What exactly is art?
Art expresses things that cannot
be understood by strictly
intellectual means
Knowledge can be broken into 2
types:
1. Intellectual
Knowledge
There is also
Experiential
Knowledge
Some things you know through direct
experience
Theatre approximates
experiential knowledge to elicit
empathy.
Sympathy – having compassion for
someone – not necessarily
understanding them
Empathy – compassion born out of
common experience or
understanding
Theatre is a performing art
Wilson and Goldfarb identify 3
categories of art:
literary
visual
performing
Perform
To pretend to do
something or be
someone else
Children
Actors
Deceivers
Perform
To perform is also
to do – to
complete a
function or task
The pretending and
the doing do not
necessarily exclude
one another
Represent
To present again – to re-present
If it wasn’t you the first time, this
involves pretending - performing
Represent
Lindsey Graham, Senator for
South Carolina
Represent also means
to stand-in for
someone, to speak for
them
This word has a
political as well as
artistic meaning
Why should we study Theatre?
1. You like it
2. It’s good for you
There are only two reasons for doing anything:
Why theatre is ‘important’
1. Theater is the foundation art of all
drama - pantomime, opera, film,
television, etc.
Theater creates a relationship
between performer and audience
– Live
– Personal
– Immediate (unmediated)
Theater teaches “timeless observations
about the human condition”
– Commonalities
– Differences
Essentially, theater entertains and teaches.
In that order.
Theatre is the most effective art at teaching empathy.
Wilson and Goldfarb identify 6
elements of theatre
1. Audience
2. Dramatic Action Embodied in a
Script
1. Structure
2. Focus
3. Point of view
3. Performers – someone who adopts a
character other than their own
1. Talent
2. Skill
3. Believability
4. Director
5. Theater Space
6. Design Elements
1. Costume
2. Lighting
3. Scene
4. Sound
Finally:
Theatre is collaborative