The World of Theatre Tradition and Innovation

by Felner, Mira; Orenstein, Claudia

• ISBN13: 9780205360635
• ISBN10: 0205360637
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-07-19
• Publisher: Pearson

Summary

The World of Theatre: Tradition and Innovation is the first introduction to theatre text to fully focus on diversity and globalism, integrating coverage of multicultural, international, and experimental theatre throughout. This text sets itself apart from the competition in asserting that theatre is a multifaceted and evolving form that must be studied in all of its variety in order to be fully understood. It reflects the changing and increasingly diverse student population as no other text does. Book jacket.

Table of Contents

Features at a Glance	xv
Preface	xvii
Part One. Navigating the World of Theatre	3	(46)
Theatre: A Global Experience	5	(20)
Theatrical Conventions and Culture	6	(4)
The Evolution of Conventions	8	(2)
Universals of the Theatre	10	(1)
Theatre Is Live	10	(1)
Theatre Is Ephemeral	10	(1)
Theatre Is Collaborative	11	(1)
Theatre Is a Synthesis of Many Arts	11	(1)
Tradition and Innovation	11	(5)
Postmodernism	12	(1)
Globalization	13	(1)
Multiculturalism	14	(1)
Interculturalism	15	(1)
Photo Essay Multiculturalism	16	(6)
Postcolonialism	18	(2)
Performance Studies	20	(2)
Theatre in Changing Times	22	(1)
Why Theatre Today?	22	(1)
Key Ideas	23	(2)
The Audience: Partners in Performance	25	(24)
The Audience and the Actor: The Invisible Bond	27	(1)
The Audience Is a Community	28	(1)
Audience Members Construct Meaning as Individuals	29	(2)
Personal Identity and the Construction of Meaning	29	(2)
Audience Members Choose Focus	31	(1)
Conventions of Audience Response	32	(1)
Audience Conventions in Western Theatre History	33	(4)
The Once-Active Audience	33	(3)
The Rise of the Passive Audience	36	(1)
Rebelling against Realism's Passive Audience	37	(1)
Political Theatre: Moving the Audience to Action	37	(7)
Agit-Prop: Activating the Audience	38	(1)
Bertolt Brecht: Challenging the Audience	39	(1)
Augusto Boal: Involving the Audience	40	(1)
The Living Theatre: Confronting the Audience	40	(3)
Engaging the Audience Today	43	(1)
From Provocation to Mainstream: The Evolution of a Convention	44	(1)
Meeting Theatre's Challenges	45	(2)
Key Ideas	47	(2)
Part Two. Encountering Traditions	49	(130)
Understanding Plays	53	(32)
Storytelling and Cultural Tradition	54	(1)
The Playwright Shapes the Story	55	(2)
Dramatic Structure	57	(13)
Climactic Structure	58	(2)
The Well-Made Play	60	(2)
Episodic Structure	62	(3)
Circular Structure	65	(1)
Serial Structure	66	(1)
Structural Variation: Playing with Time	67	(3)
Dramatic Characters	70	(5)
Character and Culture	71	(1)
Archetypal Characters	71	(1)
Psychological Characters	72	(1)
Stock Characters	73	(1)
Characters with a Dominant Trait	73	(1)
Depersonalized Characters	74	(1)
Deconstructed Characters	74	(1)
Dramatic Language	75	(4)
Advancing the Plot	75	(1)
Expressing Character	76	(1)
Provoking and Embodying Action	77	(1)
Compressing Emotion	77	(1)
Setting Mood, Tone, and Style	77	(2)
The Failure of Language	79	(1)
Form and Innovation	79	(3)
Reading the Play	82	(1)
Key Ideas	82	(3)
