This is a readable, workable text that deals with everything about theatre and the artists who make theatre possible. Styles of drama, staging, production, directing and acting, along with all backstage functions are defined in detail. Theatre history and the business of theatre are covered fully for the use of both students and instructors. At the end of each chapter is a summary and questions for in-class discussion. This theatre text has been classroom tested and updated to be fully adaptable to any teaching requirement.

If you're hoping to find that one simple high school text that tells it all for your beginning theatre class, then look no further Marsh Cassady has taught theatre at the high school and college level for many years and is currently a director, playwright, and award-winning author whose 20 books are used extensively in schools. Fifteen chapters grouped into five sections present a complete overview of the art of theatre (theatre styles, genres, and structures), directing (interpreting a script, casting, and rehearsing), design (scenery, lighting, costumes, and makeup), acting (imagination, improvisation, body, voice, character analysis), and the history of theatre. The chapters are a good length for student reading, and abundant photos, diagrams, and illustrations help explain key concepts. This classroom textbook also includes several plays and scenes to allow students to 'flesh out' characters and gain perspective of various types of dramatic works from great playwrights such as Shakespeare, Ibsen, and Wilde, as well as several contemporary writers.

Teachers love this four-section book of acting games and improvisations which assist students in developing their creative abilities. Section One includes games for relaxing and focusing. Section Two helps students discover new ways of seeing themselves, others, and the world around them. The third section demonstrates with improvisations how to use space to build scenes and create characters from imagination. Section Four features acting games to analyze and portray original characters as well as ones from existing plays. For everyone, all of the essential elements of acting and character development are explored. This is truly a working textbook for acting students of all ages.

This is a readable, workable text that deals with everything about theatre and the artists who make theatre possible. Styles of drama, staging, production, directing and acting, along with all backstage functions are defined in detail. Theatre history and the business of theatre are covered fully for the use of both students and instructors. At the end of each chapter is a summary and questions for in-class discussion. This theatre text has been classroom tested and updated to be fully adaptable to any teaching requirement.

A companion book to An Introduction to: the Art of Theatre. The semester-long, introductory theatre textbook is highly readable and created specifically to instill a strong interest in theatre. The Teacher's Guide does not recreate each page of the student text. Rather, it serves as an additional resource for the instructor by including for each chapter an outline of key concepts, additional information, suggestions for further reading, group discussion topics, and a reproducible exam and answer key.

Midnight, April 5, 1970. Minutes after a red Pontiac with two men in it was stopped, four young California Highway Patrolmen lay dead of gunshot wounds. The incident still stands as the worst of its kind and has changed the way police forces operate the world over.

To write for the theatre you need to know about theatre. Ideas are easy to come by. Examine your background, interest, and beliefs. Examine the world around you. Exercises can help you come up with ideas. Choose the audience you want to reach and write to that audience. To learn to write dialogue listen to and record everyday conversations. Dialogue should sound like ordinary conversations but has more direction.

Know as much as you can about your central characters. Do a character analysis. Choose the character traits to emphasize. A character should come across as both typical and individual. Most plays have a plot, which involves conflict between the protagonist and the antagonist. The parts of a plot are: inciting incident, rising action, turning point, climax, and falling action. Other types of organization for a play are circular and thematic.

Before starting to write, you need to develop a central idea. Plays exist for a number of reasons-entertainment, to bring attention to something, and to teach. You need to decide what you want to accomplish. It's easier to gain an audience's interest if you start with a theme they agree with.

A play needs a sense of universality. A play should be unified, but it also needs contrast. Since theatre is a collaborative art, the director, actor, and designers may see the different facets differently than you do. It's not difficult to have a well-written produced. Possible markets are schools, organizations, and professional theatre. Finished plays have to follow a particular format.

About the Expert

Marsh Cassady has had thirty-eight plays published and/or produced-including Off-Broadway. A former theatre professor with a Ph.D. degree, he started a playwriting program at Montclair State in New Jersey that included beginning and advanced classes, workshops, and individual projects. He also taught creative writing, including playwriting, at UCSD. Marsh is the author of sixty published books in a variety of genres from theatre textbooks to novels to true crime, and hundreds of shorter pieces. For about thirty-five years he led all-genre writing workshops in San Diego and in Rosarito, BC, Mexico, where he has lived since 1997.

