My descent into theatre was like Alice’s falling down the rabbit hole, slowly then all at once. It started with my attraction to visual storytelling; when reading, words peeled off the page and became images, transforming words into reality. This is not dissimilar to a designer’s job in the theatre — turning plays into tangible worlds, even when they take place in a distant galaxy or Wonderland. Upon visiting New York University’s design department the students’ assignments, which paid extreme attention to even the minutest of details, impressed me. Not only the work itself but the resources available, the ability to collaborate and learn from working professionals in their field, fitting for my goal, to design for immersive theatre. Since …show more content…
Due to my ability not only to handle large crew but assessing in set designing, and creative problem-solving. In returned, these experiences guided me into the realization of the possibility of theatre as a career. Furthermore, I had the chance to learn various technical duties, exploring anything from makeup to props as I worked my way up to technical director for plays such as Marat/Sade, Private Lives, and The Wedding Singer - three vastly different shows. Thankfully, technical directing helped me develop pre-production and management skills, from building flats and platforms to balancing a director's vision with our crew’s ability. During my time as a technical director, I yearned to undertake unexplored creative endeavors, so I signed up as a set designer, working on Seussical the Musical, Play it Again, Sam and Masha, Vanya, Sonya, and Spike. Nothing was as exhilarating as observing an empty stage transform. There’s a magic to it, distinct from any other visual medium, spurring from the idea that if you went onstage you could touch the elements and they would be real. After graduating, I moved to New York, soaking up the culture, while employed as a PA on television sets, and in production offices. There I felt I was exceedingly effective as part of the art department, working in …show more content…
While other university’s span one to two years, NYU stretches into three, forming full-fledged designers, training from drawing to CAD, understanding the importance of giving people a base and a variety tools. In addition to technical knowledge, it offers courses on history, matching my admiration for well-researched design. Even more admirable is the teachers who are also professionals in their fields, that teach these classes. When I visited I observed how the professor shared examples from his own work and demonstrated the pages he visited for sources. For someone who enjoys searching for designers, it was a delight to discover that the designer for Harry Potter and The Cursed Child, Christine Jones, is an NYU faculty member. In addition to their faculty, NYU collaborates with Columbia’s directing program, helping students build external connections. Teaming up directors and designers, from early on, is crucial, demonstrated by Rufus Norris (current artistic director of the National Theatre) with Susan Hilferty (faculty member and a designer in Salome, and Angels in America). Aside from the professors and connection program, I hail NYU’s commitment to mold their students not only into artists but prepared professionals, through a course, transitioning into the profession, giving students necessary tools once they leave campus. With all these preceding reasons, how could anyone with a thirst for theatre and set
The specialization and individualized professions in the field of Technical Theatre are relatively new to the stage in comparison to the period of time in which the art of Theatre has grown. Aiding in the development of concentrated professions such as scenic design has been a plethora of talented, skillful, intelligent and highly driven individuals. Among these influential fountains of creativity have been John Lee Beatty, Eugene Lee, Boris Aronson, Ming Cho Lee, Jo Mielziner, Tony Walton, Robin Wager, John Napier, Santo Loquasto, Heidi Landesman, and Julie Taymor along with many more.
In this area of theatre i have learned more about brainstorming, character position, the effectiveness of music, the effectiveness of light and at what darkness and more about character goals and character formation both physical and vocal.
He worked as an assistant professor in the theater department at St. Mary’s University. Additionally, he is the artistic director of the Scioto Society, which produces the drama “Tecumseh,” in Chillicothe, Ohio. Burke is currently working as the artistic director at the Charlotte Children’s Theater. Recently, our class had the tremendous opportunity to interview Mr. Burke with questions relating to his process in directing. I asked him, “What do you believe is the importance of being a director in relation to the significance of being actors or crew members?”
In the context of this essay I will be thinking from the perspective of the director in order to explore a breadth of design choices the director of a company has the privilege of making. This would be a primarily text-free interpretation of Angels in America and a highly physical-theatre driven work. The title of t...
With his down-the-rabbit-hole approach to design and obsessive attention to detail, Wes Anderson, writer, director and auteur, is best known for his highly stylized movies. His extremely visual, nostalgic worlds give meaning to the stories in his films, contrary to popular critical beliefs that he values style over substance. Through an analysis of his work, I plan to show that design can instead, give substance to style.
