Answers (and Transcripts) for the Practical Handbook for the Actor and Crash Course Theater

By Tory S. Thorkelson

Introduction:
What is theater? What is drama? What makes someone a good actor? What does theater look like around the world and how did it evolve? This book combines a classic handbook for young actors with a modern ‘classic’ youtube channel that seeks to cover the essential aspects of theater’s evolution from its earliest days in Greece and Egypt to Broadway musicals and everything in between. 
Neither of these two sources about drama and the theater is or claims to be perfect or to cover every aspect of what is a huge topic but in combination they provide the essential foundation for a new actor or anyone seriously interested in understanding what it means to be a true actor and how acting became the pinnacle of expertise in talent aspired to by the best of Hollywood and a profession that has been viewed with distrust and contempt by many societies governments throughout history.
Acting is a skill that is useful for many in terms of building confidence, becoming more creative, developing beyond sympathy to empathy and developing the ability to communicate more effectively verbally and non verbally. It takes many years and a lot of effort to make a good actor; and perhaps even longer to develop the additional skills of singing and dancing to cover the full gamut of what many actors are required to do and do well. This volume offers a first step in putting you the reader on the right path to becoming an actor. The rest is up to you. 

Table of Contents:
I: Basic:
Part 1:A Practical Handbook for the Actor Questions(& Answers)
Part 2:Crash Course Theater Questions (& Answers)
Part 3: Crash Course Theater Transcripts

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tory S. Thorkelson
• Release date: Sep 24, 2019
• ISBN: 9788834189184

Book preview

Introduction

Cover

Answers (and Transcripts) for the Practical Handbook for the Actor and Crash Course Theater

Written and Transcribed or Re-transcribed by:

Dr. Tory S. Thorkelson, M.Ed., PhD.

Table of Contents:

Basic and Detailed

Table of Contents:

I: Basic:

II: Detailed:

Part Ia: A Practical Handbook for the Actor Questions:

Questions:

A Practical Handbook for the Actor Questions:

You will need a copy of Practical Handbook for the Actor By Melissa Bruder et al. to do these questions).

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/20156/a-practical-handbook-for-the-actor-by-melissa-bruder-lee-michael-cohn-madeleine-olnek-nathaniel-pollack-robert-previto-scott-zigler/9780394744124/

Introduction:

1) What are the problems with most acting classes?

2) What is Mamet’s advice to actors?

3) What does Stanislavski say about acting? What does it mean?

The Job of the Actor:

1) What is the actor’s job?

2) What can actors control and develop for themselves? What things are out of the actor’s control?

3) How important is talent?

4) What does live truthfully under the imaginary circumstances of the play mean?

5) Why does the world need theater?

Technique outline:

1) What is a technique?

2) What are action and moment?

3) What are given circumstances?

4) Why is improvising important?

5) What is the training process?

Part One: The Technique:

i. Physical Action:

1) Why is physical action important?

2) What does the checklist tell you about a good action?

3) Why is acting not simply a series of actions?

ii. Analyzing a Scene:

1) How do the questions help you choose the best action(s) for a scene?

2) What is an ‘as if’?

3) How are actor and audience connected through the story of the play?

4) What are some pitfalls related to the ‘as if’ selection and process?

5) What are ‘through action’ and ‘through line’?

iii. The Truth of the Moment

1) What is the truth of the moment?

2) How do other actors impact your performance?

3) Why is pre-determining your actions/behavior bad?

4) Why is impulse important onstage?

5) Why is focusing only on emotional responses/peaks a bad idea?

6) Should you make things up onstage?

7) What do you do if you are onstage alone?

8) Why is your ‘as if’ more important here?

iv. Externals:

1) What is an external?

2) What are the 3 types of externals?

1:

2: a: b:

3:

3) Why is less more?

4) Which external is most challenging? Why?

5) How are physical activities and externals different?

v. Preparing for a Scene:

1) What steps are suggested for preparing for a scene?

2) When is a preliminary action important?

3) What should you do to learn your lines?

4) Why is rehearsal time important?

vi. Troubleshooting:

1) Look at the examples given. What do they teach about handling problems during the rehearsal process?

vii. The Tools of the Craft:

1) Look at the list of tools for acting. Why is each important? How would you develop them as a new actor? Maintain them as an experienced actor?

Part Two: Pitfalls (Working in the Real World):

viii. Introduction:

1) How will this approach to acting help you in the real world (outside the classroom)?

ix. The Emotional Trap:

1) What is the emotional trap?

2) What are the pitfalls associated with it?

3) How does physical action help you avoid this trap?

x. The Myth of Character:

1) What did Aristotle say about character? Stanislavski?

2) Why is an external not always essential to the character you play?

xi. Keeping the Theater Clean:

1) Which virtues are listed? Why are they important?

2) When is it OK to disagree with the director?

3) Why should you listen to other actors?

4) What does it mean to say what happens in the theater stays in the theater?

5) Why is acting an illusion?

6) How can adverbs help your performance? Which types should you choose and why?

7) How should you treat the other actors? Stage manager and crew?

xii. Conclusion:

1) What makes an actor ‘good at acting’?

2) How important is talent?

3) How long will it take you to master these skills according to the authors?

xiii. Glossary and Appendixes:

A:

1) How does workshopping help a play develop?

B:

2) What do the authors suggest you do if you cannot analyze a scene?

C:

3) Where can you study this technique?

D:

4) What do the suggested readings teach you about acting?

Part Ib: A Practical Handbook for the Actor Questions & Answers:

Introduction:

1) What are the problems with most acting classes?

