WHAT IS THEATER ?

I. DEFINITION AND HISTORY OF THEATER

DEFINITION OF THEATER

 Theater art is also known as drama as a play with live performances in which the action
is precisely planned to create a coherent and significant sense of drama.
 The word "theater" comes from the Greek
 theatron - the part of the Greek theater where the audience sat
 Its literal meaning is "a place for seeing."
 However for the Greeks, this implied more than the sense experience of vision which,
indeed, forms an important part of the theatrical production.
 Theater art is performed live. So, its performance is said to be immediate and
unrecoverable. And since it is live, it is exciting and presents interaction between actor and
spectator.
 Its magic begins when the house lights fade away and a shush spreads over the hall, then after a
few seconds of darkness, the stage lights go on.
 It is broadly categorized into three different forms, like. opera, pantomime, and creative
drama.

HISTORY OF THEATER
 Theater can be a form of literature because it tells a story, one that performers act out rather
than simply narrate.
 The earliest records of theatrical performances come from ancient Egypt beginning around 2500
BCE.
 Like later forms of theater, these performances emerged as part of religious rituals for the gods.
 They could include dance, music, and other elements meant to please the gods as well as
entertain and educate the audience.
 A passion play is a play about the life of a god, and the earliest recorded Egyptian passion play
tells the tale of the god Osiris.

Theatre History Timeline

Primitive Theater (?-600 BC)

 Very little is known about primitive theatre other than it was most likely used to re-enact
hunts.
 It might have then evolved from after a hunt, to before a hunt and became a ritual to bring
good luck.

Greek Theater

 Western theater history began with the ancient Greeks around the 6th century BCE. Before
formal, written plays emerged, the ancient Greeks performed rituals to honor Dionysus, god of
wine and fertility, and to express gratitude for a bountiful harvest.
  Gradually, the theatrical process became more formal as people built amphitheaters to house
the plays.
 Actors performed scripted plays for the public, and often wore stacked shoes to appear larger as
well as large masks to depict their characters so that patrons could see them from a distance.
 The masks traditionally depicted faces appropriate to the type of play.
 The two main types of Greek plays were tragedies and comedies. Sophocles, best known for his
play Oedipus Rex (Oedipus the King), was one of the most important tragic playwrights at the
time.

Roman Theater

 As Rome rose to power in the 3rd century BCE, the Romans copied and adapted much of Greek
culture as their own.
 This was true in theater; amphitheaters and plays were almost direct copies of Greek models.
Plautus and Seneca the Younger were two successful Roman playwrights.
 The comedies of Plautus featured stock characters and sexual intrigue. The tragic plays of Seneca
were traditionally read to small, private audiences rather than performed in public.

Medieval Theater

 During the Medieval period in Europe from approximately the 5th century CE to the 14th
century CE, the Catholic Church frowned upon formal theater, but people continued to perform
folk plays celebrating pagan festivals of seasonal birth and rebirth.
 To discourage these pagan practices and to interest and educate an illiterate audience about
Christian ideas, the Church began incorporating theater into the Mass and liturgical drama was
born.
 Mystery plays depicted Biblical events such as the Nativity, while miracle plays depicted the lives
of saints.
 Liturgical drama became so popular that eventually, performances moved outside of churches.
Traveling companies of professional players performed these plays in innyards and other public
spaces.
 Morality plays, dark allegorical plays which in many ways were sermons acted out on stage, also
appeared.

Renaissance Theater (1537 AD - 1660 AD)

 The first permanent theatre, the Red Lion, opened in 1567, and soon, many others
followed for example, The Theatre.
 The drama genre became a huge phenomenon in England.
 The theatres were generally built from plaster and timber, and were three stories tall.
 Many theatres were closed during the time of the plague.
 Significant playwrights include: William Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe, Ben Jonson

Restoration Theater (1660 AD - 1750 AD)

  Restoration theatre speaks of English comedies produced during that time period.
 Many of the performers who were on stage during this time became the first celebrities.
 The decline of comedy was due to two theatre companies converging, bringing a decline to the
amount of comedies being written.
 Significant playwrites include: George Etherege, William Wycherly, William Congreve

Romanticism Theater (1750 AD - 1850 AD)

 Napoleon led Europe away from Rationalism, into Romanticism.

