Beginning with its origins in Ancient Greece, theatre was always staged in outdoor performance spaces, relying on natural light to keep the performers visible, and utilizing scenery or dialogue to convey time of day. As these performances began to shift to indoor theatres, artificial light, such as candles or oil lamps, had to be used as a replacement. As lighting technology advanced, these advancements changed the way light could be manipulated, directed, or focused, allowing for new staging methods to be developed and introducing lighting as an indicator of mood. From the gas lamp to the electric light, the innovations in lighting made between the Spanish Golden Age and 1915 shaped the development of modern theatre.
Candles and Torches The
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While all of the research and experimentation took place at the Lyceum Theatre, the first theatre to be fully gas-lit was the Chestnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia in 1816, a full year before the Lyceum would be fully converted to gas-powered fixtures (Wilson & Goldfarb 323). The biggest advantage gas held over traditional lighting methods was the ability to be manipulated via a “gas table”, a series of valves and circuits which regulated the flow of gas to various fixtures, allowing a single stagehand to remotely control the intensity, color, and brightness of light fixtures throughout the entire theatre. This system represents an early example of the modern day electronic light boards. At one point, during the height of gas lighting's popularity, the Grand Opéra in Paris had over 960 individual gas jets on eighty-eight circuits, fed by over thirty miles of tubing. These gas-powered fixtures did have several drawbacks, however. Each fixture produced an intense heat and a foul odor. Ventilation systems were not readily used, as any viable ventilation source also “vented” the performers' voices away from the audience. The introduction of gas lighting did nothing to change the standard placement of light sources, keeping with the wing-, border-, and footlight arrangement used since candles were the primary light source. These gas-powered footlights forced the actors farther upstage, away from the unbearable heat and smell produced by the fixtures lining the apron. The additional detail shown by the bright gas lights also prompted the use of more realistic-looking scenic elements and
...ht bulbs on the side of the theater; these bulbs were focused on the cast members. Being that we were in an intimate session, the voices of the cast were able to project through the entire room. It was very easy to follow through to what was happening on stage because, Keith Grant, perfected each detail, and with the help of his amazing cast, executed it with great satisfaction to the audience.
Lights, camera, action! The light switches on, and shines brightly in the center of the stage. Two people walk towards it, these are actors that were told to come out at this exact moment by the director. After days of intense rehearsals. The two young actors burst. “We are tired of working for you” the two participants yell towards the director. The director in a surprising manner walks up to the stage, stares down at the performers and laughs. “You are going nowhere; I have your contract and your pay, now back to your positions!” The performers stand and continue their roles with no opinion in the matter. The camera turns off, the shadows of the actors disappear. The common person stands up and is face to face with the director. The director
Difference between Greek and Modern Theatres Theatre today as in ancient Greek times is a popular form of entertainment. The adage is a slam. Today’s theatres share many similarities with the Greek. predecessors, however they are also very different. There are in fact many differences for example; layout, special effects, seating.
In "Constant Star", lighting told much about the play as soon as it began. Low, yellowish lighting and a bit of fog spread by ceiling fans filled the stage as the play started. This gave the stage the look of an old photograph, so the audience immediatly gathered that the show was taking place in the past. The mood was often set by lighting as well. Red lighting gave the audience a sense of foreboding while yellow indicated happy times. Also, lighting could substitute for props. During scenes involving the train, lights would flash on and off, making the stage look as if it was actually moving. This effectively created the illusion that the cast was on a train. Also, lighting was innovatively used to create a "jail" in one of the scenes by creating vertical bars on the stage around the convicts.
The Music Man made interesting use of the technical aspects of theatre. Sound was used appropriately, as music from the monitors did not overpower the voices of the actors. Lights, however, did not leave any sort of impression on me. Hardly any lights were utilized to enhance the mood were present. This caused for less emphasization on spectacle than what would be expected of such a dramatic play. Although, intricate costumes and set made up for the dull lighting techniques.
The director’s concept was again realized in a very creative and simple way. The stage crew did not have time to literally place trees on the stage, or to paint a border that elaborate—the light made the slatted walls look real and really allowed the audience to become a part of the experience.
