Ю.Р. Овечкина, Н. С.

Роготнева

THEATRE

МЕТОДИЧЕСКОЕ ПОСОБИЕ ПО ПРАКТИКЕ

ОСНОВНОГО ИНОСТРАННОГО ЯЗЫКА (АНГЛИЙСКИЙ)

ДЛЯ СТУДЕНТОВ 3 КУРСОВ

ЕКАТЕРИНБУРГ 2010

ГОУ ВПО

«Уральский государственный педагогический университет»

Институт иностранных языков

Кафедра английского языка

Ю.Р. Овечкина, Н.С. Роготнева

THEATRE

МЕТОДИЧЕСКОЕ ПОСОБИЕ ПО ПРАКТИКЕ

ОСНОВНОГО ИНОСТРАННОГО ЯЗЫКА (АНГЛИЙСКИЙ)

ДЛЯ СТУДЕНТОВ 3 КУРСОВ

Екатеринбург 2010

УДК 811.111.1(075)

ББК Ш 143.21-923.8

О-31

Рецензенты: О. И. Василенко, к.ф.н., доцент кафедры английского языка; Н. Г.

Шехтман, к.ф.н., доцент кафедры английского языка.

Авторы-составители: Ю. Р. Овечкина, ассистент кафедры английского

языка УрГПУ; Н. С. Роготнева, ассистент кафедры английского языка УрГПУ.

Овечкина Ю. Р., Роготнева Н. С.

Theatre=театр [Текст]: методическое пособие по устной речи для студентов
высших учебных заведений, обучающихся по специальности «050303 –
Иностранный язык»/ Ю. Р. Овечкина, Н. С. Роготнева; Урал.гос.пед.ун-т. –
Екатеринбург, 2010. – 104 с.

Учебное пособие адресовано студентам факультетов иностранных языков,

изучающим английский язык как специальность. Пособие включает
дополнительный лексический материал, текстовый материал и комплексную
систему упражнений для отработки навыков и умений устной и письменной речи
по теме «Theatre».

УДК 811.111.1(075)

ББК Ш143.21-923.8

О-31

Учебное издание

Овечкина Юлия Рафаиловна, Роготнева Надежда Сергеевна

Theatre

Театр

Учебное пособие

Подписано в печать _______ . Формат 60 x 84/16 ________

Бумага для множительных аппаратов. Печать на ризографе.

Усл. П. л. 6.3. Тираж _____ экз. Заказ _____

Оригинал-макет отпечатан в отделе множительной техники

Уральского государственного педагогического университета

620017 Екатеринбург, просп. Космонавтов, 26.

E-mail: uspu@uspu.ru

© Уральский государственный

педагогический университет, 2010

© Овечкина Ю.Р., Роготнева Н.С., 2010

Пояснительная записка

Настоящее пособие по дисциплине «Практический курс иностранного

языка» для студентов третьего курса содержит дополнительный материал по теме
«Theatre» и имеет целью помочь студентам выработать навыки и умения устной
речи в рамках данной темы. Пособие предназначено, главным образом, для
аудиторной работы (36 часов), а также может быть использовано в процессе
самостоятельной работы студентов с последующим контролем на аудиторных
занятиях.

Пособие включает дополнительный лексический материал, текстовый

материал и комплексную систему упражнений для отработки навыков и умений
устной и письменной речи, а именно:

 комплекс подготовительных и коммуникативных упражнений, направленных

на активизацию языкового материала;
 тренировочные переводы, нацеленные на тренировку и закрепление
лексики по теме «Театр»;
 тексты для чтения и аудирования и задания к ним, которые представляют
обязательный и дополнительный материал по теме «Театр» и
способствуют развитию различных стратегий чтения и аудирования;
 задания для развития умений письменной речи, ориентированные на
развитие коммуникативной компетенции в иноязычной письменной речи;
 тексты для реферирования и интерпретации, которые носят проблемный
характер и способствуют развитию критического мышления,
исследовательской и дискурсивной компетенции;
 задания для самостоятельной подготовки, связанные с ситуациями учебно-
информационной, учебно-проектной, учебно-исследовательской и
творческой деятельности обучающихся, носят как индивидуальный, так и
групповой характер, способствуют поддержанию и совершенствованию
практического уровня владения ИЯ.

Все задания тематически выдержаны, что способствует более глубокому и

всестороннему усвоению темы. Тексты сопровождаются комментарием, который
позволяет обеспечить их наиболее полное понимание и восполнить недостаток
фоновых знаний у студентов.

Рекомендации по работе со структурой учебно-методического пособия по

теме «Театр».

 Работа с функциональным словарем (Essential Vocabulary). Тренировочные

упражнения и переводы.
 Чтение текстов ознакомительного характера по теме (Part 1 Acting
Technique).
 Активация функционального словаря в пересказах и письменных заданиях.
 Работа с дополнительным словарем в текстах для чтения и аудирования
(Part 2 History of British Theatre, Part 3 Theatre Today).
 Совершенствование коммуникативной компетенции в заданиях для
самостоятельной работы (Tasks for Independent Work, Surf the Net).

Пособие подготовлено в соответствие с рабочей учебной программой по

дисциплине «Практический курс иностранного языка» (английский язык).

Учебно-методическое пособие разработано таким образом, что может быть

использовано на занятиях по практике устной речи выборочно, либо в полном
объеме, порядок работы с материалом, представленным в пособии может
варьироваться в зависимости от целей урока и интересов обучающихся.

Учебно-методическое пособие охватывает работу над всеми видами

речевой деятельности: монологическую и диалогическую речь, чтение,
аудирование, письмо, что позволяет развить все составляющие коммуникативной
компетенции студентов. Пособие включает как наиболее употребительную
лексику, так и частные слова и выражения по теме «Театр», что способствует
значительному расширению словаря индивидуального пользования у студентов.

CONTENTS

ESSENTIAL VOCABULARY……………………………………. 7

Vocabulary notes and drills……………………………... 7

Extension exercises……………………………………….. 40

Translation exercises…………………………………….. 42
PART 1 ACTOR’S TECHNIQUE……………………………….. 46
Text A Character Parts………………………………….. 46

Text B The Art of Acting………………………………… 47

Surf the Net……………………………………………….. 48

PART 2 HISTORY OF BRITISH THEATRE………...………… 49

Text A British Theatre History in Brief………………… 49

Text B The Earliest English Comedies…………………. 50

Text C The Early London Thetares…………………….. 53

Text D Elizabethan Playhouses, Actors and Audiences.. 55

Text E Restoration Drama……………………………… 63

Rendering: Театральная техника в эпоху Шекспира. 68

Translation: Театр в Англии…………………………… 72

Surf the Net……………………………………………….. 74

Part 3 THEATRE TODAY………………………...…………… 75

Text A British Theatre Today………………………….. 75

Listening: Private Lives…………………………………. 77

Rendering: Театральный десант……………………… 80

Writing: Reviews………………………………………… 82

Writing: Theatre Recommendations…………………… 83

Surf the Net………………………………………………. 85

TASKS FOR INDEPENDENT WORK………………………….. 86
COMMENTARY………………………………………………….. 90
REFERENCES…………………………………………………….. 99
APPENDIX………………………………………………………… 101
1. How to render an article……..………………………………… 101

ESSENTIAL VOCABULARY

VOCABULARY NOTES AND DRILLS

THEATRE, DRAMA, COMPANY, TROUP

 Theatre, drama

It should be stressed right from the beginning that the English word theatre is
more restricted in application than the Russian театр. In general it refers only to
drama, and does not include opera and ballet. The following short conversation
illustrates the confusion which may arise from using theatre in a Russian sense:

T a n y a: I’m going to the theatre tonight.

A n n e: Oh, yes? What are you going to see?

T a n y a: “Giselle”

A n n e: Oh. … I didn’t know it was a play as well as a ballet.

T a n y a: It isn’t. At least I don’t think so. It’s the ballet I’m going to see.

A n n e: I’m sorry. I didn’t understand. You said you were going to the theatre, so I
thought it must be a play.

In this situation Tanya should have said:

I’m going to the ballet tonight.

Since theatre refers only to drama, we do not say drama

theatre. Драматический театр is translated simply as theatre. Theatre may be used
in contrast to other types of entertainment.

e.g. – Do you like opera and ballet?

– Not very much. I prefer the theatre.

Theatre has following uses:

1. dramatic art, drama, play;

1. I’m very interested in the theatre.

2. He’s written several books on the Elizabethan theatre.
3. She has devoted her life to the theatre.
4. It’s interesting but it’s not good theatre.

(Meaning it’s not dramatically effective on the stage. N O T E: no article.)

2) a building where plays are performed;

1. There are many theatres in Moscow.

2. A new theatre is being built in the city center.
3. I’ll see you outside the theatre at a quarter past seven.

In this second sense, theatre is sometimes used also with reference to other

forms of entertainment, for example, opera and ballet, although only when it is already
clear from the context what form of entertainment is meant. For example, sentence (c)
above could refer to opera or ballet, since the speaker and the person addressed
already know what type of entertainment they are going to, and there is therefore no risk
of misunderstanding.

In some cases the two senses merge. For example, in I’m going to the theatre
tonight, theatre means first of all drama, a play (Cf.: I’m going to the
opera/ballet/cinema), but the idea of the building where the play is to be performed is
also present.

Note that go is more widely used than visit in this type of sentence. Visit is

mainly confined to formal style, particularly in writing. Even in formal style, however, the
verb visit is comparatively rare, although as a noun it occurs fairly often.

e.g. A Visit to the Theatre (title of a composition, or chapter in a textbook)

In some cases the use of the verb visit with theatre may suggest an interest in

the building rather than what is performed there.

A theatre party means a group of people going to the theatre together.

e.g. David’s organizing/arranging a theatre party.

Drama is almost but not quite synonymous with theatre. For example, in

sentences 1 (a) and (b) above, drama could be used instead of the theatre.

1. I’m very interested in drama.

2. He’s written several books on Elizabethan drama.

In sentences (c) and (d), however, drama is unlikely to occur. Even in sentences

where either is possible, there may be a slight difference of emphasis. Drama tends to
imply a more theoretical, academic, or professional approach, whereas theatre is
generally more closely connected with the actual performance on the stage.

Drama is used in the following expressions:

Drama school

Theatre school occurs to, but much less often. The words drama, dramatic also
appear in the names of the most well-know drama schools in Britain:

The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art

often called RADA

The Central School of Speech and Drama

Drama student - student of drama

Drama class/course/club
 Drama critic

However, theatre critic is equally common.

Drama is also used as a countable noun meaning a serious play.

e.g. The Contractor, drama in two acts by David Storey. (David Storey is a well-known
modern English writer, author of the novel “This Sporting Life” and several successful
plays.)

Theatre, company, troupe

Sometimes theatre denotes both the building and the actors, directors, etc. who
work there, by extension.

a. There are a lot of good theatres in Moscow.

b. The Gorky Theatre is considered by many people to be the best in Leningrad.

In cases where a theatre building is the home of a permanent company, such

usage is natural. In Britain, however, this is not always so and English people therefore
tend to distinguish between the theatre (meaning the building) and
the company (meaning the actors, directors, etc.). For example, on the cover of a
Royal Shakespeare Theatre programme for Hamlet we see:

ROYAL SHAKESPEARE THEATRE

ROYAL

SHAKESPEARE

COMPANY

In Hamlet

And inside we read:

“The Royal Shakespeare Company are divided between the country and the
capital, playing concurrently at two theatres for most of the year. They appear at their
Stratford-on-Avon home, the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, from April to November; and
at their London home, the Aldwych Theatre, from June to March.

The corporation of the City of London is building the RSC a new London theatre
in the Barbican Arts Center. This should be ready by 1972 and the company will move
there from the Aldwych.”

Note: Since this was written, work on the arts centre has been considerably
delayed, presumably by rising costs, and it has not yet been built.

“Of the RSC’s two theatres, the parent is the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, which
was called the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre from 1879, when it was founded, to
1961. … it was gutted by fire in 1926, to be replaced six year later by the present
building.”

Troupe [tru:p] has the same meaning as company but is seldom used in

connection with the modern theatre.

In order to understand properly the distinction

between theatre and company, and the meaning of several words connected with the
theatre, it is necessary to know something about the way in which the theatre is
organized in Britain, especially the system of subsidized and commercial theatres.

EXERCISES

1. Give your associations with the word “Theatre”.

Theatre

Theatre

2. Give your associations with the word “Theatre”.

Troupe, House full, Encore, Artist, T…, R…, E…

3. Choose the definition for the following words: drama and theatre.

1) Actual performance on stage

2) Doesn’t include opera and ballet

4) Dramatic art

3) Drama

5) A theoretical, academic, professional approach

4. Fill in the gaps with the appropriate words (drama or theatre).

1. - Do you like opera and ballet?

- Not very much. I prefer the ______.

2. I’m very interested in Elizabethan ______.

3. Our daughter attends the school’s ______ club. She is going to devote her life to
______.
4. There are many ______ in Moscow.
5. Our professor has written a good book on Elizabethan ______.
6. The job of a _____ critic is difficult but amazing. A ______ critic sees the most
interesting performances that are on at the ______.
7. I’ll see you outside the ______ at a quarter past seven.
8. It’s interesting but it is not good ______.
9. David is arranging a ______ party.
 10. Ann devoted her life to ______.
11. He always wanted to be a ______ student but his parents didn’t approve of his
dream to work at the ______.
12. A lot of ______ are staged nowadays in various Moscow ______.
13. A ______ party is a group of people going to see ______, comedies, etc.
together.

5. Find the correct words for:

1) a building for the performance of plays;

2) a dramatic composition with music in which the words are sung;

3) a man who acts on the stage or for cinema films;

4) a well-known modern composer, the author of rock operas;

5) a group of people trained to sing together;

6) the main character of one of Shakespeare’s plays;

8) a person who performs music for the love of it, not for money.

6. Read the following utterances. In what meaning is the word “theatre” used
there? Do you personally agree or disagree with the statements?

A boy of 14: You ask me if I love theatre. Oh no, I am not interested in it at all.
Theatre is our past and now is a time of television and video. I think that teenagers don’t
like to visit theatres.

A girl of 15: What do I think of theatre? I can’t say that I am a theatre-goer; but
sometimes when I have free time and no idea how to spend it, I go to the theatre with
my friends, but only to our musical theatre, as I am sure that theatre exists for our
amusement and entertainment. When I am at the theatre I don’t want to think much, I
only want to rest, to laugh and enjoy myself.

A girl of 14: I love theatre very much, and my friends consider me to be a

theatre-fan. I am fond of seeing comedies, dramas and even tragedies; but I also watch
ballets and listen to operas occasionally. They are difficult for me. I understand that this
is bad, but in our town there is no opera-house and children are not taught to
understand this art. It’s a pity.

A boy of 15: My thoughts about theatre? Well, I think that this kind of art is dying
now, because nobody is interested in the fact that young people don’t like it. Though in
our town there are some theatres, it is difficult for teenagers or youth to see a play.
Such plays are not staged in our theatres. This is bad. That’s why theatres are visited
mostly by grown-ups and old people. I think that something should be done to change
the situation. Each town should have a children’s theatre.

SUBSIDIZED AND COMMERCIAL THEATRES (IN BRITAIN)

 Theatres in Britain are of two types: subsidized and commercial.

Subsidized theatre

Subsidized theatres are publicly owned, and supported from public funds by

a subsidy from the Arts Council and/or the local authority. They have a permanent
company of directors, actors, designers, etc., and each season stage several
productions, which are presented in repertory. The most well-known are:

company theatre

1. The Royal Shakespeare Company The Royal Shakespeare Or: The RSC (colloq.)
Theatre

2. The National Theatre (Company) The National Theatre

Or: The National (colloq.)

3. The English Stage Company The Royal Court Theatre, London

The National Theatre (in the sense of the building) is a whole complex

consisting of three theatres of varying size and design, situated on the south bank of the
Thames beside Waterloo Bridge. The theatres are:

 The Olivier Theatre, the largest (1160 seats), named after Laurence Olivier, a
famous actor and first director of the National Theatre, 1962 – 1973.
 The Lyttleton Theatre, a medium-sized theatre (890seats), named after Oliver
Lyttleton, first president of the National Theatre Council.
 The Cottesloe Theatre, a very small theatre with movable seats or experimental
productions, named after the president of the South Bank Council, which was in
charge of the whole project.

The National Theatre was opened in March 1976, although at first performances
took place only in the Lyttleton Theatre. Now all three are in use. From 1963, when the
National Theatre company was founded, until the new buildings were opened, the
company performed at the Old Vic, a

Victorian theatre formerly called the Royal Victoria Theatre, near Waterloo Bridge. The
old Vic had its own company, the Old Vic Company, until 1963, when it merged with a
company from the Chichester Theatre Festival under Laurence Olivier, to become the
National Theatre company.

Most provincial towns of a certain size have a subsidized theatre. Among the
better-known are:

The Birmingham Repertory Theatre T he Nottingham Playhouse

The Liverpool Repertory Theatre The Bristol Old Vic

The Oxford Playhouse The Belgrade Theatre,

 Coventry

Civic theatre is often used of those theatres which are built and supported by a
city.

Regional theatre denotes a theatre (or theatres collectively) outside London. It is

generally preferred to provincial, which often has a pejorative connotation, suggesting
second-rate.

Commercial theatre

Commercial theatres are those which receive no subsidy and are therefore run
on a commercial basis. This means that they have to cover all their costs from the sale
of tickets, besides which they hope to make a profit. A commercial theatre is simply a
building, with no resident company. It is privately owned, and run by a manager, who
arranges with a director to stage a particular production. The director then
arranges auditions (пробы, прослушивания), which any actors who are free may
attend, casts the play, rehearses it, and then the production opens. Since only one
production is put on at a time, it does not alternate with others, as in the subsidized
theatre, but is presented every evening, sometimes twice, as long as enough tickets are
sold to make commercially profitable. When the income from the sale of tickets falls
below a certain level, the play is taken off, and the theatre manager arranges for
another production to be staged, usually by a different director, who chooses mainly
different actors.

Most of the London theatres (over 30) are of this type. Since they are nearly all
situated in the West End (i.e. the western part of the centre), this name is sometimes
used to denote the London commercial theatres collectively.

e.g. “Oliver” had a long and successful run in the West End.

Run is used both as a verb and as a noun with reference to the system practiced
in the commercial theatre, whereby, one production is presented every evening as a
long as it is financially worthwhile.

Here are some more examples:

1. There are several musicals running in London at the moment.

2. The play ran for two years.
3. “The Mousetrap”, by Agatha Christie, has been running for over 20 years. This is
claimed to be the world’s longest-ever run.

In the case of long runs, the cast may be changed.

Note that although commercial theatres are privately owned, we do not call
them private theatres. A private theatre is one which is not open to the public, for
example, in someone’s house, or in a palace.

EXERCISES
1. Discuss the difference between subsidized and commercial theatres with your
friend.

2. Is there such a phenomenon in Russia? How does the system function in this
country?

3. Render the text on subsidized and commercial theatres in Britain. Learn it by

heart.

REPERTORY, REPERTOIRE, CAST

Repertory, repertoire

These are two variants of the same word, the second borrowed from French
without change of form. Their meanings are basically the same, that is, in connection
with the theatre, the stock of productions which a company is able to present at a given
time (репертуар).

In many cases they may be used interchangeably.

1. The company has a large and varied repertoire/ repertory.

2. Their repertoire/repertory includes both classics and modern plays.
3. The company has added several new productions to its repertoire/repertory.
4. I’ve seen everything in their repertoire/repertory.

Although repertoire seems to be more common than repertory in such

sentences, the choice of one or the other is a matter of individual style.

