Download Theatre = Театр: методическое пособие по практике основного

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
2
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: [email protected]
© Уральский государственный
педагогический университет, 2010
© Овечкина Ю.Р., Роготнева Н.С., 2010
3
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, учебнопроектной, 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.
4
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.
5
CONTENTS
ESSENTIAL VOCABULARY…………………………………….
Vocabulary notes and drills……………………………...
Extension exercises………………………………………..
Translation exercises……………………………………..
PART 1 ACTOR’S TECHNIQUE………………………………..
Text A Character Parts…………………………………..
Text B The Art of Acting…………………………………
Surf the Net………………………………………………..
PART 2 HISTORY OF BRITISH THEATRE………...…………
Text A British Theatre History in Brief…………………
Text B The Earliest English Comedies………………….
Text C The Early London Thetares……………………..
Text D Elizabethan Playhouses, Actors and Audiences..
Text E Restoration Drama………………………………
Rendering: Театральная техника в эпоху Шекспира.
Translation: Театр в Англии……………………………
Surf the Net………………………………………………..
Part 3 THEATRE TODAY………………………...……………
Text A British Theatre Today…………………………..
Listening: Private Lives………………………………….
Rendering: Театральный десант………………………
Writing: Reviews…………………………………………
Writing: Theatre Recommendations……………………
Surf the Net……………………………………………….
TASKS FOR INDEPENDENT WORK…………………………..
COMMENTARY…………………………………………………..
REFERENCES……………………………………………………..
APPENDIX…………………………………………………………
1. How to render an article……..…………………………………
6
7
7
40
42
46
46
47
48
49
49
50
53
55
63
68
72
74
75
75
77
80
82
83
85
86
90
99
101
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;
a. I’m very interested in the theatre.
b. He’s written several books on the Elizabethan theatre.
c. She has devoted her life to the theatre.
d. 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;
a. There are many theatres in Moscow.
b. A new theatre is being built in the city center.
c. 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
7
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.
a. I’m very interested in drama.
b. 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.
8
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.
9
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
3) Drama
2) Doesn’t
include opera
and ballet
4) Dramatic art
5) A theoretical,
academic, professional
approach
10
6) Plays
4. Fill in the gaps with the appropriate words (drama or theatre).
a.
- Do you like opera and ballet?
- Not very much. I prefer the ______.
b. I’m very interested in Elizabethan ______.
c. Our daughter attends the school’s ______ club. She is going to
devote her life to ______.
d. There are many ______ in Moscow.
e. Our professor has written a good book on Elizabethan ______.
f. The job of a _____ critic is difficult but amazing. A ______ critic
sees the most interesting performances that are on at the ______.
g. I’ll see you outside the ______ at a quarter past seven.
h. It’s interesting but it is not good ______.
i. David is arranging a ______ party.
j. Ann devoted her life to ______.
k. He always wanted to be a ______ student but his parents didn’t
approve of his dream to work at the ______.
l. A lot of ______ are staged nowadays in various Moscow ______.
m. 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
11
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 grownups 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)
Or: The National (colloq.)
3. The English Stage Company
The National Theatre
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.
12

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.
13
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:
a.
There are several musicals running in London at the
moment.
b.
The play ran for two years.
c.
“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.
a. The company has a large and varied repertoire/
repertory.
14
b.
Their repertoire/repertory includes both classics and
modern plays.
c. The company has added several new productions to its
repertoire/repertory.
d. 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.
15
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
16
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.
17
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
artistic
(staging)
administrative
financial
Br. E.
(traditional)
producer
Br. E. (modern)
Am. En.
director
director
manager
manager
producer
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.
18
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
a. John Gielgad’s production of “King Lear” provoked a lot of
controversy.
b. I enjoyed The Gorky Theatre’s production of “The Price” (by
Arthur Miller) much more than the London one.
c. – The Prospect Theatre Company are coming her on tour next
month.
– Oh yes? What productions are they bringing?
Performance
a. The performance begins at seven thirty.
b. After the performance some people went backstage.
19
c. I’ve seen that production several times, and I think tonight’s
performance was the best.
d. I’ve never seen a better performance of “Othello”.
e. Judi Dench gives a brilliant performance as Beatrice (in
“Much Al about Nothing”) but the production as a whole is very secondrate.
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.
20
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
Meaning
Director
Producer
Manager
Head
of the
company
Responsible for
artistic
policy
Produces a
play
Responsible for
the
financial
side
Has an
administrative
responsibility
Translate
into
Russian
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.
21
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:
a. What did you think of the acting?
b. 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:
c. 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.
22
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
23
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).
24
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
25
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
A. Let’s go and buy some lemonade or _______, I’d like to drink
something during an _______.
