1 comments about Theatre: A Way of Seeing (with InfoTrac®).

1. Barranger gives a nice overview of contemporary theatre, with a natural emphasis on the American scene. Classical theatre is well described. But also recent, avant-garde troupes like the Las Vegas Blue Man Group get passing mention. You can cultivate an appreciation of the diversity in the theatrical world.
   
   The book is heavily integrated with InfoTrac and Wadworth's website. The latter gives the interested student many worthwhile resources that complement the text's narrative. These include academic journals and other publications. Well suited for graduate work or simply a deeper look at the subject.

5 comments about Theater Games for the Classroom: A Teacher's Handbook.

1. This was on a list of suggested reading from a class I attended with Second City. I bought it hoping to use some of the ideas for my middle schoolers. There are many ideas in the book for younger kids, like songs. There are some good ideas that can be adapted into a middle school room.



2. I teach sixth grade math, and have a group of students for an exploratory class. We talk about current events, esteem building, community building, fun non-academic skills with an emphasis on social awareness. I have been using this book for most of the year so far, and my students look forward to it,a nd ask for it. I don't have a background in theater, but this book has several premade units that have a focus on different skills. The one I am just completing focuses on community building for the group and concentration and focus for the individual. I find it easy to use, and I like the skills that it is building and reinforcing in my students. If you don't want to do a whole unit, the individual exercises and warm-ups can be set up and completed in 5-10 minutes. Great,and quick!
   I strongly recommend this for any classroom!



3. I teach drama/theater in a low income public school. I bought the book because my school has very few resources and I thought this might be useful. As it turned out the book was hardly used during my first year teaching. My biggest problem with this book is that it is not very user friendly for a teacher who just wants to add some fun to a class but not a complex game. In other words the book needs to make the games simpler so the kids can pick them up faster and have more fun. This might not be problem for teachers in high school as your students might be more mature and able to handle more complex games. But for middle school teachers tread lightly. Also if you have a bunch of behavior problems in your class then forgot about it. In my experience I found the worse the behavior the better they were at spoiling fun classroom games. Be warned.



4. EXCELLENT!! Inspiring. Well Organized. So many great ideas for the new or seasoned acting teacher.



5. As a teacher of drama to many low-income, urban, and "difficult" adolescents, this is the book that I find most useful, alive, and inspiring! Simply wonderful for anyone trying to bring the best out of young actors!

No comments about The Theatre Experience.

No comments about Dead Man's Cell Phone.

5 comments about History of the Theatre.

1. the best theatre history book out there. A great tool to send off for more research



2. Some theatre students and teachers take this book for a theatre history bible of sorts. Unfortunately, this results in readers switching off their critical thinking skills and accepting Dr. Brockett's values and opinions as facts. The scholar makes history and Brockett's history privileges debated concepts such as ritual-origin theory and drastically undervalues accomplishments of othered groups such as 17th century English actresses. (They get a whopping two sentences!) While this book is good for pedestrian and generalized descriptions of major figures and events (from a 20th century perspective), it is far from exhaustive. Alternative historical theories are not given much thought and the author presents opinion and theory as empirical fact regularly throughout the text.
   God is dead.



3. Having taken a course that required reading the book I can safely say that it is dry in some sections of history due to the "PC" nature of it's telling. But it's mostly an interesting resource and reference book for theatre buffs and history buffs alike.



4. I had the pleasure of being Brock's student for three years at the University of Texas. The book is phenomenal, easy to read and amazingly complete. The History of the Theatre experience should also be augmented by the opportunity to hear Brockett speak. He is erudite, funny, a lively teacher and an incredible intellect. There is no other book to serve as a reference and introduction to theatre history. No other book and no other teacher so expertly and informatively makes you realize the interweaving of theatre and society throughout its long history. IMHO, Brockett should write the history not just of theatre but of everything. His non-didactic, straight-forward and lively prose would make any work of history or criticism on any subject a delight.



5. As a former student of Franklin J. Hildy's, and a reader of the Brockett text for several theater courses, I must highly recommend this book to anyone seeking a detailed, yet expansive, overview of the history of the theatrical arts throughout the world. Dr. Hildy's passion for and knowledge of the subject matter is rivaled by none and the complete scope of this project would have daunted many editors less competent to undertake such a task. A great reference text as well as course material. I often find mine useful in day-to-day queries as well as research on period and scenic styles.

5 comments about Acting for the Camera: Revised Edition.

