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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Antonin Artaud and the Theatre of Cruelty: The Man, the Manifestos and the Legacy
Antonin Artaud’s Theatre of Cruelty explained: the manifestos, The Theater and Its Double, The Cenci of 1935, the asylums and the banned radio play.
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SOON 3 Theater and Alan Finneran: San Francisco’s Performance Landscapes
SOON 3 theater and Alan Finneran’s performance landscapes, 1972 to 1999: the productions, Renaissance Radar, the reviews and a Bay Area generation.
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The History of Foley Sound Effects, from Stage Thunder to the Foley Stage
The history of Foley sound effects: stage thunder, radio’s sound men, who Jack Foley was, Show Boat in 1929, and what a Foley artist does on stage today.
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The History of Flash Mobs: From an Email in 2003 to Crowds Obeying a Voice
The history of flash mobs: Bill Wasik’s MOB Project in 2003, the love rug at Macy’s, where the name came from, and Improv Everywhere’s MP3 Experiment.
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The History of the Labyrinth: From Knossos to Grace Cathedral
The history of the labyrinth: labyrinth vs maze, Herodotus and the Knossos coins, the Chartres floor, English turf mazes and Grace Cathedral since 1991.
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The History of Dime Museums: From Barnum’s Lecture Room to the Bowery
The history of dime museums: Scudder’s curiosities, Barnum’s American Museum and its Lecture Room, the Bowery showmen, the Midwest circuit and the end.
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The History of the Renaissance Faire: From a Backyard Class to Two Hundred Fairs
The history of the Renaissance Faire: Phyllis and Ron Patterson’s 1963 Pleasure Faire, Paramount Ranch, the Marin years at Black Point, and the sale.
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The Residents: A History of San Francisco’s Anonymous Band
The Residents band history: Shreveport to San Francisco, Ralph Records, the eyeball masks of 1979, the Mole Show, the carnival CD-ROMs and Hardy Fox.
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Oskar Schlemmer’s Triadic Ballet: Costumes, Geometry and the Bauhaus Stage
Oskar Schlemmer’s Triadic Ballet: the 1922 premiere, the 18 costumes that dictate the dance, the Bauhaus stage and Bauhaus Dances, and the reconstructions.
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Tamara, the Immersive Play That Turned a Hollywood Legion Hall into a Villa
Tamara, the immersive play by John Krizanc: Toronto 1981, the Hollywood Legion hall from 1984, New York 1987, how the audience followed actors, and the money.
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Richard Foreman and the Ontological-Hysteric Theater: Strings, a Bang and a Voice in the Dark
Richard Foreman’s Ontological-Hysteric Theater: the name, the manifesto, the strings, the bang, his voice from the booth, and his plays from 1968 to 2013.
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Mabou Mines Theatre History: From a Nova Scotia Summer to DollHouse
Mabou Mines theatre history from San Francisco and Paris to Red Horse, Dead End Kids, Peter and Wendy and DollHouse, with dates and the source conflicts.