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Theatre: Collaborative Acts, 2/E
Ronald Wainscott, Indiana University
Kathy J. Fletcher, Indiana University

ISBN-10: 0205484786
ISBN-13: 9780205484782

Publisher: Allyn & Bacon
Copyright: 2007
Format: Paper; 416 pp
Published: 03/20/2006

Suggested retail price: $96.00
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Theatre: Collaborative Acts stimulates creative thinking and discussions of artistic, social, and ethical questions through its interwoven themes of theatre as culture, collaboration, spatial art, and a fusion of the past and present.

 

The central premise of Theatre: Collaborative Acts is that theatre is entertainment and art.  It allows us to escape, relax, and refocus.  Through their study of theatre, students develop lifelong tools to help them enjoy, analyze, understand, read, visualize, and get the most out of many different types of theatre experiences.  This text emphasizes the diversity of purpose and effect of theatre, and the collaborative nature of the theatrical process. 

  • Four major themes and principles:
    • Theatre is cultural study: looking at theatrical events and how they are created provides a window into the way a society views itself, drawing examples from multicultural theatre, not just the Western tradition. 
    • Theatre is collaboration: theatre-making is a shared experience including both theatre practitioners and audience members.
    • Theatre is a spatial art: critical to theatrical collaboration is the way space is used, adapted, transformed, and the way theatrical artists interact in and with that space. 
    • Theatre is a dynamic fusion of past and present: it represents a unique opportunity to see how the past and present are interrelated.
  • Boxed features:
    • “Exploring Collaboration” boxes include profiles of successful artistic teams and feature a variety of approaches to the artistic process.  
    • “Exploring Historical and Cultural Perspectives” boxes offer a window on specific theatrical events.
    • “Artists of the Theatre” boxes feature colorful and influential theatrical figures of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.
  • Special features:
    • The photo essay “Interpreting Space and Design” demonstrates ways in which spaces have been redefined by directors and designers and examines the human figure in space and the dynamics of three-dimensional performance.
    • "Key Theatrical Events" is a timeline of selective theatrical, social, and artistic events that allows students to place their explorations in a wider context.
    • The photo essay “Theatre of Diversity” demonstrates diversity in type of theatre and theatrical experiences.
  • Pedagogy:
    • “For Further Exploration” provides a reference list of articles, books, videos, and websites.
    • “Questions and Activities” provide springboards for class discussions and outside projects.
    • A list of “Key Terms and Concepts” (in boldface in the chapter) are arranged by topic and followed by page reference number.
    • A Bibliography brings together all the major sources included in the “Further Exploration” sections.

  • Includes new information about important professional productions throughout the text, looking critically at the ethical questions and important life messages these plays address–and the ways in which different theatrical traditions address them.
  • Updates the text with examples from current Broadway and off Broadway productions, including Caroline or Change (2005), Spamalot (2005), The Pillowman (2005), and The Light in the Piazza (2005).
  • Reorganizes the contents of the text by moving “The Collaboration in History” section (formerly Act II) to the end of the text, conveniently clustering all historical information in Act III.
  • Includes new “Artist in the Theatre” boxes about actor James Earl Jones, playwright Michael Frayn, director George C. Wolfe, and more.
  • Increases focus on race and gender diversity in contemporary and period theatre throughout the text, including discussions on non-traditional casting, the role of women in Chinese musical drama, and racial reversals in theatrical productions.
  • Features an updated timeline of important events in theatre taking students through theatrical traditions and influences across cultures and time; a new comprehensive bibliography at the end of the book; and larger photographs where possible throughout the text, making it easier to view the details of theatre’s dynamism and diversity.

Every chapter contains Questions and Activities, Key Terms and Concepts, and For Further Exploration.

