Midterm Flashcards
1
Q
abydos passion play
A
first recorded “play”
story of osiris, acted in abydos (where osiris was buried)
performed 2500-550
2
Q
The City Dionysia
A
festival in honor of Dionysus
large theatrical events were held
3
Q
534 BCE
A
dionysia was started
4
Q
Aeschylus
A
oresteia
5
Q
Sophocles
A
oedipus, antigone
6
Q
Euripides
A
madea
7
Q
What are Aristotle’s 6 elements of theatre?
A
plot, character, thought, language, music, spectacle
8
Q
catharsis
A
purgation of emotions
9
Q
hamartia
A
error, mistake, missing the mark (applies to main character/hero)
caused by main character
fatal/tragic flaw
10
Q
what makes a good hamartia?
A
if it is potentially good as well (excess of a good thing leads to downfall)
11
Q
peripeteia
A
reversal of fortune
12
Q
what makes a good peripeteia?
A
the farther they have to fall (good to start with kings and queens)
13
Q
anagnorisis
A
recognition of hamartia
14
Q
why did old comedy (greek) die off?
A
it was based off making fun of important political figures, was obviously very controversial
15
Q
menander
A
342-292 BCE
known for “the grouch” - dyskonos
16
Q
were actors respected in rome?
A
no, but sometimes they ended up being rich
17
Q
plautus
A
manaechmi
fairly popular
relied on stock characters
18
Q
terence
A
former slave
potentially the first black playwright
also used stock characters
comedy based more on language
19
Q
seneca
A
stoic philosopher
wrote tragedies based on greek models, but emphasized violence
hamartia isn’t a character trait, but an obsession of emotion
20
Q
what did seneca think plays should (or could) have? who was influenced by this?
A
5 act structure
witches and ghosts
violence
renaissance playwrights
21
Q
horace
A
heavily emphasized rules of theatre (similar to aristotle)
22
Q
what were horace’s 5 rules?
A
5 acts
3 characters at a time
don’t mix genres
decorum (character and action)
“profit and please”
23
Q
what did tertullian think about theatre?
A
pleasurable/entertaining and therefore BAD
pleasurable = worldly/separate from God
origins of monasticism sort of
24
Q
hana
A
flower
25
noh theatre
very slow, very lyrical, minimal set and props, very elaborate costumes and masks
nothing really happens plot-wise
"main character" is usually referenced but not seen until second act
actors train for years in the discipline
26
bunraku
very elaborate puppetry, usually folktales
1st puppetmaster - head and right arm
2nd - left arm
3rd - feet
27
kabuki
similar to noh in costuming, movements, vocal lyricism, music
differ in speed of movements (lots of dancing), types of stories (sometimes noh, sometimes bunraku, sometimes mix of both)
28
did formal/legal theatre exist 500-900 CE?
no
29
what are the 3 M's of medieval theatre?
mystery- bible stories
miracle - plays about saints
morality - moral lesson through allegorical characters
30
why were mystery plays called mystery plays? (where did the term mystery play come from?)
ministerium (religious service or office) referred to the acting guilds that would perform the plays
31
why did religious plays start to lose popularity?
the church didn't approve because they were pretty inaccurate and started to glorify the actors as opposed to the story/God
32
Key compenents of neoclassicism
decorum
Verisimiltude
33
Verisimilitude
appearance of truth
34
3 unities
time
action
place
35
alexandre hardy
wrote hundreds of plays
messengers (Italian influence)
5 act structure
doesn't care about unities
36
why was le cid controversial?
context: popular spanish inspired french play
play was well-loved, but didn't follow the "rules" (time and place not believable, too much going on)
37
What philosophical movement influenced 18th century theatre?
