World Theater Final - 2025

Aboriginal / Native / First People

Terms referring to indigenous groups and their cultures.

Agitprop

Political theater designed to sway, educate, or indoctrinate the audience towards a particular cause or ideology that's often political.

Allegory

A story, picture, or poem that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one. The deeper meaning or message is not stated directly.

Ambiguity

Open to the multiple meanings

Apartheid (1948-1994)

The period in Africa where there was legalized segregation and racism

Appropriation

When someone takes elements of another culture (like clothing, music, or traditions) without understanding or respecting their meaning

Audience Expectations/Expierence

The thing that is not in the blueprint of the play that is brought every night by the audience

Bawdy

Humorously Indecent, Sexual in nature.

Brainwashing

Propaganda and repetition to force people to feel a certain way

Bunraku

Japanese theatre with puppets, usually has 3 people in fully blacked out costumes

Bossa Nova

American Jazz + Brazilian Samba.

Burlesque

A theatrical style that exaggerates or mocks something, often using comedy. Can utilize bawdy or sexualized themes.

Calypso

A musical style from Trinidad that has an African Influence.

Colonialism

The practice of a country taking control over another territory, often exploiting its resources and people.

Creole

A natural language that blends elements from multiple languages, often formed in colonial or multicultural regions

Cypress

The wood that is used in Japanese theatre (in classic Noh)

Costumes

Clothing and accessories worn by actors to represent different characters.

Dialect/Patois/Pidgin/Creole

Dialect of a language based off of another language (Ex: Trinidadian Creole)

Dance

Movement sequences used as part of a performance for storytelling or expression.

Dictatorship

A government ruled by a single, oppressive leader. Without due process.

Ex of some characteristics: Censorship, One-party rule, & holding power by the use of force

Distanced-Covered

How the character changes from the beginning to the end of a scene, monologue, or play.

Direct Address

A theatrical technique where an actor speaks directly to the audience, breaking the 'fourth wall.'

Direct Narrative

A method of storytelling where the events are explicitly described to the audience.

Drums

Japanese shamans used drums to get into a trance (Noh)

English

A widely spoken global language used in theater worldwide.

Emu

The Australian Emu war, big bird

Enactment

A performance style where actors physically act out the events of a story rather than just narrating them.

Environment

The space and setting in which a theatrical performance takes place.

Euro-centric

A play that shows concerns about Europe whilst also being from the viewpoint of Europe.

European-influenced

Something shaped or affected by European traditions or customs.

Fable

A short story, often featuring animals, that teaches a moral lesson.

Fairy Tale

A children's tale often about magical and imaginary beings and lands.

Fantasy

A genre of storytelling involving magic, and adventure, but sometimes science-fiction, especially in a setting other than the real world.

Farce

A comedic play using horseplay, typically including witty language, crude characterization, and ludicrously unlikely situations.

Film

The use of recorded video in a theatrical production.

Folk Tale

A story originating in a popular culture or traditional beliefs (folklore), typically passed on by word of mouth.

Fusion/hybrid

Mix of different cultures

Fourth Wall

The imaginary barrier between the audience and actors; breaking it means directly engaging with the audience.

Haka

A traditional Māori war dance that expresses strength and unity. Used to express warfare, celebration, and pride (NZ).

Homophobia

Prejudice against LGBTQ+ people.

Indigenous / Indigenous Theater

Native or first peoples and their storytelling, performance, and theatrical traditions.

Infantilization

Treating adults like a baby.

Kabuki

Japanese theatre, combat based, masks, bright colors, choreographed fights, a popular genre of theatre in Japan

Karanga

Call to the ancestors to invite them down to the Marae. It can also unintentionally invite dangerous spirits. (NZ)

Kapu Laws

Hawaiian code of conduct. Women couldn't lead, couldn't eat with men, & men had multiple wives (began to change with Kapumanu 1820-1830)

Language

The specific words, dialects, or styles of speech used in a performance.

Legend

A traditional story sometimes regarded as historical but made for no specific purpose, often mythologized.

Limbo

Originated in South Africa and moved to Tobago, a form of dance.

Living Ghost

A disembodied Spirit, the spirit Is from someone who is still living (used in Lady Aoi)

Lighting

The use of light to create mood, focus attention, or establish time and place.

