THEATER ARTS

Theatre (in American English usually theater) is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance.

Elements of design and stagecraft are used to enhance the physicality, presence and immediacy of the experience. The specific place of the performance is also named by the word "theatre" as derived from the Ancient Greek (thatron, a place for viewing) and(theomai, to see", "to watch", "to observe).

The mask of comedy and tragedy are a symbol for theater. They represent the two main types of play.

The word theater means a place for seeing, but theater is more than just a building where plays are performed. Its the whole idea behind what happens there. Theater is where playwrights write scripts, directors supervise rehearsals, set designers and technical crew work behind-the-scenes, and the actors perform on stage. All of these people have an important role in the theater, but it is not true theater until an audience is there to experience it.

HISTORY OF THEATER

PRIMITIVE THEATER

Theater long ago was quite different than the theater we see today.

Theater first came from the cultures of primitive societies through dance. It is thought that the members used dances to calm the supernatural powers they thought controlled their lives. The supernatural powers were believed to have power over the events needed for their survival.

 Other dances were thought to get rid of evil spirits that caused

disease and also to make the souls of the newly dead, depart the world of the living. The performers in these dances wore masks, which represented the spirits. They also wore costumes made of animal skins, rushes, and bark from a tree.

GREEK AND ROMAN THEATER

The first recorded form of European theater began in Ancient Greece

around 600 B.C. with a religious festival to honor Dionysus, the god of wine and fertility.

 It has been said that a poet named Thespis(Thes-pis) won a dramatic

play competition at the festival. Because he is considered to be the first actor, people sometimes refer to actors asthespians. Thespis also introduced the use of masks in Greek theater. Masks were designed to show the age and emotion. Women were not allowed to perform, so men wore female masks and played their parts. In Greek theater, the tragedy is the most admired type of play.

 In 300 B.C., Romans were inspired by Greek

art, culture and theater and wrote Latin versions of Greek plays. Comedy plays were more popular than tragedies. In the Roman theater, slaves served as actors. Unlike Greek theater, women were permitted to appear on stage but they did not play important roles.
Roman Theater

MEDIEVAL PERIOD

Theater buildings were not permitted throughout Europe during

medieval times, but traveling players, known as minstrels, kept the theater alive along with acrobats, puppeteers, jugglers and storytellers.

 The church was also responsible for the rebirth of the theater during

the Middle Ages.

The dramatic performances, which

were based on the story of the Resurrection, were first introduced into the Easter service. These little performances were originally done by priests and monks. They were the beginning of great period of mystery plays, which dramatized almost every part of biblical history.

Resurrection of Jesus Christ

RENAISSANCE THEATER

In the Renaissance period, from the fourteenth to the seventeenth

centuries, an interest in classical Greek and Roman art, culture and theater returned. Two major theater design traditions were developed at this time in Italy: the proscenium (pro-scen-i-um) arch that frames and divides the stage from the audience and the art of painting cloths as backdrops for scenery.

 In England, Queen Elizabeth I strongly

Queen Elizabeth I

supported the theater. During Elizabethan times, as they are known, the most famous playwright in history began his career. Born in 1564, William Shakespeare was an actor and poet, who wrote plays for his company, theLord Chamberlains Men, to perform. Many of his plays, such as Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, and A Midsummer Night's Dream, are still studied and performed all over the world today.

William Shakespeare

BAROQUE AND 18TH CENTURY THEATER

In the 17th century the Italian theater had architectural structures and

staging. The stages were decorated with painted perspective settings. The stage was separated from the auditorium by the familiar proscenium, meaning "picture frame".
The 18th century was the last great time of theater for the nobility.

ASIAN THEATER

Asian theater had little influence on Western theater. Asian theater has

had a long and famous history. Western theater has often had a more realistic style of presentation. The theater in the East has been, and still often is, symbolic. Which means the actors wear masks or wear artificial make-up.

 Western audiences are more familiar with the historical Japanese

theater known as Kabuki.

Kabuki - is a form of theater in Japan that began in the early 1600s and is still performed today. This traditional theater uses extravagant makeup and costumes, a unique kind of music and an all-male cast. A woman named Okuni (O-kun-i) created Kabuki Theater, but shortly after it became popular, women were banned from performing.

Kabuki Theater

 The plays, based on legends, open and close with the sound of wood

clapping together. The style of music in Kabuki Theater is named for a three-stringed instrument called a shamisen (sham-i-sen). The music enhances the actors movements and voices, making them almost like dancing and singing. During climactic moments in the play or at the end of a scene, the actor freezes in place, stares and then crosses his eyes. This is called mie (mi-e) . Each Kabuki character wears colorful costumes and has thick makeup that looks like a mask. The color red on a characters face signifies a good character and blue suggests a bad character.

