By focusing on the important early theoretical writings about these two media, Theater and Cinema: Contrasts in Media, 1916-1966 becomes one of the first books in over thirty-five years to examine the historical, cultural, and aesthetic relationships between theater and film. As we move through the twenty-first century, almost all artists, students, and critics working in theater will have had earlier and greater exposure to film than to theater. In fact, film has become central to the way in which we perceive and formulate stories, images, ideas, and sounds. At the same time, film, video, and digital media occupy an increasingly significant place in theater study, both for the adaptation of plays and for the documentation or preservation of theatrical performances. Yet far too often young theater and film artists, as well as educators, make the jump from one medium to the other without being fully aware of the ways in which the qualities of each medium affect content and artistic expression.
