This article is classified "Real"
Few things are both as enjoyable and culturally enriching as a night at the
theatre. Or so they tell me. After all, the average person considers a
"night at the theatre" to be taking in the newest Jean-Claude van Damme
flick and maybe stopping at McDonald's on the way.
Surprisingly, however, the theatre really is a fascinating way to spend
one's time, and only minimal ammunition is needed in order to prepare
oneself. This article should give you a basic background in theatre, let
you in on some of the little tidbits that make life interesting, aid you in
planning your "night on the town," and help you make the most of your
experience.
Background
==========
History
-------
First things first. If you're going to learn about theatre, the best
place to start is where theatre itself started.
Theatre began, much like damn near everything in Western society, with the
Ancient Greeks. It began, not so much as a performance, but as an excuse
for getting drunk and being devout. The two concepts are not so
irreconcilable, considering that drama began as worshippers of Dionysus,
the God of Wine, would get drunk and act out various religious stories [1].
Somewhere along the line, someone called Thespe [2] became involved and,
sooner or later, the whole thing became somewhat organized. At this point,
however, theatre was in a somewhat primitive state. The actors would stand
on stage, wearing large masks showing who they were supposed to be and what
emotion they were in [3]. The main part of the plot would be supplied, not
by the actor's lines, or dialogue, but by a group of people called the
Chorus, who would chant large sections of story to the audience.
At this point, too, we begin to see the emergence of the script, a written
record of what the actors were supposed to be saying [5]. Further, with
the emergence of the drama competition, we see the first major playwrights,
including Sophocles, who wrote the famous play, Oedipus Rex [6]. Drama is
also divided into the classifications of "Tragedy" and "Comedy." Comedy
isn't humor in this context, but rather any play where not everybody ends
up maimed or dead. A good rule of thumb is that if you want to take a
cyanide pill with your popcorn, you're not watching a comedy.
After the fall of the Greeks, precious little occurs with the theatre for a
long time. During the Roman Empire, everyone mimicked the Greeks, and a
large number of Roman playwrights did little-to-no experimentation with the
art, before going on to die. Nobody misses them. During the Middle Ages,
we see the emergence of morality plays, of which Everyman was one. Middle
Age drama was generally very bad, as there were very few professional
actors or playwrights, and the wine was poisoned [7]. Nobody misses them
much either.
Along comes the Renaissance, and people like Christopher Marlowe, Ben
Jonson and, most notably, William Shakespeare. Shakespeare alone has
influenced modern theatre more than anyone else, using such techniques as
blank verse [8], soliloquy [9], and good writing. These playwrights veer
away from religion as a central theme, although they often used religious
and mythological themes. Often, as in Shakespeare's Richard III and
Marlowe's Tambourlaine the Great, historical fact is used as a basis for
plot [10].
Around this time, too, opera develops. It only reaches a quasi-modern form
with Mozart, a century or so later, but at least it's there.
The last major historical period to talk about takes place around and about
the two world wars, and the development of absurdist theatre. We get
people like Samuel Beckett, Henrik Ibsen, and Anton Chekhov, all of whom
tended to look at the real world and smirk. At this point, it's every man
for himself, look out below, nobody here but us weirdoes. In other words,
Here There Be Tygers.
Planning A Theatre Trip
=======================
So, now that you've decided to go see some play, you need to have a basic
plan. The following guide should help you prepare for both the evening and
the play itself.
Choosing A Play
---------------
First, you need to choose a play. If you live in the middle of nowhere,
then there's usually not much option: you watch whatever's playing. If
there's nothing playing nearby, then things get complicated, and you
generally have to go to the closest big city to see anything. If this is
required, try and get at least one copy of the city's best newspaper, not
more than two weeks in advance.
A few decisions need to be made. How professional an effort do you want to
watch? A professional, star-studded play or musical is generally top
quality, but will generally run you between twenty and a hundred dollars
American, depending on your seats. Premieres, or the first performances of
a play, can require selling organs and are generally not worth the effort
and/or price involved. Performances by the Royal Shakespeare Company and
Andrew Lloyd Webber's Really Useful Company are really the only exceptions
to this rule and, besides, they don't always cost an arm and a leg.