B. That’s a good idea. I feel thirsty too.
A. Well, Ann how do you like the _______?
B. 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.
26
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
A. Well, and now that the _______ is over, what’s your impression
_______ it?
B. Everything is just wonderful! The play itself, the _______, the
stage effects, the _______ were marvelous _______ words.
A. You are right, especially the acting – that was simply _______.
B. You know, at times I completely forgot myself. And what an
_______audience! Did you ever hear such _______ applause from
spectators every time the curtain _______?
A.
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
A. How are you planning to spend this evening?
B. We are going to _______“Othello” at the National theatre tonight.
A. And who is playing the _______? Laurence Olivier himself, I
suppose? He is the artistic _______ of the company, isn’t he?
B. Yes, he is. He is also a _______with _______, from tragic or
comic.
A. What does he play?
B. 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
_______.
A. Have you got good _______?
27
B. Oh, very good. We have seats _______the_______ stalls, _______
the stage.
A. Well, have a nice evening!
B. Thank you.
“School for Scandal”, see, star, seats, facing, in, leading part, Shakespeare,
director, in, a wide range of parts, orchestra.
Dialogue IV
A. Oh, hello! Where have you been?
B. To the theatre. I was lucky enough to get the ticket before the
performance.
A. What did they present?
B. 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!
28
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.
29
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
30
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.
31
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;
32
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
33
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
34
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:
a. It’s an interesting play. I’d like to see it on the stage.
b. I saw “west Side story” on the stage.
c. – 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
35
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.
36
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:
a. The lighting was very effective.
b. 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.
37
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
a. It’s (very/rather/quite) successful.
b. 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.
38
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 semiformal 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:
a. The play had a good/poor reception. (This means the same as:
The play was well/poorly received.)
b. Pinter’s new play was given a cool reception both by the
public and the critics.
c. 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.
39
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.
40
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.
o
o
o
o
o
TV & v ideo
Sports
Theatre
Handicrafts
41
TV and video – 40 %
Sports – 35 %
Theatre – 15 %
Literature – 5 %
Hadicrafts – 5 %
TRANSLATION EXERCISES
TRANSLATION 1
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
Вы любите оперу и балет? – Нет, я предпочитаю драму.
Коммерческие театры не получают пособия и поэтому
функционируют на коммерческой основе.
Государственные театры находятся в общественном владении
и финансируются из общественных фондов.
У этой труппы большой и разнообразный репертуар.
Труппа добавила несколько постановок в свой репертуар.
Я уже видел эту постановку, только с другим составом
актеров.
Режиссер отвечает за выбор актеров и репетиции с ними.
«Короля Лира» ставили разные режиссеры.
Новая постановка «Ревизора» вызвала противоречивые
суждения.
Ее личные качества, знание различных актерских приемов и
магнетизм позволяет ей вжиться в роль без труда.
Вживаться в роль ей помогает личный опыт и ее наблюдения
за другими людьми.
Играл он плохо, но внешне на роль подходит.
Она так вжилась в роль Джульетты, ее игра была такой
трогательной, что у зрителей навертывались слезы на глаза.
В примерке актеры накладывают грим и меняют костюмы.
Новая постановка этого режиссера была хорошо принята я
зрителями, и критиками.
Это гастролирующая труппа. У них нет своего театра.
Труппа сейчас гастролирует по США с новой версией
«Ревизора».
Кто сейчас тренирует труппу? Балетмейстер сейчас
гастролирует по Европе с другой труппой.
TRANSLATION 2
1.
2.
3.
Я и мои друзья – театралы.
Я прочел несколько книг по Елизаветинской драме и
собираюсь читать лекции студентам театрального института.
Государственные театры находятся на финансировании
государства и имеют постоянный состав актеров, состоящий
42
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
Она самая разносторонняя актриса в труппе.
Он начал свою театральную карьеру как любитель.
Актеры-профессионалы часто обучают актеров-любителей.
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.
1.
2.
3.
4.
43
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.
44
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.
45
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.
46
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.
47
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.
48
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 19 th 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.
49
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.
50
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.
51
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
52
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.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Their behaviour has brought _______ on English football.
We admired the _______ of the mountain scenery.
The house was _______ by a tall chimney.
As a nurse in the war she was _______ to many dangers.
The two companies have embarked on a joint _______ to produce
cars in America.
The walls of the banqueting hall were hung with _______.
53
7.
8.
9.
Our research has been _______ by lack of cash.
How can they live in such _______ conditions?
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 cockpits (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,
54
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
55

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.
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
Performances
Regulation and licensing of plays
Objections to playhouses
Playhouses
Composition and ownership of plays
Companies of actors
4. Comment on the following issues:
a)
the difficulties connected with the authorship and licensing of
plays;
b) Elizabeth`s policy with respect to drama;
c) the social status of actors;
d) 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.