In repertoire/repertory means “in rotation, in turn, alternating with other

productions”. For example, subsidized theatre stages each season several productions,
which are presented in repertory. This system is contrasted with the systems
of runs characteristic of the commercial theatre.

Here repertory seems to be more common than repertoire.

In repertory (but not repertoire) may also mean “mean in a repertory company”

(see below).

A repertory company/theatre is a company/theatre run according to the

repertory system, at least in theory. A large number of such theatres were established in
London and the provinces at the beginning of the century and by the 1930’s there were
over a hundred. By the beginning of the 1969’s, however, the number of repertory
theatres outside London had been reduced to around forty. THE DICTIONARY OF THE
THEATRE says of them:

“The essential of a repertory company, strictly speaking, is that it should have

several productions - a repertory of productions in fact - ready at the same time, so that
the play presented can change from night to night. This ideal has rarely been realized in
practice, except in a number of London companies… The term is more usually used to
denote companies which play each production for only a limited period - generally two
or three weeks-and have a certain continuity of acting personnel from one production to
the other. This is the case with most of the provincial repertory companies …”

Not all the repertory theatres contain the word repertory in their

name. Birmingham Repertory Theatre does, for example, but others do not.

e.g. The Belgrade Theatre, Coventry

The Glasgow Citizens’ Theatre

As a general term, repertory company/theatre is less common now than when

these companies were numerous and successful, before the Second World War. New
theatres in the provinces are usually called civic theatres or regional theatres.

Repertory with reference to a repertory company/theatre is often abbreviated to

rep.

e.g. a. I saw at Birmingham Rep.

b. (Speaking of an actor) He began his career in rep.

Cast

This word should be carefully distinguished from company. It means the group of

actors appearing in a particular performance (состав, действующие лица).

e.g. a. There are some very famous actors in the cast tonight.

b. I saw that production, but with a different cast.

c. –“The Mousetrap” has been running for over 20 years.

– What? With the same cast?

– Oh no. They’ve changed the cast several times.

Cast list is used to mean the list of actors taking part. In Britain this may be
printed in the programme, or on a separate sheet, which is free, for example, in some
subsidized theatres.

Cast may also be used as a verb, meaning to choose actors for the parts,
and casting to mean the choice.

e.g. a. They’re casting (for) “Macbeth” next week.

b. Paul Scofield was cast for the part of Macbeth.

c. The play is well cast.

d. Judi Dench is well cast in the part of Catherine (in “The Taming of the
Shrew”). (Judi Dench is a well-known English actress who has appeared in many
productions of Shakespeare, mainly with the Royal Shakespeare Company.)
 e. Casting is a very important in any production.

MEMBERS OF A COMPANY AND THEIR WORK

Director, Producer, Manager and Related Words

The usage of director, producer and manager in Britain has gradually changed

over the last twenty to thirty years, mainly under American influence, and is not yet
fixed, so that it is difficult to form a clear picture. The following units present the main
tendencies as clearly and simply as possible. However, readers should bear in mind
that in practice there are many inconsistencies and variations.

Director

This is the usual title in modern English for the person who heads a company.
Besides staging plays, i.e. casting, rehearsing the actors in their roles, ordering
movement on the stage (придумывает мизансцены), etc. He is responsible for the
artistic policy and administration of the company. Large companies generally have two
or three directors. For example, the Royal Shakespeare Company has three, of which
one, called the managing director, is the most important. The National Theatre also
has three, the most important called simply the director, and the others associate
directors. Some companies have two directors differing according to their function
rather than according to their relative importance: an artistic director and
an administrative director.

What has been said above naturally refers to the subsidized theatre. In the
commercial theatre there is no company, and the director is therefore simply the person
engaged to stage a particular production.

This use of director comes from America, and is comparatively recent in British

English. It has replaced the traditional British producer.

Producer

This word was used until fairly recently in Britain to denote the person who
stages, or produces a play, as described in previous unit, and some English people
continue to use it in this sense. On the whole, however, this idea is now expressed
by director, and producer, if used at all, tends to have its American meaning: the person
responsible for the financial side of a production or company.

Manager

This word is defined in THE DICTIONARY OF THE THEATRE as follows:

“ The person responsible for the whole financial side of a theatrical production: he
chooses the play, arranges for the hire of a theatre if he does not own one, and
engages directors, actors, etc., as well as controlling the takings.”

This is clearly the same meaning as the American meaning of producer given
above. In spite of American influence, manager continues to be widely used in Britain.
 The definition from THE DICTIONARY OF THE THEATRE evidently applies to
the commercial theatre, where there are no permanent companies. In the subsidized
theatre a manager of this type is not necessary. Here, however, there are managers
with purely administrative responsibilities. For example, the Royal Shakespeare
Company has a general manager, and there is a manager for each of their theatres:
a Stratford manager and a London manger.

Manager is also used of various people with specific administrative functions,

such as:

Box-office manager: the manager in charge of the sale of tickets.

House manager: the person in charge of the house or auditorium.

Stage manager: the person who supervises the arrangement of scenery and

props on the stage.

Management is often used as a collective term for those running the

theatre (дирекция).

e.g. The management announced that the theatre would be closed for repairs
and redecorations until October 1st.

In view of the complications arising from changes and variations in the usage
of director, producer and manager, the following table may make the position clearer:

function Br. E. Br. E. Am. En.

(traditional) (modern)
artistic producer director director
(staging)
administrative manager manager producer
financial manager manager producer

producer

Before leaving the subject of directors, producers and managers, let us consider
the usage of the verbs direct, and produce, from which they are derived, and the
nouns production, performance, and show.

Direct, produce

These two verbs are practically synonymous, and mean to be in general charge
of a theatrical production, casting, rehearsing actors in their parts, and ordering
movement on the stage.

Produce is traditional term in Britain, but, like producer, it is gradually being

replaced by direct, under American influence.

e.g. a. The play is directed by Peter Hall.

 b. Peter Hall is directing two new Shakespeare productions at Stratford this
season.

However, if the word director is in the sentence, direct is avoided for stylistic

reasons, and produce is used instead.

e.g. The two plays were produced by different directors.

In addition, produce is wider in its application than direct, since it may refer to the

organization and/or financing of a production (possibly increasingly, under the influence
of the American use of producer). Thus we can say that a certain theatre, company,
management, produce a play, but not that they direct in.

Alternatives to direct, produce

Stage is sometimes a useful alternative to direct, produce, generally with

reference to the artistic side.

e.g. John Dexter has staged several plays by Arnold Wesker at the Royal Court
(Theatre).

It is, however, sometimes used loosely to include the administrative and financial
side.

e.g. The Royal Court (Theatre) has staged several plays by Arnold Wesker.

Put on is used mainly with reference to the administrative and financial side.

e.g. a. The Royal Court has put on several plays by Arnold

b. It costs a lot of money to put on a musical.

c. Theatre managements are often reluctant to put on plays by unknown

playwrights.

Present may be used with reference to the company, although it more often

refers to the management.

e.g. a. In the commercial theatre the same play is presented every night as long
as it is successful.

b. The Royal Court (Theatre) are presenting a series of plays by D. H. Lawrence

this season.

Do may generally replace any of the above verbs in the colloquial style.

e.g. a. The National (Theatre) are doing “ The Rivals” (by Sheridan) next season.

b. The Royal Court did a series of play by D. H. Lawrence.

Production, performance
 These words should be carefully distinguished.

The production is that version of the play which the director creates for
presentation on the stage, whereas the performance is a single enactment. There may
be many performances of one production, with or without change of cast.

Here are some examples of usage:

Production

1. John Gielgad’s production of “King Lear” provoked a lot of controversy.

2. I enjoyed The Gorky Theatre’s production of “The Price” (by Arthur Miller) much more
than the London one.
3. – The Prospect Theatre Company are coming her on tour next month.

– Oh yes? What productions are they bringing?

Performance

1. The performance begins at seven thirty.

2. After the performance some people went backstage.
3. I’ve seen that production several times, and I think tonight’s performance was the best.
4. I’ve never seen a better performance of “Othello”.
5. Judi Dench gives a brilliant performance as Beatrice (in “Much Al about Nothing”) but
the production as a whole is very second-rate.

Production generally corresponds to постановка,

and performance to спектакль or исполнение. In Russian, however, there is a
tendency to use спектакль as a synonym of постановка.

e.g. a. Это их самый лучший спектакль.

b. Какие спектакли они привезли?

Russian speakers should beware of using performance in such sentences.

One production is possible here.

Performance is used in the following expressions:

First performance

This corresponds in some case to премьера. However, it refers literally to the

first performance, and should not be used for the second, third, etc. Here new
production should be used.

e.g. a. It’s a new production.

b. We’re going to see a new production at the Lensoviet Theatre tonight.

 Note that in the case of those commercial theatres which have two performances
of the same production each evening, first performance may mean the first of the
evening, the early performance.

First night is sometimes used instead of first performance in its main sense.

Premiere is an Americanism which is increasingly used in Britain as an

alternative to first performance, especially in combination with other words.

e.g. British premiere

world premiere

Evening performance

This is clear enough, but note that matinee is used for earlier performances,
which in England are generally in the afternoon, at two or two thirty.

Morning/afternoon performance may be used with reference to Russian

theatres, however, for the sake of clarity.

Show

Show is sometimes used in the sense of “performance”.

e.g. After the show they went backstage to congratulate the actors

It also means any theatrical entertainment.

e.g. a. They spent the day sightseeing and in the evening went to a show.

b. We sometimes go to a show in the West End.

In such sentences, however, show generally suggests some form of light

entertainment, such as a musical or a variety show, rather than a serious play.

A variety show is one consisting of a series of numbers such as songs and

other musical item, dances, jokes (анекдоты), conjuring tricks (фокусы), acrobatic
turns, and so on. In the case of non-musical items, act may be used instead of number
(also at the circus). The show has a compere (конферансье). Compere may also be
used as a verb.

e.g. The show was compered by…

Show business is fairly often used by journalists and some other people to
mean the theatrical profession, or the entertainment industry.

e.g. He’s in snow business.

EXERCISES

1. Choose an appropriate meaning(s) for the following words.

 Word Head Respon- Produ- Respon- Has an Trans-
of sible for ces a sible for administra- late
Mea- the artistic play the tive into
ning com- policy financial responsi- Rus-
pany side bility sian
Direc-
tor
Produ-
cer
Mana-
ger

2. Discuss in mini-groups what member of a company you would like to be. Give
your reasons.

3. Imagine that you are a senior drama student dreaming of an actor’s career.
Make your conversation with a friend of the family who is a stage manger of a
theatre.

ACTORS AND ACTING

The words actor, actress present no difficulty.

Acting, play

Acting is used in the sense of игра (актеров) in such sentences as:

1. What did you think of the acting?

2. The acting was good/brilliant/amateurish/terrible.

Play naturally cannot be used in this sense. The noun play corresponds

to пьеса, as illustrated by the following sentence:

3. I didn’t like the play but I was very interested in the acting.

The verb to play, however, is used in the sense of играть.

e.g. Who played Hamlet?

To appear (in) or simply to be (in) are often used in the sense of “act”,

“play”. Appear occurs in formal style.

e.g. a. Laurence Olivier is now appearing in the “ Long Day’s Journey into Night”
by Eugene O’Neill.

b. He has appeared in many successful productions.

To be is widely used in non-formal situations.

e.g. a. - I saw “Twelfth Night” yesterday.

 - Oh yes? Who was in it?

b. (Speaking of an actor) He was in “The Price” (by Arthur Miller), wasn’t he?

c. He’s been in a lot of interesting productions.

Part, role, lines

Part is the usual word in conversation, and is much more common than role.

e.g. a. The part of Lady Bracknell was played by Edith Evans.

Note that the part of may be omitted in sentences with play: Lady Bracknell was
played by Edith Evans. Edith Evans played Lady Bracknell.

b. Bernard Miles took the part of the furniture dealer.

Note that the part of cannot be omitted with take.

c. Ophelia is her favourite part.

d. My son has been given/has got a part in the school play.

e. I saw Paul Scofield in the part of Macbeth.

I saw Paul Scofield play Macbeth.

I saw Paul Scofield as Macbeth.

It is used in the following expressions:

The main part

e.g. Eric Porter plays the main part.

The main part is played by Erick Porter.

The leading part

This is synonym of main part.

e.g. Eric Porter plays the leading part

A supporting part

This is less important part, not the leading one. However, the connotation is often
positive, implying that the part makes its contribution to the production as a whole.

A walking-on part

This is a part where the actor simply appears on the stage, but does not speak.
 A speaking part

This is a part which involves speaking, not simply appearing, in contrast to a

walking-on part.

A male/female part

e.g. There are several/no good male/female parts in the play.

To learn one’s part

e.g. The cast only had a week to learn their parts.

To look the part

This means to resemble physically the character one is playing.

e.g. His acting wasn’t very good, but he certainly looked the part.

Role is used in the same sense as a part, but less often, and mainly in formal
style.

e.g. a. Edith Evans plays the role of Lady Bracknell.

The role of Lady Bracknell is played by Edith Evans.

b. Ophelia is her favourite role.

c. Eric porter plays the main/leading role.

It may be used instead of part in the expressions the main/leading role, a

supporting role, a male/female role.

Lines denotes the words which the actors have to speak when they are on the
stage.

e.g. a. He spoke his lines too fast.

b. He forgot his lines in the middle of the second act and had to be prompted.

Lead, leading

In addition to leading part/role, mentioned, these words are used in the following
expressions:

To play the lead meaning to play the leading part.

e.g. Eric Porter plays the lead.

The male/female

e.g. Who plays the male lead?

 The leading lady

This is used more often than female lead.

e.g. The leading lady was ill, so the performance had to be postponed.

The leading man is not generally used.

Hero, heroine

Hero/heroine are used in such sentences as:

Albert Finney played the hero in “Chips with everything” (by Arnold
Wesker). (Albert Finney is a well-known English actor who appears mainly in modern
plays.)

Remember, however, that main is not used with hero/heroine.

Star

An actor or actress who plays leading parts and becomes exceptionally popular may be
called a star.

e.g. a. She’s a star.

b. She’s the star of/in “Funny Girl”.

Star is also used as a verb, with as and/or in.

e.g. He starred as Jimmy Porter in “Look Back in Anger”.

All-star cast occurs in such sentences as:

It’s an all-star cast tonight.

Note, however, that on the whole star is less widely used in the theatre than in
the cinema.

HONOURING ACTORS AND OTHER ARTISTS

There is no special system of honours for actors and other artists in Britain, like
that of народный/заслуженный артист in Russia. Actors, musicians, etc. may simply
be awarded one of the same honours as those who distinguish themselves in other
professions. The main ones are, in ascending order of merit:

M.B.E. Member of the Order of the British Empire.

O.B.E. Officer of the Order of the British Empire.

C.B.E. Commander of the Order of the British Empire.

These honours entitle one to put the appropriate letters after one’s name.
 e.g. Mr. John Smith, M.B.E./O.B.E./C.B.E.

K.B.E. Knight Commander (of the Order) of the British Empire (for men).

D.B.E. Dame Commander (of the Order) of the British Empire (for women).

G.B.E. Knight/Dame Grand Cross (of the order) of the Brutish Empire.

Those who have been awarded the K.B.E., D.B.E. or G.B.E. are
called Sir or Dame.

e.g. Sir John Smith Dame Mary Smith

When addressing such people, the surname is omitted,

e.g. Sir John Dame Mary

Knight as a verb and knighthood are often used with reference to the K.B.E.

and G.B.E.

e.g. a. John Smith was knighted last year.

b. Knighthoods are awarded to outstanding actors.

The name of all the above honours are traditional, the reference to the British
Empire having lost its significance.

Life peerage

This is the highest honour, which confers the title of Lord or Lady (e.g. Lord/lady

Smith) and gives one the right to sit in the House of Lords. Life here means that the title
exists only for the lifetime of the person to whom it is given, and cannot be inherited by
the elder son, as in the case of hereditary peerages.

The honour usually conferred on outstanding actors, musicians, etc. is the K.B.E.
(or knighthood) for men, and the D.B.E. for women. Some famous people so honoured
are:

Sir Michael Red grave Dame Peggy Ashcroft

Sir Benjamin Britten

A life peerage is not usually conferred on actors and other artists, but an
exception was made in the case of Laurence Olivier, who was first knighted, and
called Sir Laurence Olivier, and then made a life peer, so that he is now called Lord
Olivier.

For directors the usual honour is the C.B.E.

e.g. Peter Hall, C.B.E. (Director of The National Theatre).

 Народный/заслуженный артист have no English equivalents and are
generally translated literally, as Peoples Artist/Honoured Artist.

Readers should always remember that these are merely literal translations and
will not be properly understood without explanation by English people who do not know
the Russian honours system. The use of People’s in this way is particularly unEnglish,
yet there appears to be no alternative. Another obstacle to correct understanding of
these translations is the fact that artist in practice generally denotes a painter or
sculptor (художник).The expression performing artist is sometimes used as a collective
term to denote actors, musicians, dancers, etc., but apart from the fact that it is not
common, the combination People’s performing Artist and Honoured Performing
Artist sound strange. A possible solution is to specify which of the performing arts is
relevant, and say for example, People’s/Honoured Actor, People’s/Honoured
Musician, People’s/Honoured Dancer, etc. Such translations introduce distinction not
made in the original Russian, but on the other hand they are more readily
understandable to English people. They would also solve the problem arising from the
fact that, if one adopts the traditional translations People’s/Honoured
Artist, then народный/заслуженный артист and народный/заслуженный художник 
are both translated in the same way, since there is only one English word artist for the
two Russian words артист and художник. People’s/Honoured Artist could then be
reserved for народный/заслуженный художник and the distinction would be
preserved.

Заслуженный деятель искусств is very difficult to translate into English

because, quite apart from the fact that there is no such honour in Britain, English has no
general word corresponding to деятель and no expression corresponding
to деятель искусств. Art worker is not used in Britain, and even as a loan translation
is unsatisfactory, since art in the singular generally refers to painting, sculpture, etc.,
and worker to manual work. Искусств could be translated by the plural form arts, but
this does not solve the problem of rendering деятель. The only translation I can
suggest is Honoured for Services to the Arts, which could be put in brackets after the
person’s name, or used in a sentence.

e.g. He has been honoured for (his) services to the arts.

EXERCISES

1. Fill in the gaps with the words from the box below. Act out the dialogues.

Dialogue I

1. Let’s go and buy some lemonade or _______, I’d like to drink something during
an _______.
2. That’s a good idea. I feel thirsty too.

1. Well, Ann how do you like the _______?

2. The _______is perfect, to my mind. Why, it doesn’t seem like acting! Each actor
_______so realistically, so _______.

A. No wonder. The _______ of this theatre is really outstanding. Besides, tonight

_______ is playing.
B. Yes, indeed. I was completely _______ by their acting.

A. And the _______ is superb.

B. Yes, especially in the first _______ of the first _______.

A. Here is the _______. Let’s drink some grape juice.

B. O.K.

A. Isn’t that the third _______? The _______ are going down, and I think I hear the
orchestra _______.

B. Let’s hurry. That’s our staircase, to the right. I am not which aisle is ours. Here’s an
_______, she will show us to our _______.

Juice, true to life, an all-star cast,

intermission, scenery, bell, acting,
carried away, refreshment room, play,
scene, tuning up, company, act,
performs his part, seats, usher, curtains

Dialogue II

1. Well, and now that the _______ is over, what’s your impression _______ it?
2. Everything is just wonderful! The play itself, the _______, the stage effects, the
_______ were marvelous _______ words.

1. You are right, especially the acting – that was simply _______.
2. You know, at times I completely forgot myself. And what an _______audience!
Did you ever hear such _______ applause from spectators every time the curtain
_______?

1. I’ve never seen an audience _______ so much before. I think there were more
than five curtain calls. I clapped so much that my _______ even now.