1. First, I would like to admit that I am not much of a reader...
   With that said, I must say that once I picked up this book, I didn't put it down until the last page. Then I flipped back to the first page and read it all over again. I gained a new outlook on the whole science of acting within the first few chapters and the exercises were marvelous!
   Mr. Barr did an amazing job of helping me to understand the necessary techniques to be an effective actor. I would definetely recommend this book for beginners trying to figure out exactly what acting is AND for anyone who may need a refresher.



2. I was fortunate enough to have known a personal friend of Tony Barr, and attended on 3 separate occasions a small private training workshop done by Tony himself. I have to say that what you learn in this will mean nothing unless you put the exercises into practice. He was one of the rare teachers that never really told you what to do but knew how to pose questions that got you thinking in his method. The techniques put into practice can have you prepared for a character by the second reading, which is an invaluable asset in the hasty Hollywood environment. The techniques are based upon how real life works. The simple concept of listening, motivation, and crossing the bridge are invaluable to writers, animators, filmmakers & any profession of understanding interaction. Even though I am giving this book 5 stars, after being there with the author it is light years ahead to put this into practice, or even attend the Film Actors Workshop.



3. I recom'nd this book for all young actors & actresses to read. This is really good hand book for these people



4. I obtained this book to read while taking an "Audition For Camera" class at my acting school. I'm a relative novice, but had read some books on general acting before, such as Uta Hagen's "A Challenge For The Actor," and really wanted a book that talked about specific aspects of acting in front of a camera.
   
   This book, Tony Barr's "Acting For The Camera," is a little different from what I was initially hoping it would be, in that it basically is a book about general acting, with more than the entire first half of the book devoted to that. I remember often thinking "when are we going to get to the part about camera work?"
   
   Mr. Barr's general thoughts on acting are actually quite good, though, which encouraged me to read through the whole of the first section, and I would say that there are many excellent insights there. It's also a relatively quick read, as opposed to Uta Hagen's book, for example, and many things are presented in ways I hadn't read in other books before.
   
   When I finally got to the "camera" section of the book, I sort of realized that the reason he probably spent so much time with the "general acting" stuff is because ... well, the most important part of "acting for the camera" is the ACTING, not the CAMERA! Of course there are many specifics that he addresses, but all the specifics and terminology etc. aren't going to help you if you can't act.
   
   Plus, the section on "exercises" at the end of the book was helpful to read, even though I haven't tried any of them myself yet ... they seem like well-thought out exercises to improve ones' camera work.
   
   The groundwork and advice on acting that he gives, though, is excellent all-around and seems appropriate to apply to ANY type of acting, not just camera acting.
   
   So, all in all, I'd say that the book would more accurately be titled "ACTING, with a special section on Acting For The Camera!" That isn't quite as marketable though, I suppose!!



5. I very much agree with philosophy of this text. I think it did a good job of gathering the most important points of acting for film.
   
   It's a short, easy, read, but I think it teaches all the right things.

1 comments about Plays for the Theatre (Wadsworth Series in Theatre).

1. I purchased Plays for the Theatre at Amazon for a fraction of the cost of the bookstore price. Although it took longer for the shipment to arrive, it was worth the wait. This book was exactly what I needed for my 6-week class and I still use it to read the classic plays.

5 comments about The Crucible (Cliffs Notes).

1. These notes really gave me a much clearer understanding of the play itself. There is much detail & explaination provided & it seems that any questions you can come up with are answered.



2. Not enough mention of the confrontation between Darth Vader and Lando Calrissian.



3. this is a great piece of art by arthur miller. he catches your attention with the lies and injustices of the 1600's. this is a good book because of it's content. the speech is, as it was in that time. it tells a tale of a little girl who gets caught being "naughty" and blames it on the circumstances of those she doesn't like or has problems with. this book teaches that to lie about something that could have been small makes it much larger and much more complicated to deal with. the girl in this this book is in witchcraft and is caught dancing naked in the woods by her uncle who is the reverend. with her are two other girls, a servant, and a cousin. the town is brought down to a level where every one is accusing every one else for past happeneings. farmowners are accusing neighbors of it so that the land is auctioned off at low prices so that they can increase the quality of their own land. it becomes a big issue when it could have been solved completely with a simple confession. the subject is blown out of proportion and it destryos a lot of lives and families. the truth is finally found after nine-teen people are hanged for the crime of witchcraft. i reccomend this book to anyone who enjoys "a good book".



4. How can anyone find this confusing? This is a pretty simple work, and I find it difficult to believe that anyone can be confused as to what it's about. And why would you need Cliff Notes for this?

