Theater Appreciation Exam 1

Def. of fine arts

aesthetic distance

convention

an unspoken agreement between actor and audience concerning a fictional reality

“willing suspension of disbelief”

audience participates in conventions, put aside doubts about narrative being presented, audience chooses to believe as long as actors hold up their conventions in established reality, STC

engaged theatre

aspires to promote dialogue and social justice through performance (community, education, health, dev, prison, museum and memory), The Drunkard, applied theater, some documentary theater, ethnodrama

documentary theatre

also called verbatim theater, represents pivotal events in history, use material from firsthand interviews and docs, emphasize with multiple sides of issue

passion play/Hell House

depicts suffering, death, and resurrection of Christ, 5 days in length | Evangelical alternative to haunted house, controversial, teens to teens, devil performer shows disturbing scenes to dis-encourage as sinners die / dragged to hell, Colorado, pray at end

agitprop theatre

agitation/propaganda, living newspaper, galvanize public to act, street theater, humor, mock conservatism

role of the producer

CEO of company, responsible for all business of show, hire management, find product, find location, money and ads, like a small business, have big say in final product, long runs for investors and spreading message

breakdown

character descriptions distributed into casting industry so can put forth actors for auditions, instructions for casting

Actors Equity Association

labor union for theatrical performers

casting director

work with actors or actors’ agents to determine who is best for parts, collaborate with playwrights and directors, knack for seeing talent, charisma, and training, taste

stage manager

director’s closest partner, run activities backstage, maintain prompt book (blocking, acting notes, light/sound), communication with entire production team, takes control after show opens to continue as directed

Bentley’s working definition of theatre

“A impersonates B while C looks on” performances have to have pretense of self and presentation of a character to qualify

upstage/downstage

given circumstances

drama therapy

participants are invited to rehearse their desired behaviors, practice being in relationships, expand and find flexibility between life roles, perform change they wish to see and be in the world, includes playback theater (tell story about life, improvisers perform it, allows for reflection) and role play

influence of #MeToo and BLM movements

rhetorical tradition

Quintillian, public speaking, speak well and persuade = powerful Roman citizen, feel the emotions present in speech, then can be impersonated, GESTURE = EMOTION

declamatory style

exaggerated actions, repeat/utter speech with studied intonation and gesture, Europe/US, 18th/19th century

history of actor training

Francois Delsarte

no systematic means of training existed before him, after 4 teachers corrected his delivery in 4 ways, studied how people moved/reacted, Science of Applied Aesthetics, list of body/head/etc expressions to match emotions - wanted emotional connection to physical system, but lost this in Delsarte clubs with just posing and freezing

Constantin Stanislavski

Western training based on innovations, rich performer family, spent hours abt serious questions in his performances, found in club performing by Dad “work with reputable material” made Society of Art and Literature, ensemble importance, no small parts / only small actors → more detail!

Moscow Art Theatre

Stanislavski with critic/playwright Vladimir ND made troupe to overturn artificiality of Russian theater, also called MAT

Anton Chekhov

wrote first success for MAT with The Seagull, no heroes or villains but instead struggling flawed human beings, led Stanislavski to new approach of not false external physical expression only

creative state of mind

Stanislavski realized his most inspired performances with passion and no burnout was when he entered this mood - how to systematically make it appear?

affective memory (emotion focused –“method acting”)

recall details about strong emotional moment for sensory detail, Stanislavski later replaced this method to use only as last resort, but ended up still being most popular

method of physical actions (action focused)

Stanislavski, mind and body link inseparable, if actor purses action emotional link connected to action will follow, think about superobjectives throughout play and objectives within scene, actions guided through those

“the magic if”

What would I do If I were this character? What actions would I take to reach my objectives?

types of casting

typecasting, non-traditional, color-blind, color-conscious

typecasting

non-traditional

casting of ethnic minorities and women in roles where race/ethnicity/sex are not necessarily relevant

color-blind

overlooks race entirely in consideration, rewards talent, sometimes struggle with suspension of disbelief

color-conscious

headshots

representative photos actors give to casting agents and directors

dress rehearsal

full run in full costume and all tech elements as if audience present

role of director

climax

highest emotional point in play

denouement

unraveling, all final loose ends of plot are resolved (after falling action)

spine

Character X struggles to…

protagonist/antagonist

carries main theme, usually goes through greatest change | hinders protagonist in journey

point of attack

where playwright picks up story

director’s concept

approach towards play, overarching metaphor, interpreted script to develop artistic vision, production’s primary creator

open/closed text

how fixed to certain time period / place through references in lines

blocking vs organic blocking

director tells you where to go | actors reacting as they like, doing as they want

foregrounding

one actor put in forefront to draw focus (linguistic strategy of calling attention to certain language feature in order to shift the reader’s attention from WHAT is said to HOW it is said?)

business

minor actions on stage, humans aren’t programmed to just stand still! motion makes them look more real

stage pictures

arranging bodies that reveal something abt characters, think poses, who has power and relationships

Acting

Casting

Directing