Thus, an amateur play is often the way to go. At this point, you have to
decide how amateur is acceptable. In an academic community, it isn't
unusual to have a number of moderate-to-high quality plays going on at any
given time. The only big minus is that there are often very few
performances, so you have to really plan in advance. Further, the variety,
or rather the lack thereof, can be excruciating in a college without a
substantial theatre department. On the other hand, tickets for such plays
rarely exceed twenty dollars American.
If you're really desperate, you might be able to find a high school play.
As a general rule, don't expect brilliant acting, or brilliant scenery. Of
course, some high schools have long-running, respectable theatre programs,
so you really have to just check into them. Just keep in mind that while
some high schools have fantastic budgets, there is no guarantee on the
acting. Trust me. Expect to spend between five and ten dollars American,
and to be forced into cramped, graffiti-covered seats.
What Kind Of Play Is This?
--------------------------
Before you buy tickets, you should also try to find out what kind of play
you want to see. If the selection is limited to only a few plays, you
don't have the luxury of choice, so we'll assume that you're in New York,
London, Paris, or any other community with a wide variety.
There are a number of basic types, each with its pros and cons. Each type
also involves a different amount of preparation, and a different evening.
1) Tragedy: in modern parlance, anything with a sad ending,
generally involving a death of some sort, often suicide.
Read: depressing. Also not such a hot idea for a first date.
On the other hand, they tend to be rather thought-provoking,
and often have involved plots.
No real preparation is required for viewing a tragedy, although
it is occasionally a good idea to have a passing familiarity
with the plot. It's your call on this one, since you can get
along quite well without it. On a date, dinner is acceptable,
but not recommended, and never right after the play.
McDonald's is out of the question. Expect subdued conversation
with tinges of depression, and plan accordingly.
2) Comedy: today, anything with a laugh. Tends to be
light-hearted, entertaining, etcetera, and very little
preparation is necessary. In fact, just make sure that the
clothes that you're wearing didn't cost less than your ticket
and you're all set.
Dinner isn't necessary, and I personally recommend going to a
coffee shop or snack bar directly afterwards to talk and have a
little to eat. Conversation doesn't always include the
performance, but it's a safe bet that it will.
3) Shakespearean Drama: whether tragedy or comedy, some
preparation is required. The best advice I can give is to be
familiar with the plot before attending, and if possible, to
have read it once. Try to not to go to anything you only read
in high school English class, and while we're on the subject,
if it's being performed by a high school, avoid it like the
plague. There's a reason that the term, "High School
Shakespeare" is both well-known and infamous.
Stick to reputable Troupes or colleges and you'll be fine.
Ticket price is no indication of a good performance, although
Royal Shakespeare Company is always a safe bet, and Shakespeare
festivals are often fun, but get your seats well in advance.
If you bring a date, bring one with a clue, and it might be
wise for him or her to prepare to the same extent you do.
Otherwise, one or both of you will be miserable.
In short, Shakespearean theatre can be a lot of work, but it is
nearly always a worthwhile experience. See above suggestions
for dinner.
4) Absurdist Theatre: know the play beforehand, and don't expect
to understand it, particularly if the title contains the
words, "Waiting," "For," and "Godot." If you bring a date,
resist the temptation to talk during the performance. I don't
care if the people around you are shouting, "Bravo,"
"Author," and "Encore," you don't want to know those people.
Go to dinner before the play, but have dessert afterwards.
It's like a reward, in a Pavlovian sort of way. Besides, it's
a nice distraction from what you just sat through.
5) Opera: don't expect English. There were all of three or four
well-written English operas, and it's rare to find those in
production. Content yourself to being well-versed with the
basic plot, perhaps with a little light research beforehand.
Dressing up is sometimes a nice idea, but not always
necessary. No jeans, though.
Dinner is up to you.
6) Musical Theatre: almost always a comedy, although Phantom of
the Opera, Les Miserables, and Miss Saigon are notable
exceptions. If it's by Rogers and Hammerstein, Gilbert and
Sullivan, or Andrew Lloyd Webber, expect a lot of fun, vapid
music and snappy dialogue, and an evening not unlike
swallowing a balloon - an interesting experience, but not one
that leaves you wholly satisfied.
