A Theater of My Own
My grandmother, Annie was a seanchai, an Irish storyteller. She was the only great actor I have known intimately. Her stage was the kitchen of her cottage in the West of Ireland and her stories were about her friends and neighbors. She recreated their trials and triumphs and with her talent for mimicry accorded each a speaking part. Her one woman show held me spellbound. She commanded my tears and fits of laughter depending on the content of her story or dictated by a whim. It was she who made me stage-struck years before I even saw a stage.
I was thirteen before I acted my first conventional role. My high school English teacher, Mrs. Doyle, directed us in Strindberg's Motherlove. I played the
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The self deprecating wit prevalent throughout his works was reminiscent of the Irish sense of humor. I read every one of his books available in our school library and then moved on to the Boston Public Library where I discovered the story telling gifts of his brother I.J. Singer and his contemporary, Chaim Grade. Having exhausted the English language collection of Yiddish writers, I became determined to explore their works in their original form.
Upon entering university, I decided to concentrate my studies on the language and literature of Yiddish. Although no Yiddish courses were offered at Boston University, the University Professor's Program allowed me to design my own course of study. I studied Yiddish and Hebrew at Hebrew College, the National Yiddish Book Center, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Harvard University.
It was Yiddish and another dynamic teacher that pointed me again toward the theater. Last year in what was to be the most exciting and challenging course of my college career, I studied Yiddish theater with Professor Ruth Wisse. My deepest understanding of the Yiddish language and literature came from her class. She began her lecture by putting a play in context and placing its author in world literature. The second half of class was devoted to reading carefully prepared works aloud with each student playing a different role. She pushed and prodded us until we came up with an intelligent and original
I’ve adored theatre for as long as I can remember. From writing plays throughout elementary school, to being involved in Drama Club in middle school, to performing in community theatre in high school, and to visiting the theatre as often as I could from the very beginning, theatre has always been a part of my life. Every aspect of it engages me: the directors working to bring their vision of the show’s scenes, choreography, or music to life, the actors transforming into different characters through their expression of dialogue, song, or dance, the costumers and set-builders transporting the audience into the setting and time period with their artistry, the backstage tech and crew working quickly and precisely to keep the show flowing to curtain call, and the orchestra bringing the show to life through music. There is nothing like the experience of live theatre, both as a member of the audience and as a member of the cast and crew.
Above all, I wouldn’t be where I am today without theatre. Without the chance to perform throughout my life, I would be disconnected from the wide array of communities and histories that’s been imbedded in my daily routine. Unfortunately, it’s speculated that the theatre is a dying art form, because of the expanding popularities of movies (“Is”), but I think that it’ll remain a well renowned part of expressing imagination and interpreting history as years pass; it only takes cooperation with school faculty and young students that go above and beyond to change their
The center I chose to observe was the dramatic play center which is a kitchen. I chose this center because because it's a great way to observe children. The purpose of the dramatic play center is to help develop social, emotional and oral language skills. It gives children a chance to assign roles, self regulate when having to take turns and during all of this children are developing language skills.
I grew up in a family of artists. My parents were singers and musicians. I began acting in shows during elementary school. As an adult, I acted in community and regional theaters. I performed in Urdu and Punjabi languages. I grew up in a culturally diverse household and community. This enabled me to relate to different personal and societal experiences, and to live out my own and other people 's stories through my acting. Also, my collaborative nature, strong sense of imagination and interest in poetry, literature, politics, public affairs and human experience has helped me play many roles effectively.
Mordecai Richler(January 27, 1931 – July 3, 2001) was a Canadian author, screenwriter and essayist. He wrote a lot essays about the Jewish community in Canada, and about nationalism as practised by Canadian anglophones and the francophone Québécois in addition to his fiction. The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (1959) was one of his best works. Like Duddy in the novel, Mordecai Richler came to Canada as a Jewish immigrant during the times when English was the only official language in Canada (even in Quebec) and grew up in the large Jewish communities while facing the difficulties like anti-semitism and segregation. He acquired English as his second language after Yiddish and not French for the same reason. He grew up on St. Urbain Street in the Mile End area of Montreal like Duddy who grew up in the neighbourhood of Montreal east of Mount Royal Park on and about St. Urbain Street and Saint Laurent Boulevard (in the poor areas of Montreal where the Jewish communities were located) and moved to Paris, France for some time at the age of nineteen where his work as a successful writer began(like Duddy, who went to the Laurentian Mountains for a summer job and found his career or aim in life even though he didn’t settle there). His writings are from a time when Montreal was divided into sections and communities based on religion, race and class and his main character Duddy, who’s very similar to him, is from the same time. He displays the coming of age in his life as an outsider
It was a beautiful evening in April, and the weather was finally starting to get warm again. After a tough and bitter winter, little buds were appearing on flowers and trees, and some color was returning to the world. Above, the sun was setting creating various shades of red, pink, and orange across the blue sky. Among an audience, darkness encompassed the room creating an anxious silence. Only after a few seconds the stars came out. The stage lights came on nearly blinding the audience, and the actress said her first line.
