CSET Multiple Subject Subtest III Visual and Performing Arts Drama

Elements of Drama in the Curriculum

Acting, Drama, Improvisation, Playmaking and theatre.

Acting

Involves sensory awareness, rhythm and movement,pantomime, oral communication and playmaking. Often requires preparation and rehearsal of scripted literature and may lead to a performance before an audience. Suffested for secure students under the guidance of a specially trained teacher/director.

Drama

Involves the reenactment of life situations for entertainment and human understanding. Does not necessarily require a formal audience.

Improvisation

Involves creative, cooperative, spontaneous, and flexible response to changing and unexpected dramatic stimuli. Embraces problem solving without preconception of how to perform and allows anything within the environment to be used durring the experience.

Playmaking

Involves the consciously planned and structured activity of creation on an original script. No formal audience is required.

Theater

Involves the formal presentation of a scripted play. Incorporates elements such as acting, directing, designing and managing

Intent

Involves the objective, purpose, theme, or basic idea of a work of drama.

Structure

Involves the interaction of all elements. Includes, but is ot limited to, design, rhythm, climax, conflict, balance and sequence.

Effectiveness

Involves the degree to which a dramatic work succeeds. Includes the evaluation of the work's success in such things as entertaining, informing, illuminating persuading inspiring, amusing, engaging, shocking and awing.

Worth

Involves a value judgement. Includes assessment of the knowledge, insight, wisdom, or feeling imparted by a work.

Action

In a character to character interaction the total array of purposeful activity both external and internal by which characters attempt to achieve their objectives.

Antagonist

In traditional dramatic theory, an element, usually a character that resists the protagonist. Conflict results from the efforts of the protagonist to achieve his or her objectives in spite of the obstacles introduced by the antagonist.

Arena staging

-The physical configuration of audience and actor in which the audience essentially surrounds the playing area

-It is also known as "theatre in the round"

Aristotelian theatre

In general, the traditional theatre thought to be espoused by Aristotle. It includes clear, simple plotting; strong but not necessarily complicated characters; high levels of intellectual content; and a minimum of spectacle.

Aristotelian Theatre

In the Renaissance, other criteria were added to these, some native to Aristotle, some imposed through fancied symmetry. Plays should include the 3 unities, unity of one main action, unity of one physical space, and unity of time. Plays should be written in five acts. Plays should avoid violence. Plays should not mix comedy and tragedy.

Block (verb)

-To decide upon the gross movements of the actors upon the stage; assign the physical relationship of actors and the locations of entrances and exits; create stage "pictures"

-Frequently, early rehearsals (blocking rehearsals) are devoted to this task

Broadway theatre

The commercial model that dominated the American theatre from the end of the 19th century until shortly after World War II. Named for the New York boulevard that runs through the Manhattan theatre district, this kind of theatre is essentially a profit-making enterprise in which shares of a production are sold to investors with the expectation that, after meeting the initial expenses of production, they will receive a substantial return on their investment. To enhance these profits, Broadway theatre aspires to very long runs of a single play, frequently using star performers appearing in vehicles with the widest possible audience appeal.

Center stage

The exact center of the floor of the stage

Character

A figure portrayed in the play; the sum total of the actions that define a person so portrayed

Chorus

-In Greek and Roman drama of the classical period, a group of characters in a play who comment on the action, frequently speaking directly to the audience

-The function of the chorus is usually that of an intermediary between the audience and the major characters in the play

-Because they are often given a collective role, the individual members of the chorus seldom have separate names or characters

-Instead, the group as a whole serves as a surrogate "audience" to the degree that it is detached from the dramatic action and can view with horror of amusement the action of the major characters; at the same time, the chorus can participate directly in the action, advising the protagonist, arguing with the antagonist, and praying to the gods for guidance

Chronological time

-Time as a linear experience related to cause and effect

-Most history is written in chronological order, but much theatre chooses to take liberties with the chronological presentation of facts

-The earliest modification was to leave out long and unimportant passages of time in order to present scenes that capture the essence of the story in an episodic plot

-Later developments include the flashback and the flash-forward

Climax

-In traditional dramatic structure, the point of the play that completes the rising action

-The contending forces, having raised the conflict to the highest point possible, face one another in a confrontation so inescapable that only one can emerge victorious

-At this point, frequently a new piece of information is made public that tips the balance one way or another

-The climax is followed by the dénouement

Comedy

-Historically, comedy is any play that ends happily

-More specifically, it is the genre of dramatic literature that is lighter in tone than drama but more serious than farce

-Comedy differs from drama in that the characters are less developed, the theme is less weighty, the language is usually wittier, and the ending is invariably happy

-Comedy is often difficult to distinguish from farce; in the latter, the humor is more physical, the characters are more broadly drawn, and the plots are more contrived

Company

-In the broadest sense, all of the people associated with producing a play, including the designers, technicians, directors, stage managers, and actors