Most acting classes are based on shame and guilt. Exercises are done that do and do not relate clearly to theatre and criticism is the result. Their usefulness is not always well explained.(ix)

2) What is Mamet’s advice to actors?

Acting will bring you suffering, and mild despair; loneliness and constant self-doubt. Theatre, which you are learning to serve, will grant you now and then the greatest exhilaration it is possible to know. (xi)

3) What does Stanislavski say about acting? What does it mean?

play well or badly, but play truly Follow your instincts and intuition and let the rest take care of itself. (xi)

The Job of the Actor:

1) What is the actor’s job?

It is not to create magical moments. It is to bring himself to the theater in optimum condition to participate in the play. Identifying the things s/he can do to put himself in the optimum condition and doing them until they become habitual will help with knowing what the job is and how to do it. (3)

2) What can actors control and develop for themselves? What things are out of the actor’s control?

Itemize what is and is not in your control (voice, physical health, preparing for your performance properly versus the other actors/the director and the overall success of the play). (4-5)

3) How important is talent?

Talent, if it exists at all, is completely out of your control. (5) Focus on working hard and developing the skills to be a good actor. It is about will, not raw talent.

4) What does live truthfully under the imaginary circumstances of the play mean?

Reduce what is happening in the text to simple, actable terms. (5)

See: https://stagecrazyheathermay.blogspot.com/2011/09/actioning-technique-for-actors-to-give.html for one way to do this popular in the UK.

5) Why does the world need theater?

We need a communion with the truth of our existence; it offers simple human values; to offer the truth of the human soul to inspire the audience (7).

Technique outline:

1) What is a technique?

Technique is a knowledge of the tools that may be used for a certain craft and understanding of how to apply those tools. (8)

2) What are action and moment?

Action is what you go onstage to do, the physical process of trying to obtain a specific goal (objective)(8)

Moment is what is actually happening in the scene as you are onstage playing it at any given time. Every moment of a play should be based on what happened in the preceding moment (8)

Acting, then, is dealing truthfully with the other actors onstage to pursue a specific goal(objective)(8)

3) What are given circumstances?

Given circumstances are anything set forth by the actor or director that must be adhered to by the actor (e.g. location, dialect, costumes, scenery, blocking, etc.) (9)

4) Why is improvising important?

Acting can involve improvising within the given circumstances. Improvisation involves impulsively choosing from moment to moment how to perform an action and these choices are based on what is going on in terms of the other actors in the scene at that instant. (9)

5) What is the training process?

The training process is the process of making the use of the actor’s tools habitual(10). These include finding a strong, playable action for a scene, perceive what is going on in another actor’s mind and act on those observations impulsively.(9). Added to will, bravery and common sense they allow the actor to bring soul and humanity to the playwright’s given circumstances.(10)

Part One: The Technique:

i. Physical Action:

1) Why is physical action important?

Physical action is the main building block of an actor’s technique because it is the one thing that the actor can do constantly onstage. In the physical pursuit of a specific goal (objective), the actor does a series of actions to create the character and act. When the actions, stop, the acting stops.

Acting is a series of physical actions carried out in pursuit of a specific goal (objective). (13)

2) What does the checklist tell you about a good action?

It must suit the given circumstances and the current moment. It must be capable of being done and be appropriate and suitable to the character at that time and place (14-18)

3) Why is acting not simply a series of actions?

Actions without emotional responses to the other actors/scene is not acting just as expressing a series of feelings without physical actions is not acting – even if they are stated in the given circumstances. Actors must live within the moment and respond as if each moment is a novel experience for the character because it is even if it the actor has done this scene 5, 10 or 100 times.

ii. Analyzing a Scene:

1) How do the questions help you choose the best action(s) for a scene?

They help you, as an actor, choose a performable action that is in agreement with the playwright’s intentions. (19)

2) What is an ‘as if’?

It is the key to good acting as it links what is happening onstage to your own, personal experience as a person and actor. It is typically an experience akin to what is happening in the given scene (e.g loving your dog may be akin to loving your wife or lover in the given play; it makes the emotions and actions your character is going through come to life). (27-8) It is the link/mnemonic, it is NOT what your perform onstage (30)

3) How are actor and audience connected through the story of the play?

The audience comes prepared to believe the story being presented onstage; the actor comes to help tell the story- not to trick him/herself into believing untruths; but to apply the tools at his/her disposal to create a shared illusion. (31)

Acting is an illusion created using the right as if and shared with the audience when done properly. (31)

4) What are some pitfalls related to the ‘as if’ selection and process? Warnings (31-2)

5) What are ‘through action’ and ‘through line’?

The single, overriding action that the actor pursues throughout the play. Each individual action must serve to support and advance this overriding action from the start of the play to the end.(33-4)

Pete and Harriet Exercise:

p. 38: Hints: Their relationship is key here.

*Coworkers? Friends? Siblings? Ex-lovers?

* Three distinct beats (Compliment, Money/Payday discussion, offer and rejection.

iii. The Truth of the Moment:

1) What is the truth of the moment?

That which is actually happening in the scene as you are playing it. (40)

2) How do other actors impact your performance?

The difficulty of executing an action lies in dealing with what is happening to the other person. (40) As you will never know exactly what is going to happen next, it takes will and bravery to wait for what is going to happen next and act upon it. Meisner said That which hinders your task IS your task.

3) Why is pre-determining your actions/behavior bad?

If you predetermine your actions/behavior/emotions beforehand, and do not react to the other actors in the scene in the moment, you have removed yourself from the moment and stopped pursuing your action(s). You are acting a lie and have, in a sense, broken the fourth wall. (42)

4) Why is impulse important onstage?