Applaud, performance, bursts of, for,

went down, palms hurt, beyond
description, acting, appreciative,
staging, of.

Dialogue III

1. How are you planning to spend this evening?

2. We are going to _______“Othello” at the National theatre tonight.

1. And who is playing the _______? Laurence Olivier himself, I suppose? He is the
artistic _______ of the company, isn’t he?
2. Yes, he is. He is also a _______with _______, from tragic or comic.
 1. What does he play?
2. Well, besides playing tragic heroes, such as _______`s Romeo, Hamlet,
Macbeth, Lear, Othello, he plays equally well comic characters _______
Shakespeare`s “Twelfth Night” and Sheridan’s _______.

1. Have you got good _______?

2. Oh, very good. We have seats _______the_______ stalls, _______ the stage.

1. Well, have a nice evening!

2. Thank you.

“School for Scandal”, see, star, seats,

facing, in, leading part, Shakespeare,
director, in, a wide range of parts,
orchestra.

Dialogue IV

1. Oh, hello! Where have you been?

2. To the theatre. I was lucky enough to get the ticket before the performance.

1. What did they present?

2. They were showing “School for Scandal” by the great English playwright
Sheridan.

A. Is it still on? It has been on the _______ for a long time, hasn`t it? I thought it had
been _______.

B. No, it has such a _______ reception that it just can`t be taken of now. People still
want to see it and there is a queue outside the theatre every night in spite of the
“_______” sign.

A. Well, how did you like it?

B. Oh, it was _______. Too marvelous for words. Really, I was so deeply impressed by
the play that I can hardly put into words what I think of it. It’s one of the best productions
I’ve ever seen.

A. What about the _______?

B. Sergeev and Petrova in the leading roles were superb. Their acting is so natural and
true-to-life that you simply forget that you are watching a play. I was completely
_______ by their performance. Not only the main roles, but even some of the _______
ones were performed by People’s Actors of the USSR and Honoured Actors of the
Republic. The audiences brought the house down after every scene. I’ve never seen
such an enthusiastic audience. The actors got many _______ and were presented with
large bouquets of flowers.

A. So you’re not sorry to have gone?

B. No, I’ve never enjoyed a show more. Now I’m looking forward to the first night
performance of “Macbeth”. Would you like to join me next Saturday?

A. Most _______!

B. Then I’ll book two seats over the phone.

A. All right. I think I must be going now. See you later.

B. Cheerio!

Curtain calls, taken off, splendid,

willingly, bill-boards, cast, Sold out,
supporting, carried away,

favourable.

2. Dramatize the following situations.

 You are an actor. You have just returned home from the first night of a play in
which you have played a part. Share your impression with the members of the
family.
 Assure your director that it is Mrs. Brown who should play the leading lady.
 Assure the authorities why Mr. Gordon Brown should be honoured for his
services to the arts.

TYPES OF PLAY

Plays can be put into the following categories:

Tragedy

Comedy

Tragic-comedy

Farce

The distinction between farce and comedy is not clear-cut.

THE DICTIONARY OF THE THEATRE says that farce is “usually distinguished

from comedy by its tendency to extract amusement from the ingenious manipulation of
a series of intricate situations in which stereotyped human figures are involved, rather
than from the reactions of more complex, credible characters to one another and to their
situation”.

Drama

This is a serious play, generally dealing with a difficult real-life situation to be

resolved, conflict of interests and emotions, etc. Most serious modern plays are
classified as dramas.
 Straight play

This expression is often used in non-formal style in the sense of “drama”. It

means a play with a serious aim, in contrast to a comedy, farce or the other play
intended solely to entertain.

e.g. Straight plays do not usually run as long as farces and musicals.

Historical play/drama

This is a play dealing with historical events. Note, however, that Shakespeare’s
plays on historical subjects are generally called history plays or histories.

e.g. The RSC are doing three of the history plays/histories this reason.

Thriller детектив

Musical, musical comedy

The musical is the successor of the musical comedy, which flourished up to the

Second World War, and is now more or less extinct in Britain. It is also influenced by the
old operetta form.

The DICTIONARY OF THE THEATRE defines musical comedy as: “a form of

play interpolated songs and dances (not necessarily comical, though usually tending to
the light-hearted) which evolved from the light opera and operetta in thee 1890s and
1900s”.

It goes on to say that the line between operetta and musical comedy has never
been clearly drawn, but that musical comedy is in general lighter. A musical, according
to the DICTIONARY, is distinguished by its.“ desire to integrate singing, dancing and the
spoken word into one continuous texture.”

Since musicals are often filmed, we may need to distinguish between: the stage
version

and: the film (version).

These, and on the stage, are used as follows:

 Have you seen “My Fair Lady”?

 You mean the stage version?
 No, the film. I didn’t think you were old enough to have seen it on the stage.

Dramatist, playwright, author

Playwright is the usual word for the author of a play. Dramatist is less common, and
used mainly in formal style, especially with reference to the classics. Author is not
generally used with reference to plays.

EXERCISES
Translate the following text into English.

ВИДЫ И ЖАНРЫ ТЕАТРАЛЬНОГО ИСКУССТВА

ВОДЕВИЛЬ — вид комедии положении с песнями-куплетами и танцами.

Возник во Франции; с начала XIX в. получил общеевропейское распространение.
Лучшим произведениям присуши задорное веселье, злободневное отображение
действительности.

ДРАМА — один из ведущих жанров драматургии, начиная с эпохи

Просвещения, в котором изображается мир реального человека в его
остроконфликтных, но не безысходных отношениях с обществом или собой. В XX
в. драма отличалась серьезным содержанием, отражала различные аспекты
жизни человека и общества, исследовала человеческую психологию.

КОМЕДИЯ — вид драмы, в котором действие и характеры трактованы в

формах комического. Как и трагедия, родилась в Древней Греции из обрядов,
сопровождавших шествия в честь бога Диониса. Комедия, трезво исследуя
человеческую природу, высмеивала пороки и заблуждения людей. Лучшие
образцы этого жанра отличаются бескомпромиссность» анализа, остротой и
смелостью в высмеивании пороков общества. В разных странах возникали свои
варианты комедии. Известны «ученая» комедия итальянских гуманистов и
испанская комедия Лопе де Вега и Кальдерона, английская комедия эпохи
Возрождения, французская классицистская комедия эпохи Просвещения, русская
реалистическая комедия. По принципу организации действия различают комедию
характеров, положений, идей. По типу Сюжетов комедии могут быть бытовыми и
лирическими, по характеру комического — юмористическими, сатирическими.

МЕЛОДРАМА — пьеса с острой интригой, преувеличенной

эмоциональностью, резким противопоставлением добра и зла, морально-
поучительной тенденцией. Возникла в конце XVII в. во Франции, в России — в 20-
е гг. XIX в.

МИМ — комедийный жанр в античном народном театре, короткие

импровизационные сценки сатирического и развлекательного характера.

МИСТЕРИЯ — жанр средневекового западноевропейского религиозного

театра. Мистерии представлялись на площадях городов. Религиозные сцены в
них чередовались с интермедиями.

МОНОДРАМА — драматическое произведение, исполняемое одним актером.

МОРАЛИТЕ — жанр западно-европейского театра XV—XVI вв.,

назидательная аллегорическая драма, персонажи которой олицетворяли
различные добродетели и пороки.

МЮЗИКЛ — музыкально-сценическое произведение, главным образом

комедийного характера, в котором используются средства эстрадной и бытовой
музыки, драматического, хореографического и оперного искусств, жанр
сформировался в США в конце XIX в.
 ПАРОДИЯ — 1) жанр в театре, на эстраде, сознательная имитация в
сатирических, иронических и юмористических целях индивидуальной манеры,
стиля, стереотипов речи и поведения; 2) искаженное подобие чего-либо.

ПАСТОРАЛЬ — опера, пантомима или балет, сюжет которых связан с

идеализированным изображением пастушеской жизни.

СОТИ — комедийно-сатирический жанр французского театра XV—XVII вв.,

разновидность фарса.

ТРАГЕДИЯ (в переводе с греческого — «песнь козлов») — вид драмы,

проникнутый пафосом трагического. В античности отображал непосредственную
жизнь персонажей трагических событий, действие преобладало над рассказом. В
эпоху Возрождения в пьесах было отброшено считавшееся обязательным
единство действия, трагическое часто соединялось с комическим. В дальнейшем
трагедия строго регламентируется: опять преобладает единство действия, места
и времени; наблюдается размежевание комического и трагического. В
современном театре трагедия в чистом виде встречается редко. Основу трагедии
составляют острые общественные конфликты, коренные проблемы бытия,
столкновения личности с судьбой и обществом. Трагическая коллизия обычно
разрешается гибелью героя.

ТРАГИКОМЕДИЯ — драматическое произведение, обладающее признаками

как комедии, так и трагедии. В основе ее лежит ощущение относительности
существующих критериев жизни; одно и то же явление драматург видит и в
комическом, и в трагическом освещении, характерна для XX в.

ФАРС — 1) вид средневекового западно-европейского народного театра

бытового комедий но-сатирического характера, существовавший в XIV—XVI вв.
Близок немецкому фастнахтшпилю, итальянской комедии дель арте и др.; 2) в
театре XIX—XX вв. комедия-водевиль легкого содержания с чисто внешними
комическими приемами.

ФЕЕРИЯ — жанр театральных спектаклей, в которых для фантастических

сцен применяются постановочные эффекты. Возник в Италии в XVII вв.

ФЛИАКИ — народные театральные представления в Древней Греции,

особенно распространенные в III—IV вв. до н.э. в греческих колониях: короткие
импровизационные шутки-сценки из повседневной жизни о веселых похождениях
богов и героев.

INSIDE THE THEATRE

The following terns are widely used, although there is some variation from one
theatre to another, depending on the period and design of the theatre, and on individual
traditions

Foyer фойе

Box office касса

Cloak room гардероб
 It should be mentioned that this is much smaller than that of a Russian theatre,
since it is not the custom in England to leave one’s coat in the cloakroom. One of the
reasons is that English people rarely wear heavy clothes and another is that one has to
pay to use the cloakroom.

Cloakroom may also be used in the sense of туалет, as an alternative to toilet.

Bar/refreshment room буфет

This is the place where light refreshments are sold, that is, drinks, both alcoholic
and non-alcoholic, coffee, sandwiches, biscuits, etc.

Auditorium зрительный зал

This is the proper term, but in practice it is confine to formal style, for example
official notices such as

NO SMOKING IN THE AUDITORIUM

in the conversation and non-formal writing theatre is used,

e.g. The theatre was full.

or simply

e.g. Let’s go in.

House

This is sometimes used in the sense of auditorium, especially in the theatrical

profession.

e.g. a. HOUSE FULL (a notice outside the theatre) This is an alternative to SOLD
OUT or ALL TICKETS SOLD.

b. The house was packed.

c. They played every night to full/packed houses.

d. There was a laugh from the back of the house.

e. The house lights went out/down.

Parts of Auditorium (Seats)

The auditorium is divided into the following parts:

Stalls партер

These may be subdivided into front and back stalls. Although stall is a

countable noun, the singular form is generally avoided.
 e.g. a. I bought a seat in the stalls.

b. I was sitting in the stalls.

Boxes ложи

There are not generally many of these in the English theatre.

Dress circle бельэтаж

This is so called presumably because formal dress had to worn there.

Upper circle 1-й ярус

Balcony балкон

This is often called the gallery in conversation, and sometimes in colloquial

speech the gods (because the seats are so high up).

e.g. We sat in the gods.

Note that pit (места с креслами) is no longer used in most English theatres

although Hornby gives it in the latest edition of his dictionary, defining it as seats on the
ground floor of the theatre behind the stalls. This would correspond to амфитеатр.

Orchestra stalls первые ряды партера

Tiers ярусы

Gallery галерея

Aisle проход между рядами

The stage and backstage

Stage, scene

Since these are both translated by сцена, it is important for Russian speakers to
be aware of the distinction between them, and not to use scene instead of stage.

The stage in the platform on which the performance takes place. The actors
come on (to the stage) and go off or in the words, they make their entrances and exits.

Scene means either:

1. part of play or production (сцена, картина),

e.g. a. Scene One, Scene Two, etc.

b. In the first scene the family are preparing to welcome the youngest son home.
c. The scene where John says goodbye to Susan is very moving.

2.) where the action takes place (место действия).

e.g. a. The scene is set in the pre-revolutionary Moscow.

b. There was no change of scene during the play.

c. Then her husband appear on the scene.

Cf.: …came onto the stage.

The second meaning of scene is not restricted to the theatre.

Other uses of stage

On the stage is used in such sentences as:

1. It’s an interesting play. I’d like to see it on the stage.

2. I saw “west Side story” on the stage.
3. – What happened to…?

– She went on the stage or - She’s on the stage. (Meaning she became/is an actress.)

Stage is also used adjectivally in various expressions such as:

Stage design, stage designer

Stage hand

Person who moves scenery, etc.

Stage directors

Printed instructions to actors in the text of a play, about position, movements, etc.

Stage manager

Stage fright

Extreme nervousness before or when appearing on the stage.

e.g. He got stage fright.

Stage door

The door at the back or side of the theatre used by actors and workmen
(служебный вход).

Stage is also used in the adverbial expressions:

 On stage

Off-stage за кулисами; в частной жизни

Backstage за кулисами

The verbal use of stage has already been discussed.

Wings

The place(s) at each side of the stage where actors stand waiting to come on; used only
in the plural.

Dressing room

A room where an actor or actors change into their costumes and put their make-up on.

Orchestra pit оркестровая яма

The third bell третий звонок

The lights are going down Свет гасят

I hear the orchestra tuning up Я слышу, что оркестр настраивает инструменты

The curtain went down Занавес опустился

Usher билетер

DESIGNERS, SCENERY, SETS, COSTUMES

Designer

In a theatrical context, a designer is a person who designs scenery, and

sometimes costumes (художник). The full form is stage designer
(театральный художник), and stage design is used to denote the art of designing for
the theatre.

Costume designer is used of a person who specializes in designing

costumes (художник по костюмам).

Scenery, sets

Scenery is the traditional word for декорации, but sets is increasingly used

instead.

e.g. a. (In the theatre programme) Sets by Julia Trevelyan Oman.

b. The sets were designed by Julia Trevelyan Oman.

(Julia Trevelyan Oman - a famous English stage designer.)

 Sets generally occurs in the plural, but unlike scenery it is a countable noun, and
may be used in the singular where the situation requires it, that is, if there is no change
of scene, or with reference to one act only.

e.g. a. Julia Trevelyan Oman’s set was very effective.

b. I didn’t like the set for the first act.

LIGHTING

There appears to be no word in general use to denote the person responsible for
the stage lighting, although it is considered to be an important part of the production. In
theatre programmes we read simply, for example:

1. The lighting was very effective.

2. There were some very original lighting effects.

BYUING TICKETS

We buy tickets at the box office of the theatre, or at a ticket agency. At the box office
there are usually two windows: one marked ADVANCED BOOKING and the
other TODAY’ PERFORMANCE or TONIGHT’S PERFORMANCE. Those who have
been unable to buy tickets in advance sometimes go to the box office just before the
performance and queue for returns (meaning tickets returned, or ordered tickets not
collected).

Others may try to buy a ticket outside the theatre. It should be mentioned,
however, that in Britain this is not a common practice; those who have spare tickets
generally give them to someone they know, or return them to the box office. There is
therefore no special expression corresponding to the Russian купить с рук. The only
possibility is to say simply buy a ticket outside the theatre.

Standing ticket/room

Standing ticket denotes a ticket which entitles one to stand and watch the
performance. It can be used as a translation of входной билет.

Standing room is used, for example, in notices.

e.g. standing room only (notice outside theatre)

Complimentary ticket is a free ticket; such tickets are given, for example, to
theatre critics of news papers.

House seat

House seats are those kept for the leading actors to invite anyone they wish to
the performance.

Note that the preposition for is used in connection with theatre tickets.

 e.g. a. I’ve got two tickets for the theatre/theatre tickets.

b. I managed to get a ticket for a “the government Inspector” (“Ревизор”).

c. Have you got any tickets for tonight/tomorrow/Saturday.

To is not generally used in a theatrical context. A ticket to usually refers to travel.

e.g. I bought tickets to Moscow.

Get in(to)

When it is difficult to buy tickets for a certain theatre or production, the

expression get in(to) is often used.

e.g. a. It’s very difficult to get into the Taganka (Theatre).

b. I wanted to see “Hamlet” but I couldn’t get in.

AUDIENCE

Audience is the usual word for those watching a theatrical performance or other
entertainment.

e.g. a. The audience was rather unresponsive.

b. He spoke with his back to the audience.

Audience is a collective noun. If we mean one person, we may use a member of

the audience (formal style), or one of the audience (less formal). In non-formal style
the following expressions are also used:

Somebody/one person

Some people - in the audience

A lot of people

Spectator is not used in connection with the theatre, cinema, etc. It is restricted
to outdoor events such as matches, races, processions, etc.

THE SUCCESS OR FAILURE OF A PRODUCTION OR PERFORMANCE

Success, successful

If a performance or production is successful, we may say

1. It’s (very/rather/quite) successful.

2. It was a (great/tremendous) success.
 There is no need to add with the public, unless one wishes to contrast the
reaction of the public with that of the critics, for example.

Box office success is used of a production for which many tickets are sold,
meaning a financial success. It may imply a contrast with artistic merit.

e.g. It’s a very interesting production but too unusual to be a box office success.

Flop

This is used in non-formal style to denote an unsuccessful production.

e.g. They put on a musical of “Jane Eyre” but it was a flop.

Review

A successful production generally gets good reviews, meaning that it is praised

by the critics. Review is used as follows:

a. What sort of reviews did it get?

b. What were the reviews like?

c. It got/had good/fovourable/poor/unfavourable/terrible (colloq.) reviews.

d. I read a review of it.

e. It was reviewed in “The Observer”.

Such sentences as It was praised by the critics occur, but are much less
common.

Receive, reception

These words are used in connection with the reaction of the public or critics to a
play, production or performance, mainly in formal and semi-formal situations.

Receive is used mainly in the passive in such sentences as:

The play/ production/performance was well/ favourably/enthusiastically/poorly

received.

This usually means by the audience, or by all those audiences which have seen the
play, that is, the public. In an appropriate context, however, it may mean by the critics. If
necessary we may specify by whom.

e.g. The play was well received by the critics

Reception is used as follows:

 1. The play had a good/poor reception. (This means the same as: The play was
well/poorly received.)
2. Pinter’s new play was given a cool reception both by the public and the critics.
3. The new production of “The rivals” by Sheridan) was given an enthusiastic reception at
the National Theatre Yesterday.

To get may be used instead of to have or to be given in non-formal situations.

EXERCISES

1. Make not less than 10 sentences with the vocabulary in Russian for your group
mates to translate.

2. Answer the following questions.

a. What does a theatre begin

with?
b. What do we do in the cloak-
room?
c. What can the cloak-room
attendant offer us?
d. What does the usher do?
e. Why do spectators buy
programmes?
f. Where do the audience walk
during an intermission?
g. What can we see on the walls
of the foyer?
h. Where can we buy a drink or a
snack?

3. Dramatize the following situations.

 You have just returned from the theatre. The members of your family want to
know your impression.
 Yesterday you had a visit to the Variety Theatre. The performance was a failure.
Discuss it with your parents.
 You’ve just seen the first act of “The Nutcracker”. Share your impression with the
friend during an intermission.
 Your husband likes to go to the theatre only for the sake of a bar. Assure him that
there is something more to admire.
 Your boy-friend (girl-friend) hates the idea of going to the first night. Talk him into
going to any premiere.

