CTAD 1025: Midterm

non-mediated theatre

a form of live performance where there is no use of technology or electronic devices between the performers and the audience

where live theatre can be found

broadway, regional theatre, college and university campuses and high schools, community theatre

experimental/avant-garde theatre

introduces a different use of language and the body and tries to change the perception on the theatre to create a new, active relation with the audience (site-specific theatre and performance art)

characteristics of art

• a mirror or reflection of life

• an extension or projection of how we live, think, and feel

• reveals to us what we treasure and admire and what we fear most deeply

• may be an absolute necessity for human survival

literary art

novels, short stories, poetry

characteristics of performing art

• movement through time

• interpreters as well as creators

• must been seen with a live audience- a performance recorded without an audience becomes film or television

selecting subject

• the subject matter for drama is always human beings

• determine what aspect of human existence to write about

determining focus

• decide who and what to focus on

• how to interpret the characters and events

establishing purpose

• may be causal and unconscious or conscious and deliberate

• to entertain, to probe human condition, to provide an escape, raise philosophical questions, to impart information

developing dramatic structure

• a play must have an internal structure that gives shape, strength, and meaning

• creating dramatic characters

• establishing point of view

essentials of dramatic structure

• the story must be turned into a plot

• the plot involves action and dialogue

• the plot includes conflict

• there are strongly opposed forces

• a reasonable balance is struck between the opposed forces

plot

the arrangement of events and selection of scenes from a story

sequence in dramatic structure

• begin with the opening scene

  • starts the action and sets the tone and style

  • tells us whether we are going to see a serious or comedic play and what the play will deal with

• obstacles and complications block a character's path

• crisises and climaxes

climactic/intensive plot structure

• plot begins late in the story

• scenes, locales, and characters are restricted

• construction is tight

episodic/extensive plot structure

• people, places, and events multiply

• there may be a parallel plot or subject

• contrast and juxtaposition are used

• overall effect is cumulative

ritual as structure

religious ceremonies or getting up in the morning

patterns as structure

repeated sequence of events

serial structure

chained together- an evening of one-act plays

extraordinary characters

• heroes and heroines

• larger than life

• historically, have been kings, queens, generals, members of nobility

• present some form of extreme of human behavior

representative/quintessential characters

• three-dimensional, highly individual, ordinary

• embody the characteristics of an entire group

stock characters

• symbolize a particular type of person to the exclusion of virtually everyone else

• appear particularly in comedy and melodrama

characters with a dramatic trait

one aspect of this character dominates, making for an unbalanced, and often comic, personality

minor characters

play a small part in overall action; appear briefly and serve to further the story or to support more important characters

narator or chorus

• generally, a narrator speaks directly to the audience

• comments on the action

• greek drama used a chorus that commented, in song and dance, on the action

nonhuman characters

often animals that are supposed to draw parallels with the human experience

protagonist

the principle character in a play, the one whom the drama is about

antagonist

the chief opponent of the "hero," the character who causes conflict

genre

a French word meaning “category” or “type”

traditional tragedy

• tragic heroes and heroines

  • a person of stature- king, queen, general

  • stand as symbols of an entire culture or society

  • trapped in a fateful web of tragic circumstances

• ™ tragic fate- no turning back

• ™ acceptance of responsibility

• ™ tragic verse- the language of tragedy

• ™ the effects of tragedy- pessimism and affirmation

modern tragedy

• no queens or kings as central figures

• written in prose rather than poetry

• probe the same depths and ask the same questions

the comic presence

• suspension of natural laws

• contrast between individuals and the social order- scissors effect

farce

• thrives on plot exaggeration

• has no intellectual pretensions

• aims are entertainment and laughter

• has excessive plot complications

• humor results from ridiculous situations as well as pratfalls and horseplay

burlesque

relies on knockabout physical humor, gross exaggeration, and occasional vulgarity

satire

uses wit, especially sophisticated language; irony and exaggeration to expose or attack evil and foolishness

domestic comedy

usually deals with family situations; found in sitcoms (Modern Family)

comedy of manners

concerned with pointing up the foibles and peculiarities of the upper class; uses verbal wit

heroic drama

• serious drama that has heroic or noble characters and certain other traits of classic tragedy

• ™ has a happy ending

• ™ assumes a basically optimistic worldview

melodrama

• means “song drama” or “music drama

• “music” refers to the background music that accompanied these plays- the plays were not ‘plays’ if they included music and thus could avoid censorship

• relies on surface effects that create suspense, fear, nostalgia, etc.