You must act on your impulses as they occur. You must act before you think (43) More details on p. 41 on advantages and disadvantages of impulses.

5) Why is focusing only on emotional responses/peaks a bad idea?

If it does not match what is going on in the scene and with the other actors, it will look unnatural and take you out of the scene. (42) It takes the focus away from being in the moment and stops your pursuit of your action.

6) Should you make things up onstage?

While you should be acting on impulse, resist the urge to make things up onstage just to make the scene more interesting. While this may be part of a good rehearsal process, if you do it onstage during performances it will throw the other actors off and will engender in yourself a reliance on creating untruth and hypocrisy – the opposite of living in the moment. (45)

7) What do you do if you are onstage alone?

Two solutions: 1) place the test of the action on the audience; try to get something from them as if they were in the scene with you or 2) Use your imagination and try to succeed with the person you are using as your ‘As if’(46)

8) Why is your ‘as if’ more important here?

This is the ONLY situation where your ‘as if’ will enter into what you are doing onstage. Do not substitute your ‘as if’ for the scene, use your imagination play the scene as if you are interacting with the person from your ‘as if’. (47)

iv. Externals:

1) What is an external?

An external is a physical adjustment made by the actor that either aids in the telling of the story or illustrates an imaginary circumstance of the play.(48)

2) What are the 3 types of externals? (42)

1: Bodily adjustments (posture, voice, speech)

2: Ornaments:

a: Costumes b: Makeup

3: Physical states(drunkenness, exhaustion)

3) Why is less more?

Fulfill the requirements of the character/script but do not get bogged down in the physical aspects. Practice them until they are habitual but also let the audience fill in the details and create the illusion for themselves (e.g. an eye patch for a pirate). Focusing too much attention on the physical action will detract from the play/performance and defeat their purpose; to make the character more realistic and believable. (49-50)

4) Which external is most challenging? Why?

Physical states (52) You must create the illusion but not actually experience it. Being drunk onstage is very different from acting as if you are drunk onstage.

5) How are physical activities and externals different?

Externals are changes made by the actor to portray the character in a more believable manner. Physical activities/actions are what the character is doing in the moment to deal with the given circumstances. (53)

See guidelines for choosing physical activities (53-4)

v. Preparing for a Scene:

1) What steps are suggested for preparing for a scene?

Review your analysis (scene) and your ‘as if’. (55) See 3 questions on p. 56.

2) When is a preliminary action important?

When you are waiting onstage for someone and they enter in an unexpected manner; do not enter or someone else enters instead (56-7)

3) What should you do to learn your lines?

Learn them by rote so you can focus on the action/play, not remembering your lines. Use exercise time to memorize. Memorize them without inflection to avoid saying them the same way every time (avoid live reading). (57)

4) Why is rehearsal time important?

Rehearsals are for experimenting with different actions for a scene (improvisation is OK here depending on the circumstances). Start with a rough analysis and refine it as you go. Consider various actions/tools. Select the best action and make it habitual so you do it naturally and can focus on being in the moment during the scene. (57-8)

vi. Troubleshooting:

1) Look at the examples given. What do they teach about handling problems during the rehearsal process?

If a scene analysis is problematic, it will become apparent during the rehearsal process. This is a very personal process and will be different for every actor and any given scene.(59)

Lack of specificity in your chosen action; Action too passive; ‘as if’ is too personal; Action should not be too close to what the character is actually doing(do not get caught up in the lines); Use a good, solid action to distract you from being nervous or worrying about what the other actors/audience are doing; ‘as if’ is not personal or meaningful enough; ‘as if’ must match action and vice versa. (59-64)

vii. The Tools of the Craft:

1) Look at the list of tools for acting. Why is each important? How would you develop them as a new actor? Maintain them as an experienced actor?

It is a mixture of physical skills (Good clear voice, healthy body) and mental skills (memorization, concentration), interpersonal skills (teamwork) and acting skills mentioned previously (scene analysis/acting before you think). Some of these you will already have and others you will have to develop by exercising, taking classes or learning by doing on your own or with others in performances.

Part Two: Pitfalls (Working in the Real World):

viii. Introduction:

1) How will this approach to acting help you in the real world (outside the classroom)?

A technique is useless unless it can be called upon in the most stressful and difficult situations. This method of physical action is a practical one; if it is applied assiduously, it will help you through the most demanding performance and rehearsal circumstances. (70)

ix. The Emotional Trap:

1) What is the emotional trap?

Many actor find the emotional aspect of acting frustrating but creating emotion is not their concern. The simple guideline to creating emotional life onstage is that it is beyond your control so don’t worry about it….ever. (71)

2) What are the pitfalls associated with it?

Focusing on emotional state will create an attitude that you will be forced to maintain throughout the scene despite what is happening in the moment. You cannot execute an effective physical action when you are focused on maintaining an emotional state. A technique centered on emotion is undependable as it can desert you at any time. (71-2)

3) How does physical action help you avoid this trap?

Once committed fully to a physical action (the right one, presumably), your only concern where emotions are involved is to work through them. Your emotions are the inevitable by-product of your commitment to your action (73).

x. The Myth of Character:

1) What did Aristotle say about character? Stanislavski?

Aristotle said defined character is the sum total of an individual’s actions.(74) (See actions).

Stanislavski said The person you are is a thousand times more interesting than the best actor you could ever hope to be. (75)

2) Why is an external not always essential to the character you play?

Externals are not physical actions. A good analysis and a strong action are essential; an external is not unless it is required or fits the given character and their circumstances. (74-5)

xi. Keeping the Theater Clean:

1) Which virtues are listed? Why are they important?