-In the narrowest sense, the concept of "the company" is confined to the actors alone

Conflict

The central feature of a dramatic action; the arrangement of the objectives of two or more strong characters in such a way that those objectives are completing and mutually exclusive

Connotative meaning

-The meaning conveyed by connotative symbols, symbols that are vague in terms of strict definition, but rich in poetic meaning

-Much connotative meaning evokes an emotional rather than intellectual response

Context

-What is portrayed in theatre; namely, the interaction of at least one character with some aspect of his or her environment

-Since the portrayed interaction is normally with another person (or an aspect of the natural environment endowed with human qualities), the content of theatre is a character-character interaction

Conventions

-The temporary "rules" of the performance

-The conventions of the theatre are specific to particular cultures, styles of theatre, and even individual productions

Creative drama

-A form of entertainment in which students improvise scenes for their own growth and edification, not that of an audience

-In some cases, the aim of creative drama is to learn subjects other than theatre (history, psychology, literature, and so on)l in others, it is to learn about theatre itself

Dénouement

-In traditional dramatic theory, the portion of action that immediately follows the climax of a play

-In the dénouement, the last remaining loose ends are "tied up," including the disposition of any unresolved conflicts and the reestablishment of stasis (a condition of balance and harmony)

Director

In the modern theatre, the major interpretive figure, whose job it is to bring to life the vision of the playwright or otherwise provide artistic meaning to the theatre experience

Downstage

The portion of the proscenium stage that is closest to the audience

Dramatic criticism

-The work of a drama critic

-It consists of commentary on a play or script intended to enrich the experience of seeing the play or reading the script by others

-Dramatic criticism can appear in written form in periodicals, as media presentations, or in public talks

Dramatic question

-The first and most important element in rising action

-As soon as conflict has been established, the next question must be, "How will this turn out?"

-The dramatic question then raises the issue of which the conflicting parties will prevail and, in doing so, begins to develop suspense

Environmental staging

-The form of physical relationship between audience and performers in which there is little or no clear definition between the space dedicated to each

-The conventions of environmental staging dictate that audience and performers use the same space during the course of the experience

Exposition

-The playwriting device of providing information to the audience

-Retrospective exposition usually occurs early in the action and gives the audience important information about what has occurred before the play begins; current exposition provides information about events offstage happening during the play

Flashback

-A manipulation of time in the plot in which a scene from earlier in the story is shown after those that occur later

-Rather rare in traditional playwriting, flashbacks are common in films

Form

-The relationship of all the parts of plays of a certain type considered apart from any single example of that type, as in the form of farce and the form of the well-made play

-What emerges is a model or ideal of a theatrical experience that can be used to describe specific examples

Full-length play

-A single play that typically fulfills the expectation for a complete theatrical experience

-In the Western tradition, this means one play of 3 to 5 acts, usually filling 2 to 4 hours

Gallery

-In the Elizabethan theatre, one of a tier of alcoves surrounding the interior of the "yard" where, in enclosed boxes and on benches, those who could afford the greatest comfort could sit

-Comparable galleries are found in most Renaissance theatres; they continue today in tiers of balconies and boxes found in most opera houses

Illumination

The act of casting light upon an otherwise darkened stage

Inciting incident

-In traditional dramatic structure, the first incident in the chain of events called rising action

-It is the inciting incident that throws the world of the play into disequilibrium (destroying stasis); the remainder of the play is an attempt to reestablish that balance

-The inciting incident may be deceptively simple: the arrival of a new person in the community, the delivery of a letter, a piece of news emerging in casual conversation, and the like

Kabuki

A classical Japanese theatre form that combines colorful song and dance, flamboyant characters, and extravagant plots in a popular art that has retained its wide popularity since the early 17th century

Lighting plot

A plan of the stage showing the location of each lighting instrument, its size and characters, and the area of the stage where its light will fall

Melodrama

-The genre of theatre that is normally placed between tragedy and drama and which shares some characteristics with each

-It is largely serious in tone, placing its major figures in great jeopardy, but unlike tragedy, saves them from destruction at the end

-The moral stance of melodrama is always clear: the good characters are very good, the bad ones very bad

Mood

-In lighting, the use of elements of stage lighting to evoke or support particular emotional states in the audience of a play

-As an element of theatre, this is the place on the humorous-serious scale that a play is expected to occupy

Multiple plots

-The traditional element of theatre plotting in which more than one story line is presented, usually simultaneously

-Frequently, the plots are kept separate until late in the play, at which point they intersect in some ingenious way

-Multiple plots work best when each separate plot is somehow a treatment of the same theme or in some way shares an important theatrical element with the others

Neoclassic drama

-Plays of the neoclassic period, or plays modeled after them, in which Renaissance writers attempted to recapture the glory of theatre in ancient Greece and Rome

-Particularly in 17th- and 18th-century France, this effort was aided by the application of certain rules of playwriting, such as the unities (action, place, time), the enforced use of rigid verse forms, and the general concern for "decorum" on the stage