 It was sometimes refered to as a return to the Middle Ages because of the return of the church.
 In the later years of Romanticism theatre, the industrial revolution evolved the theatres because
of things such as gas lighting.
 Significant playwrights include: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Gotthold Ephraim Lessing,
Friedrich Schiller

Realism Theater (1850 AD - 1875 AD)

 Realism focused on everyday drama, normal speech, and normal settings.

 Realism came around for three main reasons.
 One, August Comte developed a theory known as Positivism. Two, Charles Darwin published the
book called The Origin of Species.
 Three, Karl Marx created a political philosophy against ubanization.
 Significant playwrights include: Emile Augier, Henrik Ibsen, George Bernard Shaw

Modern Theater (1875 AD - 1915 AD)

 Modernism was a European movement that broke away from traditional forms of theatre and
arts.
 Modernism is often credited to the fallout World War 1.
 Significant playwrights include: Edward Albee, Caryl Churchill, Lillian Hellman

Musical Theater

 Musical theatre is a form of modern theatre that incorperates songs and dance into theatre.
 Many plays were aimed to urge racial harmony such as West Side Story.
 Musicals are very similar to operas except for a few factors.
 Musicals have much more spoken dialogue, and there is usually more dancing encorperated
within the song numbers.
 Significant playwrights include: Arthur Laurents, Elton John, Gaston Leroux

Philippine Theater

 Theater in the Philippines is as varied as the cultural traditions and the historical
influences that shaped it through the centuries.
 The dramatic forms that flourished and continue to flourish among the different
peoples of the archipelago include: the indigenous theater, mainly
 Malay in character, which is seen in rituals, mimetic dances, and mimetic customs; the
plays with Spanish influence, among which are the komedya, the sinakulo, the
playlets, the sarswela, and the drama; and the theater with Anglo-American
 influence, which encompasses bodabil and the plays in English, and the modern or
original plays by Filipinos, which employ representational and presentational styles
drawn from contemporary modern theater, or revitalize traditional forms from within or
outside the country.

II.PURPOSES IN THEATER

 Drama and Theatre both are pivotal outlets for self-expression and by using drama as a teaching
tool, students are involved in every way, be it intellectually, physically, socially or emotionally.
 The use of theater and art in education leads to holistic learning, accelerates personality
development and imparts students with crucial life skills, problem-solving skills, leadership,
cooperation and collaboration.
 Through this topic, we will see the importance of Drama and Art in education, their benefits,
role and objectives in the learning process.
 Theatre doesn’t only act as entertainment it holds up a mirror to society and influences
introspection.
 You can discover something new about yourself and the world you live in by watching what
unfolds in front of you.

I regard the theatre as the greatest of all art forms, the most immediate way in which a human
being can share with another the sense of what it is to be a human being.

-Oscar Wilde

III.FORMS AND TYPES OF THEATER

FORMS OF THEATER

1.Opera

 has been accepted warmly during the Renaissance period due to its versatility.
Theater and music display exceptional acting and are in perfect harmony and actors
singing skills. The best example of this is the world renowned Phantom of the Opera
2.Pantomimes
 keep the theme of folk tales as the primary element and symbolism occupies a
prominent position. It is organized in the form of masques, where characters wear
elaborate costumes and makeup.
3.Creative Drama
  is the modern version of drama, popularized mostly by youngsters, possessing
innate acting skills. Stage shows and theaters are organized in schools and
colleges, which give a platform to students for exhibiting their-talents.

Elements of Theater

1.The Performer.
 In acting, impersonation of character within a play and his responses and/or reactions
to the situation in which he gets involved are essential to projects.
 To become a senior actor, one must go beyond role-playing and impersonating. He must
be able to recreate the original character created by the playwright and be able to give
him a live body and soul that will somehow make him believable to the
audience within the context of the entire performance.
 The art and skills of acting are developed through the hard work and strict dedication to
one's craft; that is, the making of an actor does not end with having a pretty face and a
good physique. An actor must also have the following natural assets:
a. A resounding voice that can project well and register emotional manner;
b. A flexible and strong body that can move easily on stage and sensitive enough to convey
unspoken language;
c. A good memory not only for remembering lines, but also for recalling of
impressions and retention of events;
d. Mimetic skills that can initiate characters from reality; and
e. Sufficient amount of intelligence and imagination that will make him give justice
to his role. The actor should know the character he plays so that whatever he
does, his clothes, his speech, and movements must be in consonance to the
person he portrays. Likewise, he must observe his surroundings in real life and
absorb all possible impressions that will somehow help him give justice to his role.

