Theatre midterm Flashcards
Non-medicated Theater
live theatre not viewed on electronic devices
Regional Theater
permanent, professional, nonprofit theatre’s that offer a season of first-class productions to their audiences each year
Community Theater
semiprofessional and experienced amateur groups who present a series of plays each year that appeal to their audiences
Site Specific Theater
offers presentations in nontraditional theatre settings, such as warehouses, churches, firehouses, street corners, and public parks
Performance Art
an art form that combines visual art with dramatic performance
Visual Art
creative art whose products are to be appreciated by sight, such as painting, sculpture, and film. Includes painting sculpture, architecture, and photography
Literary Art
an artistic expression that is devoid of distortions, exaggerations, or embellishments. Includes novels, shirt stories and poetry
Performing Art
forms of creative activity that are performed in front of an audience, such as drama, music, and dance
Global Theatre
a 360 degree auditorium, we do not focus on just Eurocentric, often referred to as western theater but they study and recognize the impact of theaters from around the world
Stage directions
Stage right – up stage Center – up stage Stage left – up stage
Stage right – center Center Stage left - center
Stage right – down stage Center – down stage Stage left – down stage
audience
Bertolt Brecht
didn’t want the actors to play a character onstage, only to show them as a ‘type’ of person in society, German poet, playwright, and theatrical reformer
Shakespeare
widely considered the greatest dramatist of all time as well as the most influential writer in the history of the English language
Lorraine Hansberry
the first African American woman to have a show produced on Broadway
Anton Chekov
Anton Chekhov was a Russian playwright and master of the modern short story
Henrik Ibsen
the father of realism
Role-playing
playing the role of the teacher, the student, the child and parent, follow the role of what is expected of the role
Imitation
portraying life as realistically as possible through characters interacting and telling stories, acting like someone else
Moliere
A keen-eyed observer of his contemporaries and avid chronicler of all their ways and works
Eugene O’Neill
poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into the U.S. the drama techniques of realism
Arthur Miller
combining social awareness with a searching concern for his characters’ inner lives
Tennessee Williams
insisted on a theater that was “plastic” that combined all the elements of production- dialogue, action, setting, lighting, even properties- in a unified, symbolic expression
Temporal arts
art forms that exist for only a specific period of time, live music, live theater
Spatial Art
art forms that exist in space and are created to last over time, all painting, sculpture, architecture, theater
Playwright
guy or girl who writes the play. Wright means to craft
Script
text with its structure characteristics and point of view
Director
vision for that show, does not mean they are the top person in charge
Theater space
proscenium stage, thrust stage, theater in the round arena theater
Proscenium Theater
audience is right in-front of the stage
Thrust
audience is on three sides of the stage
Theater in the round
the audience is seated in a circle around the stage
Audience
who watches the play
Performers
who act out the play
Design Elements
The design of the set, lighting, music, sound and costumes, and the way digital technology is used all contribute to the audience’s experience
Willing suspension of disbelief
the most important term the audience suspends their disbelief, it’s what gets you to watch and pay attention
Aesthetic distance
the separation of audience members from the performance or artwork to experience is aesthetic qualities
Dramaturg
aka dramatic adviser, duties are discovering and reading promising new plays, working with playwrights on the development of new scripts, identifying significant plays from the past that may have been overlooked, conducting research on previous productions of classic plays, preparing reports on the history of plays, researching criticism and interpretations of plays from the past, and writing articles for the programs that are distributed when plays are produced
Critic
is someone who observes theatre and then analyzes and comments on it and ideally serves as a knowledgeable and highly sensitive audience member
Reviewer
who usually works for a newspaper, a magazine, a television station, or a professional blog, reports on what has occurred at the theatre
Curtain call
the appearance of one or more performers on stage after a performance to acknowledge the audience’s applause
Plot
the arrangement of events of the selection and order of scenes in a play
Action
dramatic characters need a verb-some form of action that defines them
Conflict
the collision or opposition of persons or forces in a drama that gives rise to dramatic action
Obstacle
hurdles blocking a character’s path-or outside forces that are introduced at an inopportune moment
Crisis
As a result of conflicts, obstacles, and complications, dramatic characters become involved in a series called…