Humility to avoid taking offense; Generosity so you forgive; Consideration to avoid condemnation; Tact so you can present your ideas in right time, place and manner. (76)

2) When is it OK to disagree with the director?

Politely question the director when you need to but do not pester him or her. Conflict with a director should only occur if what they tell you impedes the action you must perform, does not relate to your job as an actor or when you are being asked to do something embarrassing or humiliating (77)

3) Why should you listen to other actors?

Respect your fellow actors. If someone has a suggestion, hear them out as it will have its own logic and may benefit you through better understanding. Entertain all ideas – good and bad. (77)

4) What does it mean to say what happens in the theater stays in the theater?

After the show is over, separate yourself from those experiences onstage. Conversely, leave the real world at the door as you enter the theater (78)

5) Why is acting an illusion?

There is a proper way to perform fights, violence, express hatred, etc. These should all be done as the theater requires; and not done in reality or onstage as then it is no longer performance (see above) (77-8)

6) How can adverbs help your performance? Which types should you choose and why?

Adverbs can help you modify an action to suit the requirements of the director, scene, etc. (81) An additional tool like auctioning (see above under the job of the actor).

7) How should you treat the other actors? Stage manager and crew?

Treat all of the other actors/staff/crew with respect and refer back to the information on virtues from p. 76.

People are disturbed not by things but by the views they take of things. (83)

xii. Conclusion:

1) What makes an actor ‘good at acting’?

Acting is a set of skills you can learn with the proper training. (84) Actors who stop adding to and developing their skills may be good, if predictable, actors but they will rarely be great ones. (84-5)

2) How important is talent?

Talent is of minor importance if one can act on the impulses his or her humanity has created in him/herself. (84)

3) How long will it take you to master these skills according to the authors? 10-15 years(85)

Bonus question:

4) What is acting, then, according to this book?

Acting, then, is dealing truthfully with the other actors onstage to pursue a specific goal(objective)(8)

Acting is a series of physical actions carried out in pursuit of a specific goal (objective). (13)

Acting is an illusion created using the right as if and shared with the audience when done properly. (31) When the show or performance is over, leave it behind and go back to reality (78)

Acting is waiting for the other actor(s) to act and responding to those actions within the moment onstage (40)

Acting is NOT live reading your lines (57)

It is impossible to become the character; character is an illusion created by the words and given circumstances supplied by the playwright and the physical actions of the actor. (74)

Acting is a set of skills you can learn with the proper training. (84)

xiii. Glossary and Appendixes:

A:

1) How does workshopping help a play develop?

As the play is still work in progress, improvisation and challenging words, ideas, actions is fine but – once a decision is agreed to and implemented – it must be respected by all those involved. The author’s integrity must be maintained and the actor must remain truthful and follow those intentions. (89)

B:

2) What do the authors suggest you do if you cannot analyze a scene?

Send your analysis of the problematic scene to the authors at the address provided.(90) Also, mentioned on p. 38 and address offered for any scenes you can NOT analyze using their method (90)

C:

3) Where can you study this technique?

New York University’s Undergraduate Drama Program.(91)

https://tisch.nyu.edu/drama

D:

4) What do the suggested readings teach you about acting?

They will allow you to explore the classics and the Stanislavski Method in more detail.

See:

Crash Course Theater (Youtube Channel) in part II of these answers.

Also, a few other solid Drama and Theater books:

Impro by Keith Johnston

Improvisation and the Theater by Viola Spolin

Respect for Acting by Uta Hagen

Three Uses of the Knife by David Mamet

Part IIa: Crash Course Theater Questions:

*Use the open transcript function to check answers if the CC function is not working*

Preview:

1) Who is the host?

(See: https://everipedia.org/wiki/lang_en/mike-rugnetta/)

2) What will you learn in this course?

3) Why is theater important for us?

4) What does theater teach us/help us explore?

5) What will this course NOT teach you?

6) What are some styles/stories of theater that will be explored?

Episode 1: What is Theater?

1) Who is Dionysus?

2) What is this episode about?

3) What are the definitions of Theater?

4) What are some examples of plays?

5) What is an actor? Audience member?

6) Is everything theater?

7) What is not theater? (Narrow definition)

8) Which is better; theater or theatre?

9) What are some possible origin theories of theater?

10) How did Greek Drama evolve supposedly? Why is it better than previous ideas about this?

11) Why did the Ritualists fail to understand what they were trying to explain?

12) What are some theories of theater? How did they explain theater?

13) What are some examples of theater that do NOT fit into the above theories?

14) Where did theater come from?

15) Why does theater matter?

Episode 2: Origins of Greek Drama:

16) How could Ritualism form the basis of Theater?

17) Who was Dionysus? Thespis?

18) Where did Tragedy’s name come from?

19) Where did Theater become an institution?

20) What were the first types of plays performed?

21) What did the Chorus do?

22) What did the Theater of Dionysus look like?

23) What were the parts of the theater and what were they for?

24) Why were Gods sometimes included in these plays?

25) What kinds of costumes did they wear?

26) When was the height of Tragedy?

27) What lessons did the citizens expect to get from watching these plays?

28) What was Catharsis?

Episode 3: Tragedy Lessons from Aristotle :

29) What do we know about Aristotle?

30) What did Plato think of poets and actors?

31) What did Aristotle write and what was it about?

32) How do Aristotle’s theories influence us?

33) How did he view or define tragedy?

34) What is the goal of Catharsis then?

35) What are the parts of tragedy?

36) What kind of character does best in tragedy?

37) How does their fall occur for it to work?

38) What does the plot involve?

39) What do we know about The Oresteia?

40) What are these plays about?

