Table of Contents
Preface
PART I: Locating Theatre, Experiencing Plays: Theory and Criticism
Chapter 1 : Theatre: Performance and Art
Theatre as Performance
Theatre as Art
Theatre as Performing Art
Taking Stock
Key Terms
Chapter 2: Theatre: Cultural Expression, Business, and the Role of Audience
The Nature of Theatre Audiences
Theatre as Cultural Expression: The Role of the Audience
Theatre as Business: The Role of the Audience
Key Terms
Chapter 3: How to Read a Play
Preliminary Work
Play Analysis Using the Parts of the Play
Organizing a Response
Key Terms
Chapter 4: How to See a Play
Preliminary Work
Performance Analysis
Organizing a Response
Key Terms
Chapter 5: Mediators and Gatekeepers
Theorists
Critics
Reviewers
Dramaturgs
Specialists in Public Relations, Advertising, Marketing
Agents
Key Terms
PART II: Today’s Theatre and Its Makers: Theatre Practice
Chapter 6: Making Theatre Today: The Context
Theatre Spaces
Producing Situations in the United States
Theatre Funding
Key Terms
Chapter 7: Playwrights
The Nature of Playwrights and Playwriting
Being a Playwright
Training Playwrights
From Page to Stage: Professional Issues
What Is Good Playwriting?
Key Terms
Chapter 8: Actors
The Nature of Acting
Training Actors
Audition, Rehearsal, and Performance
The Personality of the Actor
What Is Good Acting?
Key Terms
Chapter 9: Directors
The Nature of Directing
The Director at Work
Training Directors
What Is Good Directing?
Key Terms
Chapter 10: Designers and Technicians
The Nature of Design
Designers at Work
Training Designers
What Is Good Design?
Key Terms
PART III: Theatre of Other Times and Places: Theatre History
Theatre: Present and Past
The Sweep of Theatre History
Part IIIa:Facade Stages (534 B.C.E. - c.550 C.E.)
Chapter 11: The Theatre of Greece
Background
Theories of the Origins of Theatre
Traits of Greek Theatre
Plays and Playwrights
Theatre Buildings and Practices
The End of Athens’ Golden Age
Key Terms
Chapter 12: The Theatre of Rome
Background
Roman Festivals and Theatre
Roman Drama
Theatre Buildings, Scenery, Costumes, and Masks
Audiences
The Empire and the End of Roman Drama
The Breakup of the Empire
Key Terms
Part IIIb: Emblem, Environment, and Simultaneity (c. 950 - c. 1550)
Chapter 13: Theatre in the Middle Ages
Background
Early Medieval Drama and Theatre
Medieval Culture and Theatre, c. 1200–c. 1550
The End of Medieval Religious Theatre: The Transformation of Medieval Secular Theatre
Key Terms
Chapter 14: The Golden Ages of England and Spain
Background
The Renaissance in the North: The Age of Shakespeare
The Closing of English Theatres
The Spanish Golden Age
Theatres in the East
Key Terms
Part IIIc: Illusionism (c. 1550 - 1960)
Chapter 15: The Italian Renaissance
Theatre in Italy
Key Terms
Chapter 16: The Triumph and Decline of Neoclassicism
French Theatre from Its Beginnings through Its Golden Age
English Restoration Theatre and Beyond (1660—c. 1750)
Key Terms
Chapter 17: Successful Failure: Theatre and Reform, 1750 - 1960's
Background
First Wave: Romanticism, 1750–1850
Second Wave: Realism, 1850–1950
Realism and Naturalism: Three Important Leaders
Third Wave: Avant-Gardism, 1890–1960
Avant-Garde Theatres and Movements
Key Terms
Chapter 18: The Rise and Triumph of Commercialism: 1750 - 1960's
What Is Commercialism?
Drama in the Commercial Theatre
Theatres and Production Practices
The Decline of Commercial Theatre
Responses to Commercial Theatre
Key Terms
Chapter 19: Theatre for a New Millennium
Background
Postmodernism
The Theatre in America, 1960 and Beyond
Key Terms
Chapter 20: Global Theatre
Background
The East
The Islamic World
Africa
Key Terms
Glossary
Index