EXTENSION EXERCISES

1. Fill in prepositions where necessary.

1. Last night Mr. and Mrs. Smith went … the theatre. When they approached … the
theatre, they saw some people standing … the entrance, waiting … their friends. Mr.
and Mrs. Smith went … First of all they came … … the box-office and asked … two
seats … the dress-circle. But the dress-circle seats were sold …, and they were offered
two seats … the tenth row … the stalls. Then they went … the cloak-room and left their
coats and hats … the cloak-room attendant. After that they went … … the usher and
bought the programme. The usher showed them … their seats.

2. What’s … … the Opera and Ballet House tonight?

3. I am not much … a theatre-goer.

4. My sister is fond … ballet.

5. Did you buy tickets … advance or … the day … the performance?

6. They couldn’t get tickets … the first night … “Hamlet” … Smoktunovsky … the
leading part, because the house was sold … long … the … the performance.

7. This theatre is famous … its excellent company.

8. I was completely carried … … her wonderful acting; it was so true … life.

9. We are going … the theatre tomorrow. Would you like … join us?

10. The play was a success … public.

11. A. I have an extra ticket … the matinee … the Mussorgsky Opera and Ballet House.
Would you like … come?

B. And what’s …?

A. “Giselle”

B. Oh, great! I’ll go … pleasure, thank you.

12. A. Did you get tickets … the first night?

B. Oh, no! The house was sold … long ago … the day ... the performance.

2. Make a questionnaire (not less than 5 questions) and ask your partners what
they know about the theatre. Make the questions as tricky as possible. Then
share the information with the group.

3. Arrange the discussion on the topic: “The fate of the play ‘Hamlet’ in the 21
century”.

4. Have a look at the graph showing the types of the Arts the British prefer. You’re
entrusted with the task of talking the British into going to the theatre. You’ve got
15 minutes in a TV show to do it. Make up your speech performance as assuring
as possible.

 TV and
 video – 40
%
 Sports – 35
%

 Theatre –
15 %
 Literature
–5%
 Hadicrafts
–5%

TRANSLATION EXERCISES

TRANSLATION 1

1. Вы любите оперу и балет? – Нет,

я предпочитаю драму.
2. Коммерческие театры не
получают пособия и поэтому
функционируют на коммерческой
основе.
3. Государственные театры находятся в общественном владении и
финансируются из общественных фондов.
4. У этой труппы большой и разнообразный репертуар.
5. Труппа добавила несколько постановок в свой репертуар.
6. Я уже видел эту постановку, только с другим составом актеров.
7. Режиссер отвечает за выбор актеров и репетиции с ними.
8. «Короля Лира» ставили разные режиссеры.
9. Новая постановка «Ревизора» вызвала противоречивые суждения.
10. Ее личные качества, знание различных актерских приемов и магнетизм
позволяет ей вжиться в роль без труда.
11. Вживаться в роль ей помогает личный опыт и ее наблюдения за другими
людьми.
12. Играл он плохо, но внешне на роль подходит.
13. Она так вжилась в роль Джульетты, ее игра была такой трогательной, что у
зрителей навертывались слезы на глаза.
14. В примерке актеры накладывают грим и меняют костюмы.
15. Новая постановка этого режиссера была хорошо принята я зрителями, и
критиками.
16. Это гастролирующая труппа. У них нет своего театра.
17. Труппа сейчас гастролирует по США с новой версией «Ревизора».
18. Кто сейчас тренирует труппу? Балетмейстер сейчас гастролирует по
Европе с другой труппой.

TRANSLATION 2

1. Я и мои друзья – театралы.

 2. Я прочел несколько книг по Елизаветинской драме и собираюсь читать
лекции студентам театрального института.
3. Государственные театры находятся на финансировании государства и
имеют постоянный состав актеров, состоящий из художественного
руководителя, актеров, художников по костюмам и т.д.
4. «Лебединое озеро» не сходит со сцены и пользуется большим успехом у
публики.
5. Коммерческие театры не финансируются государством, все затраты
покрываются выручкой с продажи билетов.
6. Коммерческие театры находятся в частной собственности, управляются
менеджером, который не проводит пробы и не ставит пьесы, потому что это
обязанности художественного руководителя.
7. «Мышеловка» Агаты Кристи не сходит со сцены более двадцати лет.
8. Труппа сейчас на гастролях, поэтому театр закрыт.
9. МХАТ знаменит своей труппой. Ты бы не хотела к нам присоединиться?
Ведь в театре играют одни звезды!
10. У Театра на Таганке огромный и разнообразный репертуар.
11. Я видел весь репертуар Театра Музыкальной Комедии. Его репертуар
включает классические и современные постановки.
12. - Я видел «Ревизора» в репертуаре Театра Драмы.

- Да, его стоит посмотреть: игра восхитительная, актеры играют свои роли
реалистично, декорации превосходны.

TRANSLATION 3

1. Она самая разносторонняя актриса в труппе.

2. Он начал свою театральную карьеру как любитель.
3. Актеры-профессионалы часто обучают актеров-любителей.
4. Она получила хорошую подготовку по мастерству актера и практический
опыт игры на сцене.
5. Зрительный зал был захвачен блестящей игрой Александра АБДУЛОВА.
6. Несмотря на свою молодость, он был уже опытным актером.
7. Её влекло и к драме, и к балету.
8. Она известная балерина (певица) и выступала во всех больших концертных
залах, как в России, так и за границей.
9. После каждого акта были бурные аплодисменты.
10. Он любил из зрительного зала смотреть сцены, в которых он сам не играл.
11. Сегодня она впервые выступает на сцене в роли Дездемоны.
12. Он стоял и аплодировал все время, пока актеры выходили на вызовы.
13. МХАТ отдал постановке этой пьесы все свое мастерство и все свои силы.
14. Зрители на вчерашнем спектакле были в восторге от игры актеров Театра
на Таганке.
15. Балет – это важный вид театрального искусства.
16. Зрительный зал включает в себя партер, балкон, галерею и ложи.
17. «Жизель» - один из тех балетов, которые всегда будут пользоваться
любовью зрителей.
18. Нам не удалось посмотреть балет «Щелкунчик», потому что все билеты
были проданы за две недели до спектакля.
19. Я купила два билета в Театр Оперы и Балета.
20. У нас была ложа во втором ярусе.
 TRANSLATION 4

1. Я позвоню в кассу и узнаю, есть ли у них билеты на утренний спектакль.

2. Второй состав исполнителей тоже очень хорош.

3. Оба состав исполнителей были целиком любительские.

4. Выбор С. Безрукова для исполнения роли С. Есенина был исключительно
удачен.
5. Чулпан Хаматовой обычно дают играть характерные роли.
6. Теперь, когда пьеса уже выбрана, надо распределить роли.
7. Актер строит многогранный образ, обогащая его своим воображением.
8. Гедеминас Таранда не только блестящий танцор, но и великолепный
балетмейстер.
9. Освещение в этом спектакле ярко выявляет искусство и балетмейстера, и
художника.
10. Когда она вышла на сцену, раздался взрыв аплодисментов.
11. Труппа состояла всего из 24 человек.
12. «Олд Вик» - один из немногих подлинно репертуарных театров в Англии.
13. Когда занавес опустился, и в зале зажегся свет, раздался гром
аплодисментов.
14. Это был последний спектакль Большого театра на сцене Ковент Гардена;
казалось, вызовам артистов не будет конца.
15. Молодой актер дебютирует в музыкальной комедии.
16. Режиссер труппы сообщил, что он собирается поставить несколько хороших
английских пьес.
17. Она была у себя в артистической и отдыхала после первого акта.
18. Шекспир – один из величайших драматургов мира. Он основал первый в
Англии репертуарный театр «Глобус».
19. Пианиста вызвали на бис.
20. Пародия была гвоздем эстрадной программы.
21. Мы договорились встретиться в фойе Вов время антракта.
22. За четверть часа до спектакля зрительный зал был почти полон.
23. Постановка была очень удачной и шла при переполненном зале.
24. Свет в зале погас, и занавес поднялся.
25. Свет начал гаснуть, и зал затих.
26. Это был дневной спектакль, и среди зрителей было много детей.
27. Развлекать публику является прямой обязанностью конферансье.
28. Это может показаться странным, но я не хожу на премьеры.
29. Он принадлежал к тому типу актеров-любителей, которые играют под
суфлера.
30. Генеральная репетиция должна была идти без музыкального
сопровождения.

PART 1 ACTING TECHNIQUE

TEXT A

1. Read the text and find the English equivalents to the words in the list below.

 создавать свою роль на основе наблюдений –

  находить образы в обыденной жизни –
 изучать особенности окружающих –
 придавать индивидуальность роли –
 воспроизводить внешний вид человека –
 проникать в мысли людей –
 применять всю свою симпатию и интуицию –
 создавать цельный образ –

2. Think of a famous actor/actress. Describe the way he/she builds up his/her

part. Let your group mates guess who it is.

CHARACTER PARTS

To a greater extent the actor builds up his part from observation. As he goes
about his daily occupations he is consciously or subconsciously finding models from
everyday life. He will study the characteristics and mannerisms of the people with whom
he comes into contact; he will watch people in the street, in trams and busses, in shops,
at public gatherings, he will notice the way the walk, the movements of head and hands,
how they speak, the sound of their voices, the expression on their faces, both
permanent and momentary, he will take this peculiarity from person and that from
another – anything that may help him to give individuality to the character he is to play.
Not only will he seek to imitate and reproduce superficial and physical characteristics,
but he will try to get inside the minds of his models and understand their thoughts and
the circumstances which make them behave the way they do. He will exercise all his
sympathy and intuition in this, and, with the aid of his imagination will build up a
complex character that is utterly different from his own. If possible, he will observe
people’s reaction in emotion, fear, excitement, disappointment, joy, or sorrow, and
notice particularly how the voice and movements are affected.

TEXT B

1. Read the text and find the English equivalents to the words in the list below.

 разносторонняя актриса –
 вживаться в роль –
 намеренно наблюдать за людьми –
 смутные воспоминания волнуют ее –
 основывать образ на своей индивидуальности и воспоминаниях –
 обогащать образ (роль) собственным опытом –
 знание техники –
 поразительный магнетизм –
 входить в роль –
 хорошие способности –
 оживлять роль –

2. Imagine that you and your friend are returning from the theatre and discussing
the play you have seen.

THE ART OF ACTING

 The critics admired her variety. They praised especially her capacity for
insinuating herself into a part. She was not aware that she deliberately observed
people, but when she came to study a new part, vague recollections surged up in her
from she knew not where, and she found that she knew things about the character she
was to represent that she had had no inkling of. It helped her to think of someone she
had seem in the street or at a party; she combined with this recollection her own
personality, and thus built up a character founded on fact but enriched with her
experience, her knowledge of technique and her amazing magnetism. People thought
that she acted only during the two or three hours she was on the stage, they did not
know that the character she was playing dwelt in the back of her mind all day long,
when she was talking to others with all the appearance of attention, or in whatever
business she was engaged. It often seemed to her that she was two persons, the
actress, the popular favourite, the best-dresser woman in London. And that was a
shadow, and the woman she was playing at night and that was the substance.

She could step into a part, not a very good one, perhaps, and by her personality,
by her dexterity which she had at her finger tips, infuse it with life. There was no one
who could do what she could with a part.

SURF THE NET

 Have you ever heard about the Stanislavsky system? What is the “Magic If”,
“Emotional Memory”, “Method of Physical Actions”? Do Russian actors still follow
the system? Is it taught in American and European drama schools? What is the
American Method? Are there any other methods or systems? Does acting have
national features? Are Russian drama actors, ballet dancers, opera singers,
directors highly appreciated abroad? Why? Why not? Whose acting is more
convincing and true-to-life?

 They say some parts may be fatal for the actors performing them, e. g. Voland,
Ivan the Great, etc. Can a part influence an actor’s life and fate? Provide
illustrations.

PART 2 HISTORY OF BRITISH THEATRE

TEXT A

You are going to read the text on the history of British theatre. Six sentences (or
parts of sentences) have been removed. Choose among the sentences A – H the
one which fits each gap (1 - 7). There is one extra sentence. Check yourself.

BRITISH THEATRE HISTORY IN BRIEF

From the fall of Roman Empire until the 10th century, acting hardly existed as an
art in Western Europe; only the wandering minstrels gave entertainments in castles and
at fairs. In England the first real actors were amateurs who performed Miracle and
Morality plays which were religious in character. In the Elizabethan age, the first
professional theatres were opened. At the time of Shakespeare there were at least six
companies of actors. 1.___. There were also companies of boy actors. All the women’s
parts were played by boys. It was very difficult for most actors to earn a living on the
stage, even in a London company, and many of them fell into debt. When Shakespeare
arrived in London in 1586, the acting was very crude and conventional. 2.___. But when
“The Globe”* was opened to the public in 1599, it started the golden age of the theatre
in England.

In the first half of the 17th century the influence of the puritans was bad for the
popular theatre. It was not before the restoration of the monarchy 3.___. The most
popular plays were comedies. The first part played by an actress was that of
Desdemona. Nell Gwynn* was the first English actress.

By the beginning of the 18th century the most popular type of play was the
sentimental comedy. 4.___. But later, under the influence of David Garrick* and some
other actors, acting became much more naturalistic.

David Garrick was one of the greatest actors known. But even at his time acting
was not very popular. 5.___. During the 19th century acting became more and more
naturalistic. Like in Shakespeare’s time, 6.___. One of the most famous actors of that
time was Henry Irving*. He was the first actor to be knighted. By the 1920s naturalistic
acting reached its peak.

7.___ Designers make the setting as realistic as possible. Modern producers and
directors Peter Hall, Peter Brook and others are trying new styles of acting. Some go
back to Greek methods, with a revival of the chorus; others are making use of the
audience in helping to interpret the play.

A. The acting was artificial probably due to

the influence of French actors.
B. At present most acting still continues to
be naturalistic.
C. Shakespeare himself joined the Earl of
Leicester’s company, which under James I
became known as the “King’s Men”.
D…. the best actors understood the
importance of the team work of the
company.
E. The theatre has always been very strong
in Britain.
F. There was almost no scenery, and the
actors were dressed in the costumes of their
day.
G. An actor whose acting offended the
audience had to ask pardon on his knees
before a full house before he could continue
in his profession.
H. …in 1660 that theatre-going again
became a popular habit.

TEXT B

1. Read the text and give definitions to the following words and expressions. Give
the synonyms to them (if possible). Comment on the shades of meaning:
half-witted, to be entangled, grudges, interlude, buffoonery, bounty, grotesquery,
bragging, slapstick, delineation, loaf about, emerge from…into, vagabonds, an
agreeable atmosphere, first-hand acquaintance, lusty farce, an exploit, reincarnation, to
tempt the intellect, the brand of humour, avowedly, the intricacy of plot, the air of
restraint, progenitor, English to the core.

2. Answer the questions:

 Where does the British comedy originate from?

 Why is the name of Nicholas Udall significant in the history of the British theatre?
What works is he famous for? Why?
 How do the early British comedies differ from the Greek ones?
 What is commedia dell` arte? Define the genre.
 Who are Bedlam Beggars, Abraham Men, or Poor Toms? What`s the origin of
the idioms?

3. Work in mini-groups. Write down the key words and share your list with other
groups. Render the text with the help of the list of keywords you’ve got.

THE EARLIEST ENGLISH COMEDIES

It was upon native material such as The Four P's* and similar interludes that
English comedy was built. It is plain, however, that there was need of design, or form,
which would enable writers to shape the story material more effectively. This element of
design was supplied in England, as elsewhere, by the classic models. While there was
not much first-hand acquaintance with Greek plays in England, yet there is record of the
Plutus* of Aristophanes* being given in the original before Queen Elizabeth. Latin,
however, both as a language and literature, was more familiar. Scholars of the
universities read Terence* and Seneca* for the purity of their style, and often enacted
their plays, giving them in Latin. When the twelve lost plays of Plautus* were restored to
the world, they were immediately added to the repertory of the academies and
universities. The Girl of Andros*, by Terence, appeared in an English translation late in
the fifteenth century, and was reprinted three times during the sixteenth. Translations of
the Seneca plays began to be issued about 1560, and of the Plautus’s plays a little
later.

Nicholas Udall*, author of the first native comedy, prepared from Terence a book
of Latin recitations designed to be used as a reader; and about the middle of the
sixteenth century an unknown writer produced Jack Juggler*, a one-act piece "for
children to act," which was avowedly an imitation of the first act of the Amphitruo of
Plautus. Though in structure this piece was an imitation, yet the people as well as the
scenes are Elizabethan English.

Classic influences, however, came not only from a study of the originals, but also
through European imitations, especially those of Italy. The fashionable youth of England
went to Italy for culture and finish. To almost every department of Italian literature great
names had been added - names which were nowhere else paralleled; and the works of
these authors were almost immediately put upon the market in England. The drama of
Italy, as has already been pointed out, was a peculiar blend of Seneca, Terence,
Horace*, and Aristotle*. It is not surprising, therefore, that by imitation and adaptation a
powerful classic school of drama arose in England. One of its first representatives was
George Gascoigne*, who made translations of two Italian plays produced in 1566 by the
Gentlemen of Gray's Inn*, a group to which Gascoigne belonged. The first of these, so
far as main plot and characters are concerned, is founded on The Captives* of Plautus.

NICHOLAS UDALL

The name of Nicholas Udall (born about 1505) is famous as the author of the first
English comedy. He was a Protestant, a student at Oxford, headmaster at Eton, and
later at Westminster School*. While at Eton he encouraged the production of plays in
Latin, and without doubt he mastered the details of plot construction by studying Plautus
and Terence. It will be remembered that in Miles Gloriosus*, by Plautus, the chief
character is the bragging soldier who told amazing tales of his exploits in foreign lands,
made love to every pretty woman, freely offered to fight when there was no one to take
him up, and fled when there was any sign of danger. It was a reincarnation of Miles
Gloriosus whom Udall introduced to the English stage about 1535 in Ralph Roister
Doister*, the first comedy in the English language. Like the classic plays, it was
arranged in the five-act form, with the proper preparation, climax, and close. The air of
restraint, order, and intellectual grasp of the material is classic, but the style is homely
and original. The time is limited to one day, the scene is the usual Roman comedy
scene of a street running before several houses; but the characterizations, the brand of
humor, and the general attitude toward life and affairs is English to the core. Doister has
a parasitic and unscrupulous companion, Matthew Merigreek*, who is in part the
scoundrelly valet of the Italian commedia dell` arte*, and in part the Vice of the medieval
stage. The old nurse, Margery Mumblecrust, stands not only as a somewhat new
character, but as the progenitor of a long series, the most famous of which is the Nurse
of Juliet. Symonds* comments upon this play as follows: "In Ralph Roister Doister we
emerge from medieval grotesquery and allegory into the clear light of actual life, into an
agreeable atmosphere of urbanity and natural delineation."

GAMMER GURTON'S NEEDLE

The second example of pure native comedy is no less interesting than

Schoolmaster Udall's play, though for a different reason. Gammer Gurton's Needle* was
performed at Christ's College, Cambridge*, about 1566, and is attributed variously to Dr.
John Still, Dr. John Bridges, and William Stevenson. Like Ralph, it is in five acts; the
action takes place within one day, and the scene is the conventional street with houses.
Beyond these details, Gammer owes nothing to the classic model. It is a lusty farce,
with very little plot. Gammer Gurton has lost her needle, and Diccon the Bedlam, who
has been loafing about the cottage, accuses a neighbor, Dame Chat of stealing it. With
this incident begins a scandalous village row, in which the parson, the bailie, the
constable and most of the neighbours one by one become entangled. The original
trouble is lost sight of in the revival of old quarrels and hidden grudges. The neighbors
come to blows, and confusion seems to reign, when a diversion is created by Dame
Chat's finding the needle in the seat of the breeches of Hodge, the farmhand.

