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Essay on theory of drama
Essay on theory of drama
Essay on theory of drama
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Introduction
Over the years, the essence of theatre has not only been to entertain, but to also allow the build up of a culture in a quickly growing uncultured generation. Regardless of the existence of so many other forms of entertainment, theatre has always established a commanding niche in most people’s hearts, and is undoubtedly the most realistic form of entertainment (Bruce 12). The acting bit of theatre performances makes things real and in their immediate contexts, allowing the audience to draw conclusions based on what they see. In a majority of cases, also, the play’s setting is such that there is description of definite subjects without which the play cannot make meaning. The above research takes into account A Number by Caryl Churchill. A great deal of issues and aspects can be learnt from the above play with diverse moral lessons, as well. It has long been proved that expression via acting is more direct than when the audience accesses literature in other means. This direct approach gives a broader meaning to a variety of issues in the play, which were not understood, say in videos. Additionally, the play A Number is full of theatrical ideologies with clear depiction and expression of every event. Theatricality and empowerment set this play different from other plays because of clarity in events’ sequence. The author also strives to express the idea of cloning in society as one main means of families’ downfall. This further comes with what literature calls the ‘fate of tragic heroes’, an indication of what is at stake when a person does things out of the ordinary to please him or herself.
The overall Essence of Theatre
A mere mention of the term theatre acts as a relief to many people. It is in this place that a m...
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Bibliography
Aparna, Bhargava. Theatres of Independence: Drama, Theory, and Urban Performance in India Since 1947. New York: University of Iowa Press, 2009.
Aston, Elaine. The Cambridge Companion to Caryl Churchill. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009.
Bruce, Wilshire. Role Playing and Identity: The Limits of Theatre as Metaphor. Indiana: Indiana University, Folklore Institute, 1991.
Churchill, Caryl. A Number. London: Nick Hern, 2002.
Inchbald, Mrs. The British Theatre: Or, A Collection of Plays. New York: Hurst, Robinson, 1824.
Kritzer, Amelia. The Plays of Caryl Churchill: Theatre of Empowerment. London: Macmillan, 1991.
Melissa, Bell. Empowerment Through Play: The Role of Theatre in Maintaining the Female Voice. New York: ProQuest, 2008.
Somers, John. Drama and Theatre in Education: Contemporary Research. London: Captus Press, 1996.
Theatres and How We Had Fun." Little, Brown, and Company. (Boston, Toronto, London); 1991. P. 139, 144.
Kenrick, John. Musical Theatre A History. New York: The Continuum International Publishing Group, 2008. Print.
Butler, Judith. "Performative Acts and Gender Constitution: An Essay in Phenomenology and Feminist Theory." Theatre Journal 40.4 (1988): 519-31. The Johns Hopkins University Press. Web. 11 May 2011.
Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night is a comedy that has been interpreted in different ways, enabling one to receive multiple experiences of the same story. Due to the content and themes of the play, it can be creatively challenging to producers and their casting strategies. Instead of being a hindrance, I find the ability for one to experiment exciting as people try to discover strategies that best represent entertainment for the audience, as well as the best ways to interpret Shakespeare’s work.
[8] Brown, Frederick. Theater and Revolution: The Culture of the French Stage. New York: Viking, 1980. Print.
The Broadway musical has been entertaining a wide variety of Americans for generations. It is not always clear what exactly draws millions of people across the country to these shows each year, some scholars, including Stacy Wolf, argue that the spectacular costumes, grandiose music, and exciting story lines, offer Americans an escape from their reality. It has been argued that Broadway musicals do not promote positive or progressive views of women, but only depict them in roles that are stereotypically associated with women. While this may be the case in some shows, it is more common for a female character to have depth and defy traditional stereotypes. From the twentieth century on, Broadway became
little theater group, the Hull House players” (Laura Jane Addams World of Sociology, 2001). In
The use of epic theater, the gestus, and the alienation effect are techniques that enable the audience, as spectators, to look beyond dialogue, action, and emotion in order to obtain a glimpse of what is not so easily conveyed. Churchill has utilized each technique to its fullest extent, and has achieved the Brechtian ideal of producing a work of political theater that incites thought, social criticism, and action. She has, in the same sense, exceeded this ideal by extending the Brechtian discourse to reflect the struggles and importance of the lives of women.
Stephens, Judith L. “Gender Ideology and Dramatic Convention in Progressive Era Plays, 1890-1920.” Theatre Journal 41.1 (1989): 45-55. Print.
Stacy Wolf, a Professor of Theatre in the Lewis Centre for the Arts wrote the book ‘Changed for Good’. This book observes the roles of women in Broadway and how musical theatre’s history has changed massively from the 1950’s to the twenty first century by analysing, inspecting and listening to what women actually did on the Broadway stage through every chapter. It argues that ‘gender and genre are inseparable’ (Wolf. S. 2011. P. 20) the representations and performances by women radically changed in the musical from the 1950’s; from Anita in West Side Story to Adalaide in Guys and Dolls, Wolf demonstrates a centrality toward women in the form of ‘friends, girlfriends and wives as journalists, students and maids, and also as singers and dancers’ (Wolf. S. 2011. P. 4)
In this paper, I will be focusing briefly on my knowledge and understanding of the concept of Applied theatre and one of its theatre form, which is Theatre in Education. The term Applied Theatre is a broad range of dramatic activity carried out by a crowd of diverse bodies and groups.
The survival of theatre lies in the very nature of humankind: its inner voyeuristic drive. The desire to watch other people dealing with their conflicts and fates challenges as well as reinforces values and the morality of society. The theatre provides an exciting opportunity to watch stories and situations as if they were real life, showing us the truth of our nature.
Theatre as we know it now was born more than two thousand years ago and has gone through many streams until it reached the current modernity. Among these streams is the avant-garde theatre. This theatre achieved a break in the traditional theatre and became the forefront of a new experimental theatre. Therefore it is necessary to ask how this theatre started, what impact it had on society and if this type of theatre is still common in our modern era.
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