Welcome to TART 3 -- Ms. Ross -- aross@bcconline.com -- Barstow College

Theatre Appreciation

Lesson 1

Hello all and welcome to my class!! If you have any interest in theatre at all, I think you’re going to find this an enjoyable nine weeks. Theatre is my passion, so I look forward to teaching you about it.

A few things before we start…

By the time you’re reading this, you should have filled out the syllabus form, so you should understand a bit about what we’ll be doing in this class and what’s expected of you. Each week will pretty much be the same. Read the chapter(s), take the quiz, complete the assignment or the discussion questions. Simple.

Important: If you're reading this and you haven't yet submitted your syllabus, you're not "in the class". I don't put students in my roll book until they've submitted their syllabus. Not submitting your syllabus means you didn't "show up" to class. I always send a welcome email to all students who submit their syllabus. Students who don't submit their syllabus within the first week of class are dropped from the course

For each quiz, there will be 5 questions per chapter that you studied. All quizzes will be timed. You will be given 15 minutes for every 5 questions. Don't assume you can walk away from the computer after you start the quiz…you can't. And once you click on the quiz link, you can't change your mind. I've had students click on the link to try and see how many questions there are and then click out, intending to take it later. Don't do that. The quiz will come to me as having been taken but scoring "0". If you've looked at the test, then you'll have the advantage when you decide to take it and that's not fair. The questions will come from the book, as you're expected to read it.

AND VERY IMPORTANT…don't hit "enter" during the quiz. Wait until the end and press "submit." If you press the wrong button, the computer will think you're done with the test. I can't help you if that happens. This is your warning.

Please make sure to check the Instructor’s Area on the discussion board often. I will be explaining more of what I want from assignments as well as upcoming productions for you to possibly use for your Performance Review

When you post the answers to your discussion questions, don’t suppose you’re done and never visit that board again. It doesn’t work that way in this class. I will be reading your answers and posting questions, my thoughts, or asking you to expand on yours. If you don’t answer, I will assume the assignment is incomplete. In fact, you will only get half of the possible points if you don't go back and respond to my question afterwards. The discussion boards are just that…DISCUSSION. It’s about participation. Since we can’t talk verbally with immediate feedback as we would in a classroom, I must utilize the discussion boards for this purpose.

Each week, you will take a quiz. Some weeks you will also have an assignment to complete. Some weeks you will have a discussion question to complete. You won’t always have an assignment or discussion question. Make sure to follow the instructions at the bottom of each lesson. The only assignment you have besides the usual weekly ones is the review. I want you to see live theatre. You have eight weeks to see one. Check the homepage link for a guideline for what I want in the review. If you have a problem, please read the syllabus for your alternative and its instructions. DO NOT WAIT UNTIL THE LAST MINUTE TO DO THIS.

You may work ahead. I have no problem with students who want to turn work in early, so if you have the time and you want to do so, please feel free. Just know that you can't complete the final until the last week of class.

ANOTHER IMPORTANT NOTE: I understand that students take online classes for a variety of reasons. Please understand that this is a nine-week class. That means it's accelerated. If you took an online class because you thought it would be easier, then you may be surprised. It's a great way to get a lot of classes done in a shorter time and it's great that you can do things on your own time, at your own pace. But you must also be self-motivated and pay attention to deadlines. I try to make my class as user-friendly as possible, but you need to keep on top of things.

Also, you've submitted the syllabus saying you understand what is expected of you and you understand how my class is run. I can't let my policies slide for some students simply because they allowed time to get away from them. It takes a great deal of self-discipline and time management to successfully complete an online class. Follow the instructions for the class and you will pass with flying colors.

If you ever have any questions, please don’t hesitate to email or call me, but please understand that I won't be available on weekends or holidays. However, please consult with the syllabus before contacting me. I try very hard to make sure everything you need to know is there. Also, keep track of your scores and assignments. As soon as I grade them, I input them into my grade book, but I AM human and mistakes can be made. Check with me as often as you want to for an update on your grade. I'll be glad to let you know.

My lecture here will supplement the textbook. I'll be making comments here and there to touch on what you read as well as add to what you don't.

The first lesson will be a bit long as you'll be studying 4 chapters. Don't worry…not every week will be like that.

And now….on with the show!

CHAPTER 1: What is Performance?

Theatre

What is theatre?