The European Written Tradition and Its Genres	85	(28)
Tragedy	87	(9)
Tragedy in Ancient Greece and Rome	87	(4)
Neoclassical Tragedy	91	(1)
Elizabethan and Jacobean Tragedy	91	(2)
Bourgeois and Romantic Drama	93	(1)
Modern Tragedy	94	(2)
Comedy	96	(8)
What Makes Us Laugh: The Tools of Comedy	97	(1)
Comic Forms	98	(6)
Tragicomedy	104	(4)
Modern Tragicomedy	105	(3)
Melodrama	108	(3)
Genre Today	111	(1)
Key Ideas	111	(2)
Performance Traditions: Legacy and Renewal	113	(36)
Indian Sanskrit Theatre	115	(3)
The Theory of Rasa	116	(1)
Performance Conventions	116	(1)
Sanskrit Plays	117	(1)
Kutiyattam and Kathakali	117	(1)
Mime and the Commedia dell' Arte Tradition	118	(4)
The Mime Tradition in Antiquity	118	(1)
The Birth of Commedia dell'Arte	119	(1)
The Commedia Form	119	(2)
The Evolution of Commedia	121	(1)
Japanese Traditions	122	(10)
The Noh Theatre	122	(5)
Kyogen	127	(2)
Kabuki	129	(3)
Chinese Opera	132	(4)
Makeup and Costume	133	(1)
Movement and Music	134	(1)
The Twentieth Century and Beyond	134	(2)
Carnival Tradition	136	(4)
Carnival's European Origins	136	(1)
African Influence in Colonial Latin America and the Caribbean	136	(1)
Carnival as Political Street Theatre	137	(1)
Carnival Adapts and Evolves	138	(2)
Puppet Traditions around the Globe	140	(6)
Puppets and Ritual	141	(2)
Puppets and the Popular Voice	143	(1)
Puppets and Written Texts	144	(1)
Puppetry in the Twentieth Century and Today	145	(1)
Traditions Evolve	146	(1)
Key Ideas	146	(3)
Alternative Paths to Performance	149	(30)
Other Authors, Other Texts, Other Forms	150	(1)
Creating through Improvisation	150	(2)
The Performance Ensemble and Collaborative Creation	152	(4)
1960s Experimental Collaboration	153	(1)
Contemporary Collaborative Work	153	(3)
Mime and Movement Theatre	156	(2)
Modern Mime	157	(1)
The Variety Entertainer	158	(3)
Clowns and Fools	158	(1)
Variety Entertainment and the Avant-Garde	159	(2)
The Storyteller	161	(3)
Telling the Community's Story	161	(1)
Telling Personal Stories	162	(2)
The Journalist and Social Historian: Documentary Theatre	164	(3)
Solo Social Documentarians	164	(1)
Docudramas	165	(1)
Reenactments or Living Histories	166	(1)
Music and Dance Theatre	167	(2)
The American Musical	169	(5)
Composers, Lyricists, and Choreographers as Authors	170	(1)
Multiculturalism and the American Musical	170	(1)
Dance in Musical Theatre	171	(1)
The American Musical Abroad	172	(2)
The Designer and the Theatre of Images	174	(2)
Sound and Image Theatre	176	(1)
The Diversity of Theatrical Forms	176	(1)
Key Ideas	177	(2)
Part Three. Shaping the Performance	179	(88)
The Actor: Theatre's Living Presence	181	(34)
The Thrill of Simulation	182	(1)
To Act Is Human	182	(1)
The Universal Qualities of Acting in the Theatre	183	(2)
What Does an Actor Do?	185	(1)
Presentational versus Representational Acting	185	(1)
The Actor's Dual Consciousness	186	(1)
Acting Reflects Culture	186	(2)
The Holy or Profane Actor	186	(2)
Convention and Believable Acting	188	(1)
Acting Conventions in the European Tradition	188	(1)
The Development of Actor Training	189	(13)
Constantin Stanislavski and the Science of Psychology	192	(3)
Explorations in Physical Training	195	(3)
Freeing the Actor's Energy	198	(4)
