Masks and Stages in Theater (Blog #1)

Theater is when one or more people, adopt masks to change their identities, for an audience. In theater, a mask can be any trait (literal mask, change of voice, etc) manipulated to give a a person a new identity. On the other hand, mimicry is when one imitates another to change their identity. Mimicry can be used in theater so that one person may impersonate another, but mimicry is also used widely besides in theater. Animals (even humans) use mimicry for many things such as: hiding from predators, or to disguise themselves from prey. 

It is assumed that theater may have began when story tellers wanted the audience to be more involved and entertained by stories and folktales. But the main reason that theater was invented was to distinguish the difference between life and mimicry, and to make an entertainment out of it. The origin of theater may also be related to controlling society by having actors play as leaders, supernatural beings, or gods.

In "The Dark Knight", actors Christian Bale and Keith Ledger both use masks to impersonate their character, changes in appearance (actual mask), personality, and voices.

Proscenium Configuration.

The most common type of configuration of theater is the proscenium. In this type of configuration, the audience views the play almost like a movie, or picture frame. This is the best configuration when it comes to scenic detail, bigger audiences, one unified view, and better hearing of sounds like music and voices. Some bad things about the proscenium are that it costs the most and it can be boring if the actors cannot keep the audience's interest.


Another type of theater setting is the thrust, which the stage extends into the audience. This allows for the audience to be able to view the stage in different perspectives, depending on the seat arrangement. The thrust is the most cost efficient. It gives the audience a sense of difference between life and acting, but in return does not have great scenic detail, and hearing ability like the proscenium. It is also much smaller than the proscenium and can be difficult to see the play as a whole.

The thrust, the stage being exposed to 3 sides of the audience.

The arena (in the round) is the biggest of all configurations, in this case the audience surrounds the stage/actors. This type of configuration is good for boxing matches, dances, and circuses. The advantages of the arena is that it can change lighting effects with ease and it can be used for different types of performances. The disadvantages mirrors the ones of the thrust.

All the different types of theater configurations

http://www.scribd.com/doc/24113011/Types-of-Theater-Spaces

http://www.cwu.edu/~robinsos/ppages/resources/Theatre_History/Theahis_1.html

http://www.ia470.com/primer/theatres.htm