From "The Theatrical Imagination" by Huberman, Ludwig, & Pope:

The Life cycle

Immediacy of Live Theatre

The Miracle of Theatre Art

Regarding the mechanics of theatre:

If you write a novel, you have created the art by yourself. You need a publisher and printer to get it out to the public/audience, but the novel can still be read in its most basic form and still be art.

If you write a play, it's not "theatre" until it's produced on the stage.

Theatre requires a collaborative team effort. You must have:

Performance

As the text states, there are 5 characteristics for all performances:

Not only does it take a whole army of people to create the theatre performance you see…from the designers to the directors, from the actors to the crew, from the custodians to the box office…but the space and arrangement is very important. And most important…the audience.

The text also speaks of the purpose of theatre:

There can be no theatre without an audience. And what is so magical about theatre vs. film is that the actors, although they pretend you're not there, are incredibly conscious that you're there. They have to be. They have to pause when you laugh. They hear you cough. They hear you talk. They feel your energy in the room. And they feed on that.

You, as an audience member, are as much a part of the performance you're watching as the actor is. You are as responsible for whether a performance is "good" as the actor is. Something to think about, isn't it? If you're not tuned in to the performance, the actors feel it and it affects their performance. You don't hear them when they go backstage and comment "great audience!" or "this audience sucks!" If the audience doesn't laugh or respond in other verbal or subtle ways, the actors feel it. Sometimes, an actor might say "you know, they're really quiet tonight but you can tell they're really listening." You might be in the dark, but there is a shared energy between you and the actors.

And because there is also a shared energy between you and the other audience members, the arrangement of the audience is also important to the success of the performance. The closer you are together, the more you can feed off each other. The more scattered you are among the seats, the more alone you feel and less apt to respond openly.

As an example, I was lucky enough to perform in a national tour. We played many gorgeous, gorgeous theatres. However, one of the ugliest theatres gave us one of the best audiences we'd had. The aisles were only on the sides so the rows were longer. The blocks of seats were also severely raked. The "rake" is the slope of the audience to the stage. Look at this image: Seating See how the audience is pretty straight back? They walk up a slight ramp to the back of the auditorium. Now look at this image: Seating Notice how high the seats are and how long the rows are? This bunches the audience members relatively closer together as well as placing them closer to the stage. When they're physically closer, they feel more open to responding verbally and letting their reactions be heard. This makes for a better experience for both the actors and the audience.

The differences between mediated and live performances include money, the use of a camera, where the focus is, who the actors are, the ephemerality of the medium, and the audience.

The functions of performance are:

and/or

Theatre Producing Contexts in the United States

There are several different types of theatre.

Theatre as Business

There are two types of professional theatre: Commercial and Not-for-Profit. To understand the difference, visit http://www.sc.edu/uscpress/books/2010/3907x.pdf.

The primary sources for income are ticket sales, donations, and investors.

Case Study: The Disneyfication of Broadway http://www.thecaptainslog.org/2011/03/16/hollywood-ideas-monopolize-broadway/

　

CHAPTER 2: What is a Text?

What is a Text

As you will read in the text, Aristotle's six elements of a play are Plot, Character, Thought, Diction, Music, and Spectacle.

To give more detail to the characteristics of Melodrama, it should have:

What is the Experience of Theatre: Stage vs. Page

Theatre is experienced on the stage, not the page. The script is not the end result of theatrical work. Productions will happen within temporal and cultural contexts.

Parts of drama are:

Genre means the "type." These include:

(or in even more detail, from "The Theatrical Imagination"):

In our world, we think of "comedy" and "drama". This is not accurate. Drama is the form. "Comedy" or "tragedy" are two genres under its umbrella.

Tragedy - Deals with the consequential errors (or tragic mistakes) of admirable characters placed in impossibly difficult situations in which they are forced to make ethical decisions.

Comedy - The depiction of humorous actions that ridicule and laugh at human imperfections.

There are many types of comedies

Comedy of manners - codes of behavior and social etiquette

Domestic comedy - Home and hearth

Satire - Public figures and institutions subject to ridicule

Burlesque - Performances, productions, and other art lampooned

Farce - Average human being as an undeserving, universal victim of circumstance

Comedy of Ideas - Using humor to draw attention to serious issues

Melodrama - The dramatization of a temporarily serious action that always upholds conventional morality. Good always wins over evil.

Mixed Genres - "Serio-comedy", "tragic farce" etc. When other genres are mixed…when more than one genre is needed to tell the story.

How is "drama" different from life? Life is temporal and actions are chaotic. Drama is theatrical and actions are ordered.