• ™heroes and heroines are clearly delineated from villains

• ™has easily recognizable stock characters

• ™virtue is always victorious

• ™has a suspenseful plot

domestic drama

• deals with people from everyday life instead of kings, queens, and nobility

• common themes are problems of society, struggles within a family, dashed hopes, renewed determination

tragicomedy

point of view is mixed; prevailing attitude is a fusion of the serious and the comic

physical acting

the use of the voice and body

synthesis and integration

combining inner and outer skills

three challenges of acting

• making acting believable

• physical acting

• synthesis and integration

the stanislavsky system

• exercises and techniques focused on:

  • relaxation

  • concentration and observation- the circle of attention

  • Importance of Specifics

    • given circumstances

    • the magic if- if you understand enough about the character to know what the character might do

• the art of experiencing

ensemble playing

no actor acts alone- must stay engaged or through line is lost

emotional recall

a tool intended to help performers achieve a sense of emotional truth

pitch

the highness and lowness in voice

director

the person who is responsible for the overall unity of the production and for coordinating the efforts of the contributing artists

the director and the script

• begins with a close examination of the text

  • discovery of the spine (also called the main action)

  • find the style of the play- the way the play is presented

• develops a directorial concept

  • the overall image or metaphor of a play- what is the essence, what is the abstraction or ideograph?

auteur director

• does not serve the purposes of a text; rather, they demand that the text serve their purposes

  • alter texts drastically

  • combines texts from other sources

  • introduces other elements such as film, video, dance, and the visual arts

  • rearranges times and places in which the action occurs

dramaturg/literary manager

• discovers and reads new plays

• works with playwrights to develop new scripts

• identifies overlooked plays from the past

• prepares information on the history of

  classical works

• researches past productions and criticism

producer

• the director’s counterpart in the business and management side of a theatre production

• typical responsibilities include raising money to finance the production, securing rights to the script, dealing with the agents for the playwright, director, and performers, hiring the director, performers, designers, and stage crew

non-commercial theatre managing director

• manages the administrative organization of a nonprofit theatre

• serves as overall artistic director of the organization and responsible for all creative and artistic activities

• selects the plays that will run

• chooses directors, designers, and other creative personnel

• executive or managing director

• similar to the producer- finds the money

managing director/house manager

focuses on building maintenance, budget, publicity and oversees the front of house manager

front of house manager

focuses on box office, safety issues, opening and closing, and hiring front of house personnel

stage manager

• coordinates all the rehearsals

• takes notes during rehearsals

• communicates with all members of the production

• responsible for the actual running of a performance

proscenium

the frame that separates the stage from the auditorium and forms an outline for the stage

rake

to position scenery on a slant or angle other than parallel or perpendicular to the curtain line; also, an upward slope of the stage floor away from the audience

advantages of prosceniums

• ideal for spectacles because the machinery and the workings of the scene changes can be concealed behind the proscenium opening

• effective for realistic settings

• strong central focus rivets attention of audience

disadvantages of prosceniums

• creates a temptation to get carried away with visual pyrotechnics

• tends to be remote and formal

thrust stage

a type of stage configuration where the stage is surrounded on three sides by the audience

arena stage

a type of stage configuration where the audience surrounds the stage on four sides; little to no scenery and the audience is very close to the action

advantages of arena stages

• offers intimacy

• allows for unconscious communication that is created when people form a circle

• any large room can be converted into this arrangement

created/found theatre

a theatre set up in a space not ordinarily used for performance

multifocus environments

more than one playing area where something is going on simultaneously in each area; no single space or activity is more important than any other

all-purpose/experimental spaces

can be adapted to an almost infinite range of configurations; every aspect is flexible and movable and aesthetic distance can be adjusted for each production’s needs

actor

individual who takes on the task of interpreting a character and portraying that character as a 3-dimensional entity

actor’s tools

voice, mind, and body

aesthetic distance

physical or psychological separation or detachment of the audience from the dramatic action, regarded as necessary to maintain the artistic illusion in most kinds of theatre

climax

the point of the play where the major conflict is resolved

conflict

tension between two or more characters that leads to crisis or a climax; the fundamental struggle or imbalance underlying the play as a whole

critique

a paper that analyzes the script, as well as, the production identifying both strengths and weaknesses

exposition

the part of the play which introduces the audience to the characters and describes the status quo

deus ex machina

“the god from the machine” - a term used to indicate the intervention of supernatural forces- usually at the last moment- to save the action from its logical conclusion; denotes in modern drama an arbitrary and coincidental solution

commedia dell’ arte

• traveling

• improvised

• stock characters: lover, master, servant and clown

stage left

the left side of the stage from the point of view of a performer facing the audience

stage right

the right side of the stage from the point of view of a performer facing the audience

upstage

area of the stage that is farthest away from the audience

downstage

the front of the stage nearest the audience

spatial art

art that occupies space

temporal art

art that moves through time

visual art

painting, sculpture, architecture, photography

performing art

theatre dance, opera, music

willing suspension of disbelief

an intentional avoidance of critical thinking or logic in examining something surreal, such as a work of speculative fiction, in order to believe it for the sake of enjoyment

criteria for criticism

what is the playwright or production attempting to do? how well has it been done? is it worth doing?

immersive theatre

an interactive experience where you are not only an audience member but an active participant

theatre decorum

the appropriateness of certain actions or events to the stage

dial testing

the real-time collection and analysis of closed-ended feedback to questions and moment-to-moment feedback to live and recorded content