The Necessity of Theater: The Art of Watching and Being Watched by Paul Woodruff

The Necessity of Theater: The Art of Watching and Being Watched Reviews

• 
  Jeff

  Woodruff, a professor of philosophy and classics at UT-Austin, has written his very own poetics, exploring why theatre is very much a necessity in the 21st century. It is necessary, because it satisfies our need to care about other people. He writes: "You pay attention because you care, and paying attention allows you to care. We will become better people if we become accustomed to paying attention to other people—to be good and caring watchers." But he also teases out the differences between certain forms of theatrical "watching." Yes, weddings, and sporting events, and sex shows, and car crashes are types of theatre, but art theatre (or theatre as it is defined within the fine arts as opposed to sociology or anthropology) requires a carefully constructed frame (limited in terms of space and time) to help focus such "empathy" work. In other words, we need set boundaries. Again: "Theatre frames people and their actions in order to make them more watchable. Practice in framing human action as watchable helps cultivate humaneness."
• 
  Laura

  I hate it when there's a book that has something really interesting to say, and the way it's written is so unbelievably dry that I have to force myself to finish. This guy is really insightful. But the experience of reading this book was like taking medicine.
• 
  Nancy

  Nearly every morning for two months I nibbled through this, on the porch at first and finally inside when the temperatures dropped, a devout student of the strangeness of this book-length definition of theater --
  "human action worth watching" -- and bravo for it all.
  
  This is not prose I've known; and I can see why other reviewers may dismiss it as unreadable. It can be, but mostly what slowed me was my unfamiliarity with ancient Greek philosophy and the origins of art theater. Like reading in a foreign language, I bowed to the discipline of it. Weeeeee.
  My guess, however, is that the early chapters -- diamonds of theory -- the core of it -- had one or several rigorous editors. Later on, there are chapters (essays) so clumsy and typo-ed, it's like the publisher said, "Oh, you know PAUL - he does go on." He may (and thank goodness), but heavens: I wish you'd tidied this up. Still, I will go forth now and know a little more context for ancient texts, and have extra appreciation for weddings, football games, hurricanes (which are not theater), and my job in the audience. And the sacredness that watching brings.
• 
  Hamoun Dorfaninezhad

  داشتن سلامتی از هر دو سو با ارزش است: مردم، سالم بودن را دوست دارند و سالم بودن نیز باید برای هر کسی نعمت و مزیت باشد. می گویم "باید" چون سلامتی برای شرورانی چون آدولف هیتلر مزیت نادرستی خواهد بود. اگر وی پیش از رسیدن به قدرت، سلامتی خود را کاملا از دست داده بود، از زندگی مجرمانه خود دست برمی داشت و در لحظه مرگ انسان بهتری می بود. بنابراین در مواردی چون هیتلر، "سلامتی" مزیت نیست، اما این تقصیر خود اوست. آدم باید زندگی وحشتناکی را سپری کند که سلامتی برایش خوب نباشد. چیزی به راستی نعمت و مزیت است که اگر تمام جنبه های دیگر زندگی بر وفق مراد باشند، برایتان خوب باشد. راه دیگر گفتن این نکته این است: باید چنان زندگی کرد که سلامتی (و تمام چیزهای واقعا پرمزیت دیگر) برایتان پربهره باشند. وقتی می گویم سلامتی به راستی مزیت و نعمت است، در واقع بر این مسئله که سلامتی به داشتنش می ارزد، صحه می گذارم. این یعنی باید به گونه ای زندگی کنید که سلامتی برایتان خوب باشد.
  
  تعریف پیشنهادی من از تئاتر بار ارزشی دارد. این تعریف به طور ضمنی می گوید که هدف تئاتر چیزی است که برایتان واقعا پربهره باشد. من بر این حرفم تاکید دارم: در صورتی که تئاتر برایتان سودمند نیست، باید شیوه زندگی تان را تغییر دهید یا تئاتری را که در پیش رویتان می گذارند عوض کنید.
  
  بخش یک / هنر تماشایی بودن (صص 84-85)
• 
  Mojtaba Rafiei-korogan

  سطحی و کودکانه
• 
  Abigail Franklin

  This book made my head hurt, but also it was the philosophy of theatre, two things I love to study, so it was a good time. It made me feel smart.
• 
  Gabrielle

  I reviewed this book as a possible text choice for TA 110: Theater Appreciation. I'm very tempted to use this rather than a traditional text simply because it forces the reader to engage on a much more critical level -- there is an assumption that the reader (and the theater viewer) is going to choose to do a good job of the work. I can supply the basics of what theater is and how it functions, but this book goes so far beyond that; because Woodruff is a philosopher and not a theater practitioner, the depth of thought on the PURPOSE of the art is very, very interesting.
• 
  Kathryn Marie

  I learned so much. SO much. I think this book should be required for all university students. It teaches about how to be better human beings, and how theater and the arts teach us to be better human beings and SO MUCH MORE!
  This book also teaches so many gospel principles, even if the author isn't LDS. A really fascinating read, that also makes you think.
  
  (Although I still think film is a form of theater, even if he does bring up some good points, hence the reason I say "form" of theater).
• 
  Devynne_M

  I hated reading this book for class. The writer seems like he loves hearing himself talk. He'll go on and on about nothing and talk little about the facts. And then he keeps jumping from one thing to the other. If you have to read this for theater art in college I feel sorry for you too.
• 
  Lyf

  Definitely some good thoughts on theatre, but overall a little disappointing and convoluted.
• 
  Eric Chappell

  Review coming soon.