Are plays literature?

I know that you've all probably read a few plays in your English classes throughout junior high and high school. Plays can be used for literary study, but the fact remains that plays were written for the stage and until you see it on the stage, it's just words on paper. It's the portrayal by a human being that makes the play come to life and take on real meaning.

We don't call them "playWRITE"s. They're called "playWRIGHT"s. A "wright" is a "master maker." A builder. That's what a playwright does.

There is never a real finished product with a play. It will be a little different every single time its produced and performed. Therefore, even the analysis of the written work may be void next to a director's unusual take on the script.

Scripts

As you've read, the play is almost never published without first existing in a live performance. Shakespeare's plays were published in book form seven years after his death. Two of his actors put them together and if not for those two men, our language and our culture would be very different. He didn't write them to be read by the public. In fact…a bit of trivia for you: The idea of an actor's "role" came from Shakespeare's time. Each actor got a rolled piece of paper with their character and all of the lines on it. They didn't get a whole script. Interesting, huh?

Plays for the Stage

As I basically told you above, plays must be performed to be fully realized. That's what they're meant for.

Flexibility

What must be very hard for playwrights is that they must let go a bit of their work. Directors and actors will make all sorts of choices that might not gel with what the playwright intended. Such is the art form.

Plots, Parts, and Understanding

The plot parts are:

Different plot types include:

Types of characters:

 

CHAPTER 3: Who Decides What is Good Performance?

The Critic

There are different types of reviews

Theatrical Criticism

Critics can have great power.

The New York Times had had some very powerful critics throughout history. There are even some theatres names after a couple of them.

Brooks Atkinson

Walter Kerr

One very controversial critic, Frank Rich, was nicknamed "The Butcher of Broadway."

(Some producers have gotten smart about usurping critics' power. Producer Cameron Mackintosh's brilliance in marketing and branding his productions have made them hits even when critics didn't like them. http://www.cameronmackintosh.com/)

The reason critics have maintained a necessity is based on money. You may not care what a movie critic says when it only costs $7 bucks to see a movie. When it costs $50 or more to see theatre, you may read those reviews a bit more carefully. Even in Las Vegas, a Broadway hit like Phantom of the Opera or The Jersey Boys is over $100 bucks.

　

CHAPTER 4: Where Can Performance Be Done?

The Greeks invented the art of theatre

Theatron is Greek for "seeing place." This is where we get the word "theatre."

We have several "seeing places" today:

There is some controversy in the United States about the spelling of theatre. You've probably noticed that I use the "re" ending instead of "er." I do this because of where the word originally came from. But actually, what I personally do is use theatRE when referring to the concept and I say theatER when speaking of the place. (Just an interesting side note)

　

Well, that's it for Lesson 1. We covered four chapters. The next lesson won't be so long. Here's what you need to do now…

(click the link)

1. Take the Quiz

2. Complete the Discussion Question

　

Study Guide for Quiz:

Chapter 1:

  • How Performances Differ
  • Performance as Ritual
  • Performance as Art
  • Live and Mediated Theatrical Performances

Chapter 2:

  • Introduction
  • Aristotle's Six Elements
  • Genres

Chapter 3:

  • The Audience as Community
  • The Audience in History
  • The Critic

Chapter 4:

  • Theatre Configurations
  • Producing Contexts

Discussion Question:

Please read the following websites:

About Fan Faire

The Show Must Go On- Or Should It?

Audiences, end these noises off

Calling out bad behavior by theater audiences

Theaters' worst acts take place in the seats

"And another thing..."

And watch the following videos:

Patti LuPone in "Gypsy"

Hugh Jackman on Broadway

In our age of movies and television, we have a LOT of rude theatre/concert goers. Being the director of both the theatre productions and the choir concerts at Barstow College, I couldn't tell you how many rude people I've either dealt with or witnessed. It's pretty amazing...and discouraging.

From the list you read, have you found yourself being guilty of any of them? Are there any of the rules you don't agree with? Why? Are there any rules that have been left out that you believe should be added? What are they and why?

Remember…these rules don’t necessarily apply to a rock concert or the movies. These are more in regards to seeing live theatre or going to a more formal concert.　

Please support all opinions and respect each other.

IMPORTANT: Remember that your discussion questions are not completed until you've responded to my follow-up. I check the boards once or twice a week so be patient.

click here to go to the home page click here to email the instructor click here to go to the discussion group click here to take the quiz