THTR 1020 Lecture : Notes For First Few Weeks
Document Summary
"hold up the mirror to nature: ex. Hamlet (theatres intention: meaning: if we can duplicate reality in front of humans we can recognize/learn new things. "mirror" = realism/naturalism: ghosts = things in our lives, bertolt brecht. "art is not a mirror held up to reality, but a hammer with which we shape it" Cost of living: man with no legs is professional dancer. "the willing suspension of disbelief: belief - we will believe what we watch in theatre events for a little while, participation - audience is final collaboration. "think of a theatrical space as a machine that constantly generates meaning. A bare stage can become any location by using language or gesture - our minds fill in the blanks. "at the outset, nothing on the stage had any inherit meaning": theatre generates meaning through actions. Dramatic conventions: convention: "an unspoken agreement between actor and audience concerning a fictional reality.
