Primer for Playgoers by Edward A

Primer for Playgoers by Edward A. Wright Goethe’s Three Principles 1. What this artist trying to do?

2. How well has done it?

3. Is it worth the doing?

The Obligations of the Theatre 1. To move those in attendance emotionally.

2. To give them more of life than they would live in the same period of time.

3. To seem real and the create an illusion of life.

4. To make the audience believe what it sees.

5. To give a truthful picture of life through the elements of selection and conventionalization.

The Obligations of the Audience 1. To enter the theatre with an ample supply of imaginary puissance.

2. To recognize its own personal prejudices.

3. To observe and evaluate the work of all the artists who have made the production possible.

4. To give each artist the right to express himself as he desires.

5. To ask a ways-Goethe’s three questions.

Five Divisions of Theatre 1. The Audience and Dramatic Criticism.

2. The Play and the Playwright.

3. The Acting and the Actors.

4. The Background and the Technicians.

5. The Direction and the Director.

The Psychology of Audiences (James Mason Brown, Clayton Hamilton) 1. He loses his higher and more personal sensibilities of intellect or character; 2. is less intellectual and more emotional; 3. is less reasonable and judicious; 4. descends several rungs in the ladder-he demands a struggle, is boyishly heroic, carelessly unthinking, easily credulous; 5. wants to takesides, to hiss or to applaud; 6. finds that emotion is contagious, does what his neighbor does.; 7. is more sensuous, loves costumes, color, spectacle; 8. is more commonplace; demands the love of women, home, country, right; 9. is more conservative; 10. is more little hand of hearing; 11. is more unpredictable.

Three Extremes of Audiences 1. Escapists (wants to forget the responsibilities and problem of their every day life).

2. Moralists (beautiful and nice clean plays be presented).

3. Artsakists (art for arts’ sake) Pitfalls in Analyzing Dramatic Productions 1. Criticism involves a desire to be clever.

2. Criticism often cites minor accidents not real dramatic values. (not seeing the forest for the trees) 3. Criticism The critic leaves at curtain fall to find, in starting to review it, He scarcely saw the play at all.

For catching his reaction to it. (E.B.White)

Essences of Dramatic Criticism 1. “Dramatic Criticism is an attempt to formulate rules of conduct for that lovable, wayward, charming, willful vagabond that is the drama.�

George Jean Nathan.

Requisites for the Dramatic Critic (George Bernard Shaw) 1. An awareness of his own prejudices.

2. Some knowledge of the theatre and dramatic history.

3. A sense of the theatre and an appreciation of its possibilities.

4. Some honest standard of theatre evaluation that includes both taste and discrimination.

5. An understanding of the form and techniques involved in the work of each artist in the theatre.

Ten Commandments of Dramatic Criticism 1. I must constantly, in all my theatre experience, use imaginationary puissance.

2. I must know, understand, evaluate, and discount my own prejudices.

3. I must evaluate each of the five areas and the works of all artists involved in the production.

4. I must measure the entire production in terms of life and understand what each artist has personally contributed through and of himself to mark or mar the production.

5. I must arrive at every decision only after using Goethe’s three principles of artistic criticism 6. Each and every artist must make crystal clear what hr is trying to say through proper Emphasis, sincerity, and technique.

7. Each and every artist must work within the medium at hand or successfully adapt any elements borrowed from another medium 8. Each and every artist must cooperate and coordinate his work toward a single goal which is, in turn, the theme or the purpose of the production.

9. Each and every artist must seem real and be wholly believable in his contribution to this production that is a work of art; in short, each must give a picture of life interpreted through his personality.

10.

In the final analysis the production may move me, Stir me, excite me, amuse me, teach me or transform me, but the one thing it dare not do is to bore me. The one thing it must do is send me on my way some how better equipped to face life.

Definition of a Play by Clayton Hamilton “A play is a story devised to be presented by actors on a stage before an audience.”

Very important consideration of a play by Thomas Wood Stevenson “We should a ways consider play of the past not only in terms of the theatre in which they are being given, but also in terms of the theatre for which they were written”

Type of Play (Tragedy) Tragedy is the oldest form of drama with four basic themes.

1. The everything depends on the gods 2. The gigantic sin of pride 3. The dangerous course of the unbalanced man 4. The positive punishment that must come for all sin Requirements of Tragedy 1. The play must concern a serious subject 2. The protagonist must be great figure of heroic proportions, and he must be represent more than an individual 3. The incident must be absolutely honest and without the element of coincidence or chance. What should happen must happen.

4. The basic emotions are those of pity and fear – Pity for the protagonist in his suffering and Fear that the same fate might come to us.