Gammer is often coarse and vulgar, with buffoonery of the slapstick variety, with
no polish or intricacy of plot to tempt the intellect. It would be a morose person,
however, who in good health could entirely withstand its fun. The characters belong to
the English soil and have English blood in their veins. Diccon of Bedlam, who is in
reality the cause of the whole fuss, is a new figure on the stage. When, under Henry
VIII*, the monasteries were broken up, there were left without home or patrons many
poor, often half-witted people who had been accustomed to live on the bounty of the
religious houses. These people became professional beggars and vagabonds,
sometimes pretending to be mad in order to be taken care of. They were called Bedlam
Beggars, Abraham Men, or Poor Toms. It will be recalled that Shakespeare used one of
this class with considerable tragic effect inking Lear.

TEXT C

1. Read the text and find the English equivalents to the following words:

финансовый (денежный), великолепие, балдахин, увенчивать, выгодный

(рентабельный), жалкий (грязный, запущенный), разбрасывать, гобелен,
рискованное начинание, подвергать, плохая слава (дурная репутация),
принуждать, объемное изображение.

2. Fill in the blanks with the words from ex. 1:

1. Their behaviour has brought _______ on English football.

2. We admired the _______ of the mountain scenery.
3. The house was _______ by a tall chimney.
4. As a nurse in the war she was _______ to many dangers.
5. The two companies have embarked on a joint _______ to produce cars in
America.
6. The walls of the banqueting hall were hung with _______.
7. Our research has been _______ by lack of cash.
8. How can they live in such _______ conditions?
9. There were papers _______ all over the floor.

3. Make the sentences of your own with the vocabulary from ex. 1.

4. Comment on the scenery and peculiarities of play productions and

performances at the early British theatres. Compare and contrast them with the
modern ones.

5. Present a radio programme on the early London theatres. Interview an expert in

this area. Radio-listeners` questions are welcomed.

THE EARLY LONDON THEATRES

In the year 1576, under the powerful patronage of the Earl of Leicester*, James
Burbage*, was built the first English theater. The venture proved so successful, that
twelve theaters were soon furnishing entertainment to the citizens of London. Of these
the most celebrated was “The Globe.” It was so named because its sign bore the effigy
of Atlas supporting the globe, with the motto, “Totus Mundus agit Histrionem.”* Many of
the early London theaters were on the southern or Surrey* bank of the Thames, out of
the jurisdiction of the City, whose officers and magistrates, under the influence of
Puritanism*, carried on a constant war against the players and the play-houses. Some
of these theaters were cock-pits (the name of “the pit” still suggesting that fact); some
were arenas for bull-baiting and bear-baiting. Compared with the magnificent theaters of
the present day, all were poor and squalid, retaining in their form and arrangements
many traces of the old model – the inn-yard. Most of them were entirely uncovered,
except for a thatched roof over the stage which protected the actors and privileged
spectators from the weather. The audience was exposed to sunshine and to storm.
Plays were acted only in the daytime. The boxes, or “rooms,” as they were styled, were
arranged nearly as in the present day; but the musicians, instead of being placed in the
orchestra, were in a lofty gallery over the stage.

In early English theatres there was a total absence of painted or movable

scenery, and the parts for women were performed by men or boys, actresses being as
yet unknown. A few screens of cloth or tapestry gave the actors the opportunity of
making their exits and entrances; a placard, bearing the name of Rome, Athens,
London, or Florence, as the case might be, indicated to the audience the scene of the
action. Certain typical articles of furniture were used. A bed on the stage suggested a
bedroom; a table covered with tankards, a tavern; a gilded chair surmounted by a
canopy, and called “a state,” a palace; an altar, a church; and so on. A permanent
wooden structure like a scaffold, erected at the back of the stage, represented objects
according to the requirements of the piece, such as the wall of a castle or a besieged
city, the outside of a house, or a position enabling one of the actors to overhear others
without being seen himself.

The poverty of the theatre was among the conditions of excellence which
stimulated the Elizabethan dramatist. He could not depend upon the painter of scenes
for interpretation of the play, and therefore was constrained to make his thought
vigorous and his language vivid. The performance began early in the afternoon, and
was announced by flourishes of a trumpet. Black drapery hung around the stage was
the symbol of tragedy; and rushes strewn on the stage enabled the best patrons of the
company to sit upon the floor. Dancing and singing took place between the acts; and, as
a rule, a comic ballad, sung by a clown with accompaniment of tabor and pipe and
farcical dancing closed the entertainment.

Notwithstanding the social discredit attached to the actor, the drama reached
some popularity, and the profession was so lucrative, that it soon became the common
resort of literary genius in search of employment. This department of our literature
passed from infancy to maturity in a single generation. Twenty years after the
appearance of the first rude tragedy, the English theatre entered upon a period of
splendour without parallel in the literature of any other country. This was mainly the
work of a small band of poets, whose careers began at about the same time. This
sudden development of the drama was largely due to the pecuniary success of the new
and popular amusement. The generous compensation for such literary work tempted
authors to write dramas.

TEXT D

1. Pre-read about the following issues:

 Mary I Tudor’s reign: home policy

 The Elizabethan era: the golden age in English history
 The history of religion in Great Britain
 The Church of England

2. Find the English equivalents to the following words and expressions in the
text. Prepare sentences in Russian with these words and expressions for your
group mates to translate.
бродяга, непристойный, развиваться с удивительной (невероятной) скоростью,
городские власти, без чьего-либо согласия, обновлять, самое большее, светский
человек (джентльмен, щеголь), сразу завоевал любовь публики, распространение
идей, держать под контролем, искаженные сцены.

3. Match the paragraphs with the corresponding titles.

1. Performances
2. Regulation and licensing of plays
3. Objections to playhouses
4. Playhouses
5. Composition and ownership of plays
6. Companies of actors

4. Comment on the following issues:

1. the difficulties connected with the authorship and licensing of plays;

2. Elizabeth`s policy with respect to drama;
3. the social status of actors;
4. peculiarities of playhouses and performances.

5. Why are the following dates significant for the history of British drama?

1574, 1576, 1598, 1599, 1613,

6. Write the summary of each paragraph. Mind the rules of summary writing.

7. Write an outline of the text expanding the given titles. With the use of the
outline give a lecture on the topic “ELIZABETHAN PLAYHOUSES, ACTORS, AND
AUDIENCES” to the audience of:

o drama students
o tourists visiting Great Britain
o primary school children

In your lecture stress the words which may present interest to the listeners or
cause difficulties, pay attention to drama terms, clear up some problematic
issues.

ELIZABETHAN PLAYHOUSES, ACTORS, AND AUDIENCES

The Elizabethan era was a time associated with Queen Elizabeth I's reign (1558–1603)
and is often considered to be the golden age in English history. It was the height of the
English Renaissance and saw the flowering of English poetry, music and literature. This
was also the time during which Elizabethan theatre flourished, and William
Shakespeare and many others composed plays that broke free of England's past style
of plays and theatre. It was an age of exploration and expansion abroad.

The theatre as a public amusement was an innovation in the social life of the
Elizabethans, and it immediately took the general fancy. Like that of Greece or Spain, it
developed with amazing rapidity. London's first theater was built when Shakespeare
was about twelve years old; and the whole system of the Elizabethan theatrical world
came into being during his lifetime. The great popularity of plays of all sorts led to the
building of playhouses both public and private, to the organization of innumerable
companies of players both amateur and professional, and to countless difficulties
connected with the authorship and licensing of plays. Companies of actors were kept at
the big baronial estates of Lord Oxford, Lord Buckingham and others. Many strolling
troupes went about the country playing wherever they could find welcome. They
commonly consisted of three, or at most four men and a boy, the latter to take the
women's parts. They gave their plays in pageants, in the open squares of the town, in
the halls of noblemen and other gentry, or in the courtyards of inns.

1. __________________________

The control of these various companies soon became a problem to the

community. Some of the troupes, which had the impudence to call themselves
"Servants" of this or that lord, were composed of low characters, little better than
vagabonds, causing much trouble to worthy citizens. The sovereign attempted to
regulate matters by granting licenses to the aristocracy for the maintenance of troupes
of players, who might at any time be required to show their credentials. For a time it was
also a rule that these performers should appear only in the halls of their patrons; but this
requirement, together with many other regulations, was constantly ignored. The
playwrights of both the Roman and the Protestant faith used the stage as a sort of
forum for the dissemination of their opinions; and it was natural that such practices
should often result in quarrels and disturbances. During the reign of Mary*, the rules
were strict, especially those relating to the production of such plays as The Four P's, on
the ground that they encouraged too much freedom of thought and criticism of public
affairs. On the other hand, during this period the performance of the mysteries was
urged, as being one of the means of teaching true religion.

Elizabeth granted the first royal patent to the Servants of the Earl of Leicester in
1574. These "Servants" were James Burbage and four partners; and they were
empowered to play "comedies, tragedies, interludes, stage-plays and other such-like" in
London and in all other towns and boroughs in the realm of England; except that no
representation could be given during the time for Common Prayer*, or during a time of
"great and common Plague in our sad city of London." Under Elizabeth political and
religious subjects were forbidden on the stage.

2. __________________________

In the meantime, respectable people and officers of the Church* frequently made
complaint of the growing number of play-actors and shows. They said that the plays
were often lewd and profane, that play-actors were mostly vagrant, irresponsible, and
immoral people; that taverns and disreputable houses were always found in the
neighborhood of the theaters, and that the theater itself was a public danger in the way
of spreading disease. The streets were overcrowded after performances; beggars and
loafers infested the theater section, crimes occurred in the crowd, and prentices played
truant in order to go to the play. These and other charges were constantly being
renewed, and in a measure they were all justly founded. Elizabeth's policy was to
compromise. She regulated the abuses, but allowed the players to thrive. One order for
the year 1576 prohibited all theatrical performances within the city boundaries; but it
was not strictly enforced. The London Corporation generally stood against the players;
but the favor of the queen and nobility, added to the popular taste, in the end proved too
much for the Corporation. Players were forbidden to establish themselves in the city, but
could not be prevented from building their playhouses just across the river, outside the
jurisdiction of the Corporation and yet within easy reach of the play-going public.

This compromise, however, did not end the criticism of the public. Regulations
and restrictions were constantly being imposed or renewed; and, no doubt, as
constantly broken. In the end this intermittent hostility to the theater acted as a sort of
beneficent censorship. The more unprincipled of the actors and playwrights were held in
check by the fear of losing what privileges they had, while the men of ability and genius
found no real hindrance to their activity. Whatever the reason, the English stage was far
purer and more wholesome than either the French or Italian stage in the corresponding
era of development. However much in practice the laws were evaded or broken, the
drama maintained a comparatively manly and decent standard.

3. __________________________

In 1578 six companies were granted permission by special order of the queen to
perform plays. They were the Children of the Chapel Royal, Children of Saint Paul's, the
Servants of the Lord Chamberlain, Servants of Lords Warwick, Leicester, and Essex.
The building of the playhouses outside the city had already begun in 1576.

This banishment was not a misfortune, but one of the causes of immediate
growth. There was room for as many theaters as the people desired; a healthy rivalry
was possible. In Shoreditch were built the Theater and the Curtain. At Blackfriars* the
Servants of Lord Leicester had their house, modeled roughly after the courtyard of an
inn, and built of wood. Twenty years later it was rebuilt by a company which numbered
Shakespeare among its members. In the meantime, the professional actor gained
something in the public esteem, and occasionally became a recognized and solid
member of society. Theatrical companies were gradually transformed from irregular
associations of men dependent on the favor of a lord, to stable business organizations;
and in time the professional actor and the organized company triumphed completely
over the stroller and the amateur.

4. __________________________

The number of playhouses steadily increased. Besides the three already

mentioned, there were in Southwark* the Hope, the Rose, the Swan, and Newington
Butts, on whose stage The Jew of Malta*, The Taming of the Shrew*, and Tamburlaine*
had their premieres. At the Red Bull* some of John Heywood`s* plays appeared. Most
famous of all were the Globe, built in 1598 by Richard Burbage*, and the Fortune, built
in 1599. The Globe was hexagonal without, circular within, a roof extending over the
stage only. The audience stood in the yard, or pit, or sat in the boxes built around the
walls. Sometimes the young gallants sat on the stage. The first Globe was burned in
1613 and rebuilt by King James and some of his noblemen. It was this theater which, in
the latter part of their career, was used by Shakespeare and Burbage in summer. In
winter they used the Blackfriars in the city. At the end of the reign of Elizabeth there
were eleven theaters in London, including public and private houses. Various members
of the royal family were the ostensible patrons of the new companies. The boys of the
choirs and Church schools were trained in acting; and sometimes they did better than
their elders.
 5. __________________________

Scholars and critics have inherited an almost endless number of literary puzzles
from the Elizabethan age. A play might be written, handed over to the manager of a
company of actors, and produced with or without the author's name. In many instances
the author forgot or ignored all subsequent affairs connected with it. If changes were
required, perhaps it would be given to some well known playwright to be "doctored"
before the next production. Henslowe*, who had an interest in several London theaters,
continuously employed playwrights, famous and otherwise, in working out new,
promising material for his actors. Most dramatists of the time served an apprenticeship,
in which they did anything they were asked to do. Sometimes they made the first draft of
a piece which would be finished by a more experienced hand; sometimes they
collaborated with another writer; or they gave the finishing touches to a new play; or
revamped a Spanish, French, or Italian piece in an attempt to make it more suitable for
the London public.

The plays were the property, not of the author, but of the acting companies.
Aside from the costly costumes, they formed the most valuable part of the company's
capital. The parts were learned by the actors, and the manuscript locked up. If the piece
became popular, rival managers often stole it by sending to the performance a clerk
who took down the lines in shorthand. Neither authors nor managers had any protection
from pirate publishers, who frequently issued copies of successful plays without the
consent of either. Many cases of missing or mutilated scenes, faulty lines or confused
grammar may be laid to the door of these copy brigands. In addition to this, after the
play had had a London success, it was cut down, both in length and in the number of
parts, for the use of strolling players - a fact which of course increased the chances of
mutilation.

6. __________________________

Public performances generally took place in the afternoon, beginning about three
o'clock and lasting perhaps two hours. Candles were used when daylight began to fade.
The beginning of the play was announced by the hoisting of a flag and the blowing of a
trumpet. There were playbills, those for tragedy being printed in red. Often after a
serious piece a short farce was also given; and at the close of the play the actors, on
their knees, recited an address to the king or queen. The price of entrance varied with
the theater, the play, and the actors; but it was roughly a penny to sixpence for the pit,
up to half a crown for a box. A three-legged stool on the stage at first cost sixpence
extra; but this price was later doubled.

The house itself was not unlike a circus, with a good deal of noise and dirt.
Servants, grooms, prentices and mechanics jostled each other in the pit, while more or
less gay companies filled the boxes. Women of respectability were few, yet sometimes
they did attend; and if they were very careful of their reputations they wore masks. On
the stage, which ran far out into the auditorium, would be seated a few of the early
gallants, playing cards, smoking, waited upon by their pages; and sometimes eating
nuts or apples and throwing things out among the crowd. At first there was little music,
but soon players of instruments were added to the company. The stage was covered
with straw or rushes. There may have been a painted wall with trees and hedges, or a
castle interior with practicable furniture. A placard announced the scene. Stage
machinery seems never to have been out of use, though in the early Elizabethan days it
was probably primitive. The audience was near and could view the stage from three
sides, so that no "picture" was possible, as in the tennis-court stage of Paris. Whatever
effects were gained were the result of the gorgeous and costly costumes of the actors,
together with the art and skill with which they were able to invest their roles. The inn-
court type of stage required a bold, declamatory method in acting and speaking; and
these requirements were no doubt speedily reflected in the style of the playwrights.

England was the last of the European countries to accept women on the stage. In
the year 1629 a visiting company of French players gave performances at Blackfriars,
with actresses. An English writer of the time called these women "monsters"; and the
audience would have none of them. They were hissed and "pippin-pelted" from the
stage. Boy actors were immensely popular, and the schools were actually the training
ground for many well-known comedians and tragedians. The stigma of dishonor rested,
however, upon the whole profession, playwrights, players, and on the theater itself. The
company in the pit was rough, likely to smell of garlic and to indulge in rude jests. The
plays were often coarse and boisterous, closely associated with bear-baiting and cock-
fighting. Playwrights and actors belonged to a bohemian, half-lawless class. The
gallants who frequented the play led fast lives, and were constantly charged with the
corruption of innocence.

Comparison between an Elizabethan and an Athenian performance affords

interesting contrasts and similarities. The Athenian festival was part of an important
religious service, for which men of affairs gave their time and money. Every sort of
government support was at its disposal, and manuscripts were piously preserved. All
this was contrary to the practice of the Elizabethans, who tried to suppress the shows,
lost many of their most precious manuscripts, and banished the plays to a place outside
the city walls. In both countries, however, the audiences were made up of all classes of
people who freely expressed their liking or disapproval. In each country the period of
dramatic activity followed close upon the heels of great military and naval victories; and
the plays of both countries reflect the civil and national pride.

TEXT E

1. Explain the following words and expression from the text. Translate them into
Russian:

witticism, in the full tide of one`s success, exert influence upon smb, an ardent lover, be
almost beyond recognition, refurbish, acquire a political slant, bombastic sentiments,
strutting figures, a hilarious burlesque, scurrilous, an overblown style, profligate,
busybody, denunciation, lewdness, wrought up.

2. Fill in the prepositions:

1. He was wrought up _______ the coming conference.

2. Mike is steeped _______ science – he is writing a thesis.
3. Teaching is Mary`s vocation, she has a tender heart _______ children.
4. She gave in _______ the face of public opposition.
5. He felt inferior _______ them.

3. Which of the problems enumerated below are touched upon in the text and
which are not? Which other problems, besides those mentioned below, are dealt
with in the text? What are the arguments and facts which the author puts forward
in order to support his point of view?

WOMEN PLAYWRIGHTS

PARODY OF HEROIC DRAMA

BRITISH PANTOMIME

DISAPPEARANCE OF NATIONAL TYPES

NATURE OF RESTORATION TRAGEDY

COLLIER'S ATTACK ON THE STAGE

PERSISTENCE OF ELIZABETHAN PLAYS

3. Answer the questions:

 What was Restoration drama blamed for by the puritans?

 In what way did Restoration drama differ from the Elizabethan one?
 What is the name of Davenant known for?
 Why did Restoration drama acquire a political slant?
 What was the national type of play substituted for?
 What was characteristic of Restoration comedies?
 What play is noted as marking the entrance of women upon the English stage?

4. Speak about Restoration drama with the use of mindmaps (A mind map is a
diagram used to represent words, ideas, tasks, or other items linked to and arranged
around a central key word or idea. Mind maps are used to generate, visualize, structure,
and classify ideas, and as an aid in study, organization, problem solving, decision
making, and writing. The elements of a given mind map are arranged intuitively
according to the importance of the concepts, and are classified into groupings,
branches, or areas, with the goal of representing semantic or other connections
between portions of information. Mind maps may also aid recall of existing memories.) It
may look like this:
 RESTORATION* DRAMA

From 1642 onward for eighteen years, the theaters of England remained
nominally closed under the influence of the Puritans. There was of course evasion of
the law; but whatever performances were offered had to be given in secrecy, before
small companies in private houses, or in taverns located three or four miles out of town.
No actor or spectator was safe, especially during the early days of the Puritan rule.
Least of all was there any inspiration for dramatists. In 1660 the Stuart dynasty was
restored to the throne of England. Charles II, the king, had been in France during the
greater part of the Protectorate, together with many of the royalist party, all of whom
were familiar with Paris and its fashions. Thus it was natural, upon the return of the
court, that French influence should be felt, particularly in the theater. In August, 1660,
Charles issued patents for two companies of players, and performances immediately
began. Certain writers, in the field before the civil war, survived the period of theatrical
eclipse, and now had their chance. Among these were Thomas Killigrew* and William
Davenant*, who were quickly provided with fine playhouses.

