CATA 171

Intro to Theatre and Cinema

Chapter 1

What is Theatre?

 

I.               Theatre is Fun

a.     Storytelling

b.     Playful

c.     Educational

                                                              i.     Social Problems

                                                               ii.     Political Ideas

                                                                 iii.     Human Behavior

 

II.             Flying Fish and Dying Villains

 

III.           Defining Theatre

a.     Ten Traits of Theatre

                                                              i.     Live event

1.     different every time

2.     excitement of theatre comes from this tension

                                                               ii.     Actors

                                                                 iii.     Audience

1.     requires you to become more than a passive observer

2.     affect the outcome of the performance

                                                                iv.     Particular place

1.     usually theatre building or adapted space

                                                               v.     Particular time

1.     only when actors, technicians and audience convene

                                                                vi.     Present tense

1.     live, unlike videotape. Similar to watching a sporting event live rather than on tape

                                                                  vii.     Predetermined structure

1.     usually acts and scenes

                                                                   viii.     Understood conventions

1.     19^th cent. English poet and lit. critic Samuel Taylor Coleridge: Willing suspension of disbelief

        a. Stage Beauty (Billy Crudup and Claire Danes)

2.     fourth wall

3.     virtual time and place

4.     asides

5.     curtain call

                                                                 ix.     Communication through the 5 senses

1.     more than movies

2.     see from all angles (stereo)

3.     smell (Raisin in the Sun)

4.     touch (sometimes actors interact with audience)

 

                                                               x.     Lasting impact

1.     story of architect who hated a play

 

IV.           Why We Value Theatre

a.     Entertains us

b.     Makes us search for our humanity

                                                              i.     Shows how people behave in moments of celebration or stress

                                                               ii.     How people relate to their families, their societies, governments and deities

c.     Helps us appreciate other cultures

d.     Increases knowledge and expands thinking

e.     Equip us with analytical skills to help with other academic courses

f.      Arthur Miller said “The arts are a highway to the soul of the people. After the canons have stopped firing and the great victories of finance are reduced to mere surmise and long forgotten, it is the art of the people that confronts future generations.”

g.     Today we know the names of Sophocles and Shakespeare and forget the names of the great general or rich businessmen of those periods. Maybe future generations will forget the names of Colin Powell and Donald Trump and remember people like Arthur Miller