Theater Week 2

Art & Fear

I
 They used to do It for themselves or God, now we are scared of an audience or repeating
ourselves or others
 “Fate in your own hands but your hands are weak”
 Art is learned, talent means less; it is made by ordinary people (overcome weakness),
making art and viewing art are different
 Artists feel alone but no one really needs to see your art; failed pieces are essential
 You learn by doing; people who care about your work care about you
 Art making was here long before art was (think cavemen painting on walls)
II
 Learn how to not quit
o Don’t wait for the right moment
 Quitting is different than stopping; quitting happens once
 Don’t let your current goal become your only goal
 Art students ending is graduation
 Operation for not quitting: find friends, think small
 Line between art and artist is very thin; shows who you are
o Fear about art is fear about the artist; challenge your fears
 Vision is always ahead of execution
 Imagination becomes less useful the further you get into art
o The hardest part is the start
 Piece you make one step removed from what you imagined
 The passage is slow, your mind is stronger than your body
 Materials have potential and limits
o Only thing you really hope to control
 Uncertainty makes for a long life but is necessary to success
 Art happens between you and something
 Control is not the key, you just need a sense of what you want
Textbook
 Impulse to perform has always existed, even before Greeks
o Cavemen with their walls
 The primary question we still ask of one who has witnessed a show is not of theme but of
story. What is it about? It is no accident that all world religions teach through parables
 Think church is a ritual but its kind of art
 Early Africa told stories
 Learning to play is learning to act
o Important for our development and increasing imagination
 How to read a play: closet dramas are meant to be read not watched
 Theater are sports are the same except theater has expectations from playwrights and a set
ending
o Many people work on it but usually one person gets their name on it
 So many ways to read a play if there isn’t enough detail
 All have a protagonist, antagonist, point of attack (where it picks up), exposition, rising
action, climax, falling action, denouncement (loose ends resolved)
o Late point of attack example: Oedipus the King by Sophocles
 Exposition: background
 Rising action: tension builds
 The Bourgeois Gentleman made twitters for their people