The Greek Theatre
The amphitheatres of Ancient Greece were located on hillsides. A bowl shape was dug into a north facing slope for maximum sunlight. The amphitheatre complex contained the koilon, orchestra, proscenium, skene and parados. The koilon was the semi-circular, stacked seating area for the audience and was split into two sections; upper and lower diazoma. The area closest to the stage of the lower diazoma was reserved for priests, members of the council and officials. The upper diazoma operated under a free seating scheme. This communicated to the audience that official people should be respected and have certain perks. This might have made ordinary people work harder and aspire to hold a position of power. In front of the koilon was the orchestra: a circular piece of land approximately 60m in diameter. The orchestra was used by the chorus for their choral odes and stasimons. The chorus were a group of fifteen amateur performers who acted as a united group. The chorus entered at the beginning of a play chanting a song and marching at a slow pace. The acting then commenced from professional actors. After a section of acting had taken place the chorus performed a stasimon; commenting on what has just been seen. Stasimons included singing and dancing which added movement and spectacle to the play. For example in the first stasimon "ode to man" the language is mostly in the verb form
The Woman in black - The Fortune theatre, London.
The Woman in Black PLAY: The Woman in black. THEATRE: The Fortune theatre, London. This is a ghost play by Stephen Mallatratt. The play sees the elderly Arthur Kipps, played by Pip Donaghy, attempt to exorcise the ghosts of his past by having a young actor, Colin Hurley, portray his experiences on the stage of a currently empty theatre. The set and lighting that was used during the play was very basic, this was done purposely because the lay is set in an empty theatre, which is still tidying up after a past production. The main items used during the play were visible from the outset. There was a large wicker basket, a stool, two wooden chairs and a clothes wrack. Seeing as these items had to be used to portray most items and settings, the lighting would have to be used cleverly, and it was. It enhanced the simple set and added to the illusion of place and created an atmosphere. The lighting and sound in the following places was; - London office- A low and dull light with sound =s of horse and carriages trotting past outside. A ticking clock was cleverly used to create an office feeling. Tomes had his room down stage right in this scene. Kipps Young Kipps Tomes' room Train-Different chairs were used to give us an idea of the three trains comfort. A big comfortable chair and warm lighting was used in London to show optimism, where the wicker basket and cold lighting
How research material was gathered and used within the process.
How research material was gathered and used within the process. At the very beginning of the production process we split into several pairs. Each pair was given a drug to complete some scenes on, part of the producing of the scenes required some research, so therefore each group attempted to research their given drug, and obviously anything they felt would benefit the whole group. The drug my pair was given was LSD, we conducted research using the internet and found several accounts of people's experience on drugs. We use their recollections of 'trips' to construct a 'trip' for the character Ellie. The research told us that when 'tripping' on LSD that things become very fluid. Lifeless objects seem to breath, or beat like a heart, and it's possible to taste and smell things like colours. Our research also taught us how LSD-induced 'trips' do not create things, only warp something normal that we might see. For example, a house with its light on may seem, on a 'trip', as a house on fire. I myself spoke to someone who has experienced a bad LSD trip, in which she believed she was being chased by giant 'Mars Bars', they were, as she found out later, just wheelie bins. We therefore realised that there must be a trigger. We created a 'bad trip' scene, in which the audience experiences through Ellie's eyes a 'bad trip'. We positioned Ellie in the centre of the stage and had James,
Hidden Exposure - Working Diary.
Hidden Exposure - Working Diary By Nicole Frith This is a written analysis and evaluation of the creative process leading up to, and applied during, the dance performance of 'Hidden Exposure', based on Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and Dreams. The piece, was choreographed by 'Dance Performance Experience' year 2, and performed on January 13, 1998. The aims of this 'Dance Performance' module were to apply newly learnt techniques, movement skills, and the research of existing practitioners, combine them with existing dance skills and knowledge to create an original innovative dance performance. Members of the class will choreograph sections, with the common theme, in pairs or individually that will be put together to create a collage style dance. Each individually choreographed section should make use of some recurring motifs and demonstrate contact improvisation where possible. Before we started any of our own choreography we had to decide on a stimuli. This is very important, as it will be the idea that all movements are representing. This is called Ideational Stimuli and is when "the movement is stimulated and formed with the intention to convey an idea or tell a story."1, as opposed to us taking a piece of music and dancing to it. As a group we had many ideas to choose from but after weighing out the options we opted for OCD, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. The idea of
With detailed textual references discuss, analyse and review the key but cinematic features displayed in
With detailed textual references discuss, analyse and review the key but cinematic features displayed in "Pleasantville" and "The Truman Show" The following essay, which I have composed, is based on two important films of the last decade. Their titles are "Pleasantville" and "The Truman Show". Starting with the "Pleasantville", the general overview of the film's plot gets more complicated the further you get into it. It brings up several issues all of which I have commented on in this essay. The film starts with two teenagers, David and Jennifer. David has an addiction to old reruns of a fifties sitcom also by the name of "Pleasantville". Jennifer is the complete opposite of her brother, leading a rather promiscuous lifestyle. During an argument, their TV remote is broken, meaning they are unable to watch their television. The argument is between David who wants to watch the Pleasantville marathon and Jennifer who wants to watch a film with her date who is coming round in a few minutes. Then a supernatural event occurs as a TV repairman rings the doorbell seconds after the breakage. The TV repairman has a common interest with David in Pleasantville. As he sees David is a die-hard fan, the repairman gives David a special remote which transports them into their television, into Pleasantville. Pleading with the repairman to transport them back, he gets upset and
Plot and sub plot of road
Plot & sub Plot Episodic Structure The structure used in this play is episodic. This structure was first created by Brecht he used this so the audience wouldn't get sucked into the play. This structure consists of lots of shorts scenes with a range of different characters and genres and conventions but they will have one theme or setting, which holds the play together and connects the scenes to each other. The audience are allowed to believe in the naturalism as it is made extremely naturalistic so they get the sense of real life but a monologue would be inserted in parts of the play to make it evident it was unreal as the characters would break the fourth wall and connect to the audience also Scullery affects the realism as he narrates the play. The audiences are wanted to think about unemployment depression and poverty. Different sections contain different themes and dysfunction but the main thing the all have in common is living on the road. Carwright also uses Brecht style because Brecht made plays extremely political and road becomes political mainly in joeys story. Cartwright used this style so he was allowed to use lots of different genres conventions and styles to make a bigger impact on the audience. Plot This play was in based in the 1980's and set in a depressed town on a random road. It is chaotic and uses a mixture of styles. The audiences go through a
Theatre of the Oppressed Theorised: Who, How, and What Comprises Forum Theatre's capacity to liberate?