41) How do they exemplify Aristotle’s theories? How do they NOT meet his requirements?

42) What are their lessons for the audience/citizens?

Episode 4: Greek Comedy, Satyrs and Aristophanes:

43) What were satyr plays?

44) Where were they derived from?

45) What is their focus?

46) How many survive?

47) What does Comedy mean?

48) When did they get their own festival?

49) What did Comedy aspire to do?

50) What were comedies like?

51) What separated them from Tragedies?

52) How are comedies different from satyr plays?

53) Why is Aristophanes so famous?

54) Who was he?

55) What changed the Greek Comedy style?

56) What is the Lysistrata? What is it about?

57) Who were the actors and playwrights in Greece?

58) How does comedy deal with rituals and beliefs?

Episode 5: Roman Theater: Flutes and Obscenities:

59) Why does Roman Theater look a lot like Greek?

60) How did Theater become more professional?

61) What were the old, middle and new comedy periods like? Plays different?

62) What are the 5 stages of Roman comedy?

63) What were the various styles of farce?

64) Who performed them?

65) What was production like for Roman Theater?

66) How did plays become part of festivals in Rome?

67) Was acting respected in Rome?

68) What replaced choruses?

69) When was the first theater built?

70) What were Roman theaters like?

71) What was NOT Theater?

72) What events competed with plays in Roman times?

73) Why was context important?

Episode 6: Roman Theater: Platus, Terence and Seneca:

74) What was the most popular form of Roman comedy?

75) Who were the stock characters?

76) What were the stock plots?

77) How do they usually end?

78) What kinds of names did they use?

79) Who were Platus and Terence?

80) What kinds of plays did Platus write? How many are his?

81) What did Shakespeare borrow from Platus?

82) How did Terence start his career?

83) How many plays did Terence write?

84) How does his style compare to Platus'?

85) What was Menachmus about?

86) What was Seneca Junior’s writing style like?

87) What are Roman tragedies like?

88) How many acts did they have?

89) What did these tragedies portray on stage?

90) Were they performed or closet dramas?

91) What happened to theater in the west at this time?

Episode 7: Sanskrit Drama:

92) When did it start and how did it evolve?

93) How did the literature begin?

94) What are some of the epic examples?

95) When was the golden age of Sanskrit drama?

96) What were they written in?

97) Who was Bharata Muni?

98) What did he write and what was it about?

99) How long was it? In what style was it written?

100) What was his theory of theater’s creation?

101) What were Rasas?

102? How many of them were them and what were they?

103) What were Bhavas?

104) What types of plays were there?

105) How should the plays be staged?

106) Who were the actors? Audience?

107) What tips does Muni give about the theaters?

108) What was true of the styles of acting?

109) Why is emotion important?

110) What was true of scenery?

111) How does the Recognition of Sakuntala show examples of Muni’s ideas about Sanskrit theater?

112) How is it different from Greek and Roman dramatic styles?

Episode 8: Liturgical Drama:

113) What killed theater in Rome?

114) How did Romans mock Christians?

115) What could Christians attend to hear about Christians?

116) How did Christianity become the dominant religion in Rome?

117) How did they feel about Actors?

118) What combined with attempts to Christianity to break up the Roman empire?

119) When was the last recorded theatrical performance in Rome?

120) How did mimes evolve?

121) What happened in the Byzantine part of the emperor?

122) Why did their citizens like acting? What styles appealed to them?

123) What probably inspired later periods and styles?

124) How did church mimic theater in the medieval period?

125) What revitalized theater as far as we know? Which service was key?

126) What happened during this part of service?

127) What type of drama was created this way?

128) How was this similar to Thespis?

129) Why did it catch on?

130) How did they evolve over time?

Episode 9: The Nun who Resurrected Theater:

131) How did a Nun help save theater?

132) Who was the first known female playwright and what do we know about her?

133) How was she so well educated and what inspired her to start writing plays?

134) What genre did she prefer?

135) Which Roman writer did she prefer?

136) How did her writing differ from Terence’s?

137) Was her work performed?

138) What was her ‘funniest’ play?

139) What was it about?

140) Why was chastity important for medieval women?

141) Who was Hildegard?

142) What was the Order of Virtues about?

143) Who were the virtues?

144) What did Hrotsvitha and Hidegard’s works demonstrate?

Episode 10: Mystery and Morality Plays:

145) What did they unite?

146) What were they like?

147) What were mansions?

148) What did Pope Innocent III do that influenced theater?

149) When did Drama become secular?

150) What were the Cycle plays?

151) When were they performed?

152) When were the banned and why?

153) Who produced the cycle plays in Europe? What are Mystery or Passion plays?

154) How were they performed?

155) How did they mimic mansions?

156) Who were the actors? How long were they and how many were performed at one time?

157) What were Miracle plays?

158) What was the Second Shepherd Play about?

159) What does it teach the audience?

160) How did the secular plays begin?

161) What is one of these that we still perform today?

162) What was Everyman? What does it represent about Morality plays?

163) When and why did Passion plays get banned?

Episode 11: Japanese Theater:

164) What is Noh?

165) What are Kyogen?

165) What was Atsumori?

166) What is the mythology surrounding theater arriving in Japan?

167) Why was sacred dance important?

168) What did Buddhism bring to Japan?

169} How and why did worship become more interesting?

170) What styles were part of this evolution?

171) Why was Kiyosugi Kanaami important?

172) How did the Shogun help with the popularity of theater in Japan?

173) What did Zeami Motokiyu do for theater in Japan?

174) How long were Noh performances?

175) What were the 5 types of Noh plays? What did they include?

176) How did they involve Shinto and Buddhist values?

