Robert Mshengu Kavanagh

Making Theatre Robert Mshengu Kavanagh

Making Theatre is an A - Z guide to making and performing theatre. There are hundreds of books on the various aspects of theatre but almost all of them are about theatre as it is practised in Europe and North America. Making Theatre is a guide to theatre that many theatre practitioners in the rest of the world might find refreshing and extremely helpful. With knowledge, experience and insights derived from over thirty years of practical theatre and teaching in many different countries in Africa and exposure to theatre from all over the world, Kavanagh takes the reader from the very earliest stages of involvement - forming or joining a group and beginning to act and make theatre through the directing and rehearsal process, the choices available in theatre techniques, kinds of theatre, staging, lighting and set right up to performance and post-performance, getting an audience, ethics and festivals. He advocates a democratic, collective and ethical approach based on respect and the centrality of the actor and he illustrates his points with examples from many different successful productions he and others have made and performed.