Makeup

Cosmetics applied to an actor's face or body to transform their appearance.

Mana

A spiritual force or personal power in Māori culture. (NZ)

Marae

Sacred Maori meeting house, theatre/meals (NZ).

Masks

Japanese Noa (Classic)

Maori (Language)

The language of the indigenous Māori people of New Zealand.

Mime

A theatrical technique where performers use body movements without speech to tell a story.

Misogyny

Hatred or discrimination against women.

Moa

Giant flightless bird from New Zealand, Indigenous tribes wore the egg around their neck.

Multicultural

Having to do with many cultures.

Music

The use of sound and melody to enhance a theatrical production.

Myth

A traditional story, especially one concerning the early history of people or explaining some natural or social phenomenon, typically involving supernatural beings or events.

Noh (Classic & Modern)

Classic: Masks, Cypress, Shinto Shrine (structure of stage), Pine Tree

Modern: Doesn't use any classic elements/story but classic approaches is not necessary

Oppression

Pushing someone and their ideas down.

Parody

An imitation of the style of a particular writer, artist, or genre with deliberate exaggeration for comic effect.

Pantomime

Christmas show in the UK

Persecution

Unfair attack on somebody/something.

Plot vs Theme

Action VS Idea

Polemic

A strong written or verbal attack on someone or something; the art or practice of engaging in controversial debate or dispute.

Portuguese

The official language of Brazil.

Postcolonial

When the colonized have become an independent nation of their own, kicking out or integrating the colonizers.

Pou Pou

The pillars on the marae on (specifically: on the side of the Marae)

Projections

The display of images or videos on a surface as part of a theatrical performance.

Propaganda

Partial, selective, or false information used to sway people.

Props

Objects used by actors on stage to support the action or setting.

Reasons To Go To The Theatre

• As a date

• For entertainment

• education

• cultural connection

• supporting friends

• free tix

• see a celebrity

• community engagement

Repression

Pushing down/erasing/deleting.

Rime of the Ancient Mariner

Briefly mentioned in Pantomime; relates to being lost at sea like Robinson Crusoe.

Role

Name to a character.

Role Reversal

A technique where characters switch roles to challenge traditional power dynamics or perspectives. (Ex: teacher becomes student, student becomes teacher)

Robinson Crusoe / Daniel Defoe

Robinson Crusoe is a novel by Daniel Defoe about a castaway surviving on an island, analyzed for colonialism and individualism themes. Mentioned in Pantomime by Derrick Walcott

Samba

A lively, rhythmic dance and musical style originating from Brazil.

Satire

The use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize stupidity or morally wrong behavior.

"Script as Blueprint"

The concept of the script only being the base for the director to build off of

Shinto

Japanese Religion, focused on worshipping spirits found in nature

Singing

Making music with your voice

Scenery

The background and elements that create the setting of a play.

Set Pieces

Large structures or furniture used to build the stage environment.

Shaman as Messenger

The messenger of the spiritual world; they tell the story through direct narrative or enactment after trance experiences.

Singing

The use of vocal music in a performance.

Self-Determination

Opposite of oppression

Slapstick

Physical comedy based on deliberately clumsy actions and humorously embarrassing events.

Social

Connected to human relationships, society, and interactions.

South Africa

A country with a strong history of protest theater, particularly against Apartheid.

Sound Effects

Recorded or live sounds used to enhance realism or mood in a play.

Stage Combat

Choreographed fighting sequences performed safely in theater.

Subjugation

Putting someone below you.

Truth & Reconciliation Commission

A government commission for oppressed people during Apartheid to tell their stories/confess.

Ulysses S. Grant

The first US president to go and see Noh theatre

Ubu and the Truth Commission by Jane Taylor

Characters: Pa Ubu, Ma Ubu, Brutus the Dog, Niles the Crocodile, The Truth Commission Witnesses - Languages: Setswana, Xhosa, Zulu, Afrikaans - South Africa.

Ubu Roi

A play by Alfred Jarry that is a parody of Hamlet, Macbeth, and King Lear. Ubu Roi is characterized as lazy and greedy. Character was inspired by Alfred Jerry's teacher.