Climax
the final and most significant crisis is referred to as the…
Climactic
all aspects of a play- duration, locale, action, and number of characters-are severely restricted resulting in a contained, or intense structure
Episodic
covers an extended period of time
Exposition
details about the past must be provided during the course of the play
Stasis
the slowing, thwarting, or prolonging of events, movements, and progressions
Deus ex Machina
Latin for “god from a machine”
Subplot
one technique of episode drama is the parallel plot or…
Ritual
is a repetition or reenactment of some proceeding or transaction that has acquired special meaning
Dialogue
conversation between characters
Monologue
monologue is something off the top of the actors head that they audition with
Extraordinary Characters
unique talents, exceptional intelligence, or possess an exceptional level of courage, compassion, or determination
Representative Characters
embodies the traits and personalities of an entire group
Stock Characters
ones who represent specific stereotypes
Balance of Forces
the playwright attempts to create a relatively equal but hard fought contest
Commedia Dell’ Arte
a form of comic improvisational theatre that flourished in Italy form the late sixteenth century to the eighteenth century
Characters with a Dominant trait
found in certain theatrical characters, one paramount trait or tendency that over shows all others and appears to control the conduct of the character
Minor Characters
characters who play a small part in the overall action
Chorus
comments in song and dance on the action of the main plot
Protagonist
the leading character in a play, the chief or outstanding figure in the action
Antagonist
is a character who opposes the protagonist
6 aspects of creating a script:
- Selecting the subject of the play
- Determining Focus
- Establishing purpose
- Developing dramatic structure – this is true for both dramas and comedies
- Creating dramatic characters – this is true for both dramas and comedies
- Establishing a point of view
Playwright
guy or girl who writes the play. Wright means to craft
Genres
theatre divided into categories or types
Tragedy
ask very basic questions about human existence. Very sad very upsetting plays- if your name is in the title you’re dead by the end of the play
Heroic Drama
is not used as commonly as tragedy or comedy, but there is a wide range of plays for which heroic drama seems an appropriate description- indicates serious drama of any period that incorporates heroic or noble figures
Bourgeois
people of the middle or lower middle class rather than the aristocracy
Domestic
that the plays often deal with problems of the family or the home
Romanticism
a literary movement that took hold in Germany at the time and spread to France and throughout much of Europe
Melodrama
villains did bad things because that’s what bad guys do
Slapstick
describes all kinds of raucous, physical, knockabout comedy
Farce
places exaggerated characters in improbable situations where they face a number of outrageous obstacles
Burlesque
a ludicrous of other forms of drama or of an individual play
Comic premise
the basis that creates the comedy plot in a comedy
Comedy of Manners
is concerned with pointing up the foibles and peculiarities of the upper classes
Comedy of Ideas
comic techniques to debate intellectual propositions
Tragicomedy
sad events that are turned into something comedic, and everyone doesn’t die
Theater of the Absurd
what’s the meaning of life late1940s ww2 atomic bomb
Realism
1920’s – today we try to realistically show our lives and how we are on stage
Given Circumstances
for their character, what is going on in their lives
Magic if
what if you were in his/her shoes
Beats
the time between things being said where the character is “thinking” before they speak
Superobjective
the major overall goal, not to get an a, but to graduate
Emotional Recall
thinking of a memory to make you emotional during a play
Ensemble Playing
to be able to listen and react to other actors accordingly
Konstantin Stanislavski
God father of all modern acting, gave ways for acting
Stanislavski’s Method
- Relaxation 2. Concentration and observation 3. Importance of specifics 4. Inner truth 5. Action onstage 6. Throughline of a role 7. Ensemble playing
Method Acting
staying in character 24/7
Strausberg
Creator of method acting
Adler
felt that an actor should focus on the “given circumstances”
Meisner
focused on being in the moment and listening and responding honestly
Hagen
wrote two major acting books that are used lots. Focuses on putting themselves in characters situation
Meyerhold
very movement and position based
Bogart
focuses on breaking down emotional barriers by running for two hours
Stage Combat
fighting on stage but not actually hurting each other
Tactics
how you get what you want in a scene
Motivation
what is the characters endgame
Subtext
what a character really means, we don’t always say what we mean
SAG/AFTRA
major movie actor union/tv show union for tv show actors
Equity
a union for actors that are in equity shows stage acting
Residuals
every time something airs of an actor they get a percentage of it
