Open Forum

I'd like to get some opinions on the difference between Drama and Theatre.

In the past I have taught my students that to do theatre you need Space, Audience, and Actors with the Actors and Audience being in the same Space at the same time. i.e Cinema is an art form but not theatre, etc. And Actors are defined as someone pretending to be someone or something they are not for the benefit of an audience.

I want a clear definition of Drama and Theatre so that when my students go to college they don't have some obscure definition for the two.

Thanks.

-------------------------------------------
John Perry
Drama Instructor
Atherton High School
Louisville KY
-------------------------------------------

Having taught overseas (Australia) in a very vibrant educational theatre community, I have come across this quandary in various forms, too. Theatre versus theater may seem innocuous to some, but for others (i.e. the entire New South Wales drama teaching world) the first is what we study and the second is where plays are performed. The study of this is referred to as drama: drama contains basic elements that are manipulated in one way or another to create a piece of theatre for an audience. Those elements of drama include tension, conflict, level, sound, space, actor/audience relationship, etc. While I think that uni instructors may not have a shared nomenclature on this and students will simply adapt to what they are surrounded by in terms of wording, theatre is what we create when we manipulate the elements of drama.

-------------------------------------------
Lori Constable
Teacher; director of Drama
Independent District 112
Chanhassen MN
-------------------------------------------






Original Message:
Sent: 06-10-2014 10:10
From: John Perry
Subject: Difference between Drama and Theatre

I'd like to get some opinions on the difference between Drama and Theatre.

In the past I have taught my students that to do theatre you need Space, Audience, and Actors with the Actors and Audience being in the same Space at the same time. i.e Cinema is an art form but not theatre, etc. And Actors are defined as someone pretending to be someone or something they are not for the benefit of an audience.

I want a clear definition of Drama and Theatre so that when my students go to college they don't have some obscure definition for the two.

Thanks.

-------------------------------------------
John Perry
Drama Instructor
Atherton High School
Louisville KY
-------------------------------------------

So, is a performance by Cher, Lady Gaga, The Rolling Stones in an arena theatre?



-------------------------------------------
John Perry
Drama Instructor
Atherton High School
Louisville KY
-------------------------------------------






Original Message:
Sent: 06-11-2014 09:42
From: Lori Constable
Subject: Difference between Drama and Theatre

Having taught overseas (Australia) in a very vibrant educational theatre community, I have come across this quandary in various forms, too. Theatre versus theater may seem innocuous to some, but for others (i.e. the entire New South Wales drama teaching world) the first is what we study and the second is where plays are performed. The study of this is referred to as drama: drama contains basic elements that are manipulated in one way or another to create a piece of theatre for an audience. Those elements of drama include tension, conflict, level, sound, space, actor/audience relationship, etc. While I think that uni instructors may not have a shared nomenclature on this and students will simply adapt to what they are surrounded by in terms of wording, theatre is what we create when we manipulate the elements of drama.

-------------------------------------------
Lori Constable
Teacher; director of Drama
Independent District 112
Chanhassen MN
-------------------------------------------






Original Message:
Sent: 06-10-2014 10:10
From: John Perry
Subject: Difference between Drama and Theatre

I'd like to get some opinions on the difference between Drama and Theatre.

In the past I have taught my students that to do theatre you need Space, Audience, and Actors with the Actors and Audience being in the same Space at the same time. i.e Cinema is an art form but not theatre, etc. And Actors are defined as someone pretending to be someone or something they are not for the benefit of an audience.

I want a clear definition of Drama and Theatre so that when my students go to college they don't have some obscure definition for the two.

Thanks.

-------------------------------------------
John Perry
Drama Instructor
Atherton High School
Louisville KY
-------------------------------------------

John
This is more fascinating than I first expected it to be.
You asked, "is a performance by Cher, Lady Gaga, The Rolling Stones in an arena,  'theatre'?"

