Ensemble Theatre Group

Today, for many people, watching a movie is something that takes place at home, not in a movie theatre. The introduction of DVD’s and projectors and sound systems targeted at the Home Cinema enthusiast, allows anyone to create a film experience that often beats what is on offer at the local cinema!

When it comes to budgeting for your home theatre, you have some big choices to make. It’s possible to spend anything from $1000 to $1,000,000 on a home cinema, although typically a good setup will cost no more than $3000. The key is to budget wisely, don’t spend all your money on a Projector while buying cheap speakers or your experience will suffer!

Typically, a Home Theatre setup will consist of a DVD (or nowadays a Blu-Ray) player, a Home Theatre Amplifier, a set of surround sound speakers, and a Projector and screen. Some people prefer to use an LCD or Plasma TV, but while these are good enough for TV programs, sports or video gaming, nothing less than a proper projector and screen setup will give you the real “big screen” feel you get at a movie theatre. When budgeting, don’t forget to include the cost of extras like cables, and seating, and even dedicated lighting and remote controls if you want them.

With the death of HD-DVD, Blu-Ray is now the only hi-def movie format, so the heart of you system should be a good quality Blu-Ray player. There are now plenty to choose from, with prices starting from around $300, but surprisingly, one of the best Blu-Ray players is a the Sony Playstation 3. Not only is it a very capable video games machine, but it’s video output is of a very high quality, and it benefits from very speedy menus and loading due to it’s powerful processors.

Your next purchase should be a Home Theatre Amplifier (Amp). Home Theatre amplifiers are different from Stereo Amplifiers, in that they can decode the sound formats used by DVD’s and Blu-Rays, and have outputs for 6, 7, or 8 channels. A good amplifier is a must, look for one that is powerful enough for your room, and can also decode the latest sound formats. Some amplifiers will also switch your video between multiple inputs and outputs, which can be useful if you want to hook up several sources to your projector and speakers.

Speakers should be chosen to match your amplifier. For home cinema the most popular setup is 5.1, where there are 5 main speakers, and 1 “subwoofer”, a speaker dedicated to producing very low “booming” sounds. If you want to feel every explosion or gunshot of a film, buy a speaker package with a high-quality subwoofer! The 5 normal speakers are placed around your seating position; one in front, one each to the front left and front right, and one each to the rear left and rear right. 6.1 and 7.1 systems are available with even more speakers, but 5.1 is good enough for most rooms.

Lastly, you will want a projector and screen. The models that are right for you will depend on your room size and the level of ambient light when you watch your films. In general, look for the brightest, most high-contrast model you can afford, and buy a model that produces at least a 720p image, although preferably 1080p.

To Antonin Artuad, theatre was not a matter of life and death, it was hell of lot more important than that. He wanted theatre to return to what it once was in primitive societies – pure magic – an event where a catharsis of the audience would take place. This catharsis that he spoke so passionately about was not to be fleeting, it was not to be the type of catharsis that would move the audience for just the rest of the evening, only to be forgotten about with the cold realities of the morning, rather it was to be a catharsis that was to change civilisation, entirely and forever. Artaud was rallying against traditional French theatre – the stock process of proposing a problem at the beginning of a play and providing a solution to this problem by the end of the play. He envisioned a theatre characterised by freedom, mystery and surrealism and he observed the roots of this type theatre in the work of Mallarme, Maeterlinck and Alfred Jarry. He was overwhelmed by a performance of Balinese theatre which he witnessed at the Colonial Exposition in Paris in 1931, it cemented his belief that a dramatic presentation should be an act of initiation during which the spectator will be awed and even terrified, even heightening to such a degree that they may even lose their reason. During this induced frenzy the spectator will be able to take onboard a complete new set of truths, revelations into the true nature of society. Artaud sought theatre to disturb the mind and open the subconscious, driving people back to their primitive nature. His method of achieving this goal was to base theatre in the arenas of danger and cruelty. He thought that words should act as an incantation and actors should become something akin to shaman summoning life themes that are beyond human.