Feature Summary

Photo program and interior design: the entire illustration program has been revised and redesigned to include more color photos from current productions and impress upon students the vibrancy and diversity of the theater.

Photo Essay: From the Illinois Shakespeare Festival production of The Taming of the Shrew, this revised feature documents the process of creating a piece for the theater from the building of the set through the closing curtain.

Web Site: Unique for the introductory course, the Lively Art website offers a chapter-by-chapter guide to online resources - from virtual renderings of Shakespeare's Globe Theater or internet casting calls to Websites maintained by regional theaters or clearing houses for unpublished scripts. Additional features include a student study guide with self testing and review questions.

Theater History: The Lively Art includes coverage of the historical evolution of the theater in addition to the coverage of theatrical elements.

Timeline of Each Historical Period: As in the Third Edition, the Fourth includes timelines of each period (Greco-Roman, Medieval, Renaissance, etc . . .) that illustrate the relationship between theatrical developments and cultural and historical events.

Living History: To further enrich the historical sections of The Lively Art, each is introduced with a narrative description of attending a performance of the period. These sections, whether from the point-of-view of a Roman citizen in 184 BC or an audience member at a Noh performance in 1413 AD, offer and engaging introduction to each historical period.

Play Synopses: Throughout the text, synopses of plays from each period. Among the plays included are Sophocles' King Oedipus, Kiyotsugo's Sotoba Komachi, Moliere's Tartuffe, Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard, Brecht's Mother Courage and Her Children, and Wilson's Joe Turner's Come and Gone.

"Getting Started in the Theater": A popular and retained feature of previous editions, these boxed sections include first-person descriptions by actors, designers, directors, and others of their introduction to, first jobs in, and love for, the theater.

Coverage of Traditional Asian Theater: Addressing the three major Asian theatrical traditions-those of India, China, and Japan-The Lively Art describes the performance techniques, spaces, forms, and styles that define each.