It will be remembered that great indignation was aroused among the English by
the appearance of French actresses in 1629. London must have learned to accept this
innovation, however, for in one of the semi-private entertainments given during the
Protectorate at Rutland House*, the actress Mrs. Coleman took the principal part. The
Siege of Rhodes, a huge spectacle designed by Davenant in 1656 (arranged in part
with a view of evading the restrictions against theatrical plays) is generally noted as
marking the entrance of women upon the English stage. It is also remembered for its
use of movable machinery, which was something of an innovation.

By the time the theaters were reopened in England the neo-classic standard for
tragedy had been established in France and French playwrights for a time supplied the
English with plots. From this time on every European nation was influenced by, and
exerted an influence upon, the drama of every other nation. Characters, situations,
plots, themes - these things traveled from country to country, always modifying and
sometimes supplanting the home product.

With this influx of foreign drama, there was still a steady production of the
masterpieces of the Elizabethan and Jacobean periods. The diarist Samuel Pepys, an
ardent lover of the theater, relates that during the first three years after the opening of
the playhouses he saw Othello*, Henry IV, A Midsummer Night`s Dream*, two plays by
Ben Jonson*, and others by English playwrights. It must have been about this time that
the practice of "improving" Shakespeare was begun, and his plays were often altered so
as to be almost beyond recognition. From the time of the Restoration actors and
managers, also dramatists, were good royalists; and new pieces, or refurbished old
ones, were likely to acquire a political slant. The Puritans were satirized, the monarch
and his wishes were flattered, and the royal order thoroughly supported by the people of
the stage.

In almost every important respect, Restoration drama was far inferior to the
Elizabethan. Where the earlier playwrights created powerful and original characters, the
Restoration writers were content to portray repeatedly a few artificial types; where the
former were imaginative, the latter were clever and ingenious. The Elizabethan
dramatists were steeped in poetry, the later ones in the sophistication of the fashionable
world. The drama of Wycherley* and Congreve* was the reflection of a small section of
life, and it was like life in the same sense that the mirage is like the oasis. It had polish,
an edge, a perfection in its own field; but both its perfection and its naughtiness now
seem unreal.

The heroes of the Restoration comedies were lively gentlemen of the city,
profligates and loose livers, with a strong tendency to make love to their neighbors'
wives. Husbands and fathers were dull, stupid creatures. The heroines, for the most
part, were lovely and pert, too frail for any purpose beyond the glittering tinsel in which
they were clothed. Their companions were busybodies and gossips, amorous widows or
jealous wives. The intrigues which occupy them are not, on the whole, of so low a
nature as those depicted in the Italian court comedies; but still they are sufficiently
coarse. Over all the action is the gloss of superficial good breeding and social ease.
Only rarely do these creatures betray the traits of sympathy, faithfulness, kindness,
honesty, or loyalty. They follow a life of pleasure, bored, but yawning behind a delicate
fan or a kerchief of lace. Millamant and Mirabell, in Congreve's Way of the World*, are
among the most charming of these Watteau figures*.

Everywhere in the Restoration plays are traces of European influence. The

national taste was coming into harmony, to a considerable extent, with the standards of
Europe. Eccentricities were curbed; ideas, characters, and story material were
interchanged. The plays, however, were not often mere imitations; in the majority of
them there is original observation and independence of thought. It was this drama that
kept the doors of the theater open and the love of the theater alive in the face of great
public opposition.

Soon after the Restoration women began to appear as writers of drama. Mrs.
Aphra Behn (1640-1689) was one of the first and most industrious of English women
playwrights. Her novel Oroonooko or, the Royal Slave*, is one of the very early novels
in English of the particular sort that possesses a linear plot and follows a biographical
model. It is a mixture of theatrical drama, reportage, and biography that is easy to
recognize as a novel. Also Oroonoko is the first English novel to show Black Africans in
a sympathetic manner. After the death of her husband, Mrs. Behn was for a time
employed by the British government in a political capacity. She was the author of
eighteen plays, most of them highly successful and fully as indecent as any by
Wycherley or Vanbrugh*.

Although the Puritans had lost their dominance as a political power, yet they had
not lost courage in abusing the stage. The most violent attack was made by the
clergyman Jeremy Collier in 1698, in a pamphlet called A Short View of the Immorality
and Profaneness of the English Stage, in which he denounced not only Congreve and
Vanbrugh, but Shakespeare and most of the Elizabethans. Three points especially drew
forth his denunciations: the so-called lewdness of the plays, the frequent references to
the Bible and biblical characters, and the criticism, slander and abuse flung from the
stage upon the clergy. He would not have any Desdemona, however chaste, show her
love before the footlights; he would allow no reference in a comedy to anything
connected with the Church or religion; and especially would he prohibit any portrayal of
the clergy. Next to the men in holy orders, Collier had a tender heart for the nobility. He
said in effect that if any ridicule or satire were to be indulged in, it should be against
persons of low quality. To call a duke a rascal on the stage was far worse than to apply
such an epithet to plain Hodge, almost as libelous as to represent a clergyman as a
hypocrite. Collier made the curiously stupid error of accusing the playwrights of
glorifying all the sins, passions, or peculiarities which they portrayed in their characters.
He had no understanding of the point of view of the literary artist, nor any desire to
understand it.

Collier's attack, unjust as it was, and foolish as certain phases of it appear today,
yet it made an impression. The king, James II, was so wrought up over it that he issued
a solemn proclamation "against vice and profaneness." Congreve and Vanbrugh,
together with other writers, were persecuted, and fines were imposed on some of the
most popular actors and actresses. Dryden*, Congreve and Vanbrugh made an attempt
at a justification of the stage, but it did little good. The public buzzed with the scandal
set forth in The Short View, but did not stay away altogether from the playhouses. The
poets answered the attack not by reformation, but by new plays in which the laughter,
the satire, and the ridicule were turned upon their enemies.

RENDERING:

ТЕАТРАЛЬНАЯ ТЕХНИКА В ЭПОХУ ШЕКСПИРА

Render the text into English.

Театральная техника в эпоху Шекспира — шекспировскому театру

несомненно соответствует система спектакля, первоначально устраивавшегося
труппами бродячих комедиантов на постоялых и гостиничных дворах; эти
гостиничные дворы обычно представляли собой здание, обнесенное по второму
этажу открытым ярусом-балконом, по которому располагались комнаты и входы в
них. Бродячая труппа, въехав в такой двор, у одного из прямоугольников стен его
устраивала сцену; во дворе и на балконе располагались зрители.

Сцена устраивалась в виде дощатого помоста на козлах, часть которого

выходила на открытый двор, а другая, задняя, оставалась под балконом. С
балкона опускалась завеса. Таким образом сразу образовались три площадки:
передняя — впереди балкона, задняя — под балконом за завесой и верхняя —
самый балкон над сценой. Этот же принцип положен и в основу переходной
формы английского театра XVI, начала XVII веков.

Первый публичный стационарный театр был сооружен в Лондоне (вернее за

Лондоном, вне городской черты, так как в черте города устройство театров не
разрешалось) в 1576 актёрской семьей Бэрбеджей. Театр Бэрбеджей, — будем
его называть шекспировским или елизаветинским театром, — не знает ещё
зрительного зала, а знает зрительный двор (yard), как реминисценцию
гостиничных дворов. Такой открытый, не имеющий крыши зрительный двор,
обносился галереей или двумя галереями. Сцена покрывалась крышей и
представляла собой те же три площадки гостиничного двора.

Передняя часть сцены вклинялась почти на треть в зрительный двор —

стоячий партер (осуществлявший таким образом буквально свое название «par
terre» — на земле). Наполнявшая партер демократическая часть публики густым
кольцом окружала и подмостки сцены. Более привилегированная,
аристократическая часть публики располагалась, — лежа и на табуретках, — на
самой сценической площадке по краям её. История театра этого времени
отмечает постоянную вражду и перебранку, иногда переходившую даже в драку,
этих двух групп зрителей. Классовая вражда ремесленного и рабочего партера к
аристократии сказывалась здесь довольно шумно. Вообще, той тишины, какую
знает наш зрительный зал, в театре Шекспира не было.

Задняя часть сцены отделялась раздвижным занавесом. Там обычно

исполнялись интимные сцены (например, в спальне Дездемоны), там же играли,
когда нужно было сразу быстро перенести действие в другое место и показать
действующее лицо в новом положении (например, в драме Марло «Тамерлан»
есть ремарка: «занавес отдернут, и Зенократа лежит в постели, Тамерлан,
сидящий возле неё», или в «Зимней сказке» Шекспира: «Полина отдергивает
занавес и открывает Гермиону, стоящую в виде статуи»).

Передняя площадка была главной сценой, ей же пользовались для

излюбленных тогда в театре шествий, процессий, для показа чрезвычайно
популярного тогда фехтования (сцена в последнем акте «Гамлета»). Здесь же
выступали клоуны, жонглеры, акробаты, развлекавшие публику между сценами
основной пьесы (антрактов в шекспировском театре не было). Впоследствии при
позднейшей литературной обработке шекспировских драм часть этих клоунад-
интермедий и шутовских реплик была включена в печатный текст.

Каждый спектакль заканчивался обязательно «джигой» — особого рода

песенкой с пляской, исполняемой клоуном; сцена могильщиков в «Гамлете» во
времена Шекспира была клоунадой, патетикой её наполнили потом. В
шекспировском театре ещё нет резкой разницы между драматическим актёром и
акробатом, шутом. Правда, эта разница уже вырабатывается, ощущается, она в
становлении. Но грани ещё не стерты. Связь, соединяющая шекспировского
актёра с скоморохом, гистрионом, жонглёром, шутовским «чёртом» средневековой
мистерии, с фарсовым буффоном, ещё не порвана. Вполне понятно, почему
котельщик из «Укрощения строптивой» при слове «комедия» прежде всего
вспоминает фокусы жонглера.

Верхняя сцена употреблялась, когда действие должно было изображаться

логикой событий наверху, например, на стенах крепости («Кориолан»), на балконе
Джульетты («Ромео и Джульетта»). В таких случаях в сценарии имеется ремарка
«наверху». Практиковалась, например, такая планировка — верх изображал
крепостную стену, а отдернутый внизу занавес задней площадки означал
одновременно городские ворота, открываемые перед победителем.

Такой системой театра объясняется и структура шекспировских драм, не

знающих ещё ни деления на акты (деление это было проделано уже после смерти
Шекспира, в изд. 1623), ни точного историзма, ни изобразительного реализма.
Столь характерный для елизаветинских драматургов параллелизм фабул в одной
и той же пьесе объясняется в последнее время своеобразным устройством
сцены, открытой для зрителей с трёх сторон. На этой сцене господствует так
называемый закон «временной непрерывности».

Развитие одной фабулы давало возможность другой как бы продолжаться

«за кулисами», чем заполнялся соответствующий промежуток «театрального
времени» между отрезками данной фабулы. Построенное на коротких активно-
игровых эпизодах действие с условной быстротой переносится с места на место.
В этом сказывается ещё традиция мистериальных сцен.
 Так новый выход того же лица, а то и просто несколько шагов по сцене с
соответствующим текстовым объяснением обозначали уже новое место.
Например в «Много шуму из ничего» Бенедикт говорит мальчику: «у меня в
комнате на окне лежит книга, принеси её сюда, в сад» — это обозначает, что
действие происходит в саду. Иногда в произведениях Шекспира место или время
указано не столь упрощенно, а целым поэтическим описанием его. Это один из
его излюбленных приемов.

Несколько шагов Ромео с друзьями обозначали, что он перешёл с улицы в

дом. Для обозначения места употреблялись также «титлы» — дощечки с
надписью. Иногда сцена изображала сразу несколько городов, и достаточно было
надписей с названием их, чтобы зритель ориентировался в действии. С
окончанием сцены действующие лица уходили с площадки, иногда даже
оставались — так, например, замаскированные гости, идущие по улице в дом
Капулетти («Ромео и Джульетта»), не уходили со сцены, а появление лакеев с
салфетками означало, что они уже пришли и находятся в покоях Капулетти.

Драма в это время не рассматривалась как «литература». Драматург за

авторством не гнался, да и не всегда это было возможно. Традиция анонимной
драмы шла от средневековья чрез бродячие труппы и продолжала ещё
действовать. Так имя Шекспира появляется под названиями его пьес только в
1593. То, что писал театральный драматург, он не предназначал для печати, а
имел в виду исключительно театр.

Значительная часть драматургов елизаветинской эпохи была прикреплена к

определенному театру и брала на себя обязательство доставлять этому театру
репертуар. Конкуренция трупп требовала огромного количества пьес. За период с
1558 по 1643 количество их исчисляют в Англии цифрой свыше 2 000 названий.

Очень часто одну и ту же пьесу пользует ряд трупп, переделывая каждую на

свой лад, приспособляя её к труппе. Анонимное авторство исключало
литературный плагиат, и речь могла идти только о «пиратских» способах
конкуренции, когда пьесу крадут на слух, по приблизительной записи и т. п. И в
шекспировском творчестве мы знаем ряд пьес, являвшихся использованием
сюжетов ранее существовавших драм. Таковы, например, «Гамлет», «Король
Лир» и другие.

Публика имени автора пьесы и не требовала. Это в свою очередь вело к

тому, что написанная пьеса являлась только «основой» для спектакля, авторский
текст во время репетиций переделывался как угодно. Выступления шутов авторы
часто обозначают ремаркой «говорит шут», предоставляя содержание шутовской
сцены театру или импровизации самого шута. Автор продавал свою рукопись
театру и в дальнейшем уже никаких авторских претензий и прав на неё не
заявлял. Весьма распространена была совместная и тем самым очень быстрая
работа нескольких авторов над одной пьесой, например, одни разрабатывали
драматическую интригу, другие — комическую часть, выходки шутов, третьи
изображали всякого рода «страшные» эффекты, которые были тогда очень в
ходу, и т. д.

К концу эпохи, в начале XVII века, уже начинает пробиваться на сцену

литературная драма. Отчужденность между «учёными» авторами, светскими
«дилетантами» и профессиональными драматургами становится все меньше.
Литературные авторы (например, Бен Джонсон) начинают работать для театра,
театральные драматурги в свою очередь все чаще начинают печататься.

TRANSLATION: ТЕАТР В АНГЛИИ

Translate the text into English.

Вильям Шекспир сыграл немаловажную роль в развитии английского

театра. Он сумел суммировать все достижения драматургической культуры нового
и древнего времени. Он помог раскрыть внутренний человеческий мир с помощью
культуры театра. Английский театр благодаря Шекспиру начал свою стремительно
развивающуюся деятельность и известен до сих пор. Театр Шекспира больше
склонялся к реализму. Шекспир имел народные и национальные традиции,
которым не изменял. Несмотря на противоречие времен, английский театр
развивался стремительно быстро и имел немалый успех у зрителя.

Английский театр развился позже, чем испанский и итальянский, однако это

не помешало ему стать достоянием английской культуры. Зрелость этого театра
была несоизмерима с его молодостью. Английский театр сегодня - это огромный
шаг к мировой культуре.

Немалую роль в развитии театра играет, конечно, драматургия. Она

зародилась, после того как в Англию пришло христианство, это было в 7 веке.
Ранее драматургию можно было найти лишь в весенних праздниках, когда
провожали зиму и встречали лето. Англичане проводили представления, которые
драматургией назвать трудно. Однако позже драматургия развилась на столько,
что английский театр трудно без неё представить.

Вместе с академической драматургией возникла демократическая

драматургия. Этот вид драматургии позволяет играть комичные роли вперемешку
с трагическими. В мире английский театр занимает позицию одного из самых
лучших. Многие люди мечтают побывать в английском театре.

Шекспир сыграл огромную роль для развития театра не только в Англии, но

и в других странах. Его творчество до сих пор обыгрывается во многих театрах
мира. Этот человек сделал большой вклад в культурное развитие Англии.

В 1688-1689 годах в Англии был буржуазный переворот, который дал толчок

для развития эпохи Просвещения. Во многих театрах постановки учили зрителя
нравственности. Это привело к тому, что в Англии пуритане начали бороться за
реформацию театра. Они хотели искоренить безнравственность и сделать
английский театр местом, которое было бы полезно для зрителя. В то время театр
играл немаловажную роль в политических вопросах. Именно через театр людям
пытались навязать свою точку зрения и заставить их идти тем курсом, которое
было выгодно правительству. Однако со временем такая стратегия стала просто
бессмысленной и театр начал превращаться в культурное заведение для отдыха.

В конце 18 века в английских театрах появился новый жанр пьес. Это были
ужасы и кошмары. Людям нравилось ходить на такие спектакли. Создатель этого
жанра Хорас Уолпол сделал шаг к развитию нового жанра - романтизма.
 В 19 веке в английский театр вернули страсть, значительность героев и
романтизм.

Английский театр и теперь имеет славу во всем мире. Если Вы будете в

Англии, обязательно посетите один из этих прекрасных театров.

 SURF THE NET

Search for an original British play of the previous centuries. Choose a part of it and
rewrite it to make it sound up-to-date and of current interest. Stage the play.

PART 3 THEATRE TODAY

TEXT A

1. You are going to read the text on British theatre. Before reading comment on
the following:

 Laurence Olivier
 John Gielgud
 the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden
 The Royal National Theatre
 The Royal Shakespeare Company
 Barbican Centre
 Thomas Stearns Eliot
 The National Youth Theatre in London

2. Nine sentences (or parts of sentences) have been removed. Choose among the
sentences A – J the one which fits each gap (1 - 9). There is one extra sentence.
Check yourself.

A. The tickets are not hard to get but

they are very expensive.
B. The theatre-goers warmly
received the production of Thomas Stearns
Eliot’s play “Murder in the Cathedral”.
C. Its centre is, of course, London,
where successful plays can sometimes run
without a break for many years.
D. …well-known television actors,
though they might make the most of their
money in this latter medium, continues to
see themselves as first and foremost theatre
actors.
E. …a safe opportunity to look
behind the mask of accepted social
behaviour.
F. For example, every town in the
country has at least one ‘amateur dramatics’
society, which regularly gives performances
and charges no more than enough to cover
its costs
G. Broadway, when looking for its
next blockbuster musical, pays close
attention to London productions.
H. There many theatres and theatre
companies for young people: the National
Youth Theatre and the Young Vic Company
in London, the Scottish Youth Theatre in
Edinburgh.
I. David Garrick and some other
actors` acting became naturalistic.

3. Answer the following questions:

 Why are the British so proud of W. Shakespeare? Why do

they call him “the Swan of Avon”?
 What plays written by Shakespeare do you know? What
Shakespeare’s play should be staged at the theatres for
young people?
 What kinds of plays does the Royal Shakespeare Company produce?
 What prominent English actors of the past and present do you know? How many
of them started their acting career at the theatre?
 Are there any theatres for young people in England?
 There is no special repertory for young people at the theatres, is there?
 How can one improve the situation with theatres in small towns?
 How can one make a theatrical production the longest-running?
 Are there any longest-running theatrical productions in Russia?
 What Russian person could be compared to Shakespeare in theatrical art?

BRITISH THEATRE TODAY

Interest in the arts in Britain used to be largely confined to small elite. Nowadays
far more people read books, visit art galleries. Go to the theatre and attend concerts.

The theatre has always been very strong in Britain. 1.____. As they say: “They
ran and ran!” In the second half of the XXth century, the two longest-running theatrical
productions have been “The Mousetrap” (from a novel by Agatha Christie) and the
comedy ‘No Sex, please, we’re British”. Both played continuously for more than fifteen
years.