enlightenment - emphasis of human reason
38
Denis Diderot
drame - plays don't have to be solely drama or comedy
fourthwall
39
sturm und drang
"storm and stress"
rejection of enlightenment
celebration of wild forces and nature
40
master juba (william henry lane)
african american actor who was known for blackface style acting (similar to zanni characters)
41
what was the purpose of blackface, vaudeville, burlesque, etc.?
purely entertainment: singing and dancing, comedy, spectacle, no real overarching story
42
delsarte
believed specific body movements/physical action expressed emotion
wanted actors to base movements on observations of everyday people/life
43
melodrama
plot > characters
clear difference btwn good and evil characters
sort of 19th century equivalent of MCU
44
layout of greek stages
theatron ("viewing place") - seating area for audience
orchestra - playing area for actors
skene - scene building
45
layout of noh stages
hashigakari - bridge btwn actors room (offstage) and stage; usually 20 ft long
main playing space: 18ft, square, roofed, ceremonial pine tree painted in back
small section in back for 4 musicians
usually outdoors, audience sits on 3 sides
46
layout of restoration stages
- indoor proscenium arch buildings
- audience divided into pit, boxes, galleries
- similar size to elizabethan private theatres
- stage split in half; forestage almost as deep as stage behind proscenium (apron used for performances, area behind proscenium used for scenery)
-2 proscenium doors on each side with balconies on top
47
aristophanes
best known comic playwright during greek golden age:
the clouds
the archanians
lysistrata
plutus
48
characters of old and new comedy
old comedy - important social and political figures
new comedy - fictional average citizens
49
roman stages
cavea - roman equivalent of theatron
orchestra - playing space
scaena - roman equivalent of skene
50
Natyashastra
"study of (or art of) theatre" - describes mythological origin of theatre in India
describes important material about nature of Indian drama
51
Rasa
nectar, essence or taste - aesthetic "flavor" of any artistic work that evokes emotion/feeling in audience but can't be described
52
Kathakali
classical indian dance - emphasis on story through movements, not words
53
Zeami
noh playwright/theorist/actor/director that influenced noh popularity/prestige
wrote matsukaze
54
Kabuki Stage
hanamichi - walkway to stage (through audience)
usually space for musicians on stage
revolving stage
55
Wayang kulit
Indonesian shadow puppetry
56
Hrosvitha
earliest known female dramatist; nun
wrote dulcitius
57
Tropes and Quem quaeritis
tropes - extended musical passages in church drama (2 groups responding in song, almost like a dialogue)
quem quaeritis - "whom do you seek?" first words spoken in trope for easter service
58
Cycle Plays
series of short dramas performed in sequence, usually biblical stories or stories based off biblical characters or saints
59
Hell mouth
stage piece used to dramatize entrance to hell
60
What caused decline of religious theatre?
protestant reformation --> roman catholic church withdrew support (saw theatre as weakening the church)
Protestantism saw theatre as tool for catholicism, outlawed by elizabeth I
secular qualities became more popular than religious
61
Intermezzi and pastorals
intermezzi - short pieces depicting mythological tales
pastorals - italian imitation of greek satyr plays (short comic pieces)
62
Lazzi
bits of physical comedy
63
Teatro Olimpico
oldest surviving theatre from italian renaissance
palladio and scamozzi
3000 spectator auditorium
64
Teatro Farnese
known for prototype proscenium arch stage (not first, but only one still standing)
65
Giacomo Torelli
known for stage settings and scene design
perfected pole and chariot method
66
Decorum
principle of classical rhetoric, poetry and theatrical theory concerning the fitness or otherwise of a style to a theatrical subject
67
The University Wits
16th century English playwrights educated at university
68
Christopher Marlowe
Responsible for popularizing iambic pentameter
Wrote for performance, not publication
Was a spy
Eventually arrested for atheism and stabbed
