did-you-know? rent-now

Amazon no longer offers textbook rentals. We do!

did-you-know? rent-now

Amazon no longer offers textbook rentals. We do!

We're the #1 textbook rental company. Let us show you why.

9780073125558

The Theater Experience

by
  • ISBN13:

    9780073125558

  • ISBN10:

    0073125555

  • Edition: 10th
  • Format: Paperback
  • Copyright: 2005-12-05
  • Publisher: McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages

Note: Supplemental materials are not guaranteed with Rental or Used book purchases.

Purchase Benefits

  • Free Shipping Icon Free Shipping On Orders Over $35!
    Your order must be $35 or more to qualify for free economy shipping. Bulk sales, PO's, Marketplace items, eBooks and apparel do not qualify for this offer.
  • eCampus.com Logo Get Rewarded for Ordering Your Textbooks! Enroll Now
List Price: $104.29 Save up to $54.75
  • Rent Book $49.54
    Add to Cart Free Shipping Icon Free Shipping

    TERM
    PRICE
    DUE
    USUALLY SHIPS IN 24-48 HOURS
    *This item is part of an exclusive publisher rental program and requires an additional convenience fee. This fee will be reflected in the shopping cart.

Supplemental Materials

What is included with this book?

Summary

The ideal theater appreciation text for courses focusing on theater elements,The Theater Experienceencourages students to be active theater-goers as they learn about the fundamentals of a production. By addressing the importance of the audience, Wilson brings the art of performance to life for students who may have little experience with the medium.

