Drama 10
Theatre Appreciation
James Gilbreath
What is Drama 10
• Aims to provide student with general knowledge and
appreciation of theatre
• We will be studying
– Plays (Underpants, Death of a Salesman, Yellow Face, Our
Country’s Good and others)
– Theatre as an Live Art (Must see a live performance)
– Theatre Business
– History
– Key practitioners
– Different working roles within the theatre
Attendance
• Sign in sheet
• Once sign in sheet is
returned, we will see
how many spaces are
free.
• You should be able to
add online.
• If you miss class this
week, you could be
dropped. Please inform
instructor in advance of
any absences
• However, dropping is the
student’s responsibility.
Participation?
Class activities
• Lecture
• Videos
• Discussions
– In class
– online
• Group activities
• Presentations
• Performances
Required Texts
Available in the bookstore
Textbook
Three Plays (any edition)
• Another Opening,
Another Show, Markus &
Sarver, 2nd Edition
• The Underpants –
adapted by Steve Martin,
Death of a Salesman by
Arthur Miller, Yellow Face
by Hwang, and Our
Country’s Good Wertenbaker
Other things
• Access to Etudes, internet and email
– Computer Lab on Second Floor of Cunningham.
Room 220
– Library
– Wifi access on campus
Important Websites
• www.myetudes.org
• www.theatrestudent.pbworks.com
• www.mhhe.com/markus2
Plays to see •
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Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead
The Crucible
STC
UOP
Sacramento and Bay Area
Must see two plays this term
James Gilbreath
• Graduated from Central School of Speech and Drama, a
college of London University – MA and BA Hons. Lived in UK
for 20 years.
• After grad school, studied at Ecole Philippe Gaulier and
worked as an assistant
• Before Grad school, taught at the Academy of the Science
of Acting and Directing with Sam Kogan.
• Ran a theatre in East London and a touring theatre
company.
• Equity actor
• I have been teaching at Delta for three years
• My goals is for you is to succeed in this class by helping you
learn about theatre and becoming an informed participant
Theatre Tour
• TBA
What is Theatre?
Some definitions of theatre
Some definitions of theatre
John Cage - Musician
• 1952 composition 4′33″
• Theatre “is something that
engages both the eye and
the ear”
Peter Brook – The Empty Space
• “I can take any empty
space and call it a bare
stage. A man walks
across this empty space
while someone else is
watching him, an this is
all that is needed for an
act of theatre to be
engaged.”
Some definitions of theatre
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“Theatre is a unique live event that involves
actors and audience
that happens at a particular time,
that takes place in the present tense
has a predetermined structure,
that uses understood conventions to
communicate through all five senses,
• and that has a lasting impact on the audience. “
• 10 Traits of Theatre pg 5
Live Event
Live Theatre
• Theatre differs from other
arts in that it is live.
• Differs from recorded media
like film
• Theatre is an experience we
live through
• Tension between what is
rehearsed and what will
really happen
• Each performance is unique
Actors
• Thespis – the first actor
– 534 or 535 BC, Thespis
rode on to the back of a
wooden cart and recited
poetry as if he was one
of the characters.
– What word do we have
today that comes from
Thespis?
Actors
• Thespis – the first actor
Thespian= actor
Audience
• Without an audience, the actor’s performance
is a rehearsal.
• Audiences are participants in the theatre act
Particular time and place
Prefer – “Space”
• Theatre can be a building
• Theatre can happen in
places not normally called
theatres (Street theatre)
• Theatre space can be any
space
• Theatre happens at a
certain time that the
audience does not control
– Western theatre = show
time on ticket
– Some cultures, theatre
happens when the
performers feel the time is
right
Predetermined Structure
• Plays give an order
– Linear Structure – “Beginning, Middle, End”
– Cinematic Structure “Pulp Fiction”
– Contextual – “Meaning of Life”
– “Experiential” – Not in the book – Art museum,
website, Site- specific performance
Impro?
• What about impro theatre –
– Who’s Line Is It Anyway
– Does impro have a predetermined structure?
Impro?
• Impro Structure
Impro?
• Impro Structure
• Order of games – Play list
– Like an album or a playlist
– Order is important
Impro?
Impro Structure
• Order of games – Play list
– Like an album or a playlist
– Order is importan
• Games
– Games have structures and
rules
– Basketball – 4 quarters,
limited time, limited players
Is Impro really improvised?
• Lots of rehearsal
• Impro rules
– Accepting offers,
• Structured by personality
– “Do you know what your friend will say in a given
circumstance?”
Conventions
• Conventional People?
Conventions
• Agreed rules of the game
• Rules establish over time and repeated use
• Examples?
Theatre Conventions
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Curtain call
Willing suspension of disbelief
The Fourth Wall
Clapping
Virtual time and place within the performance
Conventions are informed by culture.
Conventions start as exceptions
– Lights
– Curtains
– Cinema ads
Five Senses
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Hearing
Seeing
Smelling
Tasting
Feeling
Lasting Impact
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When an artist dies, what is left behind?
Painter
Sculpture
Musician
Film actor
Theatre actor
Why we value theatre?
• Watch how others behave in situations
• What motivates people to behave in a
particular way
• Learn how we would behave
• Mirror to society
• Learn respect for different backgrounds
– Ethnic
– Gender
– Class
What about you?
• Etudes – Introduction on message board
• A little about your self, interests, major, etc?
• What do you hope to gain from this class?