Intro to Theatre Midterm

Theater the location is

the location for a performance; physical location, building, performance area

Theatre depends on a…

separation of the viewer and the viewed (not literally, but a feeling)

What is the origins of the word theater

Greek, Theatron; “seeing place” outdoor hillside theatre

Origins of the word Drama

Greek, Drah; “to do an action

What is the Roman/Latin term for Theatre

Auditorium

Origins of Auditorium

Latin, Audencia; “those who hear”

Subcategories of Theatre

Dance, Outdoor, Absurdist, Musical, Dinner, MAnnerist, Elizabethan, Improvisational, Historical, Black, Experimental, Performance Art

In Greek Theatron

actors performed before an audience on a hillside

Kabuki Theatre began on

open river banks

Acoustics

sound quality; Greek acoustos meaning heard

4th Century BCE Greek Theatre (The place)

gigantic stone structures, some capable of holding up to 17000 spectators

Roman Theatres (the place)

gilded columns, canvas awnings, intricate marble carvings

Chinese Opera Theatres (The place)

grand tea house theatre spaces and private stages in imperial palaces

Elizebethean Theare

Theatre Company

the collection of artists who create a theatrical work

Theatre company involves (in terms of workers)

dozens-hundreds of people working closely together on 1 performance

4th century BCE Theatre troupes…

toured the countryside and presented a repertory of shows to cities; made of actors, technicians, and playwrights

Commedia dell’Arte

popular theatre troupe in the 16th century

Major Elements of a theatrical performance

playwright, production team, audience

Rehearsals

actors and directors meet to create and practice staging for the play

Production

securing personnel, space; supervision of production, promotion, legal matters; distributing proceeds; Producer

Directing

controlling and developing the play to provide it with unified vision; Director

Acting

most of the work visible to the audience; performing in the play: Performers

Designing

creation of visual and aural elements of a production; set/scene designer, lighting designer, sound designer, costume designer

Building

building/realization of the designs; technical director, master carpenter, prop maker, costumer, master electrician, sound engineer, scene shop

Crew

Technicians who execute the lighting, sound, laundering, repair, changing of costumes, and changing of scenery and props; running crew, wardrobe crew

Stage Management

coordinating in real time a play production in performance and after performance; stage manager, assistant stage manager

House Management

admitting, seating, and general comfort of the audience

Playwriting

writer of the play, before the production; playwright

Composing

composing songs for musical theatre, before the production; composer, lyricist

A fundamental quality of theatre is that… (think of actors)

it involves actors who impersonate characters

In theatre actors are viewed as…

artistic creations rather than people

The mask is a way of…

separating the stage and reality, the character and the actor

Presentational mode of performance

Direct Mode, direct acknowledgement of the audience; asides, stand-up comedy, narration, soliloquies, concert singing

Representational mode of performance

Indirect Mode, staged as if the audience is not present; staying in character, no acknowledgment of the audience

Live Performance is…

Collective/Shared Experience; Never Exactly the Same, Collaborative/Company & Audince

Live theatre creates

relationship between audience & performers and between audience members; quality of immediacy

Is theatre scripted and carefully prepared?

usually

The art of theatre lives between two opposing principles

always spontaneous, but also carefully repeatedly rehearsed

Theatre can be prepared according to…

well-rehearsed texts, scripts or devised, improvisation

Scripted and rehearsed theatre is…

almost identical each time

Published scripts are often

an imperfect record

Duration

length of a play, most will run 2-3 hours

Plays can run…

very short or very long

Short plays are often presented at

dramatic festivals, school assemblies, social gatherings, cabarets, street entertainment, etc.