177) Who were the three characters in Noh plays?

178) What are the two types of Kyogen?

179) Are Kyogen vulgar?

180) What does the Noh stage look like?

181) What are the costumes and scenery like?

182) What does the Chorus do?

183) What are the performances like?

184) What types of masks are worn by the actors?

185) How did the actor create the performance effectively?

186) Who saw the Noh performances?

187) How well respected were the actors?

188) What was Zeami’s Atsumori about?

189) What was the most important difference from previous forms of Drama?

Episode 12: Italian Theater:

190) What did the Renaissance introduce?

191) How did Theater move forward?

192) What did Italian writer learn from those of the Middle Ages and before?

193) When were plays performed from Platus, etc.?

194) What were neo-classical plays like?

195) How did Aristotle teach Italian playwrights?

196) What style was aimed at and performed by the aristocracy?

197) How did the Italians change staging?

198) What was the Poetics of architecture?

199) What was the disadvantage of not being a noble watching a performance?

200) What was a famous theater that inspired other theaters?

201) What were the scenery and special effects like?

202) What was Tragicomedy? Commedia Era Ditta? The Commedia Dell’Arte?

203) When did women get onstage in Italy?

204) How was Commedia Dell’Arte related to Atellan Farces?

205) How were the Atellan Farces preserved?

206) What was Lazzi?

207) What were stock characters based upon?

208) What were the most common stock characters?

209) How long did this variation of comedy last?

Episode 13: English Drama BEFORE Shakespeare:

210) When did the Renaissance arrive in England? Why?

211) What did the Tudors do for theater in England?

212) What kinds of plays did they NOT like?

213) How did professional actors begin? How did they deal with these restrictions?

214) What were the early plays like?

215) How did the lack of neoclassicism affect English drama at this point?

216) What was the first tragedy based on an English subject?

217) What style was it written in? What was it about?

218) What Shakespearean play was it similar to?

219) How did theaters get built? Why were they only built outside London?

220) How were these theaters designed?

221) How much did it cost for a stool?

222) How did the Globe get built?

223) When were plays performed?

224) When were indoor theaters built?

225) Who wrote and performed these plays?

226) Were the plays original?

227) What are some examples of the plays and playwrights other than Shakespeare?

228) What do we know about Christopher Marlowe and his life/writing?

Episode 14: Early Shakespeare:

229) Did Shakespeare write all of his plays?

230) What do we know about Shakespeare’s early life?

231) Which of his siblings was also an actor?

232) How did Shakespeare end up in London?

233) Why did he start writing poetry?

234) How did he become a ‘Playwright’?

235) What challenges did the theatrical companies face?

236) Why are Quartos not very reliable records of plays?

237) Who published the first folio? What did it NOT include?

238) What are history plays and which plays are included and NOT included here? Why?

239) What were they designed to do?

240) What do scholars say about Shakespeare and the Tudor myth?

241) What does Shakespeare’s Richard III show about this?

242) How did he improve on chronicle plays?

Episode 15: Shakespeare’s Tragedies:

243) How did his tragedies differ from Greek tragedy?

244) How does King Lear exemplify Shakespeare’s style?

245) What do we know about a ‘company’?

246) Which characters were standard?

247) What skills did actors need to have?

248) Who played the women’s roles?

249) How did the actors memorize their lines?

250) What does Hamlet tell actors to do/and NOT do?

251) What were the outdoor theaters like at this time and place?

252) What were costumes and props like?

253) What did Shakespeare borrow from to create his tragic style?

254) How did the titles confuse our ability to categorize his plays?

255) What is a Shakespearean tragedy defined as?

256) What writing styles are intermixed in Shakespeare’s writing?

257) What mixture of scenes and dramatic styles appear in his tragedies?

258) Why are his tragic heroes so unique?

259) How does he connect the audience to his heroes?

260) How does King Lear show off his style of tragedy?

261) What lessons are offered in the play?

Episode 16: Shakespeare’s Comedies, Romances and Problems:

262) Why are these plays so complex and even problematic?

263) How do we define this genre?

264) What is the range of these plays?

265) What are the stock characters?

266) Why are we laughing with the characters rather than AT the characters in these plays?

267) How are these heroines different from his tragic heroines?

268) What do we learn about women of this time through these plays?

269) How is he promoting marriages?

270) What does he teach about gender equality?

271) What did Sir Walter Raleigh say of Shakespeare’s characters?

273) Where are Shakespeare’s funniest and not so funny characters?

274) What kinds of jokes did he seem to prefer?

275) What were problem plays? What are some examples?

276) What were the romances? What are some examples?

277) In tragedies and romances, how do the characters perform?

278) What are the endings like?

279) What does Cymbeline show about this style and tragic-comedy?

280) What did Ben Jonson say about Shakespeare?

Episode 17: Jacobean and Caroline Drama:

281) Who are the biggest playwrights of this time?

282) What do we know about Ben Jonson?

283) Why did his plays get him in trouble?

284) What is he best known for?

285) What were humors?

286) What does Volpone show about his views of human nature?

287) What is the play about?

288) How is it different from Shakespeare’s style?

289) How do women appear in his plays?

290) How does Johnson’s work foreshadow Revenge Tragedy?

291) What are some other elements included in this style?

292) What do these plays often include?

293) How did Shakespeare elevate this style?

294) Why is it still a moral genre according to some?

295) What are they showing about this period of time?

296) What were the court masques?

297) Where did they come from?

298) Who performed them and what did they include?

299) What did they assert about the natural order of things?

300) Who as the foremost court mask playwright?

301) Who was Inigo Jones and what did he do for set design and the modern theater?

