Director Adam Burke was born and raised from Green Bay, Wisconsin. He went on to get his Bachelors of Fine Art from the University and Arizona and his Masters of Fine Arts from Northwestern University in Theater Directing. Adam was the founding artistic director at Chicago Theatre for Young Audiences. In addition, he received a national Theatre Communications Group New Generations Fellowship; with this fellowship he spent two more years as an artistic associate at a local professional theater—Childsplay. Adam Burke had been living in San Antonio for the past five years until his move to Charlotte last June. He worked as an assistant professor in the theater department at St. Mary’s University. Additionally, he is the artistic director of the Scioto Society, which produces the drama “Tecumseh,” in Chillicothe, Ohio. Burke is currently working as the artistic director at the Charlotte Children’s Theater. Recently, our class had the tremendous opportunity to interview Mr. Burke with questions relating to his process in directing.
I had asked him, “What do you believe is the importance of being a director in relation to the significance of being actors or crew members?” Adam stated that the director’s main job is to keep the vision and cast on track. Moreover, the director has to understand where the vision is going so that he/she can ensure the cast and crew is on the correct track and maintain their focus. In addition, Adam expresses that a director must be able to develop relationships between the actors and crew so that may work as team. He concludes that a good director “must be somebody that people want to work with,” a director must be personable. I agree with him; a director must be a shepherd-like figure to the members. ...
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...ssence, Adam Burke’s perception on directing and theatre production is very useful insight. He expressed that importance of a director being a true leader. A director must navigate the cast and crew to a particular vision and keep them on that path. In addition, a director must be professional and maintain a positive attitude when it comes to dealing with opposition from a crewmember in the production. Essentially, Adam Burke expresses that a director must stay ahead, in regards to funneling the cast towards the appropriate vision and talking dealing with any problems that arise. Additionally, if there are any mistakes during the performance, it is okay because the audience does not expect a flawless production. In fact, it’s the exact opposite. Overall, I thought Mr. Burke did an exceptional job answering our questions and I would like to thank him for his time.
In Dialogue: Theatre of America, Harold Clurman said, “we make theatre out of life” (27), and it was precisely this view that motivated him to help create a uniquely American theatre. Clurman, considered one of the most influential directors of the modern American theatre, had a unique vision of what the American theatre could become. One of the founders of the quintessentially American troupe, the Group Theatre, Clurman was a contemporary of Elia Kazan and Lee Strasberg, and even married to Stella Adler for twenty years. At a ceremony honoring Clurman, Elia Kazan stated that Clurman’s “greatest achievement [was] himself” (Harold Clurman: A Life of Theatre). An important figure in our theatrical past, Clurman’s theories on theatre and directing require close attention. In this paper, I will first provide a brief biography of Clurman, second, examine his theories of theatre and directing, and lastly, I will explore his criticisms of the then-contemporary theatre, and draw conclusions to the current state of the Broadway theatre.
Throughout the years, America has pursued the performing arts in a large variety of ways. Theatre plays a dramatic and major role in the arts of our society today, and it takes great effort in all aspects. Musical Theatre, specifically, involves a concentration and strength in dance, acting, and singing. This is the base that Musical Theatre is built upon. For my Senior Project, I helped choreograph multiple scenes in a community musical “Thoroughly Modern Millie”. Choreography is a way of expressing oneself, but it has not always been thought of for that purpose. Agnes de Mille’s expressive talent has drastically affected how people see choreography today. Agnes de Mille’s influence in the world of dance has left a lasting impact in the Performing Arts Department, and her revolutionary works are still known today for their wit, lyricism, emotion, and charm.
Olive, David. "Possibilities of Performance: New Ways of Teaching Dramatic Literature." Links & Letters 2 (1995): 9-17. UAB Digital Repository of Documents. Web. 30 Mar. 2012.
One solution is to approach an actor at the beginning of their training, and see where knowledge of "commedia dell'arte" and its performance can expand a performer's range. The contemporary young actor's most familiar performance role model is that of televisi...
To act out a play, one must first live the play. The emotion, twists, and plot are just variables that entail the actor’s and director’s decisions to truly embody a character in a play like William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. What I held most important to me as I directed my acting company was to preserve the essence of the play and its lines while adding more depth and layers to a character and a scene.