Theatre of the Oppressed Theorised: Who, How, and What Comprises Forum Theatre's capacity to liberate? "I adored chemistry... [But] a chemist who doesn't like sulphur is like a doctor who doesn't like blood."1 On visiting Boal's home in Copacabana I was delighted by his theatrical surroundings of a sea view and colourful wall-to-wall shelving of literature. But never, in my (quite modest) imagination, did I envisage amidst his dramatic haven an open copy of 'The User's Guide to the Brain'. To my dismay, Boal's upbringing was of one bored by test tubes and examinations and rewarded with a place to study chemistry at university. He elaborated; "If you use images, words, and sounds it broadens the mind... The more you exercise your brain, the more you deepen your knowledge."2 Throughout this paper I have volunteered the conclusion that Boal's theatre practices freely manifest emotions from an actor's body. His ever-apparent commitment to science and theorising provides me with plentiful groundwork to suggest reasons why his sets of alliances develop within and profoundly affect a person, and how he creates this network of meaningful and mobilising activities. Throughout this chapter, I refer to the notable influence of Paulo Freire's 'Pedagogy of the Oppressed' and scientific researches into theories of social cognition that I believe are comparable to the Boalian
Taming Of The Shrew & Much Ado About Nothing Plots
Much Ado About Nothing Plot Don Pedro, Prince of Arragon, pays a visit to Leonata, the governor of Messina, while returning from a victorious campaign against his rebellious brother, Don John. Accompanying him are two of his officers, Benedick and Claudio. While in Messina, Claudio falls for Leonato's daughter, Hero; Benedick verbally spars with Beatrice, the governor's niece. The budding love between Claudio and Hero prompts Don Pedro to arrange with Leonato for the marriage. Meanwhile, the trickery begins as Don Pedro (with the help of Leonato and Claudio) attempts to sport with Benedick and Beatrice in an effort to make the two of them fall in love. Likewise, Hero and her waiting woman help to set up Beatrice. Both Benedick and Beatrice will think that the other has professed a great love for them. The marriage of Claudio to Hero is set to go. Don John-ostensibly reconciled with his brother-despises Claudio, however, and plots against him. First, he tells Claudio that Pedro wants Hero for himself; next, he enlists the aid of his henchman Borachio and one of Hero's gentlewomen disguised as Hero to stage an encounter that will bring Hero's virtue into question. Claudio falls for the ruse and denounces Hero at the altar. Friar Francis helps her, hiding her away and enlisting the aid of Leonata, who announces that his daughter has died of grief from the proceeding.
Musical Theatre Report
History of Musical Theatre Report Musical Theatre is a form theatre performance, it has been around for a long time and it's been a popular attraction to theatre goers. Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining music, songs, spoken dialogue and dance. The emotional content of them can be one a few of many such as, humour, pathos, love, anger - as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an integrated whole. Musical theatre works, usually referred to as musicals, are performed around the world. They may be presented in large venues, such as big budget West End and Broadway theatre productions in London and New York City, or in smaller Fringe Theatre, Off-Broadway. They can tend to be also found in small theatres around the globe such as the Hull New Theatre which I visit a lot throughout the year. Musical Theatre performances can also be created by budget companies that want to create a better living and tour the UK or anywhere in the world, or even by amateur groups in schools, theatres and other performance spaces. In addition to Britain and North America, there are vibrant musical theatre scenes in many countries in Europe, South America and Asia. There have been a lot of musicals that have been created and left a mark in the world these include some of the following... * Blood Brothers
A changing stage.
Ellen Murray Drama 101 A changing stage There are many ways to make an audience feel as if they are watching true life happen before them. Two plays put on at the University of Washington attempt to do just that. They are Goodnight Children Everywhere and plays from the Ten-Minute Play Festival. Both use a number of techniques to ensure the audience is truly embraced into the world of the play. Goodnight Children everywhere, by Richard Nelson is the story of the reunion of a brother with his three sisters after being sent to Canada for safety during the war. The now, mostly grownup children realize it may be a lot harder to get along the way they did as children may then they thought. Directed by Mark Zufelt the cast portrays the 1940's characters as being modern adults who just want to find a life of their own. The 2nd Annual UW Ten-Minute Play Festival, by various playwrights is a series of six non-related plays all between ten and twenty minutes long. Though the plays are not directly related they all have similarities in staging because the series is set on an arena style stage, which forces the movement to be 360 degrees to ensure the entire audience sees the dramatic actions. Directed by Mark Harrison and Mathew Arbour the series bring the audience to so close to the action they could reach out and touch the actors. There are, however, many differences