Theater Lecture Notes Flashcards

Flashcards about plays, mimesis, poetics, pride, comedy, distracted, attention, Medea and more.

According to Plato, what is art?

Art is imitation, and that’s bad.

According to Plato, why is art bad?

· Epistemologically: an imitation is not reality; the author imitates things that he does not understand. · Theologically: poets and other artists represent the gods in inappropriate ways. · Moral and mentally: a convincing imitation can damage the stability of any person by making us feel sad, depressed, and sorrowful about life itself. Drama shows bad examples, making men wicked, or even effeminate.

According to Aristotle, what is art?

Art is imitation, and that’s educational and worthy.

According to Aristotle, why is art educational and worthy?

Imitation is natural to humans from childhood. We all learn from imitations. · Tragedy can be a form of education that provides moral insight and fosters emotional growth. · In the best tragedies, typically, a noble or admirable character experiences a reversal of fortune due to some failure or mistake (hamartia), often due to hubris (excessive pride), followed by his suffering. · A successful tragedy produces a healthy catharsis.

What is catharsis?

A purification through pity and fear—although there is much debate about the nature of this effect and about whether it is an effect upon the audience or upon characters in a play.

What is Aristotle's Poetics mainly devoted to?

Aristotle's Poetics is mainly devoted to drama, or tragedy.

What are Aristotle's six elements of drama?

Plot, Character, Thought, Language, Spectacle, Melody

What is meant by an 'Aristotelean plot'?

A carefully constructed linear plot that is causal (where one event logically leads to the next), orderly, and socially beneficial.

How is character described in Aristotle's Poetics?

Persons need to be consistent and appropriate to their station in life

What is meant by thought in Aristotle's Poetics?

Ideas (themes, morals), expressed primarily by words but also perceived through other means.

What is meant by language in Aristotle's Poetics?

The style of the spoken text or lyrics, as well as it's performative quality. Its poetics.

What is meant by spectacle in Aristotle's Poetics?

The staging, lighting, sets, costumes, and the like. All the visuals. This would include dancing.

What is meant by melody in Aristotle's Poetics?

The aural qualities, as many (chorus) parts of Greek tragedy were sung.

What is meant by unity of time?

The time of the action should be unified, so that the plot can be held in memory as one action. Aristotle thought this would limit the action to the events of one day (as we find in most Greek drama). Thus, no time jumps.

What is meant by unity of place?

The place in which things happen is likewise unified. They thought it would be implausible to represent multiple locations on one theatrical stage (Greek theatre didn’t employ any scenery). Thus, it’s all happening in one place.

What is meant by unity of action?

The action (or story) of the plot should also be unified, depicting one continuous story-line that is set up, logically developed, and ends in a climactic conclusion. (Along with twists, turns and surprises to keep the viewers' interest and arouse the emotions of pity and fear.) Sub-plots or side stories of minor characters were considered a distraction and weakness. Thus, one main plot only.

According to the Bible, what comes before a fall?

Pride goeth before the fall.

According to Lord Acton, what does power do?

Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

What brings the powerful to ruin?

Obstinate self-assertion brings the powerful to ruin.

What is the Greek structure of Medea?

Prologue, Parados, First Episode, First Stasimon, 2nd Episode, 2nd Stasimon, 3rd Episode, 3rd Stasimon, 4th Episode, Jason, Exodos

What devices are typically found in farces?

Mistaken identities, misunderstandings, verbal confusion, puns, hiding, physical comedy, character types, funny and all-too-convenient coincidences, a big lie or deception, lots of doors, a fast pace, sex jokes or embarrassments, asides, letters

What are the 11 types of dramatic comedy?

Slapstick, High comedy, Low comedy, Dark comedy, Romantic comedy, Parody, Situational comedy, Absurdist comedy, Farce, Musical comedy, Satire

What is slapstick comedy?

Slapstick involves physical comedy, exaggerated facial expressions, and violent stunts.

What is high comedy?

High comedy typically emphasizes verbal wit in the context of upper-class societies.

What is low comedy?

Low comedy appeals to our basest or most childish attitudes, finding simple humor in humiliation, stupidity, physicality, crude sexuality, scatological humor (farts), violence, and a general rebellion against norms of decency.