I’ve learned to appreciate the beauty of how theater is more than a performance, but rather an art form with nuance and depth. I’ve been introduced to the Brechtian theater style, and I’ve learned more about the musical theatre style. After studying RENT, I am inspired by the various possibilities for theater beyond acting, singing, and dancing. Theater can be used as a form of activism or commemoration. Theater is so much more than a dramatic presentation. Theater can relay a greater purposeful message about society amidst the theatricals on stage. Brechtian and musical theatre styles are two efficient and ideal methods for raising awareness about social phenomenons and issues because Brecht’s style makes the audience think and analyze the purposes and themes, while musical theatre is a medium that communicates those matters to reach large
“Theatre is like a gym for the empathy. It’s where we can go to build up the muscles of compassion, to practice listening and understanding and engaging with people that are not just like ourselves. We practice sitting down, paying attention and learning from other people’s actions. We practice caring.” (Bill English of the SF Playhouse). This quote accurately summarises the purpose of Children’s Theatre, to help the growth and understanding of children whilst also keeping them entertained through theatrical techniques. The National Theatre’s Cat in the Hat, along with our performance pieces of Cranky Bear and Possum Magic all showcased these techniques in a number of ways, whilst also subconsciously coinciding with the child development theories
Ross, Janice. “Judson Dance Theatre: Performative Traces.” TDR: The Drama Review 53, no. 2 (2009): 161-164
Good acting relies on a kinesthetic, an intrapersonal, and an interpersonal intelligence, all of which work together to form a creative expression. There exist limitless styles of acting; there is always something to learn.
A crew includes a screenwriter, whose job it is to provide the written blueprint version of the entire film. This is basically the starting point for any movie. Next there is the producer. There are many types of producers; executive producers, co-producers, assistant producers and line producers. They all do very different things. Some are the producers are responsible for raising the funds for the movie while others are responsible for the production that goes on during the filming of the movie and still other producers are in charge of what physically goes on the set. Then it is time for the director. The director is in charge of the actors. The director works with the actors to visually bring to life what was written on the screenplay (Fortunato, Who Does What on a Film). Now the idea needs to come together. The idea of writing, “what you know” is not always true and writing, “what you come to know” is in fact a more accurate way to write. Other good ways to formulate ideas are to use existing plays, novels, short stories, life stories, new articles, or even past TV shows and film. When using existing work a person needs to make sure that one secures the copyrights before starting write. Securing the copyrights does not mean one is finished yet. Now a person needs...
“The theatre was created to tell people the truth about life and the social situation,” says Stella Adler. Theater is unique and intriguing because it blends literary and visual arts to tell a story. Before Theater 10, I viewed theater on the surface level: cheesy plot lines with dramatic scenarios for entertainment purposes. Throughout the course, I have learned what it means to appreciate theater, such as understanding Brechtian and Chinese theatre; however, I believe understanding theater’s ability to convey crucial historical and social messages, such as in the production of RENT, is more relevant and important for theater appreciation.
Applied Theatre work includes Theatre-in-Education, Community and Team-building, Conflict Resolution, and Political theatre, to name just a few of its uses. However, Christopher Balme states that “Grotowski define acting as a communicative process with spectators and not just as a production problem of the actor” (Balme, 2008: 25). Applied Theatre practices may adopt the following “theatrical transactions that involve participants in different participative relationships” such as Theatre for a community, Theatre with a community and Theatre by a community Prentki & Preston (2009: 10). Whereas, applied theatre one of its most major powers is that it gives voice to the voiceless and it is a theatre for, by, and with the people. However, Applied Theatre practitioners are devising educational and entertaining performances bringing personal stories to life and build
Actors are more than just people who portray dramatic characters on a movie screen, stage, and television. Professional actors tend to make more money than most other careers. Actors bring joy to the people who watch them perform, and take them out of the real world and into the creative world of visual communication. Performers can show more than just joy, they can also bring happiness, sorrow, fear and even comedy. Acting can be a very versatile profession. It is way for many people to refine themselves. Performing is not only about getting into a role but understanding the extent of one’s imagination. There is a lot of preparing that goes into a performance than just reading a few lines. Acting is a paradigm. Acting is very different now compared to when it first started. In todays world acting is a fast growing career and well respected. but over 200 years ago it was not that way.
“Acting is not about being someone different. It’s finding the similarity in what is apparently different, then finding myself in there.” ― Meryl Streep. I love exploring and gaining knowledge about the beautiful craft of acting. During my journey of being an actor, I notice there are two types of actors: stage and film. Stage and film actors are different in their times of rehearsal, their relationship with an audience, and their emotional challenges.
There wasn’t any particular scene on stage that made me doubt the integrative work of the director since all the staging work such as lighting, design, costumes and performance were well coordinated and blended for a very good production. The lights were well positioned with well fitted costumes and a very ideal scene to match. There wasn’t much change of scenes in the play except for some movement of tables and chairs. There was an entrance and exit for the performers which made their movements uninterrupted. There was a loud sound of a bell when school was over while the lights were dimmed whenever there was a change of scene. The pace of the production was very smooth since one scene followed the other without delay and most likely because most of the performers wore the same costume; especially all eight students wore the same costume for the entire