whenever a theatre event takes place; without them, an event ceases to be theatre and becomes a different art form and a different experience. Audience As we have suggested, a necessary element for theatre is the audience. In fact, the essence of theatre is the interaction between performer and audience. A theatre, dance, or musical event is not complete—one could almost say it does not occur—unless there are people to see and hear it. When we read a play in book form, or listen to recorded music, or even watch a film or television show, what we experience is similar to looking at a painting or reading a poem: it is a private event, not a public one, and the live performance is re-created and imagined rather than experienced firsthand. All the performing arts, including theatre, are like an electrical connection: the connection is not made until positive and negative wires touch and complete the circuit. Performers are half of that connection, and we, as audiences, are the other half. Performers Another absolutely essential element for theatre is the performers: people onstage presenting characters in dramatic action. Acting is at the heart of all theatre. One person stands in front of other people and begins to portray a character—to speak and move in ways that convey an image of the character. At this point the magic of theatre has begun: the transformation through which an audience accepts, for a time, that a performer is actually someone else. The character portrayed can be a historical figure, an imaginary figure, or even a self-presentation; still, everyone accepts the notion that it is the character, not the actor or actress, who is speaking. Acting is a demanding profession. In addition to native talent—the poise and authority needed to appear onstage before others, and the innate ability to create a character convincingly—acting requires considerable craft and skill. Performers must learn to use both voice and body with flexibility and control; they must be able, for example, to make themselves heard in a large theatre even when speaking in a whisper. (This takes extensive physical and vocal training, which we will discuss in more detail later.) Performers must also be able to create believability, or the emotional truth of the characters they portray; that is, the audience must be convinced that the actor or actress is thinking and feeling what the character would think and feel. (This, too, is a difficult task requiring a special kind of training.) Script or Text Another element essential to theatre is the script or text, which could also be called the blueprint for a production. The playwright transforms the raw material—the incident, the biographical event, the myth—into a dramatic script, a sequence of events that features characters speaking and interacting with one another. Making this transformation is not easy. It requires intimate knowledge of stage practices, of how to breathe life into characters, of how to build action so that it will hold the interest of the audience and arouse anticipation for what is coming next. In other words, the playwright must create characters and develop a dramatic structure. The term text is used to include any type of theatrical activity presented onstage: for example, all performances created or improvised by performers or directors as well as those created by a playwright. Frequently, the term text is allinclusive, and it is sometimes used in place of script. A specific example of a nonliterary theatrical text would be an improvisatory presentation Page 30 created by actors on a street, in a warehouse, or in a theatre. Along with structure, a text must have a focus and a point of view. Who and what is the text about? Are we supposed to regard the characters and the events as sad or funny? The person or persons who create the text have the power as well as the responsibility to direct our attention toward certain characters and away from others. We will discover more about how these tasks are accomplished when we look at the nature of a dramatic text. Director An additional key element of a theatre production is the work of the director: the person who rehearses the performers and coordinates the work of the designers and others to make certain that the production is cohesive as well as exciting. As we will see, the separate role of the director became prominent for the first time in modern theatre, but many of the functions of the director have always been present. Theatre Space Another necessary element of theatre is the space in which performers and audiences come together. It is essential to have a stage, or some equivalent area, where actors and actresses can perform. It is also essential to have a place for audience members to sit or stand. We will discover that there have been several basic configurations of stage spaces and audience seating. Whatever the configuration, however, a stage and a space for the audience must be a part of it. Also, there usually must be a place for the actors and actresses to change costumes, as well as a way for them to enter and exit from the stage. As we shall see, sites for performances may be permanent, temporary, or transformed from spaces not originally intended for theatre. DESIGN ELEMENTS IN THEATRE The design elements in theatre include scenery, costume, lighting, and sound. This scene from a production of Beauty and the Beast in Paris, France shows vividly the costumes, levels and lighting of a large-scale musical. In such a production all of the visual and aural elements combine to produce the overall effect. (©Kristy Sparow/Getty Images) Page 31 Design Elements Closely related to the physical space is another important element: the design aspects of a production. Design includes visual aspects—costumes, lighting, and some form of scenic background—and a nonvisual aspect, sound. A play can be produced on a bare stage with minimal lighting, and with the performers wearing everyday street clothes. Even in these conditions, however, some attention must be paid to visual elements; there must, for instance, be sufficient illumination for us to see the performers, and clothes worn onstage will take on a special meaning even if they are quite ordinary. Usually, visual elements are prominent in theatre productions. Costumes, especially, have been a hallmark of theatre from the beginning; and scenery has sometimes become more prominent than the performers. In certain arra...
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