Midterm Flashcards
Theatre
a collaborative art form in which audience gather in a shared space for the live enactment of a story
Audience (part of the Theatre definition)
receivers/watchers
Space (part of the Theatre definition)
shared place and time
Performance (part of the Theatre definition)
presenters/enactors
Play
form of literature written by a playwright, usually consisting of dialogue or singing between characters, intended for theatrical performance rather than just reading
Script
Written down blueprint of events, Performers draw from this
Text
any sequence of words in the Blueprint, usually spoken by performers
Farce
A branch of comedy using absurd and highly improbable events. Setting is a key factor and often the central character does not (or should not) belong in the place of action
Goethe’s 3 Questions
- What is the artist doing?
- How well is the artist doing it?
- Is what the artist is doing worthwhile?
Existentialism
- A philosophical and literary perspective that focuses on the experience of an individual person’s understanding of the world
- who you are is created and defined by your actions
- There are no universal rules that apply to everyone
Proscenium
a stage with an arch surrounding the opening. All the audience face in one direction…the action on stage is seen through a frame of some kind.
Thrust
space in which the audience sits on three sides of the stage. Most popular, audience sits on three side, or in a semi-circle: encloses a stage that projects into the centre
Alley
a stage with the audience predominantly on two sides of the stage, facing each other. Aka. Tennis court, or corridor stage; runway feels.
Arena
a playing space in the centre with spectators surrounding it…aka Theatre in the round.
Blackbox
open, flexible, and adaptable usually without fixed seating, or permanent stage area. Every aspect 9 (lights, seats, stage, etc..) is moveable.
FOUND SPACES
creative space not originally intended for theatre use which is converted for productions. A theatre set up in a place not used for performance. (street, bar, elevator.)
Fourth wall
imaginative barrier separating the audience from performers: break means drawing attention to the theatre event itself, remove illusion that the events happening on stage are progressing realistically.
Prose
phrases with no form or structure
Verse
Phrases with an organized structure
Blank verse
iambic pentameter, which had 10 syllables in each line and was meant to mimic natural speech, just with a definite structure. Shakespeare used this to convey important parts of his message
Playwright
author of a blueprint(script). Creator of the creative world, events, characters/words and shapes the dialogue and incidents to make a play.
Characters
agents created to carry f actions of the plot
Plot
the sequence of events in the play; structured to have the maximum impact;
Story (part of the Theatre definition)
the blueprint of ideas, info, or events shared between performers and audience.
