Theatre: The Lively Art » (7th Edition)

Edwin Wilson, City University of New York.

Alvin Goldfarb, Illinois State University.

Features in this book:

• Color: The Lively Art is four-color throughout. Additionally, the entire illustration program has been revised to include photos from current productions and impress upon students the vibrance and diversity of the theater.
• Photo Essay: From the Illinois Shakespeare Festival production of All's Well That Ends Well, this new feature documents the process of creating a piece for the theater from the building of the set through the closing curtain.
• Theater History: Unlike The Theater Experience, The Lively Art includes coverage of the historical evolution of the theater in addition to the coverage of theatrical elements. Timeline of Each Historical Period: As in the Third Edition, the Fourth includes timelines of each period (Greco-Roman, Medieval, Renaissance, etc . . .) that illustrate the relationship between theatrical developments and cultural and historical events.
• Living History: To further enrich the historical sections of The Lively Art, each is introduced with a narrative description of attending a performance of the period. These sections give students an appreciation of the historical development of the experience of the theater, in addition to the development of the form and content.
• Play Synopses: Another popular supplement to the historical information is the synopses of plays from each period. Among the plays included are Sophocles' "King Oedipus," Kiyotsugo's "Sotoba Komachi," Molière's "Tartuffe," Chekhov's "The Cherry Orchard," Brecht's "Mother Courage and Her Children," and Hansberry's "A Raisin in the Sun."
• Getting Started in the Theater: A popular and retained feature of previous editions, these boxed sections include first-person descriptions by actors, designers, directors, and others of their introduction to, first jobs in, and love for, the theater.
• Coverage of Traditional Asian Theater: Addressing the three major Asian theatrical traditions--those of India, China, and Japan--The Lively Art describes the performance techniques, spaces, forms, and styles that define each.

Introduction

Experiencing Theater

Theater as an Art Form

What is Art?/The Art of Theater

Summary

Part 1: Creating Theatre

Chapter 1: Audiences and Critics

The Theater Audience

The "Audience Factor"/ How the Audience

Participates/ Diversity of Audiences

African American Theater

Asian American Theater

Hispanic Theater

Native American Theater

Feminist Theater

Gay and Lesbian Theater

The Theater Critic

What Is Criticism?/ Critics and Reviewers/ Preparing for Criticism/ Criteria for Criticism/ Descriptive versus Prescriptive Criticism

Summary

Chapter 2: Stage Performers A Historical Perspective: Demands of Classical Acting Three Challenges of Acting Mastering the Craft of Acting/ Making Characters Believable/ Synthesis and Integration Judging Performances Summary

Chapter 3: Directors and Producers

The Director

Evolution of the Director/ The Auteur Director/ The Director at Work/ The Director's Collaborators

The Producer or Manager

Producers in Commercial Theater/Noncommercial Theaters

Summary

Chapter 4: Theater Spaces

Proscenium or Picture-Frame Stage: History and Characteristics

Thrust Stage: History and Characteristics

Arena Stage: History and Characteristics

Created or Found Spaces

Multifocus Environments

All-Purpose and Experimental Spaces

Summary

Chapter 5: Designers: Secenery and Costumes

Scene Design

The Scene Designer's Objectives/ Physical Aspects of Scene Design/ The Process of Scene Design

Costume Design

The Costume Designer's Responsibilities/ The Costume Designer's Objectives/ Elements of Costume Design/ The Costume Designer's Collaborators

Summary

Chapter 6: Lighting and Sound

Stage Lighting

Lighting in Theater History/ Objectives of Lighting Design/ Qualities of Stage Lighting/ The Lighting Designer's Resources/ The Lighting Designer's Collaborators

Sound Design

Sound Reproduction and Sound Reinforcement/ Sound Technology

Special Effects in Lighting and Sound

Summary

Chapter 7 THE PLAYWRIGHT: SUBJECT, FOCUS, PURPOSE, and VIEWPOINT

The Playwright's Centrality

The Playwright's Tasks

Subject

Focus and Emphasis

Dramatic Purpose

Point of View: Dramatic Genres

What is Genre?/ Tragedy/ Comedy/ Heroic Drama/ Melodrama/ Domestic or Bourgeois Drama/ Tragicomedy

