The Holy Theatre By Peter Brook

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

Theatre is a complex art that attempts to weave stories of varying degrees of intricacies with the hope that feelings will be elicited from the audience. Samuel Beckett’s most famous work in the theatre world, however, is Waiting for Godot, the play in which, according to well-known Irish critic Vivian Mercier, “nothing happens, twice.” Beckett pioneered many different levels of groundbreaking and avant-garde theatre and had a large influence on the section of the modern idea of presentational theatre as opposed to the representational. His career seemingly marks the end of modernism in theatre and the creation of what is known as the “Theatre of the Absurd.”

As Donald J. Trump said, “The Theatre must always be a safe and special place”, and for once he is right, the Theatre is a special place place, where people and objects transform in front of our eyes. One element that helps make a play great, is if it effectively uses its sacred space. The definition of sacred space according to our lecture is, “A physical space that feels almost magical, sometimes it may transform or appear before our eyes.” Sacred space is not required to incorporate the entire stage either, it can just be certain parts of the play. I remember in reading the book The Lord of the Flies, that one of the boys when the world would get too intense for him, he would hide in a hole in a tree and calm down; that was his sacred space. Sacred spaces are used effectively throughout all forms of art. One item that is used frequently in safe spaces in the act of rituals. Our lecture definition of Ritual is, “Something that repeats. Each repetition feels the same and different at the same time”, kind of like how Star Wars The Force Awakens was basically just A New Hope. Joking aside Rituals are very important in literature, like for example in Lord of the Flies again, the kids would participate in ritual when they would kill a kid or a pig and chant “Kill the Pig, cut its throat, bash her in, drink its blood.” Throughout the four plays we watch the themes of Rituals and Sacred Space flowing through the veins of these stories, that carry the meaning of the works.

Theatre is a collaboration of various forms of fine art which utilizes live performances presenting before the audience on a stage at a specific place within a scheduled time (Dugdale 10). The message is communicated through a combination of various channels like songs, speech gestures or dances. Stagecraft skills are combined with elements of art to make the performance more physical and near to real life experience. Theatre is categorized broadly into drama, musical theatre, comedy, tragedy and improvisation. Any form of these accepts integration of various production modes and collective reception to influence the artwork being presented. As a result of this cooperation of items in the theatre

“…Then you realise that theatre is a more personal experience.” (Stephen Atkins, Dante’s Inferno Director) After viewing Zen Zen Zo’s physical theatre reincarnation of the

Thesis Statement: In Ralphs Ellison’s, The Invisible Man, there is an evident theme of masking. When I think of a masking, I often think of something used to hiding one’s body or emotions. Within the context of this story masks are used to hide facts and characteristics about individuals whom are being portrayed.

It is commonly known that theatre is mostly connected to political or spiritual ideologies. Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, takes a historical fact and turns into a political play based on the Salem witch trials; can the truth be seen in this play? Yes, mostly because of the main historical debate described in the play involving Wiccan cult versus Christianity and it is known to be based on cultural concerns. “The play can be seen as symbolic of the paranoia about communism that pervaded America in the 1950s” . Thus, Miller’s play on the witch trials in Salem originates from the true events however is projected with false pretenses. Aristotle’s Poetics have six elements for theatre and there are surnamed Plot, Characterization, Idea, Language, Music and Spectacle. These elements represent the keys to a theatre performance, however where is the psychology in that? One theatre genre that can be an absolute opposition to Stanislavsky’s perception of theatre is known as the Theatre of the Absurd. The theatre of the absurd does not follow any guidelines concerning the techniques of theatre, which is why it is a good example because absurdity does not have any true or false, it is a bit chaotic and strange at the same time.

“Theatre makes us think about power and the way our society works and it does this with a clear purpose, to make a change.”

In the words of Gay McAuley, “for an activity to be regarded as a performance, it must involve the live presence of the performers and those witnessing it…” (McAuley, 2009, cited in Schechner, 2013, pp.38). This statement recognises the importance of both the actor and the audience for something to truly function as a performance. In addition, Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones highlights the significance of the theatrical space and how it can influence an audience stating that “on entering a theatre of any kind, a spectator walks into a specific space, one that is designed to produce a certain reaction or series of responses” (Llewellyn-Jones, 2002, pp.3). The relationship between actor, audience and theatrical space is no less important today than it was at the time of theatre during the Spanish Golden Age and the creation of Commedia dell’arte in Italy. Despite being very close geographically with theatre thriving for both in the same era, sources that explore the social, cultural and historical context of these countries and the theatre styles will bring to light the similarities and differences. This essay will analyse the staging, the behaviour of the audience as well as the challenges the actors faced, and how this directly influenced the relationship between actor, audience and theatrical space.

The name of the Bread and Puppet Theatre hails from the custom of sharing freshly baked bread with the theatre visitors to symbolise that art should be an everyday ritual for everyone just like eating bread.` We give you a piece of bread with the puppet show because our bread and theatre belong together. For a long time the theatre arts have been separated from the stomach. Theatre was entertainment.` (Peter Schumann, Bread & Puppet official website). The foremost goal of this theatre is to raise feelings of sensitivity in the viewer and to outline what the terms 'good' and 'evil' mean, especially in political spheres. This reflects the use of the audience as being used to create this form of

“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.

The history of theatre in the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries is one of the increasing commercialization of the art, accompanied by technological innovations, the introduction of serious critical review, expansion of the subject matters portrayed to include ordinary people, and an emphasis on more natural forms of acting. Theatre, which had been dominated by the church for centuries, and then by the tastes of monarchs for more than 200 years, became accessible to merchants, industrialists, and the less privileged and then the masses.

I will look at Brecht’s theory of Epic theatre, tracing the beginnings

Rituals and theater, which are both cultural performances, have similarities such as serving the purpose of entertaining teaching the audience, belief from audiencce, use of props, use of space, and repesentaion. Since during this time period many commoners did not know how to read, the church had to present these rituals in order to teach them about events in the bible like the Crucification of Jesus Christ. Similaritly, a play will serve the purpose to teach the audience a certain idea that the playwright believes is necessary for the audience members, the audience vary depending on the time this play was written, to learn or understand. Unlike a play, which has no certain time frame to be perform, a ritual is perform during certain time of the liturgical year; for example, the passion of the cross