Highlights from Chapter 1, The Enjoyment of Theatre

1. Theatre=Performer+Spectator
The foundation of theatre is the
performer and spectator, but writers,
designers, technicians, composers, etc.,
make theatre magical—collaboration is
key.
Theatre—like any art form—examines
human nature and seeks to find
truth. It is about people: past,
present, and future.
Theatre is ephemeral...here one
minute, gone the next. And no
two performances are exactly
alike.

2. 1. Describe your first performance experience
– performer or spectator.
2. Name the best live performer you’ve ever
seen.
3. If ticket and travel prices were a non-issue,
what type of performance would you like to
see?
4. Do you need a lot of money to make great
theatre?
5. What traits do film and theatre share/not
share?

3. •Theatre’s purpose is to enlighten and entertain.
•Theatre is a special kind of art—artificial, self-aware, and
produced in order to get an aesthetic response.
•Theatre uses a special kind of performer—the actor—who must
impersonate a character, while also maintaining a sense of
presence or “readiness.”
•Theatre has a “strong sense of now.”
•Theatre has a very concentrated and
intense “world.”
•It derives from ritual and storytelling.
'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time’ Retrieved
from http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/race/tonys-
curious-titles-2015s-nominated-790959
Julie Taymor Mmonwu

4. Presentational
and
Representational
Performance...
It’s a mixture.
John Leguizamo’s Freak
Kinky Boots, music and lyrics by Cyndi Lauper,
book by Harvey Fierstein, based on the film by
Tim Firth and Geoff Deane
Ibsen’s Ghosts
Retrieved from:
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x133a3o_john-
leguizamo-freak-john-leguizamo-freak_fun
Ensemble Theatre Company presents GHOSTS.Wyatt
Fenner, Jessica Spaw and Maureen Silliman (L to R).
Photo: David Bazemore. Retrieved from:
http://ensembletheatre.com/photos/Ghosts/Ghosts11.
jpg.php The original Kinky Boots cast(Credit: Matthew
Murphy). Retrieved
from:http://parade.com/373774/jerylbrunner/why
-the-hit-show-kinky-boots-is-a-family-musical/
Reduced Shakespeare
Company--Hamlet
Anna Deavere Smith
Twelfth Night
(Original Practices Production)
Jim Gaffigan’s Mr. Universe