【推荐1】Theaters of the Past

Theaters developed in many parts of Greece. Ancient Greek theaters were built in natural open air sites on conveniently shaped hills. This allowed a lot of people to enjoy a show at a time. Due to this, actors placed emphasis on exaggerated (夸张的) action and speech. And, colorful symbolic masks and costumes were used.

The Medieval theater started in churches. That’s why medieval plays were about Bible stories. At first, it was a tradition for priests (牧师) to act out brief scenes during Christmas and Easter. Later the church didn’t allow priests to participate in any such events again, so ordinary people began these performances outside. Performances were set in the town square, with several stage settings around it.

The main feature of Elizabethan theater was the stage. It has three parts: The fore stage for outside scenes; the inner stage for scenes inside a building; an upper stage for various purposes. The reason for this design is that there were no scene changes, or breaks during the play. Very little scenery was used, so the actors had to create a scene through their voices and dialogues.

Some of the plays told sad stories, but most of the plays were really funny. Many specialized machines were used to create the scene. The stage was a very clever idea , in that on the sides of the stage large back shutters (百叶窗) were painted with the scene.

【推荐2】Summer vocation is approaching, and here is a list of films recommended by Nicholas Barber, from BBC News.

Don’t Look Up

People are often slow to react to a disaster, whether it’s a climate emergency or a global pandemic (流行病)—and it was this tendency that inspired Adam McKay to make his new film, Don’t Look Up. Jennifer Lawrence and Leonardo DiCaprio play two astronomers who have assumed that a “planet killer” comet is going to crash into the Earth, killing everyone. But the US president is just one of the many people who ignore the facts. It’s the idea of a disaster movie in which people don’t necessarily believe that the disaster is coming.

West Side Story

The original 1961 film of West Side Story, directed by Robert Wise, is honored as one of the finest Hollywood musicals ever made. A New York-set movie version of Romeo and Juliet, it was the biggest box-office hit of the year, and went on to win 10 Oscars, including Best Picture.

Flee

In this heart-breaking Danish documentary, Jonas Poher Rasmussen interviews his friend Amin about his painful experiences as an Afghan refugee. Amin remembers his years as a child in Kabul (the capital of Afghan), his family’s flight from the Taliban, his deeply unhappy life in Moscow... It’s hard to imagine a more important film, but Flee doesn’t just do the job as a documentary.

Other recommended films include: The Matrix Resurrections, Being the Ricardos, Red Rocket, The Lost Daughter, The Tragedy of Macbeth, Nightmare Alley, and Spider-Man: No Way Home. Just choose one or several to enjoy with your friends!