elizabethan playwright that influenced shaskespeare
tamburlaine, dr. faustus, jew of malta, massare at palis, edward II
69
The Globe
theatre shakespeare wrote for
70
Ben Johnson
volpone, the alchemist, isle of dogs
71
Beaumont and Fletcher
philaster, a king and no king, the maid's tragedy,
72
The Masque
16th century court entertainment: singing, dancing, acting
73
Inigo Jones
brought italian scene design to england (arches, chariot, scenic perspective)
74
Oliver Cromwell
puritan, didn't like theatre
75
Auto Sacramentales
auto - one act play
sacramentales - sacraments
plays performed at corpus christi (festival celebrating power of the sacraments)
76
Lope de Vega
establushed episodic structure for spanish drama
writing similar to shakespeare
77
Pedro Calderon
popular spanish playwright
life is a dream
78
Ana Caro Mallén de Soto
female spanish playwright
79
Corrales
public theatre for nonreligious plays similar to Elizabethan theatre spaces
80
Pierre Corneille
the cid
81
Moliere
neoclassical french playwright
tartuffe
82
Comedie Françoise
government supported french national theatre
formed from Louis XIV merging two earlier troupes
moliere's theatre
83
Palais Cardinal/Palais-Royal
84
William Davenant and Thomas Killgrew
dramatists from renaissance theatre to restoration
85
Aphra Behn
restoration era female playwright, one of the first women to make a living off writing
the rover
86
William Wycherley
restoration era playwright
country wife, plain dealer
87
George Farquhar
restoration comedy
The Constant Couple, The Recruiting Officer and The Beaux' Stratagem.
88
Nell Gwynn
restoration english actress (still a novelty at the time) known for "breeches roles"
attracted Charles Hart (leading actor) and became mistress
became mistress of charles II
89
Drury Lane Theatre
17th century theatre built by Thomas Killgrew still standing today
90
Richard Sheridan and School for Scandal
famous 18th century comedy
91
Carlo Goldoni and Carlo Gozzi
Goldoni - thought commedia should be more realistic, wrote full scripts (no improv) and got rid of masks
Gozzi - thought commedia should be more unrealistic and exotic
92
The Hallam Family
started the first official theatre in the US
93
Charles Macklin
introduced natural style of acting in 18th century
killed a guy over a wig
94
David Garrick
"first" director
revitalized 18th century theatre
95
Sarah Burnhardt and Elenora Duse
96
Johann Wolfgang Van Goethe
97
Minstrel Shows
american comic entertainment that relied on blackface
98
Vaudeville
burlesque comedy, song and dance
99
Romanticism
emphasis on emotions
100
Eugene Scribe and the Well-made play
mechanically builds up to climax
domestic melodrama that touched on prevelant subjects, used tropes like missing letters
101
Richard Wagner and Gesamtkunstwerk
"total work of art"
involves all art forms (music, poetry, drama, scenic design)
102
Ira Aldridge
first famous black actor
known for othello
103
Theatre Riots
104
Life is a Dream
17th century spanish play by Pedro Calderón de la Barca
segismundo imprisoned because prophecy --> drugged and given a chance to be a benevolent ruler
rosaura travelling as a man to get revenge on astolfo
105
Matsukaze
noh play of 3rd category (women's category)
monk finds pine tree thats a grave marker for sisters matsukaze and marasume
ghosts of sisters take monk in and explain love of yukihira
in her grief matsukaze goes slightly mad and mistakes pine tree for yukihira
106
Brothers Manaechmus
roman comedy
twin brothers separated at birth
twin switchery and shenanigans occur due to mistaken identitites
107
Shakuntala
108
Oedipus
greek tragedy
king finds out he's cursed his city by accidentally killing his dad and marrying his mom (as a result of mom and dad giving him up to avoid prophecy)
ends up gouging out his eyes
109
roman and greek stages had the same 3 core elements, so what was the difference btwn the two?
roman spaces were free-standing (as opposed to being built into the hillside)
stone stage house was connected to seating area
roman orchestra was a semi-circle as opposed to full circle
roman stage was long and wide
roman stage house was several stories high