Britain is one of the world’s major theatre centres. 2.____. Many British actors
and actresses have the world fame. They are Dame Peggy Ashcroft, Glenda Jackson,
Laurence Olivier, John Gielgud an others.

But every large town in the country has its theatres. Even small towns often have
‘repertory’ theatres, where different plays are performed for short periods by the same
group of professional actors (a repertory company). Besides, many people are
enthusiastically involved in British theatre with a more or less amateur or part-time
status. 3.___. Especially drama is popular with people of all ages.
 Now Britain has about 300 professional theatres. Some of them are privately
owned. 4.___ Regular seasons of opera and ballet are given at the Royal Opera House,
Covent Garden in London. The Royal National Theatre stages modern and classical
plays. The Royal Shakespeare Company produces plays mainly by Shakespeare and
his contemporaries when it performs in Stratford – on Avon, and modern plays in its two
auditoria in the City’s Barbican Centre.

There are over 200 theatres in London, a quarter of which is in Westminster’s

West End. Many other cities and large towns have at least one theatre.

5.___. The National Youth Theatre, which stages classical plays mainly by
Shakespeare and modern plays about youth, was on tour in Russia in 1989 for the first
time. 6.___ Many famous English actors started their careers in the National Youth
Theatre. Among them Timothy Dalton.

It seems that the conventional format of the theatrical play gives the
undemonstrative British people 7.___. The country’s most successful and respected
playwrights are usually those who explore the darker side of the personality and of
personal relationships (albeit often through comedy).

British theatre has such a fine acting tradition that Hollywood is forever raiding its
talent for people to star in films. British television does the same thing. Moreover, 8.___.
In short, British theatre is much admired. As a consequence, it is something that British
actors are proud of. Many of the most 9.___.

LISTENING: PRIVATE LIVES

PRE-LISTENING TASK

Task 1. Match a word with its meaning.

Determined место сбора, место

встречи
To retrace one`s королевская ложа на
steps to smth главном ярусе
Forthright откровенный,
прямолинейный
Venue стеклянный и железный
купол/ свод
To be very into ползать под сценой
smth
To make the most быть полностью
of smth поглощенным ч-л
Glass and iron нагруженные/груженные
dome фургоны
Grand Tier box тканая проволочная сетка
Summer fetes реклама; хвалебные
комментарии,
предваряющие
выступление
Articulated trucks шнуры осветительных
приборов
Kit громкоговоритель, рупор
To install smth переходить, пробираться
To rig chain hoists устанавливать
оборудование
Lighting tresses летние празднества /
праздники
Speaker транспарант, лозунг
To crawl about чистить, сносить,
underneath the уничтожать
stage
A wire gauze решительный
To wade through использовать наилучшим
образом
A ticker tape сумка с инструментами,
комплект деталей
Streamer серпантин, конфетти
To sweep smth up снаряжать/оснащать,
подготавливать
подъемники на цепях
Build-up восстанавливать в
памяти, проследить путь

Task 2. Make up a story proposing sentences one by one. Each sentence should
contain at least one word/expression mentioned above.

Task 3. According to the list of words above predict what the text you are going
to listen will be about.

WHILE-LISTENING TASK

Listen to the text and fill in the missing parts. Answer the questions whenever
necessary.

Mo Crow, a show manager at the Royal Albert Hall in London

In Private lives today we meet Mo Crow. Mo is 34 years old, and she was born in
a small village in the west of England.

Mo`s dream was to work in _______.

Now, she’s a _______ at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

Mo _______ from working hard for her A level exams in her final year at school, to
going on to drama college, and becoming a show manager at one of Britain’s most
magnificent ________.

Mo and her friends _______ in London.

 The Royal Albert Hall`s shows include _______.

From the gallery at the Royal Albert Hall one can get a wonderful view of the
whole of the auditorium of the _______.

The Albert Hall`s vast _______ is a glorious space, which can hold over 5,000
people. It’s like an _______ with a huge glass and iron _______ high above the
auditorium and stage.

What is it? ________________

A very elegant _______ area - bought by Queen Victoria over 125 years ago,
and now owned by the present Queen, Queen Elizabeth II. It’s a double-sized Grand
Tier box, it has twenty seats in it. Today, we have an event on called “Youth Makes
Music” and the orchestra are on the stage.

Many villages in Britain, like the one Mo grew up in, have a village hall where
local events take place - such as summer _______.

The Royal Albert Hall is a grand-scale venue because _______.

What kinds of events does Mo Crow manage?

______________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________

Mo’s job consists in:

 finding out _______ what _______

 _______
 informs _______ at the hall how the show will be managed.

Mo`s colleague, Adrian Bray, is the _______ at the Royal Albert Hall. He’s in
charge of what he calls the “butch side” of putting on events – _______.

Put Adrian Bray`s routine work in the correct order

 collapse back down into the Show Management office to have a cup of tea and
say, “There, another show well done!”.
 rush up to the roof and rig chain hoists to pick up the lighting tresses and the
speakers.
 crawl about underneath the stage, laying in cables that allow the lighting
controller to operate the lights, the sound controller to operate the sound etc. etc.
 three or four articulated trucks pull up outside the Royal Albert Hall laden to the
gunwales with kit

What is the ‘Corona’ at the Royal Albert

Hall? _____________________________________________________________
  _______ of the Royal Albert Hall
 it’s a very strong _______ that is 140 feet, or _______ metres above the arena
floor.

The Proms

The Proms is _______ - featuring _______ from all over the world.

The last night of the Proms is like _______, and it ends with _______.

The Promers – is _______.

The last night of the Proms is Adrian’s _______ because he:

 _______ and wades through yards of _______ and party poppers,

 _______ it all up,
 takes all the _______,
 puts all the _______ away.

But it’s the _______ to the Proms - 70-odd shows earlier that’s a very exciting period.

AFTER-LISTENING TASK

Discuss in mini-groups if your child’s dreams concerning studies and career

have become true.

RENDERING: ТЕАТРАЛЬНЫЙ ДЕСАНТ

Render the following text into English.

В Екатеринбург прибыл мощный театральный десант: известные артисты,

искусствоведы, педагоги во главе с народным артистом России Александром
КАЛЯГИНЫМ. В столице Урала проходит III Всероссийский форум «Театр: время
перемен». Помимо гостей из Москвы и Санкт-Петербурга, он собрал несколько
сотен человек из 53 театров Уральского федерального округа – от режиссеров,
директоров и артистов до осветителей, художников и заведующих постановочной
частью.

Еще несколько цифр. В стране 600 государственных театров и примерно

столько же негосударственных, только в УрФО их 60, причем именно
Екатеринбург можно рассматривать как театральную столицу Урала. В среднем у
нас приходится 7 театров на миллион населения, это в два раза выше
общероссийских показателей. За 2008 год показано 7 тысяч спектаклей, на
которых побывало 1,5 миллиона человек: т.е. каждый екатеринбуржец один раз в
год посетил театр (если не Вы, то Ваш сосед – дважды).

Казалось бы, все замечательно, и Александр Колягин отметил, что нашу

ситуацию нельзя охарактеризовать как провинциальную. Однако проблем у
современного театра немало. Это кадры (как ни странно, артистов не хватает,
вакансии закрыты всего наполовину, а еще больше не хватает декораторов,
гримеров и менеджеров), инфраструктура (до сих пор не все даже признанные
коллективы имеют собственную площадку для выступлений) и финансирование.
Стоит и глобальная задача – сохранение и развитие русского репертуарного
театра.

В конце прошлого года мне довелось беседовать с арт-директором

Лейпцигского театра Анри Майером. Как о большой редкости, которой следует
гордиться и непременно сохранять, он говорил о репертуарном театре, каких в
Европе осталось немного, пожалуй, в чистом виде и как система репертуарный
театр сегодня существует только в России. Это наше национальное достояние.
Его дальнейшая жизнь невозможна без поддержки государства. Одна из задач
форума – конструктивный диалог с законодательной и исполнительной властью.

Любимый многими артист Александр Калягин исполнял на форуме

важнейшую в своей жизни роль. Много лет он возглавляет Российский союз
театральных деятелей (СТД). Его активная общественная позиция позволила
решить немало конкретных проблем театральной жизни. В частности, Дом актера
остался в ведомости СТД.

СТД - один из самых творческих союзов (если быть объективным, он самый

активный). По мнению представителя местного отделения СТД Владимира
Мишарина, это связано с коллективным видом данного творчества, а также с тем,
что театральное искусство социально, даже в самых индивидуальных
проявлениях. СТД активно выступает против того, что в стратегический план
развития страны культура вписана как «рынок услуг», наряду с парикмахерскими и
ритуальными услугами и добивается оценки роли культуры как ресурса развития
России, духовного, экологического, экономического, наконец.

(Марина РОМАНОВА, «НАШ ДОМ – НАШ ГОРОД», № 1 от 29.01.2009)

WRITING: REVIEWS

1. Read the following review. What issues is a review supposed to highlight?

2. Underline the epithets used in the review, give their antonyms.

3. Write a review of your own.

The Importance of Being Earnest at Regent's Park  by Charles Spencer

(A delightful open-air production of Oscar Wilde's masterpiece persuades us to see and

hear the play afresh)

The Importance of Being Earnest (1895) is the most perfect high comedy in the
English language. Unfortunately, it has become almost too familiar, so that
connoisseurs are often anticipating or indeed silently mouthing the greatest lines before
they are delivered. Even a play as brilliant as this can lose something of its allure with
repetition.

All credit then to director Irina Brown who in this delightful production persuades
us to see and hear the play afresh. It helps that we are in the open air, even on a grey
and drizzly night, for the breeze, birdsong and rustling leaves banish the feeling that we
are watching a dusty museum piece.
 Brown refuses to stage the play, as is normally the case, as if it were an almost
naturalistic piece of late Victoriana. Wilde’s dialogue is the very reverse of naturalistic -
it is epigrammatic, showily artificial, and blessed with a timeless sense of mischief,
daring and wit that has never been equalled, though Stoppard and Orton have come
close.

The stage in Kevin Knight’s design is dominated by an elegant curving ramp on

which the characters often enter and exit an almost bare white stage. A large mirror
reflects the audience back at itself and an ensemble of servants aggrievedly eavesdrop
on their masters. The cigarette-case argument between Algernon and Jack turns into a
rambunctious physical fight, with chases round, and daring leaps over, a circular table.

In the second act, set outdoors in Wilde’s original, scores of rose blooms cover
the stage through which the cast have carefully to negotiate their moves.

Some might dismiss all this as an infernal liberty with Wilde’s masterpiece. I
believe it is a breath of fresh air that allows us to experience the play anew. The
dazzling, dizzying dialogue in which Wilde treats “all trivial things very seriously and all
the serious things of life with sincere and studied triviality” zings, sings and stings in this
production”.

Dominic Tighe’s Algernon is insufferably and hilariously smug as he wolfs down

cucumber sandwiches while Ryan Kiggell’s Jack brings a delicious booming pomposity
to the stage. Susan Wooldridge, in one of the most preposterous hats I have ever seen,
slyly plays Lady Bracknell as if the old trout were secretly in on the joke of her own
authoritarian outrageousness, wincing as if physically attacked when she hears the
squalid details of lost babies at London railway termini. The famous handbag is merely
the straw that breaks this aristocratic camel’s back. Jo Herbert and Lucy Briggs Owen
duel with lethal verbal panache as Gwendolen and Cecily, the latter bringing a peaches-
and-cream complexion and a palpable sexuality to the stage, the latter a rare quality in
Wilde. And there is touching pathos from Julie Legrand as the bereft Miss Prism.

It is hard to imagine a finer entertainment for an enchanted summer night.

WRITING: THEATRE RECOMMENDATIONS

1. Read theatre recommendations. Comment on the points which such

recommendations should contain to draw audience’s attention.

2. Choose five of them and translate into Russian.

3. Study the repertory of Yekaterinburg theatres. Write 3 recommendations to

make British tourists visiting the city get interested.

Edinburgh Festival 2009: Theatre recommendations

(The best plays to see at this year's Edinburgh Festival)

Optimism

Voltaire’s Candide gets an Australian makeover in this adaptation by Tom Wright. It has,
apparently, become “a cutting-edge commentary on the no-worries bravura of the
Australian swagger” with Aussie comedian Frank Woodley leading a bunch of clowns on
a road trip across five continents. Royal Lyceum Theatre, Aug 15-17.

The Last Witch

Rona Munro’s new play is based on the story of Janet Horne, the last woman to be
executed for witchcraft in Scotland after being accused of making a pact with the devil.
The piece has been especially commissioned for the festival in collaboration with the
Traverse Theatre; it explores the destructive power of fear in small communities. Royal
Lyceum Theatre, Aug 23-29.

Peter and Wendy

New York’s Mabou Mines company, which famously staged Ibsen’s A Doll’s House in a
doll’s house, has come up with this radical new version of J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan in
which a single performer is joined by seven puppeteers and an onstage band to bring
this much-loved tale to life. Royal Lyceum Theatre, Sept 2-5.

A-Team: The Musical

In 1972, a crack commando unit was sent to prison… you probably know the rest. Who
knows what on earth this will be like, but the prospect of seeing Hannibal, Face,
Murdock and B.A. Baracus burst into song in between crafting killer weapons out of
squeezy-bottles and sticky-back plastic is an intriguing one. Gilded Balloon Wine Bar
(0131 622 6552), Aug 5-31.

A British Subject

New play, based on interviews with Mirza Tahir Hussain, who was imprisoned for 18
years in Pakistan, under threat of the death penalty, for the alleged murder of a taxi
driver. Nichola McAuliffe stars. Pleasance Courtyard, Aug 5-30.

Forest Fringe

One of the most buzzing areas of the Fringe – a festival of experimental work, offered
on a pay-nothing or pay-what-you-can basis; companies include Improbable Theatre
and Rotozaza. Forest Fringe, Aug 17-29.

SURF THE NET

 Study the interviews with actors. What questions predominate? Are the answers
to the same questions similar?
 Is it true that a lot of actors are often on the drink or commit suicides?
 They say actresses are frivolous, have many admirers and seldom get married or
get married several times. Do you agree or disagree with the idea? Illustrate you
view.

TASKS FOR INDEPENDENT WORK

1. Do the quizzes.
 QUIZ 1

Give a synonym: to visit the theatre, drama critic, company, the RADA, the RSC, cast,
to produce, new production, to play the female lead.

Give an antonym: the main part.

Use in the sentence:to run, to stage, walking-on part, acting, show, an all-star cast.

Translate into English: репертуар, драматический государственный театр, быть в

репертуаре, художественный руководитель, продюсер, директор, дирекция,
утренний спектакль, фокусы, главная мужская роль, коммерческий театр, прогон,
Театр Эстрады, ТЮЗ, роль.

Translate into Russian: theatre, theatre party, the Taganka Theatre, performance,

compere, auditions.

QUIZ 2

Give a synonym: designer, historical play, ALL TICKETS SOLD, balcony,

to insinuate oneself into a part.

Give an antonym: back stalls.

Use in the sentence: to look the part, appreciative audience, footlights, puppet theatre,
an usher, Honoured Artist.

Translate into English: Народный артист, суфлерская будка, декорации,

драматург, выходить на бис, дебютировать, бельэтаж, бинокль, антракт,
оркестровая яма, свет гасят, заслуженный деятель искусств.

Translate into Russian: star, lightning, straight play.

2. Check yourself for the vocabulary. Find the Russian equivalents for the
following English words and word combinations.

1. a subsidized theatre

a) частный театр,

b) экспериментальный театр,

c) государственный театр,

d) коммерческий театр.

2. auditions

a) акустика,

b) пробы,
 c) репетиции,

d) зрительный зал.

3. cast

a) состав актеров,

b) труппа актеров,

c) список актеров,

d) постановка.

4. management

a) художественный совет,

b) распространитель билетов,

c) дирекция театра,

d) касса.

5. performance

a) режиссер,

b) постановка,

c) спектакль,

d) премьера.

6. a walking-on part

a) участие в массовке,

b) движение по сцене,

c) выдающееся исполнение,

d) роль без слов.

7. to look the part

a) искать роль,

b) искать актера на роль,

c) подходить для роли по внешним данным,

d) увидеть … в роли.

8. stage – designer

a) театральный художник,

b) режиссер,

c) рабочий сцены,

d) декорация.

9. house full

a) ремонт театра закончен,

b) представление началось,

c) вход воспрещен,

d) все билеты проданы.

10. dress circle

a) бельетаж,

b) гримерная,

c) партер,

d) гардероб.

11. stage door

a) вход,

b) дверь на сцену,

c) служебный вход,

d) выход со сцены.

12. a standing ticket

a) постоянный билет,

b) входной билет,

c) приглашение,

d) заказанный билет.
13. flop

a) успех,

b) отзыв,

c) провал,

d) критика.

3. Single out Moscow and St. Petersburg `s theatres from the list below.

Moscow theatres St. Petersburg

theatres
The Theatre of Young Spectators
The Puppet Theatre
The Musical Comedy Theatre

The Moscow Art theatre

The Alexandrinsky Drama Theatre

The Mariinsky Opera and Ballet Theatre

The Sovremennik Theatre

The Tovstonogov Drama Theatre

The Maly Theatre

The Satire Theatre

Russian Private Theatre Concern named after Andrey Mironov

The Taganka Theatre

State Academic Drama Lensovet Theatre

Theatre on Liteiny

Do you know any other Moscow or St. Petersburg’s theatres?

Present any theatre (Russian. foreign, local) according to the following plan:

 The official name of the chosen theatre + the type of the theatre (subsidized or
commercial)
 The history of the chosen theatre
 The emblem of the theatre
 The theatre company (the director, the actors, their honours and awards)
 The types and list of performances run at the theatre
 The zest of the chosen theatre
4. Questions for the round-table:

1. What are the main problems of modern Russian theatre?

2. What is the place of a repertory theatre in Russian theatre?
3. What are the organizations that help Russian theatre to survive?
4. What is the place of the theatre in our society? Is it the type of culture or
just a kind of service?
5. Theater and education. How could they interact?

COMMENTARY

British Theatre History in Brief

The Globe (театр “Глобус”) is a theatre south of the River Thames in London where
William Shakespeare’s plays were first performed. It was destroyed in the 17 th century.
In 1996 an exact copy of this theatre was built in the same place.

Nell Gwynn [gwin] (Нелл Гвинн, 17th c.) was an English actress who became a lover of
King Charles II, often shown in pictures carrying a basket of oranges as she sold
oranges on the streets of London.

David Garrick [‘gxrik] (Дэвид Гарик, 18th c.) was an English actor, playwright, theatre
manager and producer who influenced nearly all aspects of theatrical practice
throughout the 18th century. As an actor, Garrick promoted realistic acting that departed
from the bombastic style. His acting delighted many audiences and his direction of
many of the top actors of the English stage influenced their styles as well.

Henry Irving [‘WviN] (Генри Ирвинг, 19-20th c.) was an English stage actor in the
Victorian era, known as an actor-manager because he took complete responsibility
(supervision of sets, lighting, direction, casting, as well as playing the leading roles) for
season after season at the Lyceum Theatre, establishing himself and his company as
representative of English classical theatre. Known as "The Governor" to those under his
supervision at the Lyceum, he was the first actor to be awarded a knighthood.