Table of Contents

Preface xvii
Introduction 1(3)
Theater: The Art Form
4(2)
The Focus of Theater: Human Beings
6(1)
Ceremonies and Rituals: The Impulse toward Theater
7(2)
Theater as a Transitory Art
9(2)
The Elements of Theater
11(1)
Summary
12(3)
Part 1 The Audience
15(86)
The Audience: Its Role and Imagination
21(24)
The Relationship between Performer and Audience
22(2)
The Special Nature of Theater: A Contrast with Film
22(1)
The Chemistry of Performer-Audience Contact
23(1)
Theater as a Group Experience
24(3)
Psychology of Groups
25(1)
How Audience Makeup Affects the Theater Experience
26(1)
The Separate Roles of Performers and Spectators
27(4)
How Should the Audience Be Involved?
28(1)
Audience Participation through Direct Action
28(3)
The Imagination of the Audience
31(4)
Tools of the Imagination: Symbol and Metaphor
33(1)
The ``Reality'' of the Imagination
34(1)
The Imaginary Worlds of Theater
35(7)
Realism and Nonrealism
35(4)
Distinguishing Stage Reality from Fact
39(3)
Summary
42(3)
Background and Expectations of the Audience
45(22)
Background of Individual Spectators
46(2)
Background of the Period
48(5)
Theater and Society
48(1)
Greek Theater and Culture
49(1)
Elizabethan Theater and Culture
50(1)
Modern Theater and Culture
50(3)
Background Information on the Play or Playwright
53(1)
Expectations: The Variety of Experiences in Modern Theater
54(11)
Broadway and Touring Theater
54(2)
Resident Professional Theaters
56(1)
Alternative Theaters: Off-Broadway and Elsewhere
56(2)
Children's Theater
58(1)
College and University Theaters
58(1)
Multiethnic, Multicultural, and Gender Theaters
59(6)
Summary
65(2)
The Critic and the Audience
67(12)
Theatrical Criticism
68(4)
What Is Criticism?
68(1)
Preparation for Criticism
69(1)
Critical Criteria
69(2)
Descriptive and Prescriptive Criticism
71(1)
Getting Started in Theater---Mel Gussow, Critic
72(3)
Fact and Opinion in Criticism
72(2)
The Reviewer and the Critic
74(1)
The Dramaturg or Literary Manager
75(1)
The Audience's Relationship to Criticism
75(2)
The Audience's Independent Judgment
75(1)
Analysis and Overanalysis
76(1)
Summary
77(2)
Stage Spaces
79(22)
Creating the Environment
80(1)
Theater Spaces
81(17)
Proscenium Stage
81(4)
Arena Stage
85(3)
Thrust Stage
88(4)
Created and Found Spaces
92(5)
All-Purpose Theater Spaces: The Black Box
97(1)
Special Requirements of Theater Environments
98(1)
Summary
99(2)
Part 2 The Performers and the Director
101(72)
Acting: Offstage and in the Past
107(14)
Examples of Acting in Everyday Life
108(1)
Social Roles
108(1)
Personal Roles
108(1)
Acting in Life versus Acting Onstage
108(4)
Stage Acting: A Historical Perspective
112(5)
Physical Demands of Classical Acting
112(3)
Vocal Demands of Classical Acting
115(2)
Performing in Classics Today
117(2)
Summary
119(2)
Stage Acting Today
121(24)
The Acting Experience
122(2)
Challenges of Acting Today
124(2)
The Development of Realistic Acting
125(1)
Photo Essay: Performers Play Different Parts
126(2)
Getting Started in Theater: Cherry Jones: Actress
128(14)
Performers' Training Today
134(6)
Synthesis and Integration
140(2)
Judging Performances
142(1)
Summary
143(2)
The Director and the Producer
145(28)
The Theater Director
146(2)
Evolution of the Director: A Historical Perspective
146(2)
Photo Essay: The Director at Work
148(14)
The Director and the Script
150(6)
The Director and the Production
156(6)
Photo Essay: Putting a Production Together---Dido, Queen of Carthage, A.R.T.
162(2)
The Director's Power and Responsibility
164(1)
The Producer or Manager
164(4)
The Commercial Producer
164(2)
Noncommercial Theaters
166(2)
Completing the Picture: Playwright, Director, and Producer
168(3)
Summary
171(2)
Part 3 The Playwright: Creating the Play
173(98)
Creating the World of the Play
179(22)
The Subject and Verb of Drama: People and Action
181(1)
Structural Conventions: The Rules of the Game
182(4)
Limited Space
182(1)
Limited Time
183(1)
Strongly Opposed Forces
184(2)
A Balance of Forces
186(1)
Incentive and Motivation
186(1)
Essentials of Dramatic Structure
186(2)
The Form of Drama: Plot versus Story
186(2)
Dramatic Characters
188(1)
Creating a Dramatic Structure
188(3)
The Opening Scene
189(1)
Obstacles and Complications
189(1)
Crisis and Climax
190(1)
Getting Started in Theater: Susan-Lori Parks: Playwright
191(7)
Point of View
191(1)
The Dramatist's Point of View
192(2)
Society's Point of View
194(2)
A Cautionary Word about Genre
196(2)
Summary
198(3)
Dramatic Forms: Climactic, Episodic, and Others
201(20)
Climactic Structure
202(2)
Characteristics of Climactic Structure
202(2)
Significant Periods of Climactic Structure
204(1)
Episodic Structure
204(7)
Characteristics of Episodic Structure
204(7)
Significant Periods of Episodic Structure
211(1)
Combinations of Climactic and Episodic Form
211(1)
Ritual and Pattern as Dramatic Structure
212(2)
Rituals
212(2)
Patterns
214(1)
Serial Structure
214(1)
Getting Started in Theater: Richard Foreman: Director, Playwright, and Designer
215(1)
Experimental and Avant-Garde Theater
215(2)
Special Structures
215(2)
Segments and Tableaux as Structure
217(1)
Structure in Musical Theater
217(2)
Summary
219(2)
Dramatic Characters
221(14)
Types of Characters
222(1)
Extraordinary Characters
222(1)
Photo Essay: Extraordinary Characters
223(8)
Representative or Quintessential Characters
224(1)
Stock Characters
225(2)
Characters with a Dominant Trait
227(1)
Minor Characters and Major Characters
228(1)
A Narrator or Chorus