Mise en scene is a French theatrical term meaning “placing on stage,” or more accurately, the arrangement of all visual elements of a theatrical production within a given playing area or stage. The exact area of a playing area or stage is contained by the proscenium arch, which encloses the stage in a picture frame of sorts. However, the acting area is more ambiguous and acts with more fluidity by reaching out into the auditorium and audience. Whatever the margins of the stage may be, mise en scene is a three dimensional continuation of the space an audience occupies consisting of depth, width, and height. No matter how hard one tries to create a separate dimension from the audience, it is in vain as the audience always relates itself to the staging area. Mise en scene in movies is slightly more complicated than that of an actual theater, as it is a compilation of the visual principles of live theater in the form of a painting, hence the term “motion picture.” A filmmaker arranges objects and people within a given three-dimensional area as a stage director would. However, once it is photographed, the three-dimensional planes arranged by the director are flattened to a two-dimensional image of the real thing. This eliminates the third dimension from the film while it is still occupied by the audience, giving a movie the semblance of an audience in an art gallery. This being so, mis en scene in movies is therefore analogous to the art of painting in that an image of formal patterns and shapes is presented on a flat surface and is enclosed within a frame with the addition of that image having the ability to move freely within its confines. A thorough mise en scene evaluation can be an analysis of the way things are place on stage in...
Tom Meehan. With every new show, there is always competition to be the best show.
Technical Theatre class was a great learning experience for me. When I first signed up for the class, I wasn’t really looking forward to it. I had always been quite clumsy, and I’d never been very handy; so I didn’t think I would be of much use to the set building process. However, before the building process began, the class was taught how to properly and safely use power tools. Being educated on how to handle the equipment made me feel a lot more confident. Now, I’m proud of myself because I ended up getting a lot of work done that I didn’t think I was capable of.
Waggoner, T. (1999). The center for educator development in fine arts. Retrieved October 12, 2004 from http://finearts.esc20.net/default.html.
Then, there is technical theatre. This area of theatre is my favorite and the goal for my future. Technicians are the ones who create the world for the actors or somehow manage everything behind the scenes. Before I explain the multiple fields and areas of technical theatre, I must stress how important this side of theatre is overall. When it comes down to getting a degree in technical theatre or pursuing it, people tend to view it as a purely practical occupation and experience based. Take a look at it in comparison to performance; in a graduate thesis by Christian J. Hershey in 2015, he took a survey of college courses offered for theatre education for a technical focused theatre degree rather than those offered for a performance focused
I’ve learned to appreciate the beauty of how theater is more than a mere performance, but rather an artform with nuance and depth. My knowledge on theatrical styles has expanded and some of my favorites we have studied in class are Brechtian and Chinese theatre styles. I grew up participating in musical theatre, but never had the opportunity to truly learn the history and details of the craft. After studying RENT, I am inspired by the various possibilities for theater beyond acting, singing, and dancing. Theater can be used for activism or as a form of commemoration. Theater is relevant by communicating issues to the world. Theater is so much more than a dramatic presentation. The theater that I have come to appreciate the most are the performances that relay a greater purposeful message about society amidst the theatricals on
This development in technologies has affected the audience’s will to suspend their disbelief in the field of theatre. Suspension of disbelief is one of the most important features for theatre because theatre exists to put on trial “ideas and thoughts” and for good theatre, there should be minimal will from the audience to suspend their disbelief. However, suspension of disbelief in a person’s life occurs not only in theatre but also in other areas of knowledge and his day-to-day life as
unemployment; competition for roles is often intense. While formal training is helpful, experience and talent are more important for success in this field. Because of erratic employment, earnings for actresses are relatively low.
Nevertheless, the question at hand is whether theatre will have a role in the society of the future, where cinema, digital television, and computers will continue to expand and grow. The answer to this question is yes. Heading into the 21st century, theatre will only be a fraction in a solid media industry. However, despite all the excitement technology brings with it, they will never replace theatre because it has something that can not be recreated or offered anywhere else. The cinema and its larger than life world appeals as an affordable alternative. Digital television provides digital interaction between the viewer and the producer. Theatre on the other hand, and its contents may take on a larger dimension, but we receive it directly in flesh and blood – one to one. The magical atmosphere between an actor and spectator who are constantly aware of each other and the theatre’s level of engagement is fundamentally more human and far more intimate.
For thousands of years, people have been arguing that theatre is a dying art form. Many people think theatre is all just cheesy singing and dancing or just boring old Shakespeare, but there is much more to theatre than those two extremes. Theatre is important to our society because it teaches us more about real life than recorded media. Theatre has been around for thousands of years and began as a religious ceremony that evolved into an art form that teaches about the true essence of life. Theatre can incorporate profound, and provocative, observations of the human condition that can transcend time; lessons found in Greek plays can still be relevant to the modern world. People argue that the very essence of theatre is being snuffed out by modern