56
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:



drama students
tourists visiting Great Britain
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.
57
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 playactors 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
58
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
59
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.
60
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
61
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.
62
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.
2.
3.
4.
5.
He was wrought up _______ the coming conference.
Mike is steeped _______ science – he is writing a thesis.
Teaching is Mary`s vocation, she has a tender heart _______
children.
She gave in _______ the face of public opposition.
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
63
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:
Playwrights
Genres
…
Restoration
drama
64
…
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 semiprivate 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
65
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
66
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
67
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 ярусомбалконом, 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
68
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 клоунадинтермедий 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
69
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.
70
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
71
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.
72
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.
73
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.
74
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.
75
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
76
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
To retrace one`s steps to smth
Forthright
Venue
To be very into smth
To make the most of smth
Glass and iron dome
Grand Tier box
Summer fetes
Articulated trucks
Kit
место сбора, место встречи
королевская ложа на главном ярусе
откровенный, прямолинейный
стеклянный и железный купол/ свод
ползать под сценой
быть полностью поглощенным ч-л
нагруженные/груженные фургоны
тканая проволочная сетка
реклама; хвалебные комментарии,
предваряющие выступление
шнуры осветительных приборов
громкоговоритель, рупор
77
To install smth
To rig chain hoists
Lighting tresses
Speaker
To crawl about underneath the
stage
A wire gauze
To wade through
A ticker tape
Streamer
To sweep smth up
Build-up
переходить, пробираться
устанавливать оборудование
летние празднества / праздники
транспарант, лозунг
чистить, сносить, уничтожать
решительный
использовать наилучшим образом
сумка с инструментами, комплект
деталей
серпантин, конфетти
снаряжать/оснащать, подготавливать
подъемники на цепях
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.
78
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?
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
o
o
o
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 –
_______.
o
o
o
o
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?
_____________________________________________________________
o _______ of the Royal Albert Hall
o it’s a very strong _______ that is 140 feet, or _______ metres
above the arena floor.
79
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:
o
_______ and wades through yards of _______ and party
poppers,
o _______ it all up,
o takes all the _______,
o 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
80
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 артдиректором 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)
81
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 cigarettecase argument between Algernon and Jack turns into a rambunctious
physical fight, with chases round, and daring leaps over, a circular table.
82
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.
83
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 noworries 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.
84
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.
85
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 allstar 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,
86
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,
87
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
88
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.
2.
3.
4.
5.
What are the main problems of modern Russian theatre?
What is the place of a repertory theatre in Russian
theatre?
What are the organizations that help Russian theatre to
survive?
What is the place of the theatre in our society? Is it the
type of culture or just a kind of service?
Theater and education. How could they interact?
89
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 17th 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
90
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.
91
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
92
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
93
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.
94
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.
95
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.
96
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.
97
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.
98
REFERENCES
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
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.
Искусство: музыка, театр, кино [Текст]: энциклопедия / под ред.
М. Аксеновой, В. Володина, Д. Воодихина. – М.: Аванта+, 2006. –
624 с.
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.
Поуви, Дж. Пособие по лексике разговорных тем [Текст]: учебное
пособие для пед. ин-тов / Дж. Поуви. – М.: Высшая школа, 1978. –
208 с.
Сафонова, М. П. Пособие по разговорному английскому языку
[Текст] : учеб. пособие / М. П. Сафонова. - М. : Высшая школа,
1977. - 120 с.
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.
Томахин, Г. Д. Будни и отдых британцев [Текст]:
лингвострановедческий справочник / Г. Д. Томахин. – М.:
Просвещение, 2002. – 127 с.
English Words and How to Use Them [Текст] / сост. А. Г. Елисеева,
И. А. Ершова. – М.: Foreign Languages Publishing House, 1960.
www.telegraph.co.uk
www.classiclit.about.com (Some information about the history of
British theatre, renowned playwrights, characters and names in
literature, drama quotations)
http://www.calc.ru/theatre.html (Types of plays, world-famous theatres,
basic drama terms and notions)
www.uk-info.ru
www.biblioteka.teatr-obraz.ru (Books and articles on drama, actor’s
technique, dramaturgy, theatre life news, plays by Russian and foreign
playwrights)
www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/
www.wikipedia.org
http://www.theatrehistory.com (Theatre history in general, the history
of British theatre, drama world-wide, latest news about theatre life)
99
17. http://stdrf.ru (The official web-site of
Russian Federation)
100
the Theatre Union of the
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:
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
1.
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.
101
The introductory formulas listed below can be of use:
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)......
1.
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
102
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.
103
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: [email protected]
104
105