302) What do we know about him and his background?

303) How did these two end their partnership?

Episode 18: Where did Theater go?

304) What was anti-theatricalism? Who invented it?

306) How did the Puritans and others help kill theater in England?

307) What was the Histriomastix?

308) What did he say about the actors?

309) How did the court react to this?

310) How did Charles the First and the House of Commons contribute to the end of theater?

311) Which laws did they enact against theater and when?

312) Did performances end entirely?

313) How was English Opera created and why?

314) Where were theater performances held?

315) Who brought theater back into the public eye during the Restoration?

316) How were Shakespeare’s plays rewritten at this time?

317) What happened to women in theater at this time?

318) What new styles arrived in England at this time? What style was created at this time locally?

319) What did they say about conventional morality?

320) How did the Country Wife show these trends?

321) What did Restoration Comedy allow playwrights to do?

322) What did James the II decree about theater?

Episode 20: French Neoclassicism:

323) What happened in France that helped get French theater started?

324) What were their 5 rules for writing/playwriting?

325) How did they differ from Shakespeare?

326) How did Aristotle influence their thinking? Was it entirely true to Aristotle’s ideas?

327) How many acts did they have?

328) Why was Racine important and what do we know about him?

329) What did Voltaire say of Racine?

330) What is Racine’s Phèdre about?

331) How does it respect the unities?

332) Why was Corneille important and what do we know about him?

333) What was Le Cid about?

334) How was he different from Racine?

335) Why were French intellectuals unhappy?

336) What did the Academie Francaise do and how did this change Coreneille’s style?

337) Why was French Neoclassism important?

Episode 19: The Spanish Golden Age:

338) Why is it relatively easy to study this period of theater?

339) When and how did the Renaissance start in Spain?

340) How did the Inquisition impact Spanish Drama?

341) What were the Autos Sacramentales?

342) How were they performed?

343) Why were the outlawed?

344) What was the first popular secular ‘play’?

345) Why was it not actually performed?

346) What were some popular genres of plays that were popular in Spain and why?

347) What were the Spanish theatres like?

348) Where were men and women allowed to sit as long as they proved that they were from the same family?

349) How many professional companies were there?

350) How many plays were written at this time?

351) What were some popular dramatists and their plays?

352) Why is Felipe Lope de Vega so famous?

353) How many plays and sonnets did he write?

354) Who was Pedro Calderon de la Busca?

355) Why was he so popular?

356) What is his style like?

357) What is his Life is a Dream (La Vida es Sueno) about?

358) What lessons does it offer for the audience?

Episode 21: Moliere:

359) What was Moliere’s real name?

360) What were the first French theatres like?

361) What happened in 1548?

362) What was the scenery and plays like?

362) What happened after permanent companies and theatres?

363) What was expected of actors in France?

364) What were actors denied?

365) What did Louis the 13 th, 14 th and Richelieu think of theater?

366) What genres of theater were popular and less popular?

367) What do we know of Moliere’s life?

368) How did Moliere impact French theater?

369) How did he break the rules?

370) Who kept Moliere’s career alive?

371) How are his plays divided up into styles?

372) What was his play, Tartuffe or L’Imposteur, about?

373) How did the Catholics respond to this play?

374) How many versions were written of this play?

375) How did the letter defend the play?

376) Which play killed Moliere? How did he get a Christian burial?

377) Why is the Comedie Francaise important today?

Episode 22: Pre Columbian Theater:

378) What was pre Columbian theater like?

379) How did the Spanish arrival change this?

380) How did these performances help spread propaganda and favor colonialism?

381) What language and city soon became the epicenter of Spanish theater?

382) Who was Sor Juana Inez de la Cruz?

383) What genres did she write?

384) What do we know about her life?

385) Why did she choose to become a Nun rather than get married?

386) Why did she stop writing?

387) How did the Loa evolve?

388) What is the Loa of the of the Divine Narcissus about?

389) How did it emphasize local culture while still honouring Christian teachings?

Episode 23: Japanese Kabuki and Bunraku:

390) What are Kabuki and Bunraku?

391) How did Kabuki evolve?

392) Who was Okuni and what did she do in her performances?

393) What happened to female performers?

394) When were young actors and homosexuality outlawed?

395) How did theater continue after this?

396) How long did a Kabuki performance last?

397) What was a Kabuki performance composed of?

398) How important was dance to these performances?

399) How are Noh and Kabuki different?

400) How were Kabuki actors trained?

401) How were actor treated?

402) How famous were Noh actors and Kabuki actors?

403) How deeply did they get into their roles?

404) What character types were there? How elaborate were the makeup and costumes?

405) What was the stage like?

406) What was the Hanna Michi or Flower Way?

407) How important was improvisation?

406) Who often spoke the lines?

407) What happened to Bunraku puppets?

408) What were the stages like?

409) Who was the Japanese Shakespeare?

410) How did he create his plots/plays?

411) What is the Double Suicide of Tokube and Ohatsu about?

Episode 24: Kathakali

412) What is Kathakali?

413) What were these performances like?

414) What other forms of drama were performed at this time?

415) How were they performed? Who saw them?

416) How did Kathakali allow more people to enjoy drama?

417) What types of plays were and are performed?

418) What were the costumes and actors like?

419) What types of props were used?

420) What are the stages like?

421) Who performs these?

422) How long does it take to become proficient?

423) What are Mudras? Bhavas?

424) What types of characters are there?

425) What are scripts like?

426) How important are the words? Singing? Dancing?

427) Why is the makeup so complex?

428) What do the colors mean?

429) What other costume elements are mentioned?

430) What types of traditions does it draw from?

