Hey there, I'm Mike Rugnetta and this
Is Crash Course Theater and this is
Yorick.
More on him later.
(Crash Course theme plays)
(theme fades)
So maybe you're a part of your school theater program,
Maybe you're a Broadway musical devotee, maybe you've just been waiting for a
Series that would explain things like, what are are these
Phalluses doing in Greek drama? And
Who thought neoclassicism was a good idea?
And the Theatre of Cruelty, why so mean?
If that's the show that you're after then great, have a seat.
We've explored several plays in Crash Course Literature,
Mostly Greek tragedies and Shakespearean
Tragedies, and we'll be looking at plays in Crash Course Theater,
But we'll be doing a lot more than that too. We'll
Explore theater's history, its theories, and even
Its performance technologies, from the Greeks
Right into the modern era. Thunder sheets, fog
Machines, rotating gobos. Because reading a
Play is great but if you've attended live theater then
You know that it's a different and pretty extraordinary
Experience to see that play performed right
In front of you. We're going to investigate how that experience
Is produced and what it's meant throughout history
To theater going audiences. Theater going at
Least when they aren't running off to go see rope dancers, or
Consorting with prostitutes, or heading out to grab a beer and a chicken
Leg. Audiences are tricky but we say it's worth
Staying in your seat. Why?
Because theater is the art form most like life.
It's performed by real people, in
Real space, in real time, and it's often a way
To work out our ideas about the social conflicts
And problems of the day. Theater
Is a laboratory for life.
Plays explore how people feel about government, and religion, and birth
And death, and love, and each other. And sometimes
They explore how it's funny to put on a wig and tell lewd jokes. So really just
Something for everyone. And oh, just so you know,
I won't be teaching you how to act, or direct, or write
Plays, or hang lights, or...
Sew phalluses onto costumes.
Not because I don't love making theater, I actually--I've been making
Theater since I was a kid and before YouTube
I was actually a full-time professional
Theater artist making multimedia performance art in New York.
And I still do that stuff occasionally don't worry
I'll invite you to my one man show. So it's not like we don't find the
Nuts and bolts of theater exciting, quite the opposite.
But here we're mostly concerned with
Theater's history, technology, and its
Cultural significance on the whole. I'll tell you about
Greek tragedy, and Roman comedy, and
Classical Japanese theater, and how
Theater returns to the west because of one Nun.
We'll see cycle plays, and passion plays,
And commedia dell'arte, and Shakespeare obviously, but also
Renaissance writers other than Shakespeare. We'll cover really long
French plays, and shorter Spanish ones, and classical Indian drama,
And melodrama, and symbolism, and dadaism, and expressionism
And futurism, and all the -isms!
Well some of the -isms. A very reasonable number of -isms.
And I promise at least one mention
Of Hamilton. Until then, exit Mike Rugnetta,
And I mean could we end a theater show any way
Other than, curtain!
(Crash Course outro plays)
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