5. In the final analysis the protagonist must meet the defeat, but out of that defeat must come enlightenment or the “catharsis� of Aristotle.

Type of Play (Melodrama) (Tragedy must tell the truth, Melodrama must not lie) Requirement of Melodrama 1. It treats of a serious subject.

2. The characters are more lovely drawn than the tragedy and this makes it easier for the audience to identify itself with the characters, thus creating a stronger emphatic response.

3. Whereas tragedy must be absolutely honest, the elements of chance and coincidence enter into melodrama. It is episode and the most exciting accidents possible are brought into the play.

4. There may be an emotion of pity, but it is of a more temporary or surface type.

5. There is no enlightenment even in defeat, and it most instances the protagonist does win his battle

Type of Play (Comedy) (Comedy is the most miscellaneous of all the dramatic forms and therefore the most difficult to define) Requirements of Comedy 1. Treats its subjects in a lighter vein even though the subject may be serious one.

2. Provokes what can be defined as “thoughtful laughter”.

3. Is both possible and probable.

4. Grows out of character rather than situation.

5. Is honest in its portrayal of life.

Ladder of Comedy by Alan Raynolds Thomson

Farce

High Comedy

6. Comedy of ideas and satire 5. Inconsistency of character 4. Verbal wit 3. Plot device 2. Physical mishap 1. Obscenity William Congreve’s five items not considered humor.

1. Wit, which is only an ability to quip smarty or to say something at the right time, be it statistical or facetious.

2. Folly, which involves doing the foolish thing. He points out that we laugh at a monkey or at man making a monkey of himself or at low thoughts.

3. Man’s personal defects, such as blindness, deafness, or infirmities brought on by age.

4. External habit, which includes singularity of man’s speech or dialect, his cloths, behavior, profession, or nationality.

5. Affection, which is pretense without truth or sincerity.

Type of Play (Farce) (Farce is to comedy what melodrama is to tragedy) (Farce is consists of exaggerated incidents and characters with a domination of plot and only pretense of reality) The Requirement of Farce 1. Has as its object riotous laughter and escape.

2. Ask the audience to accept certain improbabilities, but from that point proceeds in a life-life manner.

3. Is possible, but not very probable.

4. Is dominated by situation rather than character, and calls for little or no thought.

5. Must move very rapidly in an episode manner, and is believable only for a moment.

The Style of the Play Reality refers to life itself.

Realism is an aesthetic term uses to denote the artist’s style in portraying that reality.

The Structure of the Play 1. Exposition 2. Rising 3. Turning Point 4. Falling action 5. Climax 6. Conclusion

The Meaning, Nature, and Value of Play Theme is the soul of the play.

Plot is the body of the play.

Autonomous Drama exists primary to delight, amuse, entertain, or move an audience emotionally.

Heteronymous Drama would stir and audiences to some overt action, demonstrates or teach, further some propaganda or persuade.

One method of weighing a play is to examine it for its literary or its journalistic qualities, literature or journalism, morality or immorality.

Fundamental Questions on Morality 1. Has the playwright lied about these characters? If at any point he has, he should be condemned. If he has been truthful about them, he should be praised, and the play is essentially moral.

2. Has the author permitted any evil or wrong to be rewarded?

Have the wicked achieved their goal because of or through their wickedness? If so, the play may be left open to change or being an immoral play.

3. Has an author in this play clouded in the minds of his audience their basic beliefs in the idea of what is right and what is wrong? If he has, then the play may be again, open to the charge of being immoral.

The Requirement of Great Play 1. Possess universality of appeal in time and space.

2. Create living characters in convincing situations.

3. Stir, move, enrich, or transform audience.

4. Express its thoughts in beautiful or appropriate language.

5. Teach life’s meaning and strengthen our own and in facing life’s problems.

Acting is the art of creating an illusion of naturalness and reality that is issued to the play, to the period, and to the character that is being represented.

Two General School of Acting 1. Interpreters & Commenters 2. Impersonators “Listen with the eyes and speak with the heart” David Balasco Three Areas of Acting 1. Technical or Physical 2. Mental or Intellectual 3. Emotional or Spiritual Six requirements for measuring the actor’s work 1. What does the actor bring to the role in voice, body, personality, or as an individual?

2. Is his acting fresh?

3. Is his acting restrained?

4. Is his acting easy?

5. Is his acting convincing?

6. Does the actor fit into the productions as an integral part of the whole?

“An actor should be two persons – the artist and the character.”