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Storytelling is a common form of communication that people engage in nearly every day. When elevated to an art, however, a talented storyteller has a spell-binding ability to bring a story to life. Now you too can learn the art and weave your own magic. The wonderful world of storytelling is revealed in this unique resource manual for both beginners and seasoned performers. Comprehensive in scope, it includes many ideas for finding, writing, adapting and presenting stories. The text is divided into three sections: Choosing Stories to Tell, Developing Original Ideas and Presenting the Story. Story examples and exercises embellish the text throughout and make it very readable. Each chapter concludes with discussion questions and activities. This is a quality comprehensive textbook for oral interpretation.

(288 pages, 51/2 x 81/2, paperback)

For big laughs, comedy relies on exaggeration, incongruity, automatism, character inconsistency, surprise, and derision. Finally, here's a book that defines and demonstrates each of these devices with twenty-two short sketches and one-act plays. This unique overview of high and low comedy defines all comedy genres: absurdism, tragicomedy, farce, and melodrama. A discussion precedes each type of comedy illustrated, explaining the comic devices used. The reader will find many insights along the way about how to write and perform each comedy style successfully. The wide variety of scripted comedy material in this book makes it ideal for those who are teaching, practicing their acting, or rehearsing for actual performances. All characterizations are appropriate for student actors in their teens or twenties. Another fine, unique text from Marsh Cassady, this is a wonderful resource for all theatrical libraries.

(336 pages, 51/2 x 81/2, paperback)

If you're hoping to find that one simple high school text that tells it all for your beginning theatre class, then look no further! Marsh Cassady has taught theatre at the high school and college level for many years and is currently a director, playwright, and award-winning author whose 20 books are used extensively in schools. Fifteen chapters grouped into five sections present a complete overview of the art of theatre (theatre styles, genres, and structures), directing (interpreting a script, casting, and rehearsing), design (scenery, lighting, costumes, and makeup), acting (imagination, improvisation, body, voice, character analysis), and the history of theatre. The chapters are a good length for student reading, and abundant photos, diagrams, and illustrations help explain key concepts. This classroom textbook also includes several plays and scenes to allow students to 'flesh out' characters and gain perspective of various types of dramatic works from great playwrights such as Shakespeare, Ibsen, and Wilde, as well as several contemporary writers.

You might think improvisational theatre is nothing more than acting without the opportunity to rehearse lines or blocking. But it's much more and a far more valuable learning exercise than many realize. Doing improvisation correctly means learning within an ensemble to watch, listen and think on your feet. It helps to develop confidence, build characters and understand the various aspects of acting and drama. In this valuable resource, over 300 improvisational exercises and theatre games are offered to develop creative abilities and acting skills. Many different types of improvs are presented, ranging from the serious to the hilarious. All are easily producible, requiring only simple sets and props. This text has more breadth than most improv books and includes four specific sections: Conflict Among Individuals; Conflict with Non-Human Forces; Body Positions, Opening Lines and Objects; and Improvising Plays. Tips and examples are included on how to present or initiate each imp

This text provides a comprehensive overview of the living art of the theatre, from its origin in ancient times to modern performances, and introduces students to its collaborative nature. Both classic and contemporary examples of drama are featured.

Dominick and Danica private investigators work with the FBI to solve multiple copycat murders where everything matches the original crimes perfectly. The blood, tissue samples, fingerprints and DNA. They learn that this phenomena is happening worldwide. Other anomalies reported by Interpol are framed murders, disappearances, Copycat earthquakes and volcanoes. Global warming made some places uninhabitable. Our world has changed very fast. The world economy begins to fail. Diamonds become our new currency. Is this Armageddon? The Harris family is our ground zero. Danica is framed for murder. Our vice president went missing. There's talk of Genesis what is it? Dominick and Danica travel the world to stop what is happening to us. A fast paced, non-stop thriller with international intrigue.

A frustrated writer, suffering through a midlife crisis, a failing marriage, and a boring Silicon Valley job, takes his annual vacation to Baja California alone. He meets El Viejo Pancho, a crusty old Mexican who offers harsh advice, fantastic stories and eventually his friendship. As Pancho guides the Gringo, the Gringo is surprised to find that El Viejo needs his help as well.