431) What is Kurata about?

432) What lessons are taught?

433) How are Eastern and Western drama different?

Episode 25: Beijing Opera:

434) What does this form of drama include?

435) When did theater begin in China and what was it about?

436) What did the Wu Priests do that evolved into theater?

437) What happened during the Han dynasty?

438) When did theater revive? Who helped it along?

439) What theater schools were begun by emperors?

440) How did novels help with performances?

441) When were written plays created?

442) How did the Mongols affect literature and dramas?

443) How was it similar and different from Elizabethan plays?

444) Which two styles evolved and what were they like?

445) Who sings and how elaborate was the music?

446) How did this affect Brecht’s work?

447) What is Chuan qi like and why are they not performed?

448) How does Beijing Opera get started?

449) What are their stories about? How do they end?

450) Why are scripts in point form? What are the performance like?

451) What are the stages and props like?

452) What are the characters like? What are the make-up and costumes like?

453) What do the colors mean?

454) What was the history of the Beijing Opera like?

Episode 26: English Sentimental Theater/Romanticism:

455) What happened in the 18 th Century to theater?

456) What was sentimental comedy? How was it used by playwrights?

457) What does it assume about people?

458) What was the best known play of this type? What is it about?

459) Why was it a pleasure too exquisite for laughing?

460) What were the Laughing Comedies or the Comedies of Manners?

461) Why was Bourgeois Tragedy worse in some ways?

462) What were its moral lessons?

463) What did Adam Smith say about this?

464) Where did they get their content from?

465) What did George Lilo say about this?

466) What was his London Merchant about?

467) Why did bosses send their apprentices to see this every year?

468) What happened to the regulation of Theater at this time?

469) Which theaters were allowed to perform plays? How did the other theaters get around this?

470) How did this lead to influences on American Theater?

471) How did musical theater get started at this time?

472) What was Declamatory style?

473) Who was David Garrick and what did he do?

474) What was the typical rehearsal process like?

474) How big and elaborate was the theater and sets?

475) What happened to scenes and backgrounds at this time?

476) How did these changes affect the art of acting?

Episode 27: Angry German Theater:

477) When did Germany establish theater?

478) Which foreign countries provided theater?

479) Who was ‘John Sausage’?

480) Who was G. E. Lessing? What did he write?

481) What morality did he base his plays on?

482) What was ‘Storm and Stress’?

483) Who was Freidrich M. Klinger?

484) Why is this movements’ purpose somewhat unclear?

485) How did Weimar Classicism replace this style? What was it?

486) How did Goethe advance the theater?

487) When did Romanticism become popular and why?

488) What was it about and what did it try to convince people to believe?

489) Who were some of the more famous playwrights?

490) How did Faust combine many of these styles?

491) What was it about?

Episode 28: Rise of Melodrama:

492) Why is it still a dominant style today?

493) When did it begin?

494) What did it borrow from?

495) What group drove the evolution of this type of theater?

495) What did the nobility do for theater?

496) Why is it both conservative and radical?

497) Who had a soul in flames?

498) What do we know about his life?

499) Why did Goethe hate his style?

500) How did this become popular in England?

501) What stories do these plays tell?

502) What are the characters like in this style?

503) What did early melodrama borrow from?

504) When did true crime and other styles become popular?

505) What were sensation scenes?

506) How are they a precursor to Realism?

507) How did this impact more serious drama?

508) How did they raise social awareness?

509) How did Boucicault ’s work impact copyright laws?

510) Who was August Daly?

511) What was Under the Gaslight about?

512) Where do we find the realism here?

513) What does it show about New York at this time?

Episode 29: How America got a Theater:

514) What did ritual performances do?

515) How did they meld with Colonial theater?

516) Where was the first play performed in North America?

517) How did the Mic Macs probably respond?

518) What did this tell us about the culture?

519) What did the Puritans and Quakers think of drama?

520) Why did Americans dislike theater at first?

521) How did theater sneak in?

522) What was the first play performed in America?

523) Where did the first professional theaters and companies gets started?

524) What was pre-revolutionary plays like?

525) What happened during the revolutions?

526) What were the early capitals of theater? Where did the troops come from?

527) How did Showboats get started?

528) When did American written plays start appearing?

529) Who was Royal Tyler? What was his play, the Contrast, about?

530) Why did Americans love it?

531) What plays found their way back to England?

532) Who was Edwin Forrest?

533) How did his theater career get started?

534) What was red face?

535) What was his play Metamora about?

536) Who was his biggest rival?

537) How did Forrest and McCready become rivals?

538) How did this result in a massacre?

539) What did they represent?

Episode 30: Race Melodrama and Minstrel Shows:

540) What contributed to modern racism and racial stereotypes?

541) What were the original minstrel shows like?

542) What was genuine African Theater like and why was it influential?

543) What was the first black playwright’s play performed in a theater?

544) How was the theater finally closed?

545) Who became a well-known Black actor?

546) Who wrote the first Black play we still have? What do we know about it? Why was it never performed?

547) What was the norm for African Americans in White- supported theater?

548) Who created the minstrel shows?

549) What was the link to Jim Crow?

550) Where did Blackface come from?

551) What were the minstrel shows like? How was it structured?

552) What were the characters like?

553) What did most of these shows promote as the Civil war approached?

554) How did the lead to Black musicals?

555) How did Melodrama link to Minstrel shows?

556) What did Harriet Beecher Stowe think of the standard version of Uncle Toms Cabin?

557) What were Tom shows?

558) What did they rely on?

559) Who played the roles in these plays?

560) What did the Octoroon try to do? What was it about?

561) How does the