The Acting Profession Today	202	(1)
Stage and Film Acting	203	(1)
Acting in Performance Traditions	203	(5)
Traditional Asian Acting Styles and Training	204	(1)
Kathakali: A Case Study of Asian Training	205	(3)
The Puppeteer as Actor	208	(1)
Freedom within Constraint; Constraint within Freedom	208	(4)
Key Ideas	212	(3)
The Director: The Invisible Presence	215	(26)
Directors Mold the Theatrical Experience	216	(1)
Establishing and Manipulating Stage Convention	216	(1)
Directors Play a Double Role	217	(1)
Directing, a Recent Art	217	(3)
Before Directors, Who Ran the Show?	217	(1)
Rise of the Modern Director	218	(2)
The Director's Process: A Multiplicity of Approaches	220	(1)
The Director as Interpreter of a Dramatic Text	220	(10)
Choosing the Text	221	(1)
Establishing the Directorial Vision	221	(3)
Conceiving the Play for the Stage	224	(1)
High-Concept Directing	224	(2)
Shaping the Visual World	226	(2)
Working with Actors	228	(1)
Integrating the Elements of Production	229	(1)
The Director as Acting Guru	230	(2)
The Director as Auteur	232	(6)
Alternative Beginnings	233	(5)
The Director's Personal Qualities	238	(1)
Key Ideas	239	(2)
Theatre Spaces and Environments: The Silent Character	241	(26)
Space Creates Meaning	242	(3)
Space and Theatrical Convention	242	(1)
Space and Performance Evolve Together	243	(1)
The Boundaries of Theatre Spaces	243	(2)
Cultural Meanings of Theatre Spaces	245	(6)
Theatre Spaces and the Social Order	245	(2)
Theatre Space Reflects Technological Change	247	(1)
Theatre Architecture as Symbolic Design	248	(3)
Theatre Spaces and Environments	251	(1)
Traditional Theatre Spaces	252	(6)
Proscenium Stage	252	(2)
Theatre-in-the-Round or the Arena Stage	254	(2)
Thrust Stage	256	(2)
Flexible and Found Spaces	258	(6)
Street Theatre	258	(1)
Multifocus Staging	259	(2)
Environmental Staging	261	(1)
Site-Specific Staging	261	(1)
Black Box Theatres	262	(2)
The Actor in Space	264	(1)
Key Ideas	264	(3)
Part Four. Art and Technology: Design for the Theatre	267	(120)
Approaches to Design	269	(22)
Design in Performance Traditions	270	(6)
Costume, Makeup, and Masks	270	(5)
Set	275	(1)
Photo Essay Clowns	276	(6)
Light	278	(2)
Sound	280	(1)
Master Artisans	281	(1)
Western Design before the Interpretive Model	282	(1)
Realistic Design	283	(1)
Photo Essay Illusions of Reality	284	(1)
Abstract Design	285	(1)
Photo Essay Modernism in Design	286	(3)
Contemporary Design: Collaboration and Evolution	289	(1)
Key Ideas	289	(2)
Setting the Stage	291	(26)
Goals of Set Design	292	(1)
Photo Essay Designing the Character's World	293	(3)
The Set Designer's Process: Collaboration, Discussion, Evolution	296	(8)
Principles of Composition	304	(2)
Focus	304	(1)
Balance	305	(1)
Proportion	305	(1)
Rhythm	305	(1)
Unity	306	(1)
The Visual Elements of Set Design	306	(2)
Line	306	(1)
Mass	307	(1)
Texture	307	(1)
Color	307	(1)
The Set Designer's Materials	308	(6)
The Architectural or Natural Space	308	(2)
Flats, Platforms, Drapes, Drops, and Scrims	310	(1)
Furniture and Properties	311	(3)
Technology	314	(1)
Other Materials	314	(1)
Key Ideas	314	(3)
Dressing the Character	317	(22)
Costuming and the Actor	318	(1)
Goals of Costume Design	318	(4)
The Costume Designer's Process	322	(4)