Dinner's a nice touch, and just about anyone who can stand the
music will be game for an evening at a musical. When somebody
refers to Broadway as a type of performance, they are talking
about musical theatre. Under no circumstances are you to admit
to a theatre critic that you just came from a musical,
especially the type of critic who dresses like a flood victim.
These can get nasty and start ranting about how Broadway
musicals are killing Broadway.
For the record, I have nothing against musicals but, please, no
Andrew Lloyd Webber.
7) Kabuki: Japanese opera. A lot of long hair, with little
change for centuries. To be honest, I have almost no
experience with Kabuki, but am told that it can be exquisite.
It's your call.
8) Experimental Theatre: you're up past your bedtime.
Enjoying The Performance
========================
The key to having a good time at any play, is knowing what's going on. For
most plays, this is not a problem, but for a few, it's not difficult to get
lost. Here are a few tips to keeping up, along with a few things to watch
for.
* Read the play beforehand: yes, I've said this before, but I'll
say it again. Even having read it once causes certain phrases
and certain actions to jog your memory during the performance.
Further, many of my other suggestions rely on having done this.
If you don't want to know the ending, sometimes you can get
away with not reading the entire thing.
* Remember the characters' names: often, a major source of
confusion during a play comes from not understanding who is
being referred to in the dialogue, forgetting characters' names
can be very frustrating. If you have difficulty doing this
during the play, plan ahead and read the plot, or at least the
first act.
* Discuss the play during intermission: don't be afraid to ask
questions of the people you bring along. If you're expecting
trouble, then bring people along who at least won't be more
clueless than you. Even equally clueless people can sometimes
notice helpful things. Keep in mind, though, that intermission
is generally only between ten and fifteen minutes long, so plan
accordingly.
Also, don't buy refreshments, particularly not liquid
refreshments.
One-act plays do not have intermissions. Be warned.
* Buy a program: optimistically, the list of names and scenes
(and, in a musical, songs) might jog your memory.
Pessimistically, they often have nice pictures and
advertisements.
* Know what to expect: talk about the play beforehand with
someone who has seen it. Ask in particular about important
scenes, funny and striking lines, and turning points in the
plot. Remember, familiarity can be a good thing.
* Relax! After all, it's not like any lives hang in the balance,
and even if they do, it depends on whose they are. Just sit
back, watch all those funny-looking people up on stage, and
clap when everybody else does. If anybody asks what your
favorite part was, just shrug and change the subject.
[1] These are the same festivals where women would get roaring drunk and
tear apart woodland creatures with their teeth.
[2] After whom Thespians, or actors, are named.
[3] These masks often contained mini megaphones [4] in the mouthpiece
so that the actor's voice could be amplified.
[4] I suppose that would make them "phones," wouldn't it?
[5] The involvement of alcohol hadn't been entirely taken out of
theatre yet. For that matter, it still hasn't.
[6] Meaning, "Swollen-Foot the King," Oedipus is about a guy who
unwittingly kills his father and marries his mother. The play takes
place as he finds all this out. Fun, fun, fun.
[7] This is actually true. Way back in the Roman Empire, people
noticed that wine tastes better when prepared a certain way. This
certain way happened to involve boiling it in a lead kettle, and the
dissolved lead made the wine sweeter. This is why children eat lead
paint, and why large numbers of European nobility and artsy-types got
lead poisoning.
[8] Blank verse is sort of like poetry in the way an actor's lines are
divided into separate lines, and that the syllables in a line alternate
on a definite pattern of stress, non-stress, stress, non-stress, etc.
Remarkably, when blank verse is read aloud onstage, it sounds more
natural than normal speech.
[9] Essentially, when a character stands talking to himself for a long
period of time and nobody else onstage notices. When the character
only makes a comment or two, it is called an aside. The important
concept here is that none of the other characters hear him.
[10] Do not, however, fall into the trap as accepting everything they
say as real history. It's not.