2. The Director
 the function of the director is to present a play which he has interpreted and translated
into dramatic action, with complete devices as setting, sound, among others, in terms
of the emotional and intellectual concept of the playwright.
 The interpretation must be clear, interesting, and enjoyable because the success or
failure of the production is laid on the director's hand. Moreover as director, it is not
only aesthetic and technical knowledge are demanded for, but also managerial.
 He stands as the leader of the theater ensemble which should work harmoniously
to put the production. In this respect, the director can be assisted by the stage
manager who serves as the alter-ego and assumes responsibility whenever the
director is not suitable. As stage manager, one is supposed to be knowledgeable about
the play, and must have grouped fully the concept of the director.

3. Production Design.
 It is also called as mise-en-scene.
  It includes all the scenery and props, make-up and costume, lights, music, sound, and
other possible effects used in theater production.
 Production design is actually a collaborative effort of the technical artists in their
creative mind to translate auditory images with the dramatic vision of the director.
 Production design is used as a means to an end, and is not the end itself.

4. Theater Space.
 It is commonly known as the stage.
 It is said to be the acting area with the purpose of putting life into action where the
audience can see it.
 Traditionally, the stage is found within a theater, or sometimes been called auditorium or
hall.

Among the forms of theater space are as follows:

a) Proscenium or Picture-Frame Stage - it was introduced during the Italian Renaissance. It is

usually formal in auditoriums and halls. It is the most commonly used. The audience sits
facing the stage and usually the seats are arranged on levels increasingly towards the near
for better visibility.
b) Thrust or Trestle Stage - it was developed by the ancient Greeks and used for their play
festivals. The stage protrudes from the center of a structure which is built behind it, and the
audience sits in a semi-circle fronting it. The stage serves as the acting area and the building
behind it as part of the set
c) Booth Stage - it is described as an improvised acting area with open air and is commonly
used by travelling troupes who have no access to a theater or other venues. A platform is
made to rest on trestles; a curtain is stringed across it. to divide the acting area and the
backstage. Make-shift steps are provided at the sides to serve as the actor's entrances and
exits. The audience stands or may bring their own seats. This type of stage is commonly seen
in town fiesta.
d) Arena Stage or Theater-In-The-Round- This kind of space is often found outside the
theater. The acting area of this stage is located in the square or circle and the audience
surrounds it. In here, the audience is closer to the actor and therefore intimately involved
themselves within action.
e) The Created or Found Stage - this is a non-conventional theater staging for the acting
venue may be ordinary classrooms, lecture halls, the streets, restaurants, among others. The
objective in using these spaces are diverse such as to bring drama to people who can't afford
going to theater to see them; to call attention to socio-political issues; to experiment; or to
create new sensation.

5. Audience
 The performers have to present in front of anaudience and connect with them.
 They tend torespond to the energy the audience shows whilewatching the play
 6.Text
 This refers to the script. This must bepresent in a particular play or production

IV.ARTIST IN A THEATER PRODUCTION

THEATER PRODUCTION
 theatrical production, the planning, rehearsal, and presentation of a work.
 Such a work is presented to an audience at a particular time and place by live performers, who
use either themselves or inanimate figures, such as puppets, as the medium of presentation.
 A theatrical production can be either dramatic or nondramatic, depending upon the activity
presented.
8 Philippine National Artists for Theater
1.Lamberto Vera Avellana
2. Honorata “Atang” Marquez de la Rama-Hernandez
3. Wilfrido Maria Barredo Guerrero
4. Rolando Santos Tinio
5. Daisy Pardo Hontiveros-Avellana
6. Severino Tabat Montano
7. Salvador Floro Bernal
8. Amelia Ramolete Lapeña-Bonifacio

V.THEATER IN A NEW NORMAL

 Theaters have suffered greatly as a result of the pandemic, with shows being postponed
and venues closing, which has put a stop to schedules.
 But as theater is known for its adaptability, these venues have had to change in order to
thrive as life gradually returns to normal.

1.Cost Cutting
 Financial Pressure
 Cost-cutting Strategies

2.Going Virtual
 Virtual Performances
 Online Streaming

3.Covid Compliant Events

 Safety Protocols
 Theater Survivability
4.Example of Theaters in New Normal
 Full House Theater Company - Ang Huling El Bimbo: The Musical
 Cultural Center of the Philippines - Virgin Labfest