Blog
Histories, guides and background from the Antenna Theater archive
Antenna Theater Journal
Four decades of audio-driven, walk-through and site-specific theater, told through the productions, the places and the ideas behind them. New pieces are added here as they are published.
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What Is Anaglyph Art? Red and Cyan 3D, from Victorian Parlours to the Gallery
What is anaglyph art? How red-cyan 3D pictures work, who invented them, the 1953 comic boom, the 3-D movie myth, Thomas Ruff’s Mars and Antenna’s Dracula.
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What Is a Radio Documentary? The Form, Its History, and Two Theatre Soundtracks That Became Radio
What is a radio documentary? A clear definition, the feature tradition from the BBC and Glenn Gould to Third Coast, and two theatre soundtracks heard on radio.
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What Is a Pageant Play? From Sherborne 1905 to Sausalito
What is a pageant play? The Sherborne Pageant of 1905, the American pageantry movement, MacKaye’s Caliban and the parades and Calafia pageant of Antenna.
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Slotted Cardboard Sculpture: How Slot-Together Art Works, from Gabo to a Whale on the Beach
Slotted cardboard sculpture explained: how slot joints work, tips for makers, and a history from Gabo and the Eameses to Antenna Theater’s slotted wood whale.
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History of Theater Artaud: From Can Factory to Stage
The history of Theater Artaud: a 1925 American Can Company factory, the 1971 artists’ colony, a vast stage, Antenna Theater’s shows and Z Space from 2009.
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A History of the Sony Walkman: How a Pocket Tape Player Changed Listening
The history of the Sony Walkman: the 1979 TPS-L2 built from a Pressman, its two jacks, the 1982 headphone ban, the Walkman effect and the end of the tape.
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History of the Marin Headlands: Forts, a Park, an Arts Center and a Stage
The history of the Marin Headlands: the 1851 reservation, forts and Nike site, the Marincello fight, the 1972 park, the arts center and a stage for theatre.
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Bay Model Visitor Center History: From Shipyard Warehouse to Model Bay
Bay Model Visitor Center history: the Marinship warehouse, the Reber Plan the model tested, the 1980 visitor center, its gallery and Antenna Theater’s events.
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What Is Total Theatre? Every Art on One Stage
What is total theatre? From Wagner’s 1849 total work of art to Gropius, Artaud and Robert Wilson, with a timeline and Bay Area stage shows as examples.
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What Is Theatre for Young Audiences? TYA, Youth Theatre and Theatre Made With Students
What is theatre for young audiences? TYA defined, how it differs from youth theatre, a short history, and a Bay Area show made with high school students.
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What Is Site-Responsive Theatre? The Words for Theatre Made for a Place
What is site-responsive theatre? How it differs from site-specific, site-generic and site-sympathetic work, plus host, ghost and witness, with real examples.
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What Is Forum Theatre? Boal’s Stage Where the Audience Can Stop the Play
What is forum theatre? How Augusto Boal’s method works, step by step: the spect-actor, the Joker, Legislative Theatre, and how it differs from headphone shows.