Repetition in vocal characterizations and deviant listening perceptions are two major weaknesses of American acting. That is, voices and diction usually sound the same in everything the actors do, but no one perceives it. One reason listening is so deficient is because of the uninformed or incorrect concepts of those who practice or teach acting.…

This paper presents a brief review of the ways in which a church has incorporated art activities, particularly drama, in its ministry. The contents of the paper include a discussion of the initiation of and planning for a church theater, a description of the activities offered as part of the drama program, an overview of the staffing of the drama…

The extensive use of improvisational techniques in rehearsals for chamber theatre productions develops for the performer a strong engagement with the text. The director can channel the movement and gestures that emerge from these techniques into the production itself, with results that more effectively convey the literature than traditional…

The Sunseed Repertory Collective, a touring theatre company, was formed to deal seriously with contemporary--often controversial--social and political issues. The group uses unconventional production techniques, plays in a variety of settings to a wide range of audiences, charges no admission (relying on donations after performances), and prefers…

Influenced by film and television exposure, the student designer tends to be camera oriented and two-dimensional in creating theatrical sets. This paper outlines six visual projects designed to help students develop a selective visual sense for dealing with the three-dimensional aspects of the stage. The projects include the following activities:…

Six months of observation--at two universities, at a drama festival, and with several independent theatre companies--form the basis for this evaluation of theatre in Kenya, Africa. While Kenyan dramas deal with a variety of themes, the majority are topical rather than universal in their treatment of issues. In many, the emphasis is on the…

"Style" in theatrical production may be defined as a working, developing consensus, a meeting of the minds of a disparate group of artists who make up a full production crew. Some strategies for the use of "style" in production are as follows: (1) allow for the individual imagination and creativity of each member of the production group; (2) ask…

An organic approach to style in acting can lend credibility and power to performances and can enhance the clarity and extent of what is communicated to audiences about other social worlds. The organic approach is based on the following principles: mental experience and expressive behavior are inseparable and reciprocal; experience in either mode…

In spite of the importance of the one-act play as an art form and as a tool for teaching playwriting, authors of playwriting texts have devoted little space to the study of the form. Because of this neglect, there is no definition of the form that is simple and specific enough to undergrid efforts to teach or write it. In the absence of a solid…

Clara Tree Major, the first producer to provide professional touring plays exclusively for children's audiences (from 1925 until 1954), not only produced these plays but also wrote the scripts by adapting children's stories for the theatre. This paper investigates Major's playwriting principles and techniques, examines Major's philosophy in play…

Problems in the preparation of a school play for opening night are discussed in this paper for the benefit of directors who may not have had any previous experience in play production. The questions of what the director does, when he does it, and why he does it are all explored in sections on choosing a play, establishing command, casting, the…

To provide both an enriching theatre experience for students and faculty and new opportunities for women artists, the Department of Theatre Arts and Speech at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey at Newark held a competition for new plays by New Jersey women playwrights. The winning play, Leni Hamilton's "The Fortress," a story of…

The playwrights-directors workshop at the University of Wisconsin (Madison) allows students of directing and playwriting to meet jointly to explore and solve problems in the creation and production of original one-act scripts. At the heart of the program is the belief that both playwriting and directing students profit from producing their efforts…

Senior theater programs can act as catalysts for involvement of senior citizens, promoting self-confidence and fostering creativity. Myths about older people (concerning senility, incompetence, decline in intelligence, learning, rigidity, and retirement) should be recognized as inaccurate stereotypes and as barriers to active and productive lives.…

This paper analyzes Paul Gregory's 1951 production of "Don Juan in Hell," now considered to be a seminal work in the development of professional and educational readers theatre. The paper contends that the production, which presented a nondramatic work without the usual emphasis on design and spectacle, forced a reexamination of the role…