   In any event, my problem with this play is that its just too simple: not enough meat and the characters aren't all that interesting. Yes, it shows us how narrow-minded the Puritans were. It's also an allegory for McCarthyism, for those of you who don't know. But do we really need this play to point out what it tells us about human nature? I personally find it overly long and overly dull for what it's trying to convey.




5. i was required to read this book for an english class, and am glad i did, because it really made one think about how narrow minded the puritans were and how that really brought on the hangings of the so called witches. this is definately a book to read.

5 comments about Romeo and Juliet (Dover Thrift Editions).

1. I am very conflicted in my feelings about this play; there are very powerful reasons to rate it highly, and also very powerful reasons to rate it poorly. There are, really, NO reasons for rating it mediocre, and yet that's what I wind up doing, only because that is the balance between the great and the terrible.
   
   On the down side, BECAUSE this story has the reputation it has as THE prototypical love story, I truly despise it because it is responsible for an incredible amount of grief in the world over the last 400 years or so. Who can count how many young lovers have come to grief because they unquestioningly accept the idiotic presumtion that this story is predicated upon, that two people who literally don't know a thing about one another, not even their names, can make eye contact across a room and fall in love? Not simply feel attraction or interest, but truly fall in love? Love so powerful that they will die rather than live without one another? Yet this story has so permeated the culture that it is almost universally accepted that this is what love is like, and even people who have never read this play or seen it performed have been influenced by this idiocy to the point of trying to live their lives as though this were truly what love is like. As the main promulgator of such misinformation about the nature of love, this book is guilty of causing more pain in the world than many war criminals.
   
   And yet...blast it all, it's BEAUTIFULLY written. The language is fluid and musical even by Shakespeare's standards. Even though it is a tragedy, it is told with a trace of wry humor, as Shakespeare manages in only his very best work. I can understand why it has the reputation it has; the plot (once one accepts the ludicrous premise it is built upon) follows plausibly. If one ignores the damage that the play has done to the world's concept of what constitutes love, and rates it merely on its literary merits, it is clearly a 5-star effort, even when compared only to other Shakespearean plays.
   
   Unfortunately, that's what makes it so dangerous.



2. This is Shakespeare as it should be... no extraneous notes, no unnecessary stage directions, nothing but the text. If you are looking for anything that explains character, language, theme, etc. don't look here, as Shakespeare never wrote any of that. This is purely the text as-is.
   
   As a theatre professor, I would rather have my students work with a text like this rather than one littered with useless commentary and biased notations. If you don't understand a term or reference, use the Oxford English Dictionary rather than the limp and limited notes available in many editions.



3. This tragic tale of Romeo and Juliet is one of Shakespear's best known plays. It shows how pride and grudges can cause tragedies so it is better to let a problem go than hold a grudge.
   
   This story starts out with Romeo and his cousins walking around in the market place when all of a sudden Juliets cousins come by. They argue over a bit thumb and start to brawl. One of Romeo's cousins die and Tibalt dies as well.
   
   Then there is a party in which Romeo decides to invade. He meets Juliet and falls in love with her. She ends up falling in love with him too but their love can't happen because of their families feud against one another. They decide to flee because she was going to be wed with someone else.
   
   Juliet comes up with a plan that never reaches Romeo's ear. The plan was that she would take a poison that would put her in a deep sleep where it appears that she is dead. Romeo shows up and sees a stiff body of her loved one and he takes his own life with a poison bottle. Juliet wakes up and sees her lover dead so she takes her life away with a dagger. The priest shows up alon with the enemy families. They see what happened and decided not to have a problem between them anymore.
   
   This is a simple summarry of the great play of Romeo and Juliet. It is a tragedy that something horrible has to happen in order for the families to figure out that their fight was unecessary.
   This is a great play that everyone should know and should have the moral of this story in their minds when they have grudges.



4. Romeo and Juliet does not read as well as some other plays such as Hamlet. It must be seen to be fully enjoyed. Nevertheless, I would reccomend this edition of the play. It is dirt cheap, for the amount of content you recieve, it is well worth the money. I reccomended it, however I strongly suggest you watch the play first before reading it. I believe that only after you watch the play will you fully appreciate it.



5. This isn't my favorite of all of Shakespeare's stuff. First of all, Mercutio is the best character, and he dies too soon. Second, I didn't really like Romeo and Juliet enough to care a lot when they died.
   As for all the metaphors and allusions packed in, that's always interesting. I think people start Shakespeare with this play, because it's not as difficult as the other tragedies, which I suppose is a good idea. After this, go to Macbeth (the best!).

No comments about Learning about Dance: Dance as an Art form and Entertainment.