229(2)
Nonhuman Characters
231(1)
Using Dramatic Characters Effectively: Juxtaposition and Interaction
231(2)
Juxtaposition of Characters
231(1)
Orchestration of Characters
232(1)
Summary
233(2)
Tragedy and Other Serious Drama
235(16)
Tragedy
236(4)
Traditional Tragedy
236(3)
Modern Tragedy
239(1)
Heroic Drama
240(2)
Photo Essay: Modern Domestic Drama
242(2)
Bourgeois or Domestic Drama
244(1)
Melodrama
245(1)
Getting Started in Theater: Emily Mann: Playwright-Director
246(3)
Summary
249(2)
Comedy and Tragicomedy
251(20)
Comedy
252(7)
Characteristics of Comedy
252(3)
Techniques of Comedy
255(3)
Forms of Comedy
258(1)
Tragicomedy
259(1)
What Is Tragicomedy?
259(1)
Photo Essay: Forms of Comedy
260(4)
Getting Started in Theater: Nicky Silver: Playwright
264(1)
Modern Tragicomedy
264(1)
Theater of the Absurd
265(4)
Absurdist Plots: Illogicality
266(1)
Absurdist Language: Nonsense and Non Sequitur
267(1)
Absurdist Characters: Existential Beings
268(1)
Summary
269(2)
Part 4 The Designers
271(76)
Scenery
279(26)
A Brief History of Stage Design
280(1)
Scenic Design Today
280(1)
Objectives of Scene Design
281(1)
Aesthetic Aspects of Scene Design
281(9)
The Scenic Environment
281(2)
Mood and Style
283(3)
Realistic and Nonrealistic Scenery
286(2)
Locale and Period
288(1)
The Design Concept
288(2)
The Central Image or Metaphor
290(1)
Coordination of the Whole
290(1)
Scene Design and Popular Entertainment
290(1)
Practical Aspects of Scene Design
291(6)
The Physical Layout
291(1)
Materials of Scene Design
292(4)
Special Effects
296(1)
Getting Started in Theater: Robin Wagner: Scene Designer
297(1)
The Process of Scene Design
297(6)
Elements of Design
297(1)
Steps in the Design Process
298(1)
The Scene Designer's Collaborators
299(3)
Designing a Total Environment
302(1)
Summary
303(2)
Stage Costumes
305(22)
Costumes for the Stage
306(7)
Objectives of Costume Design
306(1)
The Process of Costume Design
306(7)
Photo Essay: The Designer---Jane Greenwood
313(1)
Getting Started in Theater: Jess Goldstein: Costume Designer
314(4)
The Costume Designer at Work
315(3)
Other Elements
318(3)
Makeup
318(2)
Hairstyles and Wigs
320(1)
Masks
320(1)
Coordination of the Whole
321(1)
Photo Essay: Masks---An Ancient Theatrical Device
322(3)
Summary
325(2)
Lighting and Sound
327(20)
Stage Lighting
328(5)
A Brief History of Stage Lighting
328(1)
Objectives and Functions of Lighting Design
329(3)
The Lighting Designer
332(1)
Getting Started in Theater: Peggy Eisenhauer: Lighting Designer
333(1)
Photo Essay: The Many Uses of Stage Lighting
334(7)
Sound in the Theater
341(4)
Sound Reproduction: Advantages and Disadvantages
341(1)
The Sound Designer
342(1)
Sound Reproduction and Sound Reinforcement
342(1)
Sound Technology
343(2)
Summary
345(2)
Part 5 The Theater Landscape Today
347(66)
Contemporary American Theater
353(26)
Traditional and Avant-Garde Theater
355(4)
Theater of Diversity
359(13)
African American Theater
359(5)
Asian American Theater
364(1)
Hispanic Theater
365(2)
Native American Theater
367(1)
Feminist Theater
368(2)
Gay and Lesbian Theater
370(2)
Political Theater
372(2)
Performance Art
374(2)
Postmodernism
376(1)
Summary
377(2)
Musical Theater
379(20)
Background
380(2)
Drama and Music
380(1)
The Appeal of Music and Dance
380(1)
Opera
381(1)
Types of Musical Theater
382(1)
A Brief History of the American Musical
382(8)
Antecedents
382(3)
The 1920s and 1930s: Musical Comedies
385(1)
The 1920s and 1930s: Advances in Musicals
385(3)
Musical Theater of the 1940s and 1950s
388(2)
Getting Started in Theater: Nathan Lane: Actor
390(2)
Musicals from the 1960s through the 1980s
391(1)
Photo Essay: The Diverse American Musical
392(5)
Musicals from 1990 to the Present
395(2)
Summary
397(2)
Contemporary World Theater
399(14)
Europe
400(4)
European National Theaters
400(2)
European Alternative Theater
402(2)
African Theater and Drama
404(1)
Latin American Theater
405(1)
Theater in the Middle East
406(2)
Asia
408(3)
Japanese Theater
409(1)
Indian Theater
410(1)
Summary
411(2)
Epilogue: Integrating the Elements and Predicting the Future
413
The Audience: Integrating the Elements
414(1)
Observation and Assimilation
414(1)
Observing the Elements as Parts of a Whole
414(1)
The Overall Effect: What Does Theater ``Mean''?
415(2)
Modern Theater: Different Purposes, Different Experiences
417(2)
The Future: What Lies Ahead?
419(2)
Summary
421
Appendixes
Appendix A Synopses of Plays
1(11)
King Oedipus, Sophocles
2(1)
Tartuffe, Moliere
3(1)
A Doll's House, Henrik Ibsen
4(1)
The Cherry Orchard, Anton Chekhov
5(1)
Mother Courage, Bertolt Brecht
6(1)
A Streetcar Named Desire, Tennessee Williams
7(1)
Death of a Salesman, Arthur Miller
8(1)
Waiting for Godot, Samuel Beckett
9(1)
A Raisin in the Sun, Lorraine Hansberry
10(1)
Fences, August Wilson
11(1)
Appendix B Historical Outlines
12(15)
Appendix C Major Theatrical Forms and Movements
27(8)
Appendix D Glossary
35
Notes 1(1)
Select Bibliography 1(1)
Index 1

Supplemental Materials

What is included with this book?

The New copy of this book will include any supplemental materials advertised. Please check the title of the book to determine if it should include any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.

The Used, Rental and eBook copies of this book are not guaranteed to include any supplemental materials. Typically, only the book itself is included. This is true even if the title states it includes any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.

Rewards Program