Contemporary Theater

Contemporary Theater: Evolution and Design marks an unprecedented attempt to trace the evolution and style of theater architecture from its very beginnings to the present and to provide a methodology for modern theater design. Emphasizing that today's theaters are the inevitable result of older traditions and are themselves part of ongoing heritage, It defines the social, aesthetic, philosophic, and political components that have shaped 20th-century Theater forms and, from that point, identifies contemporary architectural trends for the theater.Contemporary Theater consists of four main sections, which follow chronologically signifying distinct periods in the evolution of the theater:Evolutionary Problems Up to the 20th Century - discusses instinctive theater in primitive tribes and Egypt; The Golden Age of Greece, the Roman Empire; Middle Ages up to 19th-century Romanticism and Realism.20th-Century Theater - examines the relation of 19th to 20th-century theater; the impact of social upheavals; World War I; new movements and trends in theater architecture, scenography and stagecraft; the "golden age of theater"; new technology; the emergence of Appia, Graig, Reinhardt, Piscator, Gropius, and the Bauhaus School.Contemporary Theater Forms - describes new exploratory theater forms created between the word wars:Contemporary Trends - summarizes the conclusions of the study; analyzes the functional needs of its performing art and defines the appropriate theater form for each art.Enhanced by numerous diagrams, charts and an extensive bibliography, Contemporary Theater represents the first holistic vision of the theater from architectural viewpoint. Equally important, the book stands as a challenge to contemporary architects and artist to build upon the rich traditions and forms of the past, as their ancestors did to revive the "living organism"known as theater.