Principles of Composition	326	(1)
Visual Elements of Costume Design	327	(6)
Line	327	(1)
Texture	327	(1)
Color	328	(5)
The Costume Designer's Materials	333	(4)
Fabric	333	(1)
Ornament	333	(1)
Accessories	333	(1)
Hairstyles and Wigs	333	(1)
Makeup	333	(3)
Masks	336	(1)
Key Ideas	337	(2)
Lighting and Sound Design	339	(24)
Stage Lighting	340	(2)
Technological Advances and Design Innovations	340	(2)
Goals of Stage Lighting	342	(2)
The Lighting Designer's Process	344	(4)
The Visual Elements of Light	348	(2)
Intensity	349	(1)
Distribution	349	(1)
Color	349	(1)
Movement	350	(1)
Composing with Light	350	(1)
Conceiving a Design: Control and Flexibility	351	(1)
The Lighting Designer's Tools	352	(1)
Sound Design	352	(1)
Sound Practices in the Past	353	(1)
Goals of Sound Design	353	(3)
The Sound Designer's Process	356	(4)
The Sound Designer's Tools	360	(1)
Key Ideas	361	(2)
Technology and Theatrical Innovation	363	(24)
What Is Technology?	366	(1)
The Impact of Technology	366	(1)
Technology and Culture	367	(6)
Ancient Greece	367	(1)
Ancient Rome	368	(1)
The Middle Ages	369	(1)
The Renaissance	369	(1)
The Nineteenth Century	370	(1)
Rejecting Technology	371	(2)
Competition with Other Media	373	(1)
New Technologies in the Theatre Today	374	(9)
Technology Behind the Scenes	374	(2)
Technology Center Stage	376	(3)
Performing in Cyberspace	379	(3)
Techno-Theatre Aesthetic	382	(1)
Concerns about Theatre and Technology	383	(2)
Key Ideas	385	(2)
Part Five. Understanding Today's Theatre	387	(45)
The Critical Response	389	(20)
Criticism and Culture	390	(1)
Professional Criticism and Cultural Theory	391	(1)
The Critic as Cultural Insider	391	(1)
The Many Faces of the Critic	391	(5)
The Critic as Interpreter	392	(1)
The Critic as Artistic Muse	392	(3)
The Critic as Visionary	395	(1)
The Artist as Critic	395	(1)
The Dramaturg	396	(3)
The Reviewer	399	(2)
Experiencing Theatre as a Critic	401	(4)
Selecting an Event	401	(1)
Reading Listings and Reviews	401	(1)
Getting Tickets	402	(1)
Preparing for the Theatre	403	(1)
Attending the Show	404	(1)
Taking Notes	405	(1)
Writing a Review	405	(1)
Having a Point of View	405	(1)
Backing Up Your Ideas	406	(1)
Good Writing	406	(1)
Key Ideas	406	(3)
Making Theatre Happen	409	(23)
Where Theatre Happens	410	(8)
State-Subsidized Theatres	410	(2)
International Theatre Festivals	412	(3)
Colleges and Universities	415	(1)
Summer Theatres and Shakespeare Festivals	415	(1)
Community Theatres	416	(2)
Commercial and Not-for-Profit Theatre in the United States	418	(2)
Commercial Theatre	418	(1)
Professional Not-for-Profit Companies	419	(1)
Common Interest Theatres	419	(1)
Producing Theatre	420	(2)
The Commercial Producer	420	(1)
The Not-for-Profit Producer	421	(1)
The Alternative Theatre Producer	421	(1)
Behind the Scenes: The Unsung Heroes of the Theatre	422	(8)
The Stage Manager	422	(4)
The Production Manager	426	(1)
The Technical Director	426	(2)
The Master Electrician	428	(1)
The Sound Engineer	428	(1)
The Costume Shop Manager	428	(1)
The Props Manager	429	(1)
The Running Crews	429	(1)
The House Manager	430	(1)
Methods of Collaboration	430	(1)
Closing the Show	431	(1)
Key Ideas	431	(1)
Glossary	432	(8)
Bibliography	440	(7)
Index	447