Theatre: Collaborative Acts, 4th edition

Theatre: Collaborative Acts stimulates creative thinking and discussions of artistic, social, and ethical questions through its interwoven themes of theatre as culture, collaboration, spatial art, and a fusion of the past and present.

The central premise of Theatre: Collaborative Acts is that theatre is collaboration or co-labor, which exists on many levels. To participate in theatre, as either audience member or practitioner, means to be at once an individual and part of a larger whole.  It allows us to escape, relax, and refocus.  Through the study of theatre, students develop an informed perspective for a lifetime of theatre-going in appreciation to help them enjoy, analyze, understand, read, visualize, and get the most out of many different types of theatre experiences.  The Fourth Edition continues to emphasize the diversity of purpose and effect of theatre, and the collaborative nature of the theatrical process.

Four major themes and principles:

Theatre is cultural study: looking at theatrical events and how they are created provides a window into the way a society views itself, drawing examples from multicultural theatre, not just the Western tradition. 

Theatre is collaboration: theatre-making is a shared experience including both theatre practitioners and audience members.

Theatre is a spatial art: critical to theatrical collaboration is the way space is used, adapted, transformed, and the way theatrical artists interact in and with that space. 

Theatre is a dynamic fusion of past and present: it represents a unique opportunity to see how the past and present are interrelated.

Boxed features:

“Exploring Collaboration” boxes include profiles of successful artistic teams and feature a variety of approaches to the

        artistic process.  (ex. p. 152)

“Exploring Historical and Cultural Perspectives” boxes offer a window on specific theatrical events. (ex. p. 63)

“Artists of the Theatre” boxes feature colorful and influential theatrical figures of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. (ex. pp. 146-147)

Special features:

Theatre of Diversity photo gallery demonstrates diversity in types of theatre and theatrical experiences. (pp. 123-131)

Contemporary Theatre photo gallery provides an overview of contemporary theatre practice. (pp. 251-259)

Key Theatrical Events timeline of selective theatrical, social, and artistic events allows students to place their explorations in a wider context. (pp. 321-335)

Pedagogy:

An end of chapter study guide, Chapter Review concludes each chapter with the following resources (ex. pp. 159-160):

“Questions and Activities” provide springboards for class discussions and outside projects.

“Key Terms and Concepts” (in boldface in the chapter) are arranged by topic and followed by page reference number.

“For Further Exploration” provides a reference list of articles, books, videos, and websites.

• Includes new information about important professional productions, from current Broadway, Resident, and Off-Broadway productions, including Ruined (2009), The Book of Mormon (2011), War Horse (2007/2011), and In the Next Room (2009), looking critically at the ethical questions and important life messages these plays address–and the ways in which different theatrical traditions address them. (ex. p. 254)
• To give students a varied and international perspective, this edition features new artist and historical boxes on the musical as political theatre, a long run in the avant-garde theatre, a South Korean musical, the Chinese classical space, and more.  (ex. p. 119)
• Provides a deeper focus on contemporary theatre and the American musical, two areas where many students may already be familiar with but will be able to approach with a deeper appreciation. (ex. pp. 316-317)
• Incorporates updates to the timeline of important events in theatre, which takes you through theatrical traditions and influences across cultures and time. (pp. 321-335)
• Offers 101 new, detailed captions for photographs, to help students appreciate the full significance of each visual example.  (ex. p. 254)