Yes it is. The performances are planned out (set list of songs) and rehearsed, there are light cues for each song, each guitar solo or drum solo, there are fireworks involved in encores. Backstage techs are teamster / union-types who travel and set up and break down the show in each and every arena.
There was a fascinating article about a KISS tour in Entertainment Weekly in 1996 which broke their daily schedule down to the minute http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,293796,00.html.
Just like a bus & truck tour, eh?


I have a 10 year old son that I take to see WWE wrestling shows. Those performances, i.e., "sports entertainment", are choreographed down "to the t". The performers work together in their storyline "feuds" for 1-2 months, travel together, plans matches together, and play towns all over the country, in the old "carny" tradition so that when the big Pay Per View show comes once a month, their story lines are focused and ready to conclude, and the performances are without a flaw. Bear in mind, they also have 5 hrs a week of primetime programming, in 8 minute segments, and can be defined as "a soap opera for men, with blood" or more simply, "stage combat with a storyline"...
Thanks for letting me ramble..

regards
Charlie Fersko
NYC




Original Message:
Sent: 06-11-2014 10:23
From: John Perry
Subject: Difference between Drama and Theatre

So, is a performance by Cher, Lady Gaga, The Rolling Stones in an arena theatre?



-------------------------------------------
John Perry
Drama Instructor
Atherton High School
Louisville KY
-------------------------------------------






Original Message:
Sent: 06-11-2014 09:42
From: Lori Constable
Subject: Difference between Drama and Theatre

Having taught overseas (Australia) in a very vibrant educational theatre community, I have come across this quandary in various forms, too. Theatre versus theater may seem innocuous to some, but for others (i.e. the entire New South Wales drama teaching world) the first is what we study and the second is where plays are performed. The study of this is referred to as drama: drama contains basic elements that are manipulated in one way or another to create a piece of theatre for an audience. Those elements of drama include tension, conflict, level, sound, space, actor/audience relationship, etc. While I think that uni instructors may not have a shared nomenclature on this and students will simply adapt to what they are surrounded by in terms of wording, theatre is what we create when we manipulate the elements of drama.

-------------------------------------------
Lori Constable
Teacher; director of Drama
Independent District 112
Chanhassen MN
-------------------------------------------






Original Message:
Sent: 06-10-2014 10:10
From: John Perry
Subject: Difference between Drama and Theatre

I'd like to get some opinions on the difference between Drama and Theatre.

In the past I have taught my students that to do theatre you need Space, Audience, and Actors with the Actors and Audience being in the same Space at the same time. i.e Cinema is an art form but not theatre, etc. And Actors are defined as someone pretending to be someone or something they are not for the benefit of an audience.

I want a clear definition of Drama and Theatre so that when my students go to college they don't have some obscure definition for the two.

Thanks.

-------------------------------------------
John Perry
Drama Instructor
Atherton High School
Louisville KY
-------------------------------------------

Drama- any material acted out on stage be it comedy, tragedy, or satire
Theatre- is the study and practice of theatrical arts.  The spelling indicates that you can change endings creating a variety of words having to do with theatre studies: theatron, theatrical, theatrician
Theater- is a building to perform drama

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Kelly Thomas
Mesquite TX
-------------------------------------------






Original Message:
Sent: 06-11-2014 10:23
From: John Perry
Subject: Difference between Drama and Theatre

So, is a performance by Cher, Lady Gaga, The Rolling Stones in an arena theatre?



-------------------------------------------
John Perry
Drama Instructor
Atherton High School
Louisville KY
-------------------------------------------






Original Message:
Sent: 06-11-2014 09:42
From: Lori Constable
Subject: Difference between Drama and Theatre

Having taught overseas (Australia) in a very vibrant educational theatre community, I have come across this quandary in various forms, too. Theatre versus theater may seem innocuous to some, but for others (i.e. the entire New South Wales drama teaching world) the first is what we study and the second is where plays are performed. The study of this is referred to as drama: drama contains basic elements that are manipulated in one way or another to create a piece of theatre for an audience. Those elements of drama include tension, conflict, level, sound, space, actor/audience relationship, etc. While I think that uni instructors may not have a shared nomenclature on this and students will simply adapt to what they are surrounded by in terms of wording, theatre is what we create when we manipulate the elements of drama.