 

I. Theatre and Its Audience

1. Cultural Collaboration: Theatre and Society

Theatre as Entertainment and Art

Exploring Cultural and Historical Perspectives: The Lure of Safe Conduct and Invisible Rabbits

The Social Functions of Theatre

Exploring Historical and Cultural Perspectives:  Anti-War Plays

Exploring Collaboration:  Interact Center for the Visual and Performing Arts

Social Control of Theatre

Exploring Collaboration:  Citizen Play Juries

Cultural Context and Personal Experience

2. Experiencing Theatre: Collaboration of Actor, Audience, and Space

The Audience

Exploring Collaboration: Spatial Collaboration: Commune and Pinocchio

Exploring Historical and Cultural Perspectives: Brecht versus Wagner

The Nature of Acting

Exploring Historical and Cultural Perspectives: Hypokrites to Actor

Exploring Historical and Cultural Perspectives: Makeup as Mask: Kathakali

From Play to Production

Space

Exploring Historical and Cultural Perspectives: Drottningholm Court Theatre

Exploring Historical and Cultural Perspectives: Stratford Festival Theatre

Exploring Historical and Cultural Perspectives: The Performing Garage

Theatre and Transformation

3. Analyzing Theatre: Thinking and Writing about Live Performance

Theatre, Film, and Television

Analyzing Production

Thinking about Actor Performances

Thinking about Space and Design

Exploring Historical and Cultural Perspectives: The Effect of Space on Angels in America

Understanding Style

Evaluating Production

The Role of the Critic

Exploring Collaboration: Effective Performance Criticism

Writing about Production

Exploring Historical and Cultural Perspectives: Theatre or Theater?  It Is More Than a Building

When It All Works

4. Understanding the Play: A Theatrical Blueprint

Plot

Exploring Historical and Cultural Perspectives: Elmer Rice’s On Trial

Character

Thought

Language

Exploring Collaboration:  Improvised Text

Music

Spectacle

5. Interpreting the Play: Understanding Genre, Reading, and Writing

Dramatic Genre

Reading a Play

Exploring Historical and Cultural Perspectives: “Exit, Pursued by a Bear”: Those Problematic Stage Directions

Exploring Collaboration:  East and West: Death of a Salesman in China

Writing about a Play

Exploring Historical and Cultural Perspectives: Juliet Was a Guy in Drag? Changing Theatrical Conventions

6. Producing the Play: Connecting Theatre and Audience

Theatrical Choice in North America

Exploring Collaboration: New Audience Initiatives: The Cleveland Play House

The Role of the Producer

Artists of the Theatre:  Harold Prince

The Economics of Theatre

Exploring Historical and Cultural Perspectives: The Federal Theatre Project

Exploring Collaboration: The New 42nd Street

Photo Gallery: Theatrical Diversity

II. COLLABORATION IN ART AND PRACTICE

7. The Director: Vision and Leadership

Has Someone Always Been in Charge?

Interpretation

Developing Concept

Artists of the Theatre:  Peter Brook

Communicating and Managing the Artistic Vision

Collaborating with the Playwright

Exploring Historical and Cultural Perspectives: “Who Owns the Work?”

Directors and Absent Playwrights

Collaborating with Designers

Collaborating with Actors

Exploring Collaboration:  Metamorphoses

Artists of the Theatre: George C. Wolfe

Collaborating with Stage Management

The Rehearsal Process

Opening the Production

The Artistic Director

8. The Actor: From Mask to Contemporary Performance

Development of the Actor

Artists of the Theatre:  Bernadette Peters

Exploring Historical and Cultural Perspectives: Women as Ancient Mimes

Exploring Historical and Cultural Perspectives: Contemporary Cross-Dressing

Acting Styles and Methods

Artists of the Theatre: James Earl Jones

The Actor’s Work

Exploring Collaboration:  Actors as Collaborators

9. The Playwright: Imagination and Expression

The Changing Position of the Playwright

Artists of the Theatre: Suzan-Lori Parks

The Playwright and Production

Exploring Collaboration:  The Sondheim/Lapine Collaboration

Artists of the Theatre: Michael Frayn

Development of New Plays

Exploring Historical and Cultural Perspectives: The Humana Festival of New American Plays, Actors Theatre of Louisville

Exploring Collaboration:  The Rent Controversy

10. The Designer: Materializing Conception and the World of the Play

The Development of the Designer

Exploring Historical and Cultural Perspectives: Development of the Revolve

The Designers’ Choices

Artists of the Theatre: Ming Cho Lee

The Scenic Designer’s Work

Exploring Collaboration:  Robert Edmund Jones with Arthur Hopkins

The Lighting Designer’s Work

Artists of the Theatre: Jules Fisher and Peggy Eisenhauer

The Costumer Designer’s Work

Artists of the Theatre: William Ivey Long

The Sound Designer’s Work

Integrating All the Designs

Photo Gallery:  Interpreting Space and Design

III. COLLABORATION IN HISTORY

11. Foundations: Classical Theatrical Forms

Classical Greece

Exploring Historical and Cultural Perspectives: Rediscovering Menander

Classical Rome

Medieval Europe

Exploring Collaboration:  The Community, the Church, and the Feast of Corpus Christi

