Theatre in Life

Elements of Performance

Part VII

Element #6: Evaluations of Performance

Remember the time you were in that school play or Christmas pageant? Yeah, I know. It sucked. You probably knocked over the scenery. At the least, you spilled something on your costume! But your parents were there, watching you. When it was over, they said, "Great job!" even though it would not have been given good reviews even Off-Off-Broadway. This performance of yours was evaluated differently than a Broadway show would have been. There are different factors involved in evaluation depending on the type and context of performance. A wedding has different standards than a graduation. Somewhere, however, whatever the performance, there is a way to evaluate whether or not it was "good" or "bad", "successful" or "sucky".

Activity
Elements of Performance #7

Write a one page narrative description of a cultural performance or ritual in which you have participated, using the six Elements of Performance as your guide. This could be a family get-together during the holiday season, a church ritual, a wedding, a graduation or any other ritual. Make sure you include all of the elements below:

• Element #1: The Whole Performance Sequence
• Element #2: Tranformation of Being
• Element #3: Intensity of Performance
• Element #4: Teaching and Learning of Performance
• Element #5: Audience/Performer Interactions
• Element #6: Evaluations of Performances

This is the end of the workshop, please see activity summary.