-------------------------------------------
Lori Constable
Teacher; director of Drama
Independent District 112
Chanhassen MN
-------------------------------------------






Original Message:
Sent: 06-10-2014 10:10
From: John Perry
Subject: Difference between Drama and Theatre

I'd like to get some opinions on the difference between Drama and Theatre.

In the past I have taught my students that to do theatre you need Space, Audience, and Actors with the Actors and Audience being in the same Space at the same time. i.e Cinema is an art form but not theatre, etc. And Actors are defined as someone pretending to be someone or something they are not for the benefit of an audience.

I want a clear definition of Drama and Theatre so that when my students go to college they don't have some obscure definition for the two.

Thanks.

-------------------------------------------
John Perry
Drama Instructor
Atherton High School
Louisville KY
-------------------------------------------

For the differences I go back to the ancient greeks. From what I have read Drama is derived from the greek word meaning to do. Theatre comes from the greek "theatron" meaning a place of viewing. For me that basically breaks down to the idea that drama is what we do in the classroom (voice work, scene study, viewpoints training, stage combat training...you get the idea). When we gather together in the theatre (the place of viewing) to watch something in a communal gathering that is theatre. I call my classes drama, my after-school ensemble which creates, rehearses and eventually performs plays is called a theatre ensemble. This difference is key to me when I use drama techniques to teach english to english language learners--that is drama. If I, on the other hand, am working on a play with the same students with the idea of presentation, that is theatre. ------------------------------------------- Richard Silberg Berkeley CA -------------------------------------------
Original Message: Sent: 06-12-2014 11:16 From: Kelly Thomas Subject: Difference between Drama and Theatre Drama- any material acted out on stage be it comedy, tragedy, or satire Theatre- is the study and practice of theatrical arts. The spelling indicates that you can change endings creating a variety of words having to do with theatre studies: theatron, theatrical, theatrician Theater- is a building to perform drama ------------------------------------------- Kelly Thomas Mesquite TX -------------------------------------------
Original Message: Sent: 06-11-2014 10:23 From: John Perry Subject: Difference between Drama and Theatre So, is a performance by Cher, Lady Gaga, The Rolling Stones in an arena theatre? ------------------------------------------- John Perry Drama Instructor Atherton High School Louisville KY -------------------------------------------
Original Message: Sent: 06-11-2014 09:42 From: Lori Constable Subject: Difference between Drama and Theatre Having taught overseas (Australia) in a very vibrant educational theatre community, I have come across this quandary in various forms, too. Theatre versus theater may seem innocuous to some, but for others (i.e. the entire New South Wales drama teaching world) the first is what we study and the second is where plays are performed. The study of this is referred to as drama: drama contains basic elements that are manipulated in one way or another to create a piece of theatre for an audience. Those elements of drama include tension, conflict, level, sound, space, actor/audience relationship, etc. While I think that uni instructors may not have a shared nomenclature on this and students will simply adapt to what they are surrounded by in terms of wording, theatre is what we create when we manipulate the elements of drama. ------------------------------------------- Lori Constable Teacher; director of Drama Independent District 112 Chanhassen MN -------------------------------------------
Original Message: Sent: 06-10-2014 10:10 From: John Perry Subject: Difference between Drama and Theatre I'd like to get some opinions on the difference between Drama and Theatre. In the past I have taught my students that to do theatre you need Space, Audience, and Actors with the Actors and Audience being in the same Space at the same time. i.e Cinema is an art form but not theatre, etc. And Actors are defined as someone pretending to be someone or something they are not for the benefit of an audience. I want a clear definition of Drama and Theatre so that when my students go to college they don't have some obscure definition for the two. Thanks. ------------------------------------------- John Perry Drama Instructor Atherton High School Louisville KY -------------------------------------------

Richard, I like that idea and find it quite empowering.  However, given the common usage that I hear from parents and students of the "hard 'a'" DRAMA and THEATER with all syllables pronounced, I strive to establish a different usage (oh, and the word "skit" as in "oh, are you going to have your DRAMA kids put a SKIT on in the THEE ATE ER?")

