Rendering 7

The article See the Play, Don’t Miss the Program written by David Belcher was published in The New Your Times on March, 26. It reports at length that the printed theater program for a performance is an important thing and not only for advertising. A London theater program is often a quick study guide.

The article discusses the distinguishing feature of a program in the capital of the UK'S theatres. In London most programs are all about the play you’re about to see. Granted, they cost anywhere from £2.50 to £4, or $3.80 to $6, but it’s an investment, not just a souvenir. The takeaway is a deeper understanding not just of the play but of some of Britain’s history, politics and culture.

There is a lot of comment on examples of different programms. The National Theatre’s production of James Graham’s “This House,” set in 1974, amid gridlock in Parliament as the Labor and the Tory whips battle for control amid an energy crisis, high inflation and record unemployment. It’s a dense, rapid-pace dissection of an era, and the program contains no less than three full-length articles of exposition, a glossary of political terms and a list of the members of Parliament who speak, if only for a few seconds.

Then the author tells about the West End revival of Harold Pinter’s 1971 masterwork “Old Times” that has garnered attention for the clever way that the actresses Kristin Scott Thomas and Lia Williams are alternating the roles of Kate and Anna. Pinter’s memory play about a love triangle is dense with ambiguity, and the £4 program contains articles that guide viewers through 70 loaded minutes of Pinterese.

Speaking of the most well-known theatre in London, Shakespeare's Globe, where the program costs £4 and a floor ticket only £5, equal the cost of a movie in the West End, the printed programs also are specific to each play. There are three or four articles on Elizabethan England, as well as the history of the Globe and life in the theater in Shakespearean England.

It's an open secret that the National Theatre’s imposing, in The Shed, brick-red temporary theater that opens shortly while the Cottlesoe goes through a yearlong renovation. There programs for the series of experimental plays will cost £1, in keeping with The Shed’s minimalist concept — and its attempt to lure younger audiences to the theater. Even performers’ credits are refreshing. The National Theatre uses rehearsal shots instead of posed head shots for its performers.

The article draws a conclusion that in the UK where serial dramas and plays are still performed regularly on the radio, and most performers in the London theater have radio credits, it’s another example of how a theater program reflects its society.

In my opinion, British theatre is a unique structure that differents from any other theatre's organization in the world. British are very proud of their traditions and customs and tried to rise above. Well, a theatre programm is a good example of it - designers and playwriters give it important role as well as directors give attention to actors and composers.