chapter 1 Flashcards
drama
- Greek word “dran”, meaning “to do”
- Something done an action
theatre
- From the greek word “theatron” which means “seeing place”
- That which is seen
- Something is done
- An action is witnessed
theatre is
- A building
- A company
- An occupation
a building
Minimum requirement for a theatre “building” is a place to act & a place to watch
A building, or simply a space where audience & performer meet
A seeing & hearing place
Examples: campfire, amphitheatre, proscenium & cinemas
a company
A group of people called a company or troupe of players
Example: meadow brook theatre on campus
an occupation
- Turning play into work that looks like play
- Crafts include: playwright, producer, director, designers, builders, stage managers, actors, house managers, running crew
- Running crews: technicians execute in proper sequence & with carefully rehearsed timing light & sound cues, the shifting if scenery, the placement of props & costume changes
Characteristics
-Theatre is a kind of play
-Shared history: theatre & games
–Theatre has a preordained ending
–Sports do not
-Art & entertainment
-Impersonation:
The mask: a physical & symbolic representation hiding the performer while displaying the character
Performance
- Actions of series of actions taken for the ultimate benefit of someone else (the audience)
- Actor & audience: two essentials
- We are all actors !
- The theatre makes an art out of something we do every day
Two modes of drama
1.Presentational (direct)
“Breaking the fourth wall”
- Representational
The events of a play unfold as if they were real
Creates empathy
Audience watches behavior that seems to be staged as if no audience were present at all.
“Willing suspension of disbelief”
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Other characteristics
Live performances
Scripted & rehearsed
