The document discusses key aspects of audience participation and analysis in live theater. It notes that the audience must choose to engage and concentrate more than with other mediums. The experience can vary depending on seat location and whether it's the first or second time seeing a show. When analyzing a performance, one should consider elements like acting style, costumes, and whether actors seem genuinely engaged with each other. A criticism is a written analysis and evaluation of a theatrical production.

1. CHAPTER 3

2. AUDIENCE MEMBER’S ACTIVE
PARTICIPATION
• The audience member must choose what to watch.
• Live theatre takes more concentration than film or tv.
• The audience member is involved in two-way communication
with the actors.
• The willing suspension of disbelief. “I do believe in fairies! I do!
I do!”

3. THEATER ETIQUETTE
• It's NOT OK for audience members to talk quietly during a
theatrical performance.
• The actors do not expect the interruption.
• No cell phones or flash photography of any kind.

4. INDIVIDUAL EXPERIENCE
• Where you are seated in the theatre can make a difference in
how you experience the performance.
• The meaning of a play or a moment in the play can become
something quite different for each audience member.
• Observation: Recognition of what happened.
• Interpretation: Your response to that observation. “What did
that action mean?”

5. SEEING A SHOW TWICE?
• If the audience is more or less responsive than the first time, your
experience is likely to be different.
• You probably wont have as strong of an emotional connection with the
material because you already know what is going to happen.
• You have increased aesthetic distance the second time.
• Seeing a production more than once is likely to raise your own awareness
of your skills and limitations in analysis.
• A performance has its own unique life each time it occurs.

6. ANALYZING ACTING
• Did the actors' physical bearing seem consistent with the
words being spoken? (Clint Eastwood in Grand Torino)
• Is the actor setting an appropriate tempo for the character?
• Did the actors seem to be listening and reacting to one
another?

7. ACTING TOOLS
• Although a character's words may define or set the tone for
emotionality, nonverbal behavior usually underscores,
enhances, or even contradicts the spoken dialogue.
• William Gillette spoke of "the illusion of the first time,“
• Subtext. “little window or TV above their head”

8. WHAT IS “STYLE”
• manner of expression and methods of onstage behavior as
they affect composition and performance.

9. STYLES
• Style is dictated by the production team it can be:
• Representational
• Presentational
• Imposing a new performance style on an old play might
make the material more accessible to a modern audience.

10. REPRESENTATIONAL
• Crafted realistically for look and function.
• Practicals such as sinks, lamps, phones, etc. all work.
• Built for believability.

14. PRESENTATIONAL
• Not meant to resemble everyday life.
• Authentic appearance is not important.
• May be stylized, abstracted, or suggestive.
• Should still be interesting and functional.

15. STYLIZED
• Artistic representation

18. ABSTRACTED
• Think abstract art.

21. SUGGESTIVE
• Leave some blanks for the audience to fill in.
• Give them suggestions but not the whole picture.

25. ANALYZING COSTUMES
• Is the costume appropriate to the character wearing it?
• Is the costume's relationship to the costumes of other
characters in the play appropriate?

26. CRITICISM
• A piece of writing that includes analysis and evaluation of a
theatrical production.
• Broadway producers frequently close a show if opening
night reviews are poor.
• Otherwise they run as long as they are making money.

27. WRITING ABOUT A PERFORMANCE
• Soon after seeing the show, write down your sensory impressions.
• Do not get so caught up in note taking that you forget to be an
audience member.
• Be as objective as possible in providing evidence.
• Be an audience member first and a student second.
• Watching the DVD does not count.

28. WRITING ABOUT A PERFORMANCE
• Context of performance: Where are you? What did you
expect?
• Artistic intent: What was the production trying to achieve?
Did it succeed?