I treat drama as one of the genres of dramatic literature that we study.

A theater is the "viewing place" and theatre is the study of the art, i.e. the theatre we're doing in the theater for this production is a drama.

And nobody says the word skit within 50 feet of me.



-------------------------------------------
Robert Seitelman
Walnut Creek CA
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Original Message:
Sent: 06-13-2014 10:37
From: Richard Silberg
Subject: Difference between Drama and Theatre

For the differences I go back to the ancient greeks. From what I have read Drama is derived from the greek word meaning to do. Theatre comes from the greek "theatron" meaning a place of viewing. For me that basically breaks down to the idea that drama is what we do in the classroom (voice work, scene study, viewpoints training, stage combat training...you get the idea). When we gather together in the theatre (the place of viewing) to watch something in a communal gathering that is theatre. I call my classes drama, my after-school ensemble which creates, rehearses and eventually performs plays is called a theatre ensemble. This difference is key to me when I use drama techniques to teach english to english language learners--that is drama. If I, on the other hand, am working on a play with the same students with the idea of presentation, that is theatre.

-------------------------------------------
Richard Silberg
Berkeley CA
-------------------------------------------

Not sure if your question is tongue-in-cheek or not, but with the first two listed, I would enjoy a discussion on whether or not their work has transcended from being a 'music' performance concert to 'theatre' and as far as the Stones are concerned, well, it IS only rock and roll... ;)

-------------------------------------------
Lori Constable
Teacher; director of Drama
Independent District 112
Chanhassen MN
-------------------------------------------






Original Message:
Sent: 06-11-2014 10:23
From: John Perry
Subject: Difference between Drama and Theatre

So, is a performance by Cher, Lady Gaga, The Rolling Stones in an arena theatre?



-------------------------------------------
John Perry
Drama Instructor
Atherton High School
Louisville KY
-------------------------------------------






Original Message:
Sent: 06-11-2014 09:42
From: Lori Constable
Subject: Difference between Drama and Theatre

Having taught overseas (Australia) in a very vibrant educational theatre community, I have come across this quandary in various forms, too. Theatre versus theater may seem innocuous to some, but for others (i.e. the entire New South Wales drama teaching world) the first is what we study and the second is where plays are performed. The study of this is referred to as drama: drama contains basic elements that are manipulated in one way or another to create a piece of theatre for an audience. Those elements of drama include tension, conflict, level, sound, space, actor/audience relationship, etc. While I think that uni instructors may not have a shared nomenclature on this and students will simply adapt to what they are surrounded by in terms of wording, theatre is what we create when we manipulate the elements of drama.

-------------------------------------------
Lori Constable
Teacher; director of Drama
Independent District 112
Chanhassen MN
-------------------------------------------






Original Message:
Sent: 06-10-2014 10:10
From: John Perry
Subject: Difference between Drama and Theatre

I'd like to get some opinions on the difference between Drama and Theatre.

In the past I have taught my students that to do theatre you need Space, Audience, and Actors with the Actors and Audience being in the same Space at the same time. i.e Cinema is an art form but not theatre, etc. And Actors are defined as someone pretending to be someone or something they are not for the benefit of an audience.

I want a clear definition of Drama and Theatre so that when my students go to college they don't have some obscure definition for the two.

Thanks.