Warm up your vocal cords because you’re going to want to sing along to this youth theatre company’s musical revue. The performance showcases a wide range of music – from energetic group numbers to stirring ballads that will have you weeping in your hanky. Whether you enjoy new smash hits like Hamilton and Dear Evan Hansen or classics like A Chorus Line and Hairspray, there’s something sure to please everyone.
“I spent some of my childhood backstage in a small-town theatre. My earliest interest in storytelling came from the theatre, and I imagined myself as an actor. But Great Expectations and other novels by Dickens inspired me to want to write.
The case titled The Theatre Budget was a short journal about a frustrated Vice-President of a performing
Our choice to tell stories should exist in the same moment that we identify an audience who needs to hear that story – now, in this context, in this time, and in this medium. The best relationship with an audience begins dramaturgically, at the beginning of a rehearsal process. We must ask: How can we keep our minds open to the audience we have and also to the audience we want and the audience with whom we hope to collaborate? How do we enter a community and work with new people, learn from them and hope they learn from us? Partner with our similar goals and share resources. Work with them and never for them. Theatre isn’t a service—it’s a
Ancient Greek Theater is the first historical record of “drama,” which is the Greek term meaning “to do” or “to act.” Beginning in the 5th century BC, Greek Theater developed into an art that is still used today. During the golden age of the Athenians plays were created, plays that are considered among the greatest works of world drama. Today there are thousands of well-known plays and films based on the re-make of ancient drama.
Drama changed literature and theater into what it is today. I. History of Elizabethan Theater a. forming of theater 1. medieval church 2. mystery and morality b. actors 1. rogues and thieves 2. acting guilds II. Influences and people a. commanding actors 1. Shakespeare 2. Burbage b. other 1. wars of the roses (other historical influences) 2. laws restricting theater III. The theaters a. prices 1. seating 2. stage b. the theater and the globe 1. locations and characteristics 2. Burbage and other accomplishment Elizabethan Drama During the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, England underwent a dramatic change in priorities. The importance of art and literature became highly prevalent. The impact of the Elizabethan drama and
"The arts of the western world have been largely dominated by the artistic standards established by the Greeks of the classical period" (Spreloosel 86). It is from the Greek word theatron, meaning a place for sitting, that we get our word theater. According to James Butler, "The Greeks were the first people to erect special structures to bring audiences and theatrical performers together" (27). "The theaters were normally located near a populated area at the bottom of or cut out of a carefully selected, sloping hillside overlooking a seascape, a plain, or a city" (Butler 30). "They eventually with few exceptions consisted of three distinct parts: theatron
The theater that Cuthbert Burbage built for the Chamberlain's Men had a total capacity of between 2,000 and 3,000 spectators. Because there was no lighting, all performances at the Globe were conducted, weather permitting, during the day (probably most often in the mid-afternoon span between 2 P.M. and 5 P.M.). Because most of the Globe and all of its stage was open air, acoustics were poor and the actors were compelled by circumstances to shout their lines, stress their enunciation, and engage in exaggerated theatrical gestures. What would seem most striking to a modern (Broadway) theatergoer about the productions staged at the Globe is that they were completely devoid of background scenery. Although costumes
“In roughly built playhouses and cobblestone inn yards, an extraordinary development took place in England in the 1500s.” (Yancey, 8). At that time, an opportunity combined to produce literature achievement never before witnessed in the history of drama and theater. The renaissance, helped spark this movement by inspiring scientific and artistic creativity throughout the land. Models began writing dramas that portrayed life in both realistic and imaginative ways. This created work later captured the attention of the world that changed the English drama. The many aspects of Elizabethan theater helped to shape the acting and theater world forever.