THET110 Midterm Review

Intro to Course; What is Theater? How to Watch a Play

Participation in Theater in the US
Percent of US Population in 2012 who attended
o A musical: 15.2%
o Non-musical play: 8.3%
Why?
COST
o Broadway audiences in 2014-their avg. annual household income was $201,500
o Wicked on Broadway: popular shows
ACCESSIBILITY
o Avg. date of ticket purchases on Broadway27 days before performance
ADVERTISING
BROCCOLI THEATER
o Something you have to see because itss good for you-but unappetizing
CELEBRITY CULTURE
o Films with famous people in it
VISUAL CULTURE
o Special effects
Problems with Theater Today
The Graying of the American Audience
o Theater audiences are becoming populated more and more of the older
demographic
Why is Theater Important?
Theater & Economics
o Broadway contributes 12.6 billion in New York economy and added 89,000 jobs
in New York
Theatrical Impulse
o Aristotle said humans have innate mimetic desire (mimesis=imitation)
o Humans have an innate nature to imitate role play. Ex: cops & robbers; play
house
Theatricality vs Theater
Theatricality: suggestive of theater, contains elements of theater but it is not theater
The Definition of Theater
Theater must have an
o Actor
o Story
o Audience
o Liveness: seeing the performance live, the atmosphere
Communication Interaction Model
o SenderMessageReceiver

Feedback
Similarities and Differences between theater and film
Similarities
o Tells a story
o Has Actors
Differences
o Film cannot be seen live/on a screen
o Theater more limited
o