The lighting played a major role in setting the tone for both the theatre performance and the movie. In both the film and play, the lighting was dimmed and the non-important elements, such as background elements, were often hidden in the shadows. In the film the murky lighting also hid Todd in the shadows, in order to increase the suspense and further emphasize his intimidating demeanor. In the play,
"Theaters." Renaissance: An Encyclopedia for Students. Ed. Paul F. Grendler. Vol. 4. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2004. 120-122. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 26 Mar. 2014
When you first enter the theater, you are immediately in awe of the strongest aspect of this production: the set. The stage features a life-sized enchanted forest with “tress” as tall as the ceiling and a lit-up backdrop of a twilight sky. The tress would move around throughout the performance to make way for different scenes. In front of your very eyes, an enchanted forest would turn into the outside of a charming house with a lit porch and a well. The twilight sky would turn to a starlit sky and a soft spotlight simulating moonlight would compliment the faint sound of crickets. Suddenly the house and tress move around and you’re in a town with a little cart selling baguettes, or a lush dining room with Victorian wallpaper, a chandelier, and china displayed on the walls. The world shakes once again and now you’re in, inevitably, a ballroom. A white Victorian gate opens up to become the walls of the ballroom, and a white marble bridge and staircase appear for the outside of the castle. Adults and children alike were in awe of the craftsmanship and technology.
Ancient Greece was a thriving Greek civilization that lasted from the archaic period to the end of the antiquity era. The ancient Greek culture was a technologically advanced civilization who laid the foundation for many of our modern day cultural traditions. One tradition that is still very prominent in our culture is theatre. The ancient Greek’s have been considered the pioneers of theatre, and are known to have introduced the first actor, the tragedy genre, and most impressively theatre architecture. The Greeks built massive amphitheatres to house thousands upon thousands of spectators for a theatrical performance; many of those ancient Greek amphitheatres are still in existence. The theater architectural designs of the ancient Greeks have been adapted and modified throughout the years by numerous other cultures. The Romans in particular are known to have been inspired by ancient Greek theater architecture and transformed it into a new and improved theater that met the needs of the changing and modernizing times of theatre. By examining ancient Greek architecture and acoustic technology, it will be examined how the architectural designs of ancient Greek theatre still has a prominent place in our modern day culture.
Theatre has heavily evolved over the past 100 years, particularly Musical Theatre- a subgenre of theatre in which the storyline is conveyed relying on songs and lyrics rather than dialogue. From its origination in Athens, musical theatre has spread across the world and is a popular form of entertainment today. This essay will discuss the evolution and change of musical theatre from 1980-2016, primarily focusing on Broadway (New York) and the West End (London). It will consider in depth, the time periods of: The 1980s: “Brit Hits”- the influence of European mega musicals, the 1990s: “The downfall of musicals”- what failed and what redeemed, and the 2000s/2010s: “The Resurgence of musicals”- including the rise of pop and movie musicals. Concluding
Many cultural enthusiasts, archaeologists, and architects have a common interest in theatre and its origins. People from a few decades back have located the remaining of the oldest theatres in Greece, England, France and some parts of minor Asia. Theatre was a part of people’s lives as it was one of the few sources of entertainment, and it was originated from when people collectively sit in a gathering and listen to a storyteller. There were performances done by different people present at that moment. Later on, this activity kept improving and innovating, and in the result, many theaters for entertaining purposes were built by emperors who ruled the countries or kingdom in those days. The design of these theatres
The evolution of theatre conventions began with highly presentational Greek productions and changed through the Medieval and Elizabethan ages to the current conventions. Greek conventions included performances done on a mostly bare stage, the use of internal stage directions to indicate location, episodic play structure, and a chorus that served multiple functions including setting the overall mood, commenting on or explaining the action, and creating reflection intervals. Other conventions included an all-male cast, the “Three Actor Rule,” the presence of a tragic hero, and the plays typically served the purpose of teaching the public or making a political statement. Many of these conventions evolved to adapt to the time period of the performances.
Theatre first came about from all different cultures acting out part of their bible, or performing rituals to the Gods. It was not until the middle ages when dramatists wrote about all aspects of life. Theatre has therefore changed continuously to suit the demands of each new age for fantasy, spectacle, or serious drama.
The ‘Modern’ era began, approximately, in the mid-1800s (Worthen), following its predecessor the Romantic period, which was an era that was emotionally charged ad focused on the physical relationships between characters and being one-with-nature, rather than the focus of the modernist period, which was to bring social and political issues or statements into the storyline of a script whilst still keeping the stage, characters and overall performance aesthetically pleasing for the audience of the particular period. Modernism in the theatre is the act of bringing the stage and the forms of modern life, at one time, to a critical relationship. As stated by Worthen, the modernist period or the modern world we live in today began in the mid-1800s