One-act play

A play of short duration (usually less than an hour) that can be presented without an intermission and without major changes in scenery

Orchestra

-In ancient Greek theatre, the open dancing area in front of the stagehouse

-In modern usage, the orchestra is the lowest and usually most expensive array of seats directly in front of the stage

-This should not be confused with the "orchestra pit"

Pastoral play

-An extinct genre of play, popular during the Italian Renaissance, which is set in a countryside populated by nymhps, satyrs, shepherds, shepherdesses, and wandering knights

-Persistently upbeat in tone, the pastoral play existed chiefly to give courtiers a chance to indulge a taste for dressing up as peasants, singing, and dancing

-The pastoral play may have been the Renaissance's attempt to recapture the Greek satyr play

Pit

-In Elizabethan theatre, the portion of the theatre immediately in front of the stage

-This area was occupied by patrons who had paid the lowest admission fee and were willing to stand for the duration of the production

-Over time, this area was filled, first with benches and later with chairs

-Today it is called the orchestra

Playscript

-"Script" for short

-A detailed, written description of a play intended to give the reader as clear a sense of the produced work as possible

-When it is first written by a playwright, the playscript refers to an imagined production; later, the playscript may describe an actual production

-In either case, the aim is to provide enough information so that a group of performers can mount a production of the play in question

Plot

-The series of incidents that make up the action of the play

-These incidents are selected from a series of events which, when described chronologically, make up a story

Proscenium arch

-The major architectural feature of Western theatres since the Renaissance, the proscenium arch is essentially an opening in the wall between two rooms

-In one room (the stagehouse), the actors perform; in the other room (the auditorium), the audience is located

-The arch itself can range from extremely elaborate and intrusive to nearly undetectable

Proscenium staging

-The form of physical configuration between actor and audience encouraged by (some would say demanded by) the proscenium arch

-It consists of a fairly narrow array of audience members gathered on one side of the stage only

-There is a clear distinction between the areas occupied by the actors and the audience; in traditional proscenium theatres, there is also an effort to keep the audience directly in front of the center of the proscenium arch

Protagonist

-Literally, "the first person to enter a contest"

-This is the major figure in traditional theatre, and the person around whom the action of the play turns

-The antagonist is the person or force that resists the protagonist, thus forming the conflict of a play

Restoration comedy

-Characteristic comedy of the period known as the English Restoration (1660-1700)

-Restoration comedy is known for its glittering language, salacious plots, and frequently debauched characters

Revolving stage

-A portion of the stage constructed so that it rotates around a pivot

-Such a stage can be used in a number of ways, the most frequent being to change settings; the downstage scenery rotates out of sight, revealing scenery that had previously been set upstage

Rising action

-In traditional dramatic structure, the portion of the plot that begins with the inciting incident and continues until the climax

-The incidents that make up rising action are expected to build in intensity and frequency, often alternating good and bad news, in such a way as to increase suspense

Satyr play

-A form of Greek drama that coexisted with tragedy in the classical period

-Little is known of the satyr play except that it seems to have been a burlesque of the same ideas presented in tragedies, ridiculing the gods and heroic legends, using the bawdiest language, dance, and song to do it

Stage left

In a proscenium arch configuration, the side of the stage to the left of an actor facing the audience; sometimes called "audience right"

Stage right

In a proscenium arch configuration, the side of the stage to the right of an actor facing the audience; sometimes called "audience left"

Stereotyped character

-One based on the assumption that all members of a given group possess certain simple behavioral traits

-Hence, a few swift strokes of character development (a dialect, a distinctive walk, a costume, and so on) suffice to communicate the stereotype to the audience

-Contrasted with the "unique character," who shares nothing of consequence with any other person and whose life experiences have created a character that is, taken as a whole, entirely distinct from all others

Stock company

-In the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries, a form of resident company in which actors were hired according to lines of work and large numbers of plays were prepared, usually with very short rehearsal periods and for relatively short runs

-The practice and the term continue to live in the experience of "summer stock" (theatre presented during the summertime)

Storyboard

-A visual display of the plot of a play or film in which each scene (or shot) is represented by a single picture or short description

-The pictures or note cards are then arranged on a wall or bulletin board in such a way as to depict the flow of the plot

Tempo

The speed with which incidents that make up the action take place

Thrust staging

-The physical configuration of audience and performers in which at least some part of the stage extends into, and is surrounded by, the audience

-In thrust staging, the audience surrounds the acting area to no more than 270 degrees; beyond that, the configuration is called arena staging

Upstage

In a proscenium staging, the portion of an acting area that is farthest from the audience

Vomitoria

-In Roman theatre, the vomitoria were the tunnels that allowed the audience to enter and exit the large theatres with ease

-In contemporary theatres, the vomitoria ("voms" for short) are the tunnels that allow the actors to reach the downstage portions of a thrust stage by passing through the audience