Transcript Chapter 1: The Nature of Theatre

Chapter 1: The Nature of Theatre
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Origins in ritual practices

Theatre as a form is at least 2500 years old
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It has been as varied as the cultures in
which it has appeared
The Nature of Theatre
The role/function of theatre in society has
fluctuated over time
Examples:
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Theatre as religious activity
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Theatre as traveling performance
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Theatre as entertainment
The Nature of Theatre
The value and respectability of theatre has been a
matter of debate
Examples:
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Theatre forbidden/banned because considered a form of
lying
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Theatre as a truthful reflection of human behavior
What do YOU think?
1. What is the role/function of theatre in
your society today?
2. How does live theatre performance differ
from mediated performance forms such as
film and television?
3. Do you consider theatre to be a form of
lying or a reflection of truth? Why?
The Basic Elements of Theatre
3 Basic Elements of theatre:
(1) What is performed
(2) The Performance
(3) The Audience
The most basic definition of theatre is: someone
performing something for someone else.
A performs B for C
(Eric Bentley)
What is Performed
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Many types of activities may be considered theatre
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What is the essence of theatrical performance?
Possibilities:
• The staged performance of a text
• Storytelling
•
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Since theatre has a broad range of possibilities, the
essence of What is Performed is difficult to define
Therefore theatre, as a performing art, is difficult to
define
The Performance
The Performance translates the potential of a script, scenario,
or plan into actuality.
Key Components of the Performance include:
• Performance Space:
Where the performance takes place and what the
relationship is between the performers and the audience
• Artistic Collaboration:
How the playwright, director, designers, and others work
together to create the performance
• Theatrical Elements:
Scenery, Costumes, Music, Lighting, and other effects that
contribute to the performance
The Audience
“The only thing that all forms of theatre have in common is the
need for an audience.” Peter Brook
The Audience:
• Completes the cycle of
Creation/Communication
• Provides Immediate Feedback to the
Performers
3-Way Interaction:
Performers
Audience
Audience
Performers
Audience
Audience
Theatre as a Form of Art
What is art? How is art defined?
Pre-18th century:
Art = the systematic application of known
principles to achieve some predetermined result
18th century:
Distinction made between Useful and Fine Arts
Useful vs. Fine Arts
Useful Arts =
Arts that can be taught and mastered through
specific techniques
Fine Arts =
Products of genius that cannot be reduced to rules
or principles
• Literature (including Drama)
• Painting
• Music
• Dance
Popular Culture vs. Elitist Culture
Popular Culture
Reflects tastes of the general public
Theatre that appeals to popular culture = entertainment,
storytelling, and familiar character types and situations
Elitist Culture
Reflects tastes of a smaller group with particular
standards
Theatre that appeals to elitist culture = seeks new types of
artistic expression, challenges views and assumptions, and
raises questions
What do YOU think?
The text compares theatre with games, stating that
both rely upon conventions.
1. What is a convention? How do you define that
term?
2. Name some conventions of a particular game.
3. Name some conventions of theatre.
4. How are these conventions similar or different?
Purposes of Art
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Art as a means to understand one’s world
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Like other disciplines, such as history, art seeks to
discover and record patterns in human experience.
•
While historians, scientists, and other scholars appeal
to the mind/intellect, artists appeal to the senses.
Elements of Theatre Spectatorship
“Willing Suspension of Disbelief”
•
Term was coined by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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Refers to the fact that we know that the events of the
play are not real; however, we agree, during the
experience of the performance, not to disbelieve the
events of the play.
•
Example:
•
When a character kills another character onstage,
we do not rush to the stage to help the victim, yet
we may still weep or feel an emotional response to
the action.
Elements of Theatre Spectatorship
Esthetic Distance
Empathy
We are detached
enough from the
performance to view it
with some objectivity
Feeling of
involvement with
the performance
Esthetic distance and empathy seem to be contradictory
concepts, but they balance each other in performance through
the audience’s “willing suspension of disbelief.”
Special Qualities of Theatre
Lifelikeness
Theatre recreates everyday experiences.
Ephemerality
Theatre is live performance, and becomes a part of the past
immediately after it occurs.
Objectivity
Theatre “presents both outer and inner experience through
speech and action.”
Special Qualities of Theatre
Complexity
Theatre combines varied elements such as movement,
lighting, and sound while also drawing from all of the
other arts.
Immediacy
Theatre is psychologically immediate, because it transpires
in the simultaneous presence of live actors and spectators
in the same room.
What do YOU think?
How do these Special Qualities define the strengths
and weaknesses of theatre?
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Lifelikeness
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Ephemerality
•
Objectivity
•
Complexity
•
Immediacy
Art and Value
Theatre as a Humanizing Force
Understanding through role-playing and observation
Theatre as Cultural Expression
Understanding various cultures through their theatre
Multiple Types of Intelligence
1.
Linguistic/Verbal
2.
Logical/Mathematical
3.
Musical
4.
Spatial
5.
Bodily/Kinesthetic
6.
Interpersonal
7.
Intrapersonal
Something to Think About: How does theatre incorporate
multiple intelligences?
Making Connections:
Chapter 1 encourages us to access the value of art in our lives
Something to think about:
(1) Make a list of all of the forms of art that enhance
your life.
(2) Consider how your life would change without
these art forms (either for the positive or
negative).
(3) Consider ways in which you can share the art in
your life with others.