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Backstage (02:04:51)
The “magic” of theater is the result of rigorous planning, hard work, and the finely honed skills of artisans and designers. This program takes viewers inside the technical process of mounting a stage play. Focusing on a theater company’s major production departments—set, prop, costume, makeup, lighting, and sound—the video shows how the knowledge and labor of theater technicians comes to life. Information about model fabrication, painting techniques, flats and bracing, scene changes, hand props, furniture, statues and masks, period suits and dresses, light rigging, and mic placement makes this the ultimate hands-on authority for theater courses and workshops.
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Series: Stages of Theater: From the Greeks to Shakespeare
Resurrecting long-vanished places of performance, this two-part series uses state-of-the-art graphics to conduct vivid interactive tours—from the earliest sacred spaces to the proscenium arch theater most audiences recognize today. Hosted by Professor Richard Beacham of King’s College London, the world’s leading scholar in ancient theater design, the series explores numerous exemplary sites through stunning 3-D computer reconstructions—forming an ideal introduction to the history of drama and theater construction. 2-part series, 21–23 minutes each.
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Series: Treading the Boards: Theater Fundamentals
In an age of computerized and corporate-driven entertainment, theater is more important than ever—and so is learning the basics of theatrical production. This three-part series offers an excellent primer in the history of drama as well as in-depth guidance on the industry’s technical side. From ancient Greek masks and amphitheaters to 21st-century know-how in casting, rehearsal, costumes, sets, and lighting, each video will go the distance in supporting, instructing, and inspiring a new generation of theater professionals. Viewable/printable instructor’s guides are available online. 3-part series, 25–30 minutes each.
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The Stage: Set Design and Construction (25:00)
In this extraordinary program, the dynamic process of set design for RSC productions of Much Ado About Nothing, The Tempest, and Measure for Measure is described by the people who make it all happen.
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Staging Classical Comedy (36:00)
This program uses Plautus’ Miles Gloriosus (The Braggart Warrior) to test the stageability of a classical comedy as authentically as possible, combining a full-scale reconstruction of the lost stage, the ancient text, and a still-vital comic style.
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Staging Classical Tragedy (30:00)
Understanding Greek tragedy, not through post-Ibsenist, post-modernist, post-Method eyes but in terms of what the ancient playwright may have intended, requires going beyond the text to the staging. For the staging defines the relationship between chorus and actors, between actors and audience, and between playwright and play.
Try these videos to get started. Must be on campus or login with your COM account for off campus access.