Summary

Chapter 8: The Text: Dramatic Genres

Structure in Drama

Essentials of Dramatic Structure/ Creating a Dramatic Structure/ Two Basic Structures: Climactic and Episodic/ Other Dramatic Structures

Creating Dramatic Characters

Types of Dramatic Characters/ Juxtaposition of Characters

Summary

Chapter 9: Profile of Production

Part 2: Theater Tradition and Theater Today

Chapter 10: Greek and Roman Theater

Origins of Theater G

reece

Background: The Golden Age of Greece/ Theater and Culture: Greek Theater Emerges/ Greek Tragedy/ Greek Comedy/ Theater Production in Greece/ Dramatic Criticism in Greece: Aristotle/ Later Greek Theater

Rome

Background: Rome and Its Civilization/Theater and Culture in Rome/Popular Entertainment in Rome/Roman Comedy: Plautus and Terence/Roman Tragedy: Seneca/Dramatic Criticism in Rome: Horace/Theater Production in Rome/Decline of Roman Theater

Summary

Chapter 11: Asian and Medieval Theater

The Middle Ages

Background: Medieval Europe/Theater and Culture in the Middle Ages/Medieval Drama: Mystery, Miracle, and Morality Plays/Medieval Theater Production

Asia

Background: Asian Theater/Theater in India/Theater in China/Theater in Japan

Summary

Chapter 12: Renaissance Theater

Italy

Background: The Renaissance Era/Italian Theater: Commedia dell'Arte/ Italian Dramatic Rules: The Neoclassical Ideals/Theater Production in Italy

England

Background: Elizabethan England/Elizabethan Drama/Elizabethan Theater Production/Theater After Elizabeth's Reign

Spain

Background: The Spanish Golden Age/Spanish Drama/Theater Production in Spain

France Background: France in the Seventeenth Century/French Drama: The Neoclassical Era/Theater

Production in France

Summary

Chapter 13: Theater from 1660 TO 1875

The English Restoration

Background: England in the Seventeenth Century/Restoration Drama: Comedies of Manners/Theater

Production in the Restoration

The Eighteenth Century

Background: A More Complex World/Eighteenth-Century Drama: New Dramatic Forms/Theater Production in the Eighteenth Century

The Nineteenth Century

Background: A Time of Social Change/Theater in Nineteenth-Century Life/Nineteenth-Century Dramatic

Forms/Theater Production in the Nineteenth Century

Summary

Chapter 14: Modern Theater: 1875 TO 1945

The Birth of Realism

Background: The Modern Era/Theatrical Realism/Realistic Playwrights /Realism and Naturalism/Producers of Realism: Independent Theaters/Realistic Theater between 1915 and 1945 De

Partures from Realism

Antirealist Playwrights: Ibsen, Strindberg, and Wedekind/ Symbolism/ Antirealist Designers: Appia and Craig/Russian Theatricalism: Meyerhold/Early Eclectics/De

Parture From Realism: 1915-1945

Totalitarianism, the Second World War, and Theater

Summary

Chapter 15: Modern Theater: 1945 TO 1990

Postwar Realistic Theater

Background: The Postwar Era/American Selective Realism/The "Angry Young Men" in England and Documentary Drama in Germany

Experimentation and De

Partures from Realism: 1945 to 1980

Existentialism and Theater of the Absurd/Experimental Theater /Postwar Eclectics

Developments in Postwar American Theater

African American Theater/Musical Theater/Alternatives to Commercial Theater

Summary

Chapter 16: Contemporary Trends

The End of the Century

Today's Theater: Diversity and Eclecticism

Feminist Theater/ Performance Art/ Postmodernism/ International Trends

Today and Tomorrow: A Look Ahead

Summary

Glossary

Bibliography

Index