Theatre : The Most Important Value Of Theatre

Theatre and Musical Theatre has been a form of entertainment since before North America was “discovered”. Broadway shows have been dated back to the early 1920’s and 1930’s. By 2016, over 25,000 tickets are sold to Broadway shows in a week. Thousands of people enjoy the shows that are featured on Broadway but have no idea the work and process that brought it to life. The process of getting a show on to Broadway can be broken down into three phases: pre-production, staging, and performance/promotion.

Ever since I can remember I have loved theatre. It’s been a constant presence, and an important touchstone, in my life. However, for as long as I’ve loved theatre, I have also been ridiculed for my enjoyment of it. As a child, my interest was tolerated as something precious, something I was bound to grow out of. My parents and teachers would sit in the audience, clapping and cheering me on, all the while thinking to themselves “I bet she’ll make a great lawyer one day.” They thought, like most of society, theatre was an unnecessary luxury; a pastime for the rich and powerful, for those who didn’t have to worry about putting food on the table, or clothes on their children’s backs. Certainly not

“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 Scott McCloud’s “Understanding Comics,” he defines art as both “any human activity that doesn’t grow out of EITHER of our species two basic instincts: survival and reproduction” (164), and “the way we assert our identities as individuals and break out of the narrow roles nature cast us in” (166). Although McCloud was discussing graphic novels in his work, I think that these quotes and his argument apply to any type of visual rhetoric. As a former theatre minor at Marquette, I have had the opportunity to be privy to this argument in the form of theatre. Watching a play unfold onstage has an effect on the participating audience, largely due to the intricacies of each scene. While a good play must start out

According to Boal if you desire your play to be great, then theater should be about becoming. If on the other hand, your wish is to be a terrible play writer, then yes you should make theater about being. When the flaw or error of the character is presented right from the beginning, the audience does not feel much of an effect. There is virtually no conflict and no story. When a play portrays the current state of a person all throughout, the audience is being told what to do, similarly to being instructed directly, and as a result, the spectator disregards the information after the show is over. However, when theater is about becoming, they audience member is figuratively taken through a ride. As the character changes from a state of happiness

I started this week with the theatrical workshop where I could practice improvisation and persuasion tools. I needed to invent a story, and make it convincing. While telling the story on the spot, I tried to integrate the 'zero position' and to create a world the audience can imagine and relate too and I could feel that it actually improved my performance. Approaching rhetoric through theater reminded me that a speaker is a performer. Also, it made me think that when I come to give a speech it is important to find the balance between me as a person and me as a performer. It might be that in order to persuade the audience I will need to act out and exaggerate my way of being.

Theater has been a platform that has been used to deepen our communication and understanding of the complexities of the world around us. It teaches us through language, movement, and the establishment of intimate relationships that play to the contagious nature of emotions.

It seems like everywhere you turn today, young people are attempting to break into the entertainment industry. Some have talent, and some don't, but a vast majority do not understand the amount of work nor the length of time required to establish yourself as an actor of any merit. A couple of months ago, I had a very pleasant chat with a young lady named Valerie Lohman, and I was incredibly impressed with her drive, work ethic, and humility as we chatted about her career from its inception until now (and even a hint at what is yet to come). RH: Nice to talk with you today, Valerie.  VL:  So nice to talk with you too, Ruth.

The theater is the attempt to bring together various human experiences and to project onto ourselves and others. Theater can range be dark, funny, and thought-provoking. It emphasizes human interaction, which in turn helps people can express themselves. Furthermore, it encourages public speaking and brings people together. I enjoy theater because it influences the way we think and feel about our own lives. In addition, it encourages us to take a look at our values and behavior. Participating in the Open Doors Theater Scholarship gives me the excellent opportunity to explore theater arts, learning more about communications, human relation skills, and the world around us. I am passionate about extending my experiences and taking advantage of

As I took the course of “Introduction to Theatre”, our class has explored the enduring question of “what is the place of theater in the world and why?” To answer this question, we learned about the different time periods, including the BC time period all the way to the present time period. As we learned about the history of that period, we saw some reasons and answers to the question of what the function of theater is in the world. Our first step in analyzing plays was that we first examined the time periods of that play, and then how the events and lifestyles influenced the writers of the plays. For an example, through theater, the plays Fences and Angles in America were both meant to bring awareness about the social issues in society. During

What is theatre? Most people are blind to what it really is and what it can actually make you feel. It is more than just some people on a stage. when you're in the audience you feel and can actually sympathize with the people who are there on stage because they are there they are in front of you. Theatre is becoming another person to the extension where you become them. you can think in the moment of what they would think. It is countless hours of character analysis. But most importantly it is an art. An art that will never die. It is the oldest form of art. From cavemen

There are many movies being made commenting on the world’s history. Cinemas and the film industry normally approaches these issues well by not letting them be shown under a good light. The film, Fruitvale Station, comments on issues with police brutality and illustrates a sad and unfair story of a good man who was supporting his family and his life was carelessly taken from him. These movies are made to prove how these issues have impacted the world and its view on racial and religious differences. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas shows how horrible the Holocaust was and Django Unchained shows how brutal slavery was in the 1850’s. However, this brings up the difference between plays and movies. I think that a play would be taken a lot differently than a film. It’s easier to show events such as people being shot, whipped, or attacked on a screen, while it can appear too real in a play. Characters saying things such as, “’Some folks don’t believe there are pious n*ggers’” (Harriet Beecher Stowe, Uncle Tom’s Cabin ). In some schools, this book is not presented to students anymore because of inappropriate content such as the use of the N word. In plays, the actors are right in front of the audience, so it can be more emotional to see these events acted out live. Yes, emotional can be effective, however, it is more of

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.

Louis E. Carlton quotes Sam Shepard in his book, ‘Elements of Playwriting,’“..theatre transforms the invisible into the visible. It can be ...more magical than any other form of writing.” What Shepard does not tell you with this quote, is that it is also one of the hardest forms of writing. In a novel, an author tells a reader about plot points while a movie tells the story through dialogue and actors on camera. Live theatre exists at the intersection of these mediums. A play tells a story like a novel, but must do so using the dialogue of films, without a film’s editing or ability to show minute

The most mysterious aspect of theater is found in the sliver of space hidden between the dimensions of the world created onstage and the one awaiting its members after the final curtain call. Despite seldom being seen by the audience, this hideaway witnesses the most magical feats. Set pieces being maneuvered as if playing lifesize versions of tetris, actors taking their final moments before entering into a different human body, and casts molding their energy with one another to become whole. Every minute action taking place backstage is in preparation for the masterpiece about to begin. My life thus far has taken place backstage. Every play that I have been a part of, organization I have volunteered for and opportunity I have taken has prepared and shaped the stage which will soon begin to unfold.