The Earliest English Comedies

The Four P's (Четыре П.) is an interlude by John Heywood. The four P's argue their
cases in turn: The Palmer (a pilgrim who has visited the Holy Land) boasts of all the
shrines he has seen. The Pardoner (a man licensed to sell papal indulgences)
questions the value of these pilgrimages, when the Palmer could have found
redemption merely by buying a pardon. The Pothecary (apothecary or pharmacist)
points out that nobody dies in a state of grace without help from him. The Pedlar
questions the need for the other three, whereas he keeps women happy by selling them
trifles. The Pedlar now challenges the other three to a contest in lying. The Pardoner
boasts about his absurd relics and the Pothecary about his fatuous cures, but the
Palmer tops them both by claiming that on all his travels he never saw a woman who
lost her temper.This interlude, intended as an entertainment during a banquet,
represents a link between the medieval morality play and the robust secular drama of
the Elizabethan period. Although there is neither action nor plot development, the
confrontation between the four characters is enlivened with wit, bawdy comments, and
wordplay.
The Plutus [‘plHtqs] (Плутос) is the name of an ancient Greek comedy. Plutus was the
god of wealth. In agrarian Greece he was at first associated purely with bounty of rich
harvests. Later he came to represent wealth in more general terms. In the comedy by
Aristophanes the god is depicted as a blind elder unable to fairly distribute the wealth.
Later being healed Plutus gives the wealth to the poor taking it back from the wealthy
which leads to comic situations when no one is willing to work Thus the gods hire out to
the poor man who has become rich.

Aristophanes [xris’tPfqnJz] (Аристофан) was an Ancient Greek comedian, “the father

of comedy”.

Terence [‘terqns] (Теренций) was an Ancient Rome comedian.

Seneca [‘senikq] (Сенека) was a Roman Stoic philosopher, statesman, dramatist of the

Silver Age of Latin literature.

Plautus [‘plLtqs] (Плавт) was a Roman playwright of the Old Latin period. His
comedies are among the earliest surviving intact works in Latin literature.

The Girl of Andros (Девушка с Андроса) is a comedy by Terence, a Roman

playwright. It was Terence's first play, and he wrote it when he was approximately 19
years old. It was first performed at Rome, about 170 BC. It was also the first of his plays
to be performed post-antiquity, in Florence in 1476.

Nicholas Udall is [‘jHdql] (Николас Юдалл, 16th c.) is an English playwright, translator,

and schoolmaster. The headmaster of Eton College from 1534 and of Westminster from
1555, Udall was well known as a translator. He is credited with writing many plays, of
which only one is extant, Ralph Roister Doister, the first known English comedy. It
marks the emergence of comedy from the medieval morality plays, interludes, and
farces.

Jack Juggler (Джек Джагглер) is the oldest known play written for performance by
children, Jack Juggler is built on a plot first used by Plautus. Jack is a clever young
servant who has been insulted by Jenkin Careaway, a hypocritical servant his age.
Jenkin is sent on an errand by their master, but he spends his time gambling and
stealing apples from the market. When he returns home, Jack, disguised in Jenkin’s
clothing, uses physical intimidation and tricks of logic to convince Jenkin that he (Jack)
is really Jenkin. When their master and mistress return and find that Jenkin has not
accomplished his errand, they punish him for his laziness and for "making up" silly
stories about meeting himself on his way home from the market. By the end of the play,
the viewer feels sympathy for the confused, ill-treated Jenkin, but the play is very funny
and quite enjoyable.

Horace [`hPrqs] (Гораций) was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of
Augustus.

Aristotle [`xristPtl] (Аристотель) was a Greek philosopher, a student of Plato and

teacher of Alexander the Great. His writings cover many subjects, including physics,
metaphysics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric, politics, government, ethics, biology,
and zoology.
George Gascoigne [`gxskOin] (Джордж Гаскойн, 16th c.) was an English poet and
playwright.

Gray's Inn (Грейз Инн) is a London organization of law students and barristers and the
buildings they use, which is one of the four inns of court (Cудебные инны), the four law
societies and their buildings to which an English barrister must belong to.

The Captives (Пленники) is a Latin play by the early Roman playwright Plautus. The
title has been translated as The Captives or The Prisoners, and the plot concerns
slavery and prisoners of war. Although the play contains much broad humor, it is a
relatively serious treatment of significant themes compared to most of Plautus’ other
comedies.

Westminster School (Вестминстер-Скул) is one of the nine oldest prestigious public

schools for boys in London (founded in 1560).

Miles Gloriosus (Хвастливый войн) is the old Greek comedy (literally, "famous or

boastful soldier", in Latin) is a stock character from the comic theatre of ancient Rome,
and variations on this character have appeared in drama and fiction ever since. The
term "Miles Gloriosus" is occasionally applied in a contemporary context to refer to a
posturing and self-deceiving boaster or bully.

Ralph Roister Doister (Ральф Ройстер Дойстер) is a comic play by Nicholas Udall,

generally regarded as the first comedy to be written in the English language. The date
of its composition is disputed, but the balance of opinion suggests that it was written in
about 1553, when Udall was a teacher in London, and was intended to be performed by
his pupils - who were all male, as were all actors at that period. However, it was not
published until 1567, eleven years after its author's death. The plot of the play centres
on a wealthy widow, Christian Custance, who is betrothed to Gawyn Goodluck, a
merchant. Ralph Roister Doister is prompted by a friend, the artful sycophant and
parasite Matthew Merrygreek, to woo Christian Custance but his pompous attempts do
not succeed. Ralph then tries with his friends to break in and take Christian Custance by
force but they are defeated by her servants and run away. The merchant Gawyn arrives
shortly after and the play concludes happily.

Matthew Merigreek (Мэтью Мерригрик) is the central character in Ralph Roister

Doister who is traditionally linked to the parasite characters in Roman plays.

Commedia dell` arte (Italian: "comedy of art", комедия дель арте, или комедия
масок) is a professional form of theatre that began in Italy in the mid-16th century, and
was characterized by masked "types," the advent of the actress, and improvised
performances based on sketches or scenarios. While generally unscripted, the
performances often were based on scenarios that gave some semblance of plot to the
largely improvised format. Conventional plot lines were written on themes of adultery,
jealousy, old age, and love. Many of the basic plot elements can be traced back to the
Roman comedies of Plautus and Terence, some of which were themselves translations
of lost Greek comedies of the fourth century BC.

John Addington Symonds [‘saImqndz] (Джон Аддингтон Саймондс, 19th c.) was an

English poet and literary critic.
Gammer Gurton`s Needle (Иголка кумушки Гертон) is one of the earliest comedies
written in the English language. It is thought to have been produced around 1553.
Unlike its contemporary, Ralph Roister Doister, this play shows no evidence of having
been influenced by Latin comedy, but is uniquely English in tone. The plot centres on
the loss of a needle belonging to Gammer Gurton. It is eventually found when her
husband, Hodge, sits down and discovers it in the seat of his breeches.

Christ's College, Cambridge (Колледж Христа) is a constituent college of the

University of Cambridge.

Henry VIII (Генрих VIII, 28 June 1491 – 28 January 1547) was King of England from 21
April 1509 until his death. He was also Lord of Ireland (later King of Ireland) and
claimant to the Kingdom of France. He is known for his role in the separation of the
Church of England from the Roman Catholic Church. Henry's struggles with Rome
ultimately led to the separation of the Church of England from papal authority.

The Early London Theatres

Leicester [`lestq] (Лестер) is a city and unitary authority area in the East Midlands of
England. It is the county town of Leicestershire.

James Burbage [‘bWbqdZ] (Джеймс Бербедж, 16-17th c.) was an English actor,

theatre impresario, and theatre builder in the English Renaissance theatre. He built The
Theatre, the facility famous as the first permanent dedicated theatre built in England
since Roman times. Burbage seems also to have been involved in the erection of the
Curtain Theatre, and, later, the Blackfriars Theatre.

A Puritan [‘pjVqrItqn] (Пуританин) of 16th and 17th-century England was an associate

of any number of religious groups advocating for more "purity" of worship and doctrine,
as well as personal and group piety. Puritans felt that the English Reformation (he
series of events in 16th century England by which the Church of England first broke
away from the authority of the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church) had not gone far
enough, and that the Church of England was tolerant of practices which they associated
with the Catholic Church.

Surrey [`sAri] (Суррей) is a county in the South East of England.

Totus Mundus agit Histrionem Весь мир играет комедию, весь мир - актеры.

Elizabethan Playhouses, Actors, and Audiences

Mary is used for Mary I Tudor.

The Book of Common Prayer (Книга общих молитв) is a traditional prayer book of
the Church of England. It was finally compiled in 1662.

The Church (Церковь Англии) is used for the Church of England.

Blackfriars [‘blxkfraiqz] (Блэкфрайарз) is small district in the City of London. It is

located on the bank of the River Thames, east of The Temple and southwest of St.
Paul’s Cathedral. In the 16th century, the site held the Blackfriars Playhouse. The area
became a fashionable residential district in the early 17th century.
Southwark [`sADqk] (Саутуорк) is a borough of London, south of the River Thames.
The Globe Theater is in Southwark.

The Jew of Malta (Мальтийский еврей) is a play by Christopher Marlowe, probably

written in 1589 or 1590. Its plot is an original story of religious conflict, intrigue, and
revenge, set against a backdrop of the struggle for supremacy between Spain and the
Ottoman Empire in the Mediterranean that takes place on the island of Malta. The Jew
of Malta is considered to have been a major influence on William Shakespeare's The
Merchant of Venice.

The Taming of the Shrew (Укрощение строптивой) is a comedy by William

Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1590 and 1594.

Tamburlaine (Тамерлан) is the name of a play in two parts by Christopher Marlowe. It

is loosely based on the life of the Central Asian emperor, Timur 'the lame'. Written in
1587 or 1588, the play is a milestone in Elizabethan public drama; it marks a turning
away from the clumsy language and loose plotting of the earlier Tudor dramatists, and a
new interest in fresh and vivid language, memorable action, and intellectual complexity.

The Red Bull (Красный бык) was a playhouse in London during the 17th century. For
more than four decades, it entertained audiences drawn primarily from the northern
suburbs, developing a reputation for rowdy, often disruptive audiences. After Parliament
closed the theatres in 1642, it continued to host illegal performances intermittently, and
when the theatres reopened after the Restoration, it became a legitimate venue again. It
burned in the Great Fire of London, among the last of the Renaissance theatres to fall.

Richard Burbage [‘bWbqdZ] (Ричард Бербедж (16-17th c.) was an actor and theatre

owner. The son of James Burbage.

John Heywood [‘heIwVd] (Джон Хейвуд, 15-16th c.) was an English writer known for

his plays, poems, and collection of proverbs.

Philip Henslowe [‘henslEV] (Филип Хенсло, 16-17th c.) was an Elizabethan theatrical

entrepreneur and impresario. Henslowe's modern reputation rests on the survival of his
"Diary", a primary source for information about the theatrical world of Renaissance
London.

Restoration Drama

The Restoration (Реставрация) (the English Restoration) began in 1660 when the

English, Scottish and Irish monarchies were all restored under Charles II after the
Commonwealth of England that followed the English Civil War. The term Restoration
may apply both to the actual event by which the monarchy was restored, and to the
period immediately following the event.

Thomas Killigrew [‘kiligrH] (Томас Киллигру, 17th c.) was an English dramatist and

theatre manager. He was a witty, dissolute figure at the court of King Charles II of
England.

Sir William Davenant [‘deivnqnt] (Уильям Давенант, 17th c.) was an English poet and
playwright. Along with Thomas Killigrew, Davenant was one of the rare figures in
English Renaissance theatre whose career spanned both the Caroline and Restoration
eras.

Rutland House was formerly the London house of the Earls of Rutland and was leased
by the playwright and impressario Sir William Davenant.

Othello (Отелло) is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. Because of its varied themes

— racism, love, jealousy, and betrayal — Othello is widely felt to remain relevant to the
present day and is often performed in professional and community theatres alike. The
play has also been the basis for numerous operatic, film, and literary adaptations.

A Midsummer Night`s Dream (Сон в летнюю ночь) is a comedy by William

Shakespeare. The play is one of Shakespeare's most popular works for the stage and is
widely performed across the world.

Benjamin Jonson [‘djPnsqn] (Бенджамин Джонсон, 16-17th c.) was an English

Renaissance dramatist, poet and actor. A contemporary of William Shakespeare, he is
best known for his satirical plays, particularly Volpone, The Alchemist, and Bartholomew
Fair, which are considered his best, and his lyric poems. A man of vast reading and a
seemingly insatiable appetite for controversy, Jonson had an unparalleled breadth of
influence on Jacobean and Caroline playwrights and poets.

William Wycherley [`witSqli] (Уильям Уичерли, 17 -18th c.) was an English dramatist

of the Restoration period, best known for the plays The Country Wife and The Plain
Dealer.

William Congreve [kPngrJv] (Уильям Конгрив, 17-18th c.) was an English playwright

and poet.

The Way of the World (Путь мира) is a play written by British playwright William
Congreve. The play is based around the two lovers Mirabell and Millamant. In order for
the two to get married and receive Millamant's full dowry, Mirabell must receive the
blessing of Millamant's aunt, Lady Wishfort. Unfortunately, she is a bitter lady, who
hates Mirabell and wants her own nephew, Sir Wilful, to marry Millamant.

Jean-Antoine Watteau [`wPtEV] (Жан-Антуан Ватто, 17-18th c.) was a French painter

whose some best known subjects were drawn from the world of Italian comedy and
ballet.

Oroonooko, or the Royal Slave (Оруноко, или Царственный раб) is a short novel by

Aphra Behn, published in 1688, concerning the love of its hero, an enslaved African in
Surinam in the 1660s, and the author's own experiences in the new South American
colony.

Sir John Vanbrugh [`vxnbrq] (Джон Ванбру, 17-18th c.) was an English architect and
dramatist. He wrote two argumentative and outspoken Restoration comedies, The
Relapse (1696) and The Provoked Wife (1697), which have become enduring stage
favourites but originally occasioned much controversy.

John Dryden [‘draIdqn] (Джон Драйден, 17th c.) was an influential English poet, literary
critic, translator, and playwright who dominated the literary life of Restoration England to
such a point that the period came to be known in literary circles as the Age of Dryden.
 REFERENCES

1. Голицынский, Ю. Spoken English: пособие по разговорной речи [Текст]:

пособие по устной речи для средних классов гимназий и школ с
углубленным изучением английского языка / Ю. Голицынский. - СПб.: КАРО,
1998. - 415 с.
2. Искусство: музыка, театр, кино [Текст]: энциклопедия / под ред. М.
Аксеновой, В. Володина, Д. Воодихина. – М.: Аванта+, 2006. – 624 с.
3. О Британии кратко [Текст]: книга для чтения на английском языке / авт.-сост.
В. В. Ощепкова, И. И. Шустилова. – М.: Ин. Язык: КДУ, 2007. – 256 с.
4. Поуви, Дж. Пособие по лексике разговорных тем [Текст]: учебное пособие
для пед. ин-тов / Дж. Поуви. – М.: Высшая школа, 1978. – 208 с.
5. Сафонова, М. П. Пособие по разговорному английскому языку [Текст] : учеб.
пособие / М. П. Сафонова. - М. : Высшая школа, 1977. - 120 с.
6. Томахин, Г. Д. Великобритания: литература, кино, музыка, театр, танец,
балет, живопись, скульптура, архитектура, дизайн, СМИ [Текст]:
лингвострановедческий словарь / Г. Д. Томахин. – М.: астрель, 2005. - 336 с.
7. Томахин, Г. Д. Будни и отдых британцев [Текст]: лингвострановедческий
справочник / Г. Д. Томахин. – М.: Просвещение, 2002. – 127 с.
8. English Words and How to Use Them [Текст] / сост. А. Г. Елисеева, И. А.
Ершова. – М.: Foreign Languages Publishing House, 1960.
9. www.telegraph.co.uk
10. www. (Some information about the history of British theatre, renowned
playwrights, characters and names in literature, drama quotations)
11. /theatre.html (Types of plays, world-famous theatres, basic drama terms and
notions)
12.
13. (Books and articles on drama, actor’s technique, dramaturgy, theatre life news,
plays by Russian and foreign playwrights)
14. www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/
15.
16. (Theatre history in general, the history of British theatre, drama world-wide, latest
news about theatre life)
17. (The official web-site of the Theatre Union of the Russian Federation)

APPENDIX 1

HOW TO RENDER AN ARTICLE

A rendering is a text based on the notional compression of the original with the aim of
rendering its general matter.

You should consider the following steps to succeed in your rendering:

1. introduction (includes all necessary background information such as the title and
source of the passage and the main idea);
2. body (develops the main idea);
3. conclusion on the passage;
4. personal opinion of the problem (position) introduced in the passage.

Remember to follow basic principals while rendering:

 1. decide on what should be expressed and what should be suppressed;
2. express facts as plain statements with reference to the author of the article;
3. avoid evaluative words, phrases and statements in the body;
4. avoid figurative language;
5. use link words and introductory to make your rendering sound

The following strategies will assist you in rendering:

1. read the text and grasp the main idea and identify the topic;
2. read the text again and divide it into logical parts;
3. single out the main idea of each part;
4. give a summary of each part;
5. look for minor peculiarities of the article;
6. identify the author’s opinion;
7. state the questions which remained unanswered in the article;
8. speak on the conclusion the author comes to;
9. point out the facts that turned out to be new for you;
10. state what places of the article contradict your former views;
11. express your own point of view on the problem discussed;
12. if it is possible add your tail to the questions which remained unanswered in the
article.

The introductory formulas listed below can be of use:

1. The headline of the article is ... The article is headlined ... The headline of the
article I've read is...
2. The author of the article is...
3. The article is taken from the...
4. The central idea of the article is about... The main idea of the article is... The
article is devoted to... The article deals with... The article touches upon... The
purpose of the article is to give the reader some information on... The aim of the
article is to provide a reader with some material on...
5. The paper (article) discusses some problems relating to (deals with some
aspects of, considers the problem of, presents the basic theory)... The paper
(article) is concerned with (devoted to)…
6. The paper (article) begins with a short discussion on (deals firstly with the
problem of)... The first paragraph deals with...
7. First (at first, at the beginning) the author points out that (notes that, describes)...
8. Then follows a discussion on... Then the author goes on to the problem of... The
next (following) paragraph deals with (presents, discusses, describes)... After
discussing... the author turns to... Next (further, then) the author tries to
(indicates that, explains that)... It must be emphasized that (should be noted that,
is evident that, is clear that, is interesting to note that)...
9. The final paragraph states (describes, ends with)... The conclusion is that the
problem is... The author concludes that (summarizes the)... To sum up (to
summarize, to conclude) the author emphasizes (points out, admits that...)
Finally (In the end) the author admits (emphasizes) that...
10. In my opinion (To my mind, I think)... The paper (article) is interesting (not
interesting), of great importance (of no importance), valuable (invaluable), up-to-
date (out-of-date), useful (useless)......
 It would be a good idea to link ideas by means of discursive words and
phrases: first, firstly, first of all, to start with, to begin with, secondly, thirdly, moreover,
in addition, finally, lastly, not only…but also, on the one hand, on the other hand, as a
result, for this reason, therefore, thus, because of this, in consequence however,
nevertheless, in spite of, despite this, even though, for example, for instance, such as,
in my opinion, to my mind, as I see it, I believe (that), some people believe that,
according to, it is said (that), to conclude, in summary, to sum up, in conclusion, to
conclude.

Учебное издание

Овечкина Юлия Рафаиловна, Роготнева Надежда Сергеевна

Theatre

Театр

Учебное пособие

МЕТОДИЧЕСКОЕ ПОСОБИЕ ПО ПРАКТИКЕ

ОСНОВНОГО ИНОСТРАННОГО ЯЗЫКА (АНГЛИЙСКИЙ)

ДЛЯ СТУДЕНТОВ 3КУРСА

Подписано в печать _______ . Формат 60 x 84/16 ________

Бумага для множительных аппаратов. Печать на ризографе.

Усл. п. л. 6.3. Тираж _____ экз. Заказ _____

Оригинал-макет отпечатан в отделе множительной техники

Уральского государственного педагогического университета

620017 Екатеринбург, просп. Космонавтов, 26.

E-mail: uspu@