Theatre Appreciation

Pantomime

story or action performed without words relying on body language

stage business

small actions used to fill time, create character, and sometimes to make the action “more realistic”

Open Up/Cheat Out

Facing as much towards the audience as possible

Diction

The actors ability to be understood by the audience

Volume

The actors ability to be heard by the audience

Cue

The last words or actions indicating the time for another actor to speak or move

aside

Lines said to the audience that other actors onstage are not supposed to be hearing

pick up cues

A direction for the actor to begin responding immediately without allowing any lapse time

Tableau/ Tableau vivant

A living picture. A group of actors/performers arranged to represent a scene

Notes

At the end of each rehearsal, the director will give his/her notes, which are his/her comments on
the performance

Auditions

Readings before a director to determine casting of a play

Call Backs

An additional audition for the final actors being considered. Similar to semifinals in sports

Clear the Stage

A direction given to all actors, musicians, and technicians to leave the stage area prior
to the beginning of a play

Places

The direction for all actors, musicians, and technicians to go to their proper position and be
ready for the beginning of a play or scene

strike

taking down, changing out and putting away costumes, props and sets after a production

run through

An uninterrupted rehearsal of a scene, act, or the entire play

Curtain Call/Bows

The carefully choreographed appearance of actors on stage after the performance to
acknowledge the applause of the audience

blackout

Lighting term: switching all lights out at once, leaving the stage in complete darkness

Blocking

Setting the actors' positions and moves during the rehearsal process

Box Office

the place where the tickets are sold

Properties

Small items which actors carry
onto or around the stage

Rake

Many stage floors, usually in theatres built for dance or variety, are higher at the back than at the
front, to give the audience a better view. These stages are said to be "raked", and the "rake" is the angle of slope from back to front. In most modern theatres it is the audience seating that is raked, not the stage.

revolve

A stage or, more usually, part of a stage, which can revolve 360 degrees

set

The scenery for a particular show or individual scene

Upstage

The area of the stage that is the furthest from the audience

Downstage

The area of the stage that is the closest to the audience

Stage Right

The right side of the stage from the actor’s point of view (facing the audience.)

Stage Left

The left side of the stage from the actor’s point of view (facing the audience.)

Center

Center of the stage.

Full Front

Facing the audience.

Full Back

Facing away from the audience.

Cross

Movement from one area of the stage to another.

Blocking

The set movement of all the actors onstage throughout the play.

actor/audience configuration, critical attitude born (do it right or die!), defined playing space

Primitive Theater Major Contributions

ritual

A ceremony which pays tribute to, or requests something from a deity and implies control over said deity. Also implies a body of believers accept it as effective and important to life.

assured food supply through magic and ritual, provided vicarious experience, calmed certain fears

3 Ways Theatre Answered Basic Societal Needs for the
Primitives

threshing floor

Area where grain is winnowed. Wheat separated from
the chaff. Also became a place for
performative actions or rituals. Since the space was
important for life (food) the space became sacred. That
which separated the sacred from the profane was the threshold.

Qualities of the Threshold by Eliade

1. Threshold is the limit, the boundary, the frontier, that
distinguishes and opposes two worlds. Conflict
2. Paradoxical place where those worlds communicate.
Passage from the profane to the sacred world becomes
possible.
3. Numerous rites accompany passing the threshold—a
bow, prostration, genuflection,...
4. Threshold has guardians
5. Within the sacred precincts the profane world is
transcended.

plot, character, thought, diction, music, spectacle

Aristotle’s 6 elements

plot

the arrangement of incidents; the life and soul of tragedy; usually can be stated in 25 words or less

character

the quality about human beings that we determine by viewing their actions and choices

thought

what the play is about; man vs…

diction

how language is used; how the thought is articulated; can vary from writer to writer

music

used to heighten emotions of the audience

spectacle

the physical environment the play is put in; what you can see

theatron

• where audience sat

• “seeing place”

• on semi-circular terraced rows of benches

skene

• meaning “tent”

• on the far side of the orchestra was this stage building

• covered structure where actors would store masks/costumes

• allowed for quick costume changes beyond sight of the audience

orchestra

• the core of any Greek theatre

• “dancing space” for the chorus and main performance space

pinakes

painted panels; temporary scenic elements usually placed in the openings of the Greek skene

periaktoi

a revolving triangular prism made of wood, bearing on each of its three sides a different pictured scene

tragedy

• shows us pain and gives us pleasure

• The tragic hero/heroin disturbs a balance in nature—a balance which sooner or later must right itself

simple, stressed ideal

What kind of plot Aeschylus used?

Prometheus Bound

What play did Aeschylus write?

embodied great passion and principle

What kind of characters did Aeschylus have?

there is ultimate justice, pride must be stripped from the hero, justice falls where it is deserved

What kind of thought did Aeschylus have in his work?

Sophocles

Which playwright wrote Oedipus Rex?

Aeschylus

Which playwright wrote Prometheus Bound?

all is known/covers whole story, consequential issue covered and solved, fate of hero is accomplished

What kind of plot did Sophocles have in his work?

noble and dignified characters, character revealed through choices made

What kind of characters did Sophocles have in his work?

noble character confronts some terrible crisis, suffers beyond fault, yet remains dignity

What kind of thought did Sophocles have in his work?

Euripides

Which playwright wrote Medea?

Human issues, use Gods as justifications for actions

What kind of plot did Euripides use in his work?

women as major characters, not particularly dignified, distraught, men less than ideal

What kind of characters did Euripides use in his work?

morality of the Gods is less than any good man, Gods will never be perfect, therefore humans are doomed

What kind of thought did Euripides use in his work?

Aristophanes

the playwright that is a gossip?

theatron

orchestra

skene

Parodos

tetrology

consists of three tragedies and one satyr play

satyr play

a spoof on a tragedy; satire

comedy genre

• Humorous story about a normal person in laughable circumstances
  or vice versa

• unhappiness —> happiness

tragedy genre

• Serious story about a good person, usually an important and
  powerful one

• They suffer a significant downfall due to his or her own flaws and
  missteps

• Happiness -> Unhappiness

comedy and tragedy

the two basic theatrical genres

drama, tragicomedy, farce, melodrama, issue play

all the subdramas

drama

• Neither a comedy nor a tragedy

• Serious story about one or more characters at a time of flux and crisis in
  their lives

  • Common characteristics: intense conflict, strong emotions, & personal
    themes

tragicomedy

• Combination of sad and funny story elements

• May be either a series of tragic events with a happy ending or vice versa

farce

• Form of comedy

• Designed to evoke laughter but relies more on buffoonery, physical
  humor, and ludicrously improbably situations

melodrama

• Story about good triumphing over evil

• Happiness -> unhappiness -> happiness

• Common characteristics: strong plot, archetypal characters, exaggerated
  conflict, sensational elements, & a victim of circumstances

issue play

• Story organized around a social or political issue and the author’s ideas
  about how to address it

• Purpose: to arouse the audience emotionally, teach them a lesson, and provoke them to take certain new actions in their lives

upper stage right

A

upper stage left

B

down stage right

C

down stage left

D

practical

a property on stage that actually works/functions (running sink)