A Short Guide to Writing about Theatre

By Marcia Ferguson

Book Overview

A Short Guide to Writing about Theatre is a succinct introduction to the skills required to write knowledgeably and critically about the theatre. Intended to illuminate the importance of theatre and... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 032113673X
• ISBN13: 9780321136732
• Release Date: October 2007
• Publisher: Pearson
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 0.67 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.0" x 0.6" x 5.5"

Customer Reviews

Handy and Helpful

I took a class in Theater just to spice up an otherwise heavy semester, thinking it would be a lark. Wrong. It was interesting but far more work than I had anticipated, and required a great deal of writing about theater specifics. I found that even though I have a lot of experience writing essays and research-based analyses, I had no framework for writing about theater. This really caused problems when I'd try to describe and analyze not only play content but action, delivery, stage business, set and lighting design issues, etc. Ferguson's Short Guide was incredibly helpful. It is indeed short, which means that you can page through, find exactly what you are looking for and get immediate direction on how to organize and express thoughts on the full range of elements that make up a theatrical experience. It provides the structure and the format for your own thoughts, helping the writer form key observations as well as express them. I highly recommend it for anyone who is learning to analyze and more deeply appreciate the traditions and elements of the theater, whether from an audience or a participant point of view.

There Should Be More Books Like This

I got this book when I enrolled in a theater class as an elective, which I thought would be fun, and ended up way in over my head in terms of what was expected of me in my criticisms and observations. It really called attention to aspects of theater that I was overlooking which improved my essays for class. I bought the book because it was called " a SHORT guide to writing about theater." That's what i was looking for. Something easily digestable, comprehensible, and useful. It is laid out smartly and was easily accessible in terms of finding help for whatever specific hangup I was having with my writing. The student examples were SO helpful - it is one thing to be told how to write and quite another to be shown how. This book was small enough for me carry to school and read on the bus. It saved me from feeling incapable in my class. It made the theater class fun. In fact, I thought I was gonna re-sell the book after my class was over, but i think i am going to keep it. Sweet and SHORT!