SEEING Theatre: The Visual Aspects of Production [] LIFELONG LEARNING

Instructor: Phillip Silver

February 24, 26  | 1-3 p.m.

We say that we go “to SEE a play.”  But do we, as audience members, have a full understanding of how the visual aspects of a production enhance — or sometimes confuse — our appreciation of the play, musical, ballet or opera we are attending?

In this “back by popular demand” course, we’ll discuss and illustrate the various visual elements that directors and designers use to “manipulate” the audience’s reaction to a work. The discussions will include the theatre space itself, audience/performer relationship, the process of stage design and details of scenic, costume and lighting design. Each class will include a Q&A.  This course may forever change the way you SEE performances.

Phillip Silver is a Canadian designer of scenery, costume, and lighting for opera, theatre, and dance, with close to 300 productions to his credit. His work has been seen across Canada, in the U.S., and in the West End. He taught design at York University in Toronto and served there as Dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts. His approach to design builds on a strong understanding of the storyline as the genesis for the action, the words, and the music in spoken theatre, musical theatre, and opera. He has previously taught LLP courses on opera, on the history of clothing and on Jewish fashion designers as well as an earlier version of SEEING Theater. In 2008, he was honored with induction to the Royal Canadian Academy of the Arts.

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