Welcome to the Companion Website for The Enjoyment of Theatre, 6e.

Ken Cameron
Patti Gillespie

Introduction

This website is a study guide. It is not a battery of exams, but of self-tests. We think you’ll get a good review and maybe learn new things, as well, by doing the True-False in your head. We realize that you probably won’t write out the answers to the essay questions, but we hope you’ll think through answers in a more or less orderly fashion.

Questions are followed by comments, particularly if you get a question wrong; the comment should tell you why the right answer is right.

Use the website to review your knowledge of the chapters and of the book. Don’t guess; what’s the point? Do use the book, if you like; the point is to study, review, and learn, not to simulate an exam.

Illustrations

Theatre is visual. Its visual quality has been captured in pictures throughout its history; however, earlier examples may look peculiar to you. Nonetheless, you mustn’t let the fact that something looks old or bizarre to you keep you from seeing it. You have to learn to look past the medium of the illustration and see its content.

Photograhy was invented about 1840, but photos weren’t easily reproduced in books and newspapers until late in the same century, and then only in black and white.

Before photography, pictures to be printed had to be made by hand—cut into metal or wood with a tool, or etched into metal or stone with acid. There was an interim period when photos were actually copied by hand onto either wood or metal, so they have all the details of the photograph but are actually made up of tiny black lines put down by hand.

This “photo” is actually an engraving from a photo:

This photo is actually a photo:

Both show peformances of Greek plays in universities before 1900. Both probably look funny to you. But both are useful evidence of performance. Try to look past the strange stuff and see what’s there: Who are these people? What are these costumes supposed to be? How did they see Greek theatre? Were they limited by a fashion of their own day? Then ask yourself about the pictures themselves: Would they be easier to look at if they were in color? Would they be easier to look at if they were taken with modern equipment? If they were pictures of today’s people in today’s fashions? Why? Can you get past these things?

Color printing wasn’t widespread until after 1850; before that, printed pictures were hand-colored. This one, from about 1810, shows an English theatre of the period. Because it’s from a comic work, it has cartoonish elements, even elements of caricature—but don’t let those keep you from seeing the valuable information in the picture: the size of the theatre; the nature of the scenery; the arrangement of the audience.

We’ve included pictures in some of the questions below. Like the pictures in the textbook, they should be looked at sympathetically. If they look weird, get over it. Ask yourself, What do I see? not, Why do I have to look at this old-fashioned stuff?

Current Issues

At the end of the questions for each chapter, you’ll find something called “Current Issues.” These are thought/discussion subjects connected with the chapter. They extend the content of the chapter into similar issues of today. Use them to examine and expand your understanding of the chapter itself by seeing how it applies to your world.

To begin choose a chapter from the drop down menu above.