Table of Contents

I. NAVIGATING THE WORLD OF THE THEATRE.

            1.   THEATRE: A GLOBAL EXPERIENCE.

            2.   THE AUDIENCE—PARTNERS IN PERFORMANCE.

II. ENCOUNTERING TRADITIONS.

            3. UNDERSTANDING PLAYS.

            4. THE EUROPEAN WRITTEN TRADITION AND ITS GENRES.

            5. PERFORMANCE TRADITIONS: LEGACY AND RENEWAL.

            6. ALTERNATIVE FORMS: OTHER AUTHORS, OTHER TEXTS.

III. SHAPING THE PERFORMANCE.

            7. THE ACTOR: THEATRE’S LIVING PRESENCE.

            8. THE DIRECTOR: THE INVISIBLE PRESENCE.

            9. THEATRE SPACES AND ENVIRONMENTS: THE SILENT CHARACTER.

IV. DESIGN FOR THE THEATRE: ART AND TECHNOLOGY.

            10. APPROACHES TO DESIGN.

            11. SET TING THE STAGE.

            12. DRESSING THE CHARACTER.

            13. LIGHTING AND SOUND DESIGN.

            14. TECHNOLOGY AND THEATRICAL INNOVATION.

V. UNDERSTANDING TODAY’S THEATRE.

            15. THE CRITICAL RESPONSE.

            16. MAKING THEATRE HAPPEN.    

Promotional Information

The World of Theatre is the first introduction to theatre book to truly focus on diversity and globalism, integrating coverage of multicultural, international and experimental theatre throughout. Theatre is presented as a global and multicultural form that reflects both traditional and evolving world views. While the American commercial theatre and European forms are central to the text, alternative theatres are placed side by side for comparison and contrast in each chapter, thus avoiding the sense of “otherness” created by devoting separate chapters to diversity and departures from the western tradition.