Theater Week 1

Textbook (p3-24)
 Think of it as a structure that houses other domains of knowledge. – on studying theater
 Anxious, never the same, so many moving parts
 Connects us to our past
 Basic elements: a space, and boundaries agreed on by the performer and the audience; not
even a script (improv)
 Liberal arts: arts befitting a freeman; anything separate from math and science; anything
beautiful and delicate
 Now, some things may not be beautiful, but we consider it art
 Aesthetics, a branch of philosophy that deals with beauty and taste
 So many different ways to talk about art and define it
o Oscar Wilde “we want to create it, not to define it”
 Theater is imitation of human action
 Aristotle could be known as the first drama critic
 We mimic and copy people as empathy in normal life
 Theatre needs a pretense of self—a presentation of character
 Theatre is often highly collaborative. Although the actor is its only requirement, theatre
has developed numerous artistic and support personnel such as directors, designers, and
stage managers who may contribute to the final product
 Live performance is so different than tv or even reading a book; the viewer is not in
charge
o No true reproduction (ephemeral)
 Exchange in energy between actor and audience (soliloquys)
 How to see a play in 1833 on page 12-13
 Actions on stage forge what we call a convention, an unspoken agreement between actor
and audience concerning a fictional reality. As long as this covenant is unbroken, other
fictions can be built upon it
 Struggle with themes, could turn into racism
 drama therapy is described by its national association as when “participants are invited to
rehearse desired behaviors, practice being in relationships, expand and find flexibility
between life roles, and perform the change they wish to be and see in the world”
 Think like living stations!
 Engaged theatre, drama that aspires to promote dialogue and social justice through
performance
 Verbatim plays from historical events (examples on page 21-24)
The Role of Storytelling in the Theatre of the Twenty-First Century – Anne Bogart
 Telling stories creates a bridge with empathy, which is ironic since we know how to take
things apart
 o Look like mad people, tell stories people won’t believe, but it will build bridges
 Stories create memory and identity, make things easier to understand (slavery), and get
unstuck
 More powerful to tell your own story; get your point of view\
 Tell stories effectively by being articulate in the face of uncertainty, find the right words
 Impulse to tell a story helps fundraise
 More than one story in a play, not just the plotline but the actors and the audience getting
along
  He said in an interview that when he’s in concert and he gets to the end of a sonata, and
he gets to the chord just before the final chord, he lifts his hands, and silently asks the
audience how long they will let him wait before he plays the last chord. That, to me, is
the heartbeat of the theatre, and a thing that, as we go on, we need to explore. Because
it’s what makes us unique
Class Notes
 Aristotle’s work
 Exposition  rising action  climax  falling action  resolution
 Conventions of theatre
o Sitting watching, clapping, breaking into song
o Willing suspension of disbelief: we know everything is made up but we agree to
believe it for the time being
 Presentational vs Representational theater
o 1st is more acknowledging the audience and aware its theater
 Breaking the 4th wall
o 2nd not doing that