Classical India

Classical China

Classical Japan

Exploring Historical and Cultural Perspectives: Kabuki Cross-Dressing:  The Onnagata

12. Reinterpretations: Europe Rediscovers the Western Classics

The Italian Renaissance

Exploring Historical and Cultural Perspectives: Renaissance Court Entertainment

Elizabethan England

Exploring Historical and Cultural Perspectives: The Rediscovery of the Rose and Globe Theatres

The Spanish Golden Age

Seventeenth-Century France

Restoration England

Eighteenth-Century Europe and the Americas

Exploring Collaboration:  The Hallam Company in the American Colonies:  A Family Affair

13. Revolutions: Romanticism to Postmodern Experiment

Romanticism

Exploring Historical and Cultural Perspectives: The Audience Has Its Say:  Theatre Riots and Demonstrations

Nineteenth-Century Melodrama

Exploring Historical and Cultural Perspectives: Nineteenth-Century Women Theatre Managers in Britain and the United States

Nineteenth-Century Realism and Naturalism

The Avant-Garde from the Late Nineteenth Century to the 1960s

Exploring Collaboration:  Founding an Alternative Theatre: The Provincetown Players

Modern and Contemporary Popular Theatre

The Recent Avant-Garde and Postmodern Experiment

Key Theatrical Events


Glossary

 

Notes


Bibliography


Index

Theatre: Collaborative Acts stimulates creative thinking and discussions of artistic, social, and ethical questions through its interwoven themes of theatre as culture, collaboration, spatial art, and a fusion of the past and present.

The central premise of this text is that theatre is entertainment and art. It allows us to escape, relax, and refocus. Through their study of theatre, students develop lifelong tools to help them enjoy, analyze, understand, read, visualize, and get the most out of many different types of theatre experiences.

New to This Edition

  • Includes new information about important professional productions throughout the text, looking critically at the ethical questions and important life messages these plays address–and the ways in which different theatrical traditions address them.
  • Updates the text with examples from current Broadway and off-Broadway productions, including Caroline or Change (2005), Spamalot (2005), The Pillowman (2005), and The Light in the Piazza (2005).
  • Reorganizes the contents of the text by moving the “Collaboration in History” section (formerly Act Two) to the end of the text, conveniently clustering all historical information in Act Three.
  • Includes new “Artists of the Theatre” feature boxes about actor James Earl Jones, playwright Michael Frayn, director George C. Wolfe, and more.
  • Increases focus on race and gender diversity in contemporary and period theatre throughout the text, including discussions of non-traditional casting, the role of women in Chinese musical drama, and racial reversals in theatrical productions.
  • Features an updated “Key Theatrical Events” timeline showing important events in theatre and taking students through theatrical traditions and influences across cultures and time; a new comprehensive bibliography at the end of the book; and larger photographs throughout the text, making it easier to view the details of theatre’s dynamism and diversity.

Praise for Theatre: Collaborative Acts

This text is driven with a passion for the subject that makes it a thoroughly enjoyable reading experience. As far as textbook reading goes, I didn’t want to put it down. Well done!
–Sal Velasquez, Cerritos College

I continue to be impressed with this book. It is more suitable to real needs of introductory non-major students of theatre than any other text available today. . . . Wainscott and Fletcher’s writing is fluid and elegant, precise and contemporary, accessible and engaging. What a relief to get my hands on a textbook that does not become irritating to read and which is equally interesting to me and my students.
–DeAnna Toten Beard, Baylor University

Your book succeeds in its goals, and I appreciate the embedding of diversity and multicultural elements into the text on a level playing field. In other words, the book does not scream, “I am politically correct,” while meeting that very challenge. It accomplishes what it set out to do.
–Richard Hansen, Middle Tennessee State University

This text very clearly puts theatre in its cultural and historical context while focusing on the collaborative nature of the art.
–Kathleen Cochran, McLennan College

View a Sample Chapter PDF:

For Introduction to Theatre


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