-------------------------------------------
John Perry
Drama Instructor
Atherton High School
Louisville KY
-------------------------------------------

Excellent explanations so far.  Here's my two-cents:

Drama is the study of the literature and the theory of acting and design as they pertain to the interpretation of dramatic literature.  It is also studied as a component of various world cultures.  It is taught by teachers of Drama as well as English/Language Arts and Social Studies/History.

Theatre is the practical application of various disciplines in order to produce live entertainment events.  It is taught by teachers of Drama, Music, Dance, Tech. Theatre, Visual Art, and (when possible) English,Career Tech (including Shop classes and Business/Marketing).

Of course, there will always be the odd class (and even odder teacher) that crosses the line between the two.  Even at the college level, many of my "sit-down" seminar classes in Drama Lit. and World Cultures included "field trips" to the various performance spaces on campus to stage scenes in order to gain deeper insight.  

If it helps, I tell my students this simple (albeit, simplistic) distinction:
Drama = reading, writing and talking about plays, musicals, and show business careers
Theatre = doing the various jobs to make plays and musicals happen

Hope this helps.
-------------------------------------------
Josh Ruben
Fine Arts Head
Chattanooga TN
-------------------------------------------






Original Message:
Sent: 06-11-2014 09:42
From: Lori Constable
Subject: Difference between Drama and Theatre

Having taught overseas (Australia) in a very vibrant educational theatre community, I have come across this quandary in various forms, too. Theatre versus theater may seem innocuous to some, but for others (i.e. the entire New South Wales drama teaching world) the first is what we study and the second is where plays are performed. The study of this is referred to as drama: drama contains basic elements that are manipulated in one way or another to create a piece of theatre for an audience. Those elements of drama include tension, conflict, level, sound, space, actor/audience relationship, etc. While I think that uni instructors may not have a shared nomenclature on this and students will simply adapt to what they are surrounded by in terms of wording, theatre is what we create when we manipulate the elements of drama.

-------------------------------------------
Lori Constable
Teacher; director of Drama
Independent District 112
Chanhassen MN
-------------------------------------------






Original Message:
Sent: 06-10-2014 10:10
From: John Perry
Subject: Difference between Drama and Theatre

I'd like to get some opinions on the difference between Drama and Theatre.

In the past I have taught my students that to do theatre you need Space, Audience, and Actors with the Actors and Audience being in the same Space at the same time. i.e Cinema is an art form but not theatre, etc. And Actors are defined as someone pretending to be someone or something they are not for the benefit of an audience.

I want a clear definition of Drama and Theatre so that when my students go to college they don't have some obscure definition for the two.

Thanks.

-------------------------------------------
John Perry
Drama Instructor
Atherton High School
Louisville KY
-------------------------------------------

Tom Stoppard tells a story to define the difference between drama (the play on the page) and theatre (the play on stage). He attended a performance of "The Tempest" at Oxford. The play was set against a small lake on campus. The play ended just as the light was beginning to fade. At the end of the play when Ariel is freed, she turned and ran toward the lake. As she reached the edge of the lake she continued to run out over the water. Then as she disappeared into the darkness, fireworks erupted from the far side of the lake. This is theatre. Directors, actors, designers bring the text to life, reflecting human nature as Hamlet suggests.

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James Van Leishout
Edwardsville IL
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Original Message:
Sent: 06-10-2014 10:10
From: John Perry
Subject: Difference between Drama and Theatre

I'd like to get some opinions on the difference between Drama and Theatre.

In the past I have taught my students that to do theatre you need Space, Audience, and Actors with the Actors and Audience being in the same Space at the same time. i.e Cinema is an art form but not theatre, etc. And Actors are defined as someone pretending to be someone or something they are not for the benefit of an audience.

I want a clear definition of Drama and Theatre so that when my students go to college they don't have some obscure definition for the two.

Thanks.

-------------------------------------------
John Perry
Drama Instructor
Atherton High School
Louisville KY
-------------------------------------------