Based on the idea that the focus of theater is human beings and thus that theater can be related to experiences already familiar to students, this book aims to provide both instructors and students with informative, incisive, and pleasurable knowledge about the theater. The book is divided into 6 parts and subdivided into chapters within each part. The parts of the book are: Part 1--The Audience (includes chapters on the role of the audience and the audience's relationship to criticism); Part 2--The Performers and the Director (includes chapters on stage acting and the director and the producer); Part 3--The Playwright: Purpose, Point of View, and Genre (includes chapters on tragedy, comedy, tragicomedy, and musical theater); Part 4--Dramatic Structure and Dramatic Characters (includes chapters on conventions of dramatic structure and dramatic characters); Part 5--The Designers: Environment and Visual Elements (includes chapters on scenery, stage costumes, lighting, and sound); and Part 6--The Total Experience. Appendixes contain material on technical terms, major theatrical forms and movements, a historical outline, theories of comedy and tragedy, and realism and nonrealism. (NKA)