The Theatre Experience

Contents
PART 1
The Audience
Chapter 1 The Audience: Its Role and Imagination
The Mediated Arts: Film and Television
The Contrast between Theatre and Film
Theatre Is Transitory and Immediate
Human Beings—The Focus of Theatre
The Chemistry of the Performer–Audience Contact
Theatre as a Group Experience
Psychology of Groups
How Audience Composition Affects the Theatre
Experience
The Separate Roles of Performers and Spectators
How Should the Audience Be Involved?
Audience Participation through Direct Action
The Imagination of the Audience
Tools of the Imagination: Symbol and Metaphor
The “Reality” of the Imagination
The Imaginary Worlds of Theatre
Realistic Elements of Theatre
Nonrealistic Elements of Theatre
Combining the Realistic and the Nonrealistic
Distinguishing Stage Reality from Fact
Summary
Chapter 2 Background and Expectations of the Audience
Background of Individual Spectators
Background Information on the Play or Playwright
Background of the Period
Theatre and Society
Modern Theatre and Culture
Expectations: The Variety of Experiences in Modern
Theatre
Broadway and Touring Theatre
Resident Professional Theatre
Alternative Theatre: Off-Broadway and Elsewhere
Young People’s and Children’s Theatre
College and University Theatre
Community and Amateur Theatre
The Critic, the Reviewer, and the Blogger
The Critic/Reviewer
Fact and Opinion in Criticism
Critical Criteria
The Dramaturg or Literary Manager
The Audience’s Relation to Criticism
The Audience’s Independent Judgment
Summary
Chapter 3 Theatre Spaces
Creating the Environment
Theatre Spaces
Proscenium or Picture-Frame Stage: History and
Characteristics
Arena Stage: History and Characteristics
Thrust Stage: History and Characteristics
Created and Found Spaces
All-Purpose Theatre Spaces: The Black Box
Special Requirements of Theatre Environments
Evaluating the Theatre Space
Summary
PART 2
The Performers and the Director
Chapter 4 Acting for the Stage
Acting in Everyday Life
Social Roles
Personal Roles
Acting in Life versus Acting Onstage
Three Challenges of Acting
Making Characters Believable
Physical Acting: Voice and Body
Synthesis and Integration
Evaluating Performances
Summary
xi
Chapter 5 The Director and the Producer
The Theatre Director
The Traditional Director
The Director and the Script
The Director’s Collaborator: The Dramaturg
The Auteur Director and the Postmodern Director
The Auteur Director
The Postmodern Director
The Director and the Production: The Physical
Production
The Director’s Work with the Performers
Casting
Rehearsals
The Director as the Audience’s Eye
Movement, Pace, and Rhythm
Technical Rehearsal
Dress Rehearsal
Previews
The Director’s Collaborator: The Stage Manager
The Director’s Power and Responsibility
The Producer or Managing Director
The Commercial Producer
Noncommercial Theatres
The Producer’s and Director’s Collaborator: The
Production Manager
Completing the Picture: Playwright, Director, and
Producer
Evaluating Directing
Summary
PART 3
The Playwright and the Play
Chapter 6 Creating the World of the Play
The Subject and Verb of Drama: People and Action
Structural Conventions: The Rules of the Game
Limited Space
Limited Time
Strongly Opposed Forces
A Balance of Forces
Incentive and Motivation
Creating Structure
Plot versus Story
The Opening Scene
Obstacles and Complications
Crisis and Climax
Point of View
xii
The Dramatist’s Point of View
Society’s Point of View
Summary
Chapter 7 Dramatic Structure and Dramatic Characters
Dramatic Structure
Characteristics of Climactic Structure
Characteristics of Episodic Structure
Combinations of Climactic and Episodic Form
Rituals as Dramatic Structure
Patterns as Dramatic Structure
Serial Structure
Structure in Experimental and Avant-Garde Theatre
Structure in Musical Theatre
Dramatic Characters
Extraordinary Characters
Representative or Quintessential Characters
Stock Characters
Minor Characters
A Narrator or Chorus
Nonhuman Characters
The Audience and Character Types
Juxtaposition of Characters
Orchestration of Characters
Summary
Chapter 8 Theatrical Genres
Types of Drama
Tragedy
Traditional Tragedy
Modern Tragedy
Heroic Drama
Bourgeois or Domestic Drama
Melodrama
Comedy
Characteristics of Comedy
Techniques of Comedy
Forms of Comedy
Tragicomedy
What Is Tragicomedy?
Modern Tragicomedy
Theatre of the Absurd
Absurdist Plots: Illogicality
Absurdist Language: Nonsense and Non Sequitur
Absurdist Characters: Existential Beings
Summary
xiii
PART 4
The Designers
Chapter 9 Scenery


The Audience’s View
The Scene Designer
A Brief History of Stage Design
Scenic Design Today
The Scene Designer’s Objectives
Elements of Scene Design
The Process of Scene Design
The Scene Designer’s Collaborators and the
Production Process
Designing a Total Environment
Evaluating Scene Design
Summary
Chapter 10 Stage Costumes

Costumes for the Stage
Objectives of Costume Design
The Process of Costume Design
The Costume Designer at Work

The Costume Designer’s Resources
The Costume Designer’s Collaborators
Related Elements of Costume Design
Makeup
Hairstyles and Wigs
Masks
Millinery, Accessories, and Crafts
Coordination of the Whole
Evaluating Costume Design
Summary
Chapter 11 Lighting and Sound

Stage Lighting
A Brief History of Stage Lighting
Objectives and Functions of Lighting Design
The Lighting Designer
Sound in the Theatre
Amplification
The Sound Designer
Understanding Sound Reproduction and Sound
Reinforcement
Sound Technology
xiv
Special Effects in Lighting and Sound
Evaluating Lighting and Sound Design
Summary
PART 5

The Theatre Today
Chapter 12 Theatre Today: Traditional, Musical, Nontraditional, and
Political Theatre

Traditional Theatre
The American Musical
Nontraditional (Experimental or Alternative) Theatre
Happenings
Multimedia Theatre
Environmental Theatre
Postmodernism
Performance Art
Political Theatre
Summary
Chapter 13 Theatre Today: Diverse and Global

Feminist Theatre and Women Playwrights
Lgbtq Theatre
Diverse Multicultural Theatre
African American Theatre
Asian American Theatre
Latino/a Theatre
Native American Theatre
Global Theatre
Theatres in India, China, and Japan in the Modern
Period
Theatres in the Middle East
African Theatres and Drama
Russia and Eastern Europe
Western Europe, Britain, and Ireland
Latin American Theatres
Australia and Canada Since World War II
Summary
Plays That May Be Read Online
Glossary
Notes
Index