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20
Theatre and cinema
At the theatre
A
We went to see a new production of
Hamlet
last night. The sets
1
were incredibly realistic and the costumes
2
were wonderful. It
was a good cast
3
and I thought the direction
4
was excellent. Toby
Cartwright gave a marvellous performance
5
. It got rave reviews
6
.
in the papers today.
1
scenery, buildings, furniture on the stage or in a studio
2
clothes the
3
all the actors in the performance
4
the way
actors wear on stage
5
+
6
note these typical
the director had organised the performance
6
got very enthusiastic comments
collocations
Dance usually refers to modern artistic dance forms; ballet
/ˈbæleɪ/
usually has a more traditional feel, unless we say modern ballet.
A comedian is a person who entertains people by telling jokes. They
may have a show of their own or they may feature in a show with
lots of different entertainers. [
people whose job it is to entertain others
]
The people who watch a show are the audience. Viewer is only used about someone watching a
TV programme.
Language
help
When we refer to a performing art in general, we can leave out the definite article, e.g.
Are you
interested in (the)
cinema/ballet/opera/theatre
?
But:
Would you like to come to the
cinema/
ballet/opera/theatre
with us next week?
[particular performance]
At the cinema
B
ANNA
: Our local cinema’s showing
Spectre
again next week. Do you fancy going to see it?
BETH
: Yes, that’d be great. I love the opening scene
1
at the carnival in Mexico City. The James Bond
films are always set
2
in great locations.
ANNA
: Yes, and I think the film really captures
3
the human side of James Bond.
BETH
: That’s right. A lot of work went into the script
4
for this, and the dialogue
5
’s particularly good,
I think.
ANNA
: Do you know who the director
6
was?
BETH
: Sam Mendes, I think. He didn’t write the screenplay
7
, though. I’m not sure who wrote that.
The score
8
is by Thomas Newman. He also wrote the music for
Skyfall
.
1