The Essentials of Theater

A Guide to Acting, Stagecraft, Technical Theater, and More

Lisa Mulcahy

• Publisher: Allworth
• Year: 2018
• ISBN:
  9781621536475
• Topic: Media & Performing Arts
• Subtopic: Theatre

An Introduction to the World of Theater
A friendly and practical guide to the stage, The Essentials of Theater will prepare actors and crew for their next show. Perfect for college students in theater programs, as well as community theater troupes, this book covers all the bases—from a brief history on theater over the centuries and basic terminology to tips on interpreting scripts, developing characters, and utilizing props. Lisa Mulcahy's helpful explanations and examples take readers on a backstage tour, introducing the tasks and responsibilities of every participant: stage hands, sound designers, prop managers, and more. Special sections include:

• A simple guide to completing your first production project
• Worksheets and checklists to practice new skills
• Interviews with theater critics, playwrights, and sound designers
• Appendices with suggested readings, viewings, and resources for theater students
• 
  Through real-world examples and engaging activities, readers will explore every facet of the world of theater: acting, directing, playwriting, production, technical design, and more. Mulcahy even includes a chapter on innovative ways to use one's theater education off-stage. A great resource for college theater programs and acting classes in general, The Essentials of Theater is an excellent introduction to the stage and all of its moving parts.

PART ONE

Core Coverage

1

A Little History, Please

As a rule, all modern theater is steeped in the past—it’s an art form rich in tradition. And that’s a good thing. Yet you’re probably thinking, isn’t the theater we see today so fascinating because it’s always changing and evolving? Isn’t the point to keep things as fresh as possible, so theatrical creativity can really flourish?

Absolutely—and theater is such a free, cutting-edge mode of expression, we are always seeing new concepts and performance innovation, everywhere from the most bare-bones student production to a lushly experimental show in New York. The history of theatrical writing, movement, and theory, however, remain a huge influence on the work thespians do today. So many elements of theatrical execution—such as the way actors use their bodies or the rhythms in which playwrights craft their texts—have their roots in historic theatrical genres.

In this chapter, let’s take a focused look at how theater was first physically created and performed. We’ll cover the specifics of four historical genres—Greek theater, Kabuki theater, Elizabethan Renaissance theater, and commedia dell’arte—and pay tribute to each genre’s innovators throughout theatrical history. Each of these genres is still performed throughout the world today, and so many thespians incorporate elements of each form innately today. Take, for example, any contemporary comedy or tragedy—arguably, its roots can be clearly seen in the major themes pioneered by the Greeks, who were the chief architects of the examination of highly emotional subject matter in a dramatic context. As you read about each historic genre, you’ll be struck by the similarities you notice in terms of ideas, techniques, and styles practiced theatrically in the past and in the theater we see and do today. Everything comes full circle, and always will.

GET ME TO THE GREEKS: THE PROGRESSION OF GREEK THEATER

Dramatic productions in ancient Greece started to crop up around 700 BC in Athens. Festivals such as the Dionysia became the introductory platform for the basic premise of Greek performance, which encompassed three major genres: tragedy, comedy, and satire (known as satyr—and defined as spoofing dramatic subject matter). The public cottoned to Greek theater pretty much right away, due to the fact that one-on-one and group storytelling was a very common component of the culture at this time.

Thespis, an actor specializing in dramatic tales of woe, became Greek theater’s first true superstar—he was known as the “Father of Tragedy,” in that he guided the productions of many a tear-jerking performance. Another Greek thespian, Solon, specialized in creating poems and spoken-word performances. Greek theater’s most respected early producer was Phrynichus, who worked to help stage tragedies such as Capture of Miletus. Interest in Greek theater began to truly accelerate when three highly regarded thinkers and playwrights, Aristotle, Aeschylus, and Sophocles, began writing plays in a competition to try to outdo each other with their best individual work. Another respected writer, Menander, was instrumental in launching the New Comedy period that proved to be an enduring success, with audiences enjoying a number of humorous new works.

Actors had plentiful opportunities to work in Greek theater—each play usually had twelve to fifteen chorus roles, in addition to lead parts. Only two to three actors were ever onstage at a single moment, however, so often, one actor would take on multiple roles—even in a single scene—which required significant concentration and talent. No female thespians were allowed to perform in Greek plays at the time, though—men played all the female characters. Any time a character in a play died, they did so offstage, because Greek playwrights believed audiences were too fragile to actually witness any character’s demise directly. Musicians could also find opportunity to work on these productions, as most plays were elaborately scored. And audiences got plenty of dramatic and comedic excitement for their attendance—performances traditionally lasted for entire days, from morning to night! Another interesting element of Greek performance: beautifully expressive masks, depicting comedy and tragedy faces, were frequently used as “costuming” in plays. Masks were considered a crucial tool in helping the audience understand the subtext of the material they were watching, and often donned to define clarity in a scene, or comment visually on the action. In the evening, at the end of each marathon show, any masks worn by the actors in a play were formally dedicated at an altar of the Greek god Dionysus. Luxurious headgear was also a staple of Greek costuming; masks were often built with lush wigs streaming human or animal hair or with ornate helmets attached. A final common accessory: extremely tall boots, called cothurni, created the illusion of height for many actors, and allowed audiences at any area of the performance space to better see the performers.

Speaking of the Greek performance space: it was always constructed as an amphitheater. Essentially, a Greek amphitheater stage was a round space measuring roughly seventy-eight feet in diameter. Amphitheaters were traditionally built at the base of a hill, with a rounded seating setup that ascended up that hill; many audience members, as a result, were looking down at the performance from wood or stone seating.