The Background and Technicians The Scene Designer The Lighting Designer The Costume Designer Scene’s Duties 1. Concealment 2. Decoration 3. Mood 4. Suggested place 5. Portray Place Modern Scenic Styles 1. Realism 2. Simplified Realism 3. Impressionism 4. Expressionism 5. Theatricalism 6. Formalism Contributing Factors to Scenic Styles 1. Stylization 2. Symbolism 3. Space Staging The Requirements of Scenery 1. Must fit the action of the play.

2. Must portray the type, style, mood and spirit of the play.

3. Must help the actor to tell story.

4. Must never attract attention to itself.

The three arguments against realism in the theatre 1. Its detract attentions from the actor and the play.

2. It weakens illusions by challenging the audience to compare the make believed of the set with life itself.

3. It destroys aesthetic distance.

Three means of controlling the lights 1. The quantity of light being used.

2. The color of that light.

3. Its distribution over the stage.

The Requirement of Lighting 1. The stage must at all times be sufficiency lighted to make for visibility without stain.

2. Good lighting will select and emphasize that aspect of the production which needs pointing up at any given moment.

3. Artistic lighting accentuates the proper emotional and psychological qualities of the play.

The Requirements of Costumes 1. All costumes must fit the period, season, locality time of day, occasion, and mood of the scene.

2. The costume must have the correct line and color to do the most for character projection and for the person wearing it.

3. Each costume must be stage worthy in the\at lines and design are sufficiently exaggerated to carry over to the audience.

4. The costumes must be worn with ease.

Script The poetry of the drama was once expresses in the lines, it is now found in the pictorial phases.

Our theatre calls for less imagination from the writer and the audience, but more from all the other artists.

Poetry is that happiness which overcomes us when we become suddenly aware of the presence of the beautiful.

Direction and Director Director does unify the work of many individual artists into an artistic whole. He regulates tempo, commands every variation in the emphasis, and creates an interpretation. He must think of the complete effect. The director is not merely a “coach” working with individuals. His concern is with ideas, with scenes, character relationships, the strategy and tactics of the play as a whole.

Director is responsible for everything being seen on the stage or screen.

The director is the author’s representative. In a very veal sense he must see that6 each actor not only portrays the voice and actions natural to lie and the character he is playing, but also translates, interprets, and express this reality so that it conveys the playwright’s attitude toward the scene and the character he has created.

It is the director’s responsibility to see that the actors not only play the character they have been assigned, but that they also play that play that has been written for them.

Type of Theatre 1. The Professional Theatre 2. The Community Theatre 3. The Educational Theatre

Each Noncommercial Play must: 1. Have been released for noncommercial use; 2. Not have too many or too complicated setting for local physical facilities; 3. Come within the budget, including all royalty, costumes, scenery, and production costs; 4. Meet artistic standards be interesting entertaining, timely, worthwhile, and truthful, and uphold the prestige of both theatre and producing group; 5. Fit the available actors in number, sex and talent; 6. Nit have been done in the area in recent year; 7. Fit local conditions in a given week or season and have adequate variety to round out a full dramatic program; 8. Have sufficient appeal to all levels of class, education, and age; 9. Satisfy at least a majority of the patrons; and last but not least; 10.

Have publicity value and draw sufficient audience through the box office to pay all expenses involved in the production and keep the budget balanced.

The Five Distinct Obligations of Noncommercial Director 1. To entertain and educate the audience and build an audience for the theatre of the future.

2. To develop the talent and further the creativity of active participants in the production.

3. To further the aims or purposes of the particular organization he represents.

4. To contribute artistically to the theatre as an institution and an art.

5. To satisfy himself as a director, an artist, and a teacher.

Noncommercial Theatre shall endeavor always; 1. To develop its students as individuals vocally, physically, emotionally and culturally rather than for the professional field; 2. To train both audience and students to appreciate the living theatre; 3. To present plays that picture all phases of life and dramatic literature; 4. To approach perfection in its own realm without attempting to imitate Broadway; 5. To entertain but to contribute something more than mere entertainment; 6. To encourage creative work in every phases of the dramatic arts; 7. To add stature to the theatre in general, and to college theatre in particular; and 8. To be educational, challenging, and artistic!

Director’s contributions to the production 1. The choice of play 2. Casting 3. The emphasis on theme and style or treatment 4. Stage movement and business, groupings and pictures 5. Emphasis on the whole production rather than the individual 6. Are the correct points being made?

7. Rhythm, Tempo, and Place 8. The correct balance of empathy and aesthetic distance 9. Has the director shown fidelity to the play’s main purpose and in the use of his materials?

10.

Smoothness of the whole production 11.

Has the director sufficiency challenged artists and audience?

Re-wrote by Thummachuk Prompuay From the paper of Prof.Dr.Suraphon Virulrak