An interactive text covering the requirements of undergraduate and diploma courses in theatre, drama and performing arts, successfully integrating both practical and theoretical work. The authors draw on considerable experience of contemporary practice and provide fascinating examples of theatre at work through text and improvisation.

List of Illustrations
Acknowledgements
Initial Explorations
Exploring Theatre Spaces
Developing Theatre Skills
Approaches to Acting
Varieties of Theatre Performance
Theatre in Context and Understanding the Zeitgeist
Devising and Writing for the Theatre
Undertaking a Research Project
Audiences and Spectators
The Study of Theatre: Reflection and Analysis
List of Plays Cited
Index.

'The authors jointly draw on considerable experience of practice and employ their knowledge to maximum effect.' - E mma Brodzinski, Royal Holloway, University of London, UK 'No other book I know attempts to embrace the practical and the theoretical to the extent this book intends.' - Susan Mason, University of California, USA 'This is one of those all-encompasing and highly accessible companions to undergraduate and diploma courses that you can tell will be covered with highlighter marks and coffee stains by students within a week. Its super-neat layout - lots of white space, bold headings and bullet points - makes it a great introduction and handy for revision. Clear and informative, Pickering and Woolgar outline challenges in defining theatre, summarise the ideas of key practitioners, and provide reassuring advice on how to undertake a research project' - What's On Stage.com