Genre

The kind of play it is; a dramatic frame within which to apply or recognize different conventions

Origins of the word Genre

the French word for kind

Two main dramatic genres are

tragedy and comedy

Tragedy (Genre)

a serious play that almost always ends in death and focuses on a resonant theme about human life and society: defined in part by its characters

Origin of “Tragedy”

Greek Tragos, serious play

Tragedy Protagonist is…

tragic hero, “carrier of the action”

Tragic flaws in Greek

Hamartia, error or sin; hubris, excessive pride

Tragedy Antagonist is…

enemy of the protagonist, “opposer of the action”

Effect of Tragedy

Catharsis, purging of emotions

Comedy (Genre)

Hilarity created through common devices; uses serious themes

Melodrama (Genre)

suspenseful plot, oriented drama, spectacular staging, flamboyant dialogue

History (Genre)

Shakespear; depicts events that have occurred

Documentary (Genre)

 a solo performer who impersonates many different individuals from interviews

Farce (Genre)

exaggerated comedy, stock themes, mistaken identity, disrobing, scheming, infatuation, misheard, chase scenes

Pageant Plays (Genre)

Faith/Ritual based Plays

Tragic Comedy (Genre)

tragic but has comic relief and ends hopeful or happy

Dark Comedy Genre)

comedies with twisted of ironic turns, end unsettling or disturbing

Musicals (Genre)

mix of comedy and drama, singing and dancing

Absurdism (Genre)

forces on the alienation of man and his plight within an illogical world

Sometimes genres can bring in art forms…

outside of theatre altogether

Drama’s Components

Plot, Characters, thought, diction, music, spectacle, convention

Drama’s Timeline

Pre-play, Play, Post-play

Aristotle’s 6 Components

Plot, Characters, Theme, Diction, Music, Spectacle

Plot (Aristotle’s 6)

the mechanics of story-telling, sequence of events, action

Character (Aristotle’s 6)

impersonated presences, human figures

Theme/Thought (Aristotle’s 6)

topic, central idea/message

Diction (Aristotle’s 6)

What is said and how it is said, delivery

Music (Aristotle’s 6)

sound effects or music, establishes mood, periods, setting

Spectacle (Aristotle’s 6)

overall look, design/visual elements

Theatrical Conventions

repeated elements of a play that come to define our experience of the performance; agreement between audience and performers

Asides (Theatrical Convention)

other characters don’t hear it but the audience does

Time-lapses (Theatrical Conventions)

skipping ahead

Dream sequences (Theatrical Convention)

playing out of dreams

Flashbacks (Theatrical Conventions)

going back to previous events

Frozen in action (Theatrical Convention)

Locations and situation (Theatrical Convention)

even though we are in a theatre we are somewhere and sometime else

Begining of play (Theatrical Convention)

when the house lights go down

Ending of play

Curtain coming down

Theatrical conventions change within

other theatre forms throughout the world

Playwrights and directors have enjoyed subverting

theatrical convention or inventing new ones

Pre-Play

attraction of the audience; advertising for the play, ushering people to their seats

Play

the play itself, exposition, conflict, climax, denouement

Post-Play

curtain call, discussion, debates, critique, interview, review

The External Method – Presentational (Technical)

An approach to acting that Focuses on technique/external training

The Internal Method – Representational (The “Method”)

An approach to acting in which “Character which emanates from inside (Konstantin Stanislavsky)

Both approaches to acting have in common…

awareness and control

Awareness (Approach to acting context)

to act is to listen, to see, to respond; ones character must know where they are, where they have been, and what is going on around them

Control (Approach to Acting context)

control over oneself, knowing what to do with the body and voice

The Paradox of Acting

• “A great actor must be an unmoved and disinterested onlooker” Denis Diderot

• Being artistically fascinating and realistic to audiences

To become an actor it is not enough to have an approach or train you must also

practices your approach or approches

To become an actor requires

lots of time, effort, risks, practice

Identify the character

, identify their desires, tactics to obtain the character's objective, the characters relationship (through action), create the world of the character

Rehearsals are a time for actors to test out

new goals and actions as informed by the script

The Actor’s Instrument

self, body (movement) and voice (diction); mind/imagination