Product Description

This invigorating new introductory text makes timely and relevant connections between theatre and the familiar world of Hollywood television and film to help students understand how the living art of theatre relates to, predates, and influences the screen entertainment they are used to watching. From theatre's ritual origins to modern musicals, from the controversies surrounding the NEA to the applicability of acting lessons in everyday life, this book is an important first step toward a deeper awareness of theatre's continuing and contemporary significance. Featuring strong coverage of current events in theatre, the reviewer-praised anecdotal narrative makes this book fun to read and one that students will want to keep long after the course is over. THE ART OF THEATRE is organized into three distinct sections, giving you the flexibility to organize your course your way. Adding to this flexibility is the book's availability in two versions. THE ART OF THEATRE: THEN AND NOW contains 16 chapters with extensive coverage of the history of theatre. EXPERIENCING THE ART OF THEATRE: A CONCISE INTRODUCTION features 13 chapters and a briefer treatment of theatre history.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #356631 in Books
• Published on: 2006-02-07
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 480 pages

Review
"After [reading] a few pages of the preface I was thrilled. It touched a passion in me that I never felt from any of the other texts I have read. From the moment I read "We have designed this book to take the student step by step through what they know, Hollywood screen entertainment, to an understanding, and perhaps even love, of the art of theatre," I was hooked. Bravo. That statement names precisely what I am looking for from a text on this subject."

"I cannot say enough about the high quality of this text. My job will be made much easier, overall, as I will not have to spend so much time filling in the gaps that are left by most other texts....Really, really superb."

"I can’t tell you how impressed I am with [the author’s] passion for the material. It shows."

"The authors have written an outstanding book. They have presented a wealth of information without presenting it in a dry manner. I have...found it to be not only insightful but enjoyable."

"I think [the authors’] approach to theatre history is what’s needed to catch the attention of and educate today’s students. The creative sections of the text excite me, [and]...the theoretical and social material appears to be well done."

About the Author
William Missouri Downs holds an M.F.A. in acting from the University of Illinois and an M.F.A. in screenwriting from U.C.L.A. He studied playwriting under Lanford Wilson and Milan Stitt at the Circle Rep. in New York and was a member of the Denver Center Playwright's Unit. In addition to writing plays, Bill is the author of books on playwriting and screenwriting and has written teleplays for NBC sitcoms. As director/dramaturge he has staged three original productions that were selected as region VII finalists in the American College Theatre Festival. Lou Anne Wright holds an MFA in Voice, Speech and Dialects from the National Theatre Conservatory. She is a Certified Teacher of Fitzmaurice Voicework. As a voice and dialect coach, she has worked with many professional and regional repertory companies. Lou Anne has won several awards for the plays she was written. She is co-author of the book PLAYWRITING: FROM FORMULA TO FORM published by Thomson Wadsworth. Her screenwriting credits include the film adaptation of Eudora Welty's The Hitch-Hikers, which featured Patty Duke and Richard Hatch (and for which she was nominated for the Directors Guild of America's Lillian Gish award). Erik Ramsey holds an MFA in Playwriting from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas where he studied under noted playwright Julie Jensen and director Davey Marlin-Jones. He currently shares duties with playwright Charles Smith running the Ohio University MFA Playwriting Program and he is also Head of the BFA Playwriting Program there. His plays have been workshopped and produced around the country. He is a past winner of the John Cauble Award, which included production at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC, and a number of his plays have been published by Samuel French and Dramatic Publishing.