Onstage, each piece of a Greek amphitheater set was designed with the intention to maximize sightlines for the audience. The logeion, a tall platform, was a key component of every play’s set design—it was used by each actor as a dominant spot from which to deliver a speech. The entrances actors used, called the paradoi or eisodoi, were multiple stories high; matching their height were thyromata, or painted images that illustrated the themes of each play. The paraskenia, a stone wall segment of the stage, was a major visual element, as was a rudimentary crane, which was used to fly in pieces of scenery. Platforms on wheels were another, easier way to move painted scenery and props on- and offstage. Everything was big, and it needed to be, in order to accommodate incredible crowd sizes—up to fourteen thousand people would rush to each performance!

ELEGANT PHYSICALITY: KABUKI THEATER

In 1603, an astoundingly beautiful new art form began in Japan. Kabuki, best described as dramatic performance colored extensively by dance movements, came to be. Kabuki translates to English as “to lean” (which is evident in many of its signature physical movements) and “to be out of the ordinary”—which this special theatrical genre certainly is.

Kabuki’s godmother, arguably, was Izumo no Okuni, who started staging original dances in dry riverbeds throughout the city of Kyoto. Kabuki provided a great opportunity for women to pursue creative expression, as it was only performed by female performers initially. Once word got out about the lovely original work being done by Okuni and other Kabuki artists, the form moved to other Japanese cities, specifically Edo, and became so popular that performances were given for the Imperial Court. Kabuki ensembles started to come together all across the country.

One of the most recognizable signatures of Kabuki was thick whiteface makeup, made of rice powder, which was applied in a linear, very detailed manner called kumadori and altered to reflect the character being interpreted. Japanese current events became staple subject matter of Kabuki—material for performances included fashion and historical/social/political events. Shows could last from early morning to nighttime and contained five distinct acts: jo (act one, which slowly set up the performance’s premise), ha (acts two, three and four, a faster progression of the story line), and kyu (act five, a brief ending to the performance). Set pieces that were most relevant to Kabuki productions included revolving stages, flies, trapdoors, and mini “wagons,” small wheeled stages that could quickly set up or remove pieces of scenery.

Actors would strike distinct poses in performance: the mie was a key pose that visually determined the essence of a character for the audience. By the mid-1600s, men had begun forming all-male Kabuki troupes, and drama began to take hold as Kabuki’s major hallmark, phasing out the dance aspect. Kabuki’s most popular and artistically significant period was 1673–1841; works such as The Love Suicides at Amijima by Chikamatsu Monzaemon sparked controversy as well as creative growth. Kawatake Mokuami started writing Kabuki plays about the life of the everyday man, adding music to his material’s presentations as well.

Kabuki flourished for centuries; however, after World War II, it was briefly outlawed in Japan, as some people objected to its traditional themes from the country’s past. Director Tetsuji Takechi was undaunted, however, and began restaging classic Kabuki plays. Today, all eras of Kabuki are revered in Japan and by thespians all over the world—the performance style can be found in theaters in Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka, as well as enjoyed by audiences worldwide via well-respected touring companies.

POWER TO THE PEOPLE: ENGLISH RENAISSANCE THEATER

English Renaissance theater, (also known as Elizabethan theater) was vastly popular between the years of 1562 and 1642, starting in the early years of and lasting beyond Queen Elizabeth I’s reign. It was considered a democratic mode for presenting new works, in that it was “public.” This meant English Renaissance productions could be enjoyed by all classes of English society—at a performance, you could often spot a member of the royal family in the audience, surrounded by commoners.

Big public theater spaces very quickly started cropping up outside of London (where private theater had always been the rule, and exclusively for the upper echelon of society), then throughout the country, due to the great popularity of plays in England during the Renaissance era. These facilities swiftly became big moneymakers; houses with especially good revenue included the Theatre in Shoreditch, the Curtain Theatre, the Swan, the Fortune, the Globe, and the Red Bull. Most of these houses boasted an open-roof space, with a performance area at its center containing platforming and a balcony, although several additional English Renaissance houses, including Salisbury Court Theatre and the Cockpit, were opened with traditional roofing. Such theaters operated on the repertory system—no single play ran on two consecutive days. Production values were bare bones: there were no sets to speak of, and lighting was achieved via candlelight or simply outdoor light seeping into the performance space.

The primary theme of English Renaissance plays tended to be variations on high-stakes tragedy, often with a revenge-driven plot twist. Playwrights like William Shakespeare, Thomas Dekker, Thomas Kyd, and Ben Jonson saw their careers flourish by churning out these extremely dramatic works. A famous play that falls very much in line with this edict is Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe, in which a man sells his soul to the devil; other wildly entertaining revenge tragedies included The Spanish Tragedy and The Duchess of Malfi. Interest in these and other works spread back to London, and finally, by 1580, the rules against public theater were lifted. English Renaissance theater came to the capital city; to honor the aristocracy who now attended performances, purple, the color of royalty, was woven into the actors’ costumes. All was well …

… until 1642. At that time, the powerful Puritans declared theater to be a sinful creative form and outlawed it. Theater spaces closed, and actors were put out of work, sadly. But the plays? They live on today, as some of the most creative, beguiling, and insightful written words ever committed to the page.

GOING FOR THE LAUGH: COMMEDIA DELL’ARTE

In Italian, the phrase commedia dell’arte means “comedy of the profession”—and this influential theatrical form, which dates all the way back to the Roman Republic period, certainly coaxed laughs out of its viewers. Both scripted and improvised, commedia dell’arte integrated stereotypical characters into broad sketches full of pantomime and big human them...