Theatre is both a building where dramatic performances take place and the performance art that occurs within it. It comes from the Greek word "theatron" meaning seeing place. Drama refers to the written script and actions of a play. Theatre involves live performance before an audience and includes elements like actors, costumes, and setting. It is a collaborative art form that brings together various roles and occupations to create a live experience for viewers.

1. What is the Theatre?

2. The word “theatre” comes from the Greek theatron which means “seeing place”

3. What is Drama? Comes from the Greek word dran which means “to do”.

4. Theatre - Drama Drama is something done - an action. Theatre is something seen - an action witnessed.

5. Which is it? Is it Theat re ? or Theat er ? Theat re is French/British Theat er is German They are pronounced identically & both spellings are incorporated into American usage. THEATRE THEATER

6. Theatre vs Drama Theatre and Drama are often used interchangeably, but they also have distinct meanings Theatre can mean a building, drama does not. Theatre refers to all the theatrical arts: architecture, the design, construction, marketing, etc. Drama focuses mainly on the written actions and the words of a play

7. Theatre vs Drama If we say something is “dramatic” we are suggesting actions that are compelling. When we call something “theatrical”, we are usually implying “showy” or sensational behavior.

8. Theater -is an art; it mirrors or reflects life (the concept of mimesis) A key principle of theater is selectivity, through it, various forms of art can achieve clarity, order and beauty rarely found in ordinary life. -Theater focuses on human beings. And even the performers play animals, inanimate objects or abstract ideas, theater concentrate on human concerns.

9. The impulse toward theater is universal. In every culture in recorded history or in anthropological studies, we find rituals religious ceremonies and celebrations that include elements of theater (e.g. performers, audience, costume, storytelling) Theater as transitory art. Theater performance changes from moment to moment as the audience encounters a series of shifting impressions and stimuli. A theater event is created by cumulative sights, sounds and impressions.

10. What do we need? ELEMENTS OF THEATER A person performing An audience A place ( the environment in which the theater event takes place) Director’s supervision of the production Purpose of theater piece Viewpoint of the playwright ( the creation of dramatic structure and dramatic characters) Visual and sound effects

11. What does theater mean? A building Metaphorically it can mean a place where surgeries or wars take place The players (and owners, managers, and technicians) who perform in a space -- a company. An occupation

12. Theatre architecture Proscenium Theatre Thrust Theater Arena Theater Black Box

13. Proscenium The 4 th wall removed

14. Thrust Theater Seats on 3 sides More “intimate”.

15. Arena Theatre Seats on all 4 sides Very intimate More emphasis on props & costumes than on scenery.

16. The Black Box A flexible space The “empty space”

17. Historical Theatre Architecture The Greek Theatre The skene

18. Historical Theatre Architecture Shakespeare’s Wooden “O”

19. Theatre as a Collaborative Art Form Troupes Playmakers Thespians

20. Occupations in Theatre Producing Directing Acting Designing Building Crewing Stage Management House Management and…………….

21. Playwriting (the one and only craft of the theatre that can be (and usually is) executed away from the theatre building and shops. The use of the word “play” – theatre is a kind of “playing” Think of child’s play (gamelike) , or “playing” cops and robbers (meaning impersonate).

22. Impersonation Unlike other forms of art - poetry, painting, sculpture, music, cabaret acts – the theatre involves actors impersonating characters The theater has a long tradition of using masks

23. Performance What is a performance? 2 people talking is communication 2 people talking for the benefit (attention, entertainment, enlightenment, or involvement) of someone else becomes a performance. Modes of performance Presentational vs representational

24. Samuel Taylor Coleridge “ The willing suspension of disbelief” Famously said theatre was……

25. Live Performance Living and breathing Audience is sharing the same “space” as the performers – live theatre creates a relationship among the audience members Actors can “control” their finished product on stage – there is no film editor who can chop out your scene after you have performed it.

26. Scripted and Rehearsed Although most modern performances are prepared according to written and well rehearsed scripts -- improvisation and ad- libbing contribute to the preparation process. But the text of a play, is not by itself, a play The play fully exists only in its performance

27. A “script” is not a “play” Words on paper……. create ideas of an author But it only becomes a “play” when it is per-formed, with structural patterns in motion, quick interplay, action, scenery, and costumes.

28. Is Theatre in danger of extinction? Is it an endangered species? More people have seen the Broadway musical Phantom of the Opera than have seen the movie Titanic . New theatres continue to be built each year 12.3 million spectators saw a Broadway show last year Theatre is unique - It is LIVE!

29. Where do we find Theatre in our daily lives? Sports Politics Education The Courts On the job (the interview!)

30. Where do we find Theatre in our daily lives? Family dynamics Religion Weddings Funerals Bar Mitzvahs Christenings