Theatre

Description

Updated in its 4^th edition Theatre: Collaborative Actsstimulates creative thinking and discussions of artistic, social, and ethical questions through its interwoven themes of theatre as culture, collaboration, spatial art, and a fusion of the past and present. It emphasizes the diversity of purpose and effect of theatre, and the collaborative nature of the theatrical process.

Theatre: Collaborative Acts stimulates creative thinking and discussions of artistic, social, and ethical questions through its interwoven themes of theatre as culture, collaboration, spatial art, and a fusion of the past and present.

The central premise of Theatre: Collaborative Acts is that theatre is collaboration or co-labor, which exists on many levels. To participate in theatre, as either audience member or practitioner, means to be at once an individual and part of a larger whole.  It allows us to escape, relax, and refocus.  Through the study of theatre, students develop an informed perspective for a lifetime of theatre-going in appreciation to help them enjoy, analyse, understand, read, visualise, and get the most out of many different types of theatre experiences.  The Fourth Edition continues to emphasise the diversity of purpose and effect of theatre, and the collaborative nature of the theatrical process.

ACT ONE Theatre and Its Audience

CHAPTER 1 CULTURAL COLLABORATION: Theatre and Society

Theatre as Entertainment and Art

The Social Functions of Theatre

Social Control of Theatre

Theatrical Choice in North America

Cultural Context and Personal Experience

CHAPTER 2 EXPERIENCING THEATRE: Collaboration of Actor, Audience, and Space

The Audience

The Nature of Acting

From Play to Production

Space

Theatre and Transformation

C HAPTER 3 ANALYZING THEATRE: Thinking and Writing About Live Performance

Theatre, Film, and Television

Analyzing Production

Thinking About Actor Performances

Thinking About Space and Design

Understanding Style

Evaluating Production

The Role of the Critic

Writing About Production

When It All Works

CHAPTER 4 UNDERSTANDING THE PLAY: A Theatrical Blueprint

Plot

Character

Thought

Language

Music

Spectacle

CHAPTER 5 INTERPRETING THE PLAY: Understanding Genre, Reading, and Writing

Dramatic Genre

Reading a Play

Writing About a Play

ACT TWO Collaboration in Art and Practice

CHAPTER 6 THE DIRECTOR: Vision and Leadership

Has Someone Always Been in Charge?

Interpretation

Developing Concept

Communicating and Managing the Artistic Vision

Collaborating with the Playwright

Directors and Absent Playwrights

Collaborating with Designers

Collaborating with Actors

Collaborating with the Stage Manager

The Rehearsal Process

Opening the Production

CHAPTER 7 THE ACTOR: From Mask to Contemporary Performance

Development of the Actor

Acting Styles and Methods

The Actor’s Work

CHAPTER 8 THE PLAYWRIGHT: Imagination and Expression

The Changing Position of the Playwright

The Playwright and Production

Development of New Plays

CHAPTER 9 THE DESIGNER: Materializing Conception and the World of the Play

The Development of the Designer

The Designers’ Choices

The Scenic Designer’s Work

The Lighting Designer’s Work

The Costume Designer’s Work

The Sound Designer’s Work

Integrating All the Designs

CHAPTER 10 THE PRODUCER: Coordination, Promotion, Economics

Early Producers

The Role of the Producer

The Economics of Theatre

ACT THREE Collaboration in History

CHAPTER 11 FOUNDATIONS: Classical Theatrical Forms

Classical Greece

Classical Rome

Medieval Europe

Classical India

Classical China

Classical Japan

CHAPTER 12 REINTERPRETATIONS: Europe Rediscovers the Western Classics

The Italian Renaissance

Elizabethan England

The Spanish Golden Age

Seventeenth-Century France

Restoration England

Eighteenth-Century Europe and the Americas

CHAPTER 13 REVOLUTIONS: Romanticism to Postmodern Experiment

Romanticism

Nineteenth-Century Melodrama

Nineteenth-Century Realism and Naturalism

The Avant-Garde from the Late Nineteenth Century to the 1960s

Modern and Contemporary Popular Theatre

The Recent Avant-Garde and Postmodern Experiment

Four major themes and principles:

Theatre is cultural study: looking at theatrical events and how they are created provides a window into the way a society views itself, drawing examples from multicultural theatre, not just the Western tradition. 

Theatre is collaboration: theatre-making is a shared experience including both theatre practitioners and audience members.

Theatre is a spatial art: critical to theatrical collaboration is the way space is used, adapted, transformed, and the way theatrical artists interact in and with that space. 

Theatre is a dynamic fusion of past and present: it represents a unique opportunity to see how the past and present are interrelated.

Boxed features:

 “Exploring Collaboration” boxes include profiles of successful artistic teams and feature a variety of approaches to the

        artistic process.  (ex. p. 152)

“Exploring Historical and Cultural Perspectives” boxes offer a window on specific theatrical events. (ex. p. 63)

“Artists of the Theatre” boxes feature colorful and influential theatrical figures of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. (ex. pp. 146-147)

Special features:

Theatre of Diversity photo gallery demonstrates diversity in types of theatre and theatrical experiences. (pp. 123-131)

Contemporary Theatre photo gallery provides an overview of contemporary theatre practice. (pp. 251-259)

Key Theatrical Events timeline of selective theatrical, social, and artistic events allows students to place their explorations in a wider context. (pp. 321-335)

Pedagogy:

An end of chapter study guide, Chapter Review concludes each chapter with the following resources (ex. pp. 159-160):

“Questions and Activities” provide springboards for class discussions and outside projects.

“Key Terms and Concepts” (in boldface in the chapter) are arranged by topic and followed by page reference number.

“For Further Exploration” provides a reference list of articles, books, videos, and websites.

• Includes new information about important professional productions, from current Broadway, Resident, and Off-Broadway productions, including Ruined (2009), The Book of Mormon (2011), War Horse (2007/2011), and In the Next Room (2009), looking critically at the ethical questions and important life messages these plays address–and the ways in which different theatrical traditions address them. (ex. p. 254)
• To give students a varied and international perspective, this edition features new artist and historical boxes on the musical as political theatre, a long run in the avant-garde theatre, a South Korean musical, the Chinese classical space, and more.  (ex. p. 119)
• Provides a deeper focus on contemporary theatre and the American musical, two areas where many students may already be familiar with but will be able to approach with a deeper appreciation. (ex. pp. 316-317)
• Incorporates updates to the timeline of important events in theatre, which takes you through theatrical traditions and influences across cultures and time. (pp. 321-335)
• Offers 101 new, detailed captions for photographs, to help students appreciate the full significance of each visual example.  (ex. p. 254)