19TH CENTURY THEATER

Many changes began to take place in 19th century Europe. Due to the

Industrial Revolution, many classes of people moved into the cities and theater began to change. New forms of theater were created for these working people such as Vaudeville (acts like song-and-dance routines), Burlesque (dramatic works that make a subject appear ridiculous), and the melodrama (the exaggeration of charters in conflict-heroine/hero vs. the villain).

20TH CENTURY THEATER

Modern stages have newer technology and special effects. People not

only come to theaters for drama, but they come for music, entertainment, education, and to learn something new! Today, some ways to express different characters in performances (besides the tone of the voice) can be through music, settings, lighting, and electronic effects.

ELEMENTS OF THEATER

PERFORMERS
People onstage presenting characters in dramatic action. The audience is coming to see a performer pretend to be someone else. When the actor/actress is on stage, they must be believable as the character they are portraying. If they are not believable, then the audience will be less interested in the production.

AUDIENCE
The essence of theater is the interaction between the performer and audience. Theater needs to be experienced live. There is a "call and response" atmosphere that can not be witnessed in a movie theater. In a live theater experience, when the audience laughs out loud, or cries, then the actors respond to that energy. In a movie, there is no connection between the actors and audience, only reactions from the audience.

DIRECTOR
The director makes certain that the performers understand the text and deliver the script excitingly and appropriately. The director also makes sure the blocking, costume designs, set designs and other aspects of the show blend together to make a production that works together. All the aspects of theater should compliment each other, and the director oversees all these things.

THEATER SPACE
Another necessary element of theater is the space in which performers or audiences come together. It is essential to have a stage, or some equivalent area, where actors and actresses can perform. It is also essential to have a place for audience members to sit or stand.

DESIGN ASPECT

Visual Aspects - costumes, lighting, and some form of scenic background Nonvisual Aspect - sound.

TYPES OF THEATRES

Arena/Stadium
The playing area is in the center of a large open space which usually seats thousands of people.

Proscenium
The audience directly faces the playing area which is separated by a portal called the proscenium arch. The stage is often raised a few feet higher than the first rows of the audience. The audience is on a rake, getting higher as the seating goes towards the rear of the house.

Thrust
The playing area protrudes out into the house with the audience seating on more than one side.

Theatre in the Round

The playing area is surrounded by audience seating on all sides.

Traverse
The elongated playing area is surrounded by audience seating on two sides.

Black box Theatre

A bare-bones stage of various seating types.

Stage
The area of the theatre in which the performance takes place is referred to as the stage. In order to keep track of where things are and where they need to go, the stage is divided up into sections and is oriented based on the performers perspective to the audience.

AREAS OF A TYPICAL (PROCENIUM) STAGE:

Upstage: The area of the stage furthest from the audience. Downstage: The area of the stage closest to the audience.

Stage Left: The area of the stage to the performer's left, when facing downstage (i.e. the audience).
Stage Right: The area of the stage to the performer's right, when facing downstage (i.e. the audience).

Wings: Areas that are part of a stage deck but offstage (out of sight of the audience). The wings are typically separated using drapes (usually black). Often there will be 2, 3, or even 4 different "portals" which consist of a wing curtain (or leg) on each side of the stage and a teaser drape (or border.) It is used for performers preparing to enter, storage of sets for slow changes and as a stagehand work area. Wings also hide technical equipment, such as lights which project from the side of the stage. Rake: A slope in the performance space (stage), rising away from the audience.

Center Stage: The center of the playing area.

Center Line: An imaginary reference line on the playing area that indicates the exact center of the stage.
Shell: A hard, often removable surface, designed to reflect sound out into the audience for musical performances. Prompt corner: Area just to one side of the proscenium where the stage manager stands to cue the show and prompt performers.

Proscenium: The portal that divides the audience from the stage.

Plaster Line: An imaginary reference line on the playing area that indicates where the proscenium arch is. Typically, the plaster line runs across the stage at the back face (upstage face) of the proscenium wall.
Safety curtain: A heavy fiberglass or iron curtain located immediately behind the proscenium. Apron: The area of the stage in front of the proscenium arch.

THANK YOU!!!
THANK YOU!!!
THANK YOU!!!
THANK YOU!!!

ASUNCION, HAROLD
ORPIADA, RENZO PRIANES, GEROME SUDARIO, JANINE EZRA UMALI, EMMANUEL