What is dark comedy?

Dark comedy focuses on the incongruity of comedic elements and morbid subjects like war, death, and crime.

What is romantic comedy?

Romantic comedy is typically about romantic love that struggles, with humor, to find its place.

What is parody?

Parodies spoof existing works through imitation and exaggeration.

What is situational comedy?

Situational comedy draws humor from on-going relationships and dynamics between a recurring cast of characters in a consistent setting.

What is absurdist comedy?

Absurdist comedy features exaggerated absurdity and non-sense in hopelessly confined situations

What is farce?

Farce centers around exaggerated characters dealing with improbable situations caused by miscommunication and mistaken identities.

What is musical comedy?

Musical comedy can employ any of the other comedy genres, but music affects mood, and even if not humorous in themselves, songs are generally humane and endearing and comforting.

What is satire?

Satire holds up vices, follies, abuses and stupidity up to ridicule.

What themes does the play 'Distracted' explore?

Sensory and information overload in our society, and more specifically, Attention Deficit Disorder.

According to Lisa Loomer, is ADHD simply a cultural phenomenon?

I do not believe ADHD is simply a cultural phenomenon. Scientists have isolated genes that are involved in ADHD.

What advice does Lisa Loomer have for aspiring playwrights?

Write what you have to write, write what is yours to write and never write to please or be “popular.

What did the poet Patricia Lockwood call TikTok videos?

The sapphires of the instant.

According to Thomas Jefferson, what would happen if readers fell under the spell of novels?

They’d suffer from “bloated imagination, sickly judgement, and disgust toward all the real business of life.”

What two types of attention does Chris Hayes distinguish?

Hayes distinguishes between voluntary and compelled attention. Some things we focus on by choice; others, because of our psychological hardwiring, are hard to ignore. The algo-rithms deliver what we want, but not “what we want to want.

What is the plot of Medea?

Medea is a tragedy by Euripides in which Medea extracts her revenge on her adulterous husband Jason by killing their children.

What is the plot of Distracted?

Distracted is a play by Lisa Loomer that follows a family's struggle

What is Medea's motivation for killing her children?

Medea kills her children as an act of revenge against Jason for his betrayal, aiming to inflict the deepest possible pain on him.

What are the main themes explored in Euripides' Medea?

Key themes include revenge, betrayal, the plight of women in ancient Greek society, the clash between reason and passion, and the consequences of unchecked ambition.

How does Medea challenge the traditional gender roles of ancient Greece?

Medea defies the conventional expectations of women by taking decisive and violent action, displaying intelligence and agency typically associated with men in Greek society.

What role does the chorus play in Medea?

The chorus in Medea typically represents the perspective of the Corinthian women, offering commentary on the events, expressing sympathy for Medea's plight, and providing moral reflections on the action.

What is Medea's motivation for killing her children?

Medea kills her children as an act of revenge against Jason for his betrayal, aiming to inflict the deepest possible pain on him.

What are the main themes explored in Euripides' Medea?

Key themes include revenge, betrayal, the plight of women in ancient Greek society, the clash between reason and passion, and the consequences of unchecked ambition.

How does Medea challenge the traditional gender roles of ancient Greece?

Medea defies the conventional expectations of women by taking decisive and violent action, displaying intelligence and agency typically associated with men in Greek society.

What role does the chorus play in Medea?

The chorus in Medea typically represents the perspective of the Corinthian women, offering commentary on the events, expressing sympathy for Medea's plight, and providing moral reflections on the action.

What is hamartia?

A fatal flaw or mistake that leads to the downfall of a tragic hero.

What is hubris?

Excessive pride or self-confidence that leads a protagonist to disregard a divine warning or to violate an important moral law.

What is peripeteia?

A sudden reversal of fortune or change in circumstances, especially in a literary work.

What is anagnorisis?

The moment of tragic recognition in which the protagonist realizes some important fact or insight, especially concerning their own nature or the nature of the universe.

What is catharsis?

The purging or cleansing of the emotions—specifically, pity and fear—through art. It is the emotional effect a tragedy has on its audience.