Project Gutenberg 2011-07-20 Public domain in the USA. 112 Matthews, Brander 1852 1929 Penn, Arthur Matthews, James Brander Matthews, J. Brander (James Brander) 16021742 A Book About the Theater The show business -- The limitations of the stage -- A moral from a toy theater -- Why five acts? -- Dramatic collaboration -- The dramatization of novels and the novelization of plays -- Women dramatists -- The evolution of scene-painting -- The book of the opera -- The poetry of the dance -- The principles of pantomime -- The ideal of the acrobat -- The decline and fall of the negro-minstrelsy -- The utility of the variety-show -- The method of modern magic -- The lamentable tragedy of Punch and Judy -- The puppet-play, past and present -- Shadow-pantomime, with all the modern improvements -- The problem of dramatic criticism. Produced by Chris Curnow, Ernest Schaal, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive) "A Book About the Theater" by Brander Matthews is a collection of essays written in the early 20th century. The work examines various aspects of theatrical arts and offers insights on the intricacies of the theater, from dramatic structure to performance techniques. Matthews, a professor of dramatic literature, brings both academic rigor and personal experience to his analysis, addressing topics that range from spectacle in theater to the nature of audience engagement. At the start of the book, Matthews sets the stage for his exploration by reflecting on the show business, tying it to historical figures like Disraeli and discussing their more theatrical approaches to politics. He emphasizes the integral relationship between drama and spectacle, asserting that all forms of entertainment, including theater, are ultimately about amusement. Through anecdotes and examples from various forms of theatrical expression, he begins to establish his thesis that understanding the art of the stage requires not only an appreciation of dramatic literature but also an awareness of its performance context and the evolving dynamics of audience engagement. (This is an automatically generated summary.) en Theater -- History Theater Drama -- History and criticism PN Text Browsing: History - General Browsing: Literature Browsing: Performing Arts/Film 499854 499861 2024-09-15T13:17:42.014684 2023-09-16T06:48:24.645345 text/html text/html 497642 2021-01-07T22:41:10 text/html; charset=iso-8859-1 2677362 2021-01-07T22:41:10 text/html; charset=iso-8859-1 application/zip 2732956 2024-09-15T13:17:53.344600 application/epub+zip 2740389 2024-09-15T13:17:45.906680 application/epub+zip 240278 2024-09-15T13:17:42.948654 application/epub+zip 4082152 2024-09-15T13:17:57.821598 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 4067091 2024-09-15T13:17:50.790667 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 399286 2022-09-16T17:35:08.861679 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 469318 469112 2024-09-15T13:17:41.364674 2023-09-16T06:48:24.021305 text/plain; charset=us-ascii text/plain 468910 2021-01-07T22:41:10 text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 173877 2021-01-07T22:41:10 text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 application/zip 468909 2021-01-07T22:41:10 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 173682 2021-01-07T22:41:10 text/plain; charset=us-ascii application/zip 21655 2024-09-15T13:17:57.967580 application/rdf+xml 14112 2024-09-15T13:17:43.303648 image/jpeg 3928 2024-09-15T13:17:43.124661 image/jpeg 2725907 2024-09-15T13:17:42.129652 application/octet-stream application/zip Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog en.wikipedia