Theater Appreciation Midterm - 3/12/2025

Bare minimum needed to create theater

Actors (s) + Audience + Space

Theater without Actors

it would be a group of people in a
place, wondering why they are there

Theater without an audience

you would have no one to perform for

Theater without a space

you wouldn’t have a place to perform or a place for an audience to see your performance

performance

an activity where some people do something while others watch

When should you arrive for a show

15-30 minutes before

given circumstances

Everything that delineates or defines
the special world of the play

Previous Action

AKA exposition; Any action mentioned in the play’s dialogue that reveals any incident or action that took place BEFORE the current action of the play

Polar Attitudes

Beliefs held by a character that are in direct opposition to the world in which they live

What does conflict create

Dramatic Action

Conventions vs. Common Sense

An agreement between artist and audience to do things a certain way for the good of all

Proscenium Stage

Identified by having a “proscenium arch” - any broadway stage

Thrust Plays

Audience on 3 sides of the stage & no arch - Shakespeare plays

Proscenium Thrust Stage (see this more than traditional one)

Defined arch but with a larger amount of stage space extending into the audience

Arena Stage

Stage is surrounded on all sides by the audience, also called “Theater in the Round”

Black Box Theater

VERSATILE: Can place any type of stage within it and the audience can be placed anywhere - Rutgers’ Levin Theater

Environmental Stage (street performers)

Theater done in or at specific (usually outdoor) spaces, the audience can be anywhere and can sometimes physically move with the actors from scene to scene

Alley Stage

Audience on opposite sides of the stage, actors perform between them

Booth Stage

Temporary stage, erected curtain, perform in front of curtain

Broadway

Highest level of American Theater, defined by how many seats it has - 500+, expensive: average $189, only found in NYC

Off-Broadway

Originally named so because of the actual theater’s location, on a street just off of Broadway, now defined by number of seats - 100 to 499; Rent, Avenue Q, Hamilton

Off-Off Broadway

Started in late 1950’s as a place for experimental, anti-commercial theater, defined by 99 seats or less, Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812

Regional Theaters

Usually not-for-profit, can be more adventurous with: Play selection, Production style, Personnel decisions

Amateur Theater

Educational theater - Rutgers’ Mason Gross

Playwright

writes the play

Director

hired by the producer to direct the play

producer

willing to produce the play

designers

chosen by director, approved by producer

actors

auditions are held and play is cast by director

designers part 2

begin building sets and costumes

What does the playwright actually do

Playwright creates copies of human life by creating “language” for characters

August Wilson

Wrote the Pittsburgh cycle, a series of then plays each set in a different decade; Recent Broadway production of Jitney won the only Award for best play revival, wrote fences

A Boadway hit

$1,000 a week

A modest sucess

$1,000 or less a week

Broadway Standard

 a percentage of the theater’s weekly gross from the production. Usually 6%

Copyright Law of 1977

Author’s life plus 50 years

William Shakespeare

Born April 23rd, 1564 - Died April 23rd, 1616 (Prof. Bender’s B-day), wrote 38 plays, 154 sonnets, 2 narrative poems, invented over 1,700 words. His plays are broken into 4 major categories: tragedies, comedies, histories and romances

Who founded The Group theatre

Lee Strasberg, Harold Clurman, Cheryl Crawford

Konstantin Stanislaviski

A russian actor and director known for his system of actor training, preparation and rehearsal technique

Method Acting

Lee Strasberg is considered the “Father of Method” - Actors who use this technique: Jared Leto, Dustin Hoffman, Christian Bale

Meisner Technique

Created by Sandord Meisner, a member of the Group Theatre and taught here at Rutgers - Actors who use this technique: James Franco, Chadwick Boseman, Sebastian Stan

Headshots

Professional pictures taken of you for the purpose of identification. They are the primary tool for actors to promote themselves, A photo session can cost anywhere from $100-$700+, dramatic & comedic

Sides

scenes or portions of scenes given to an actor ahead of time to be performed in front of the director

When could you find out your results from an audition

that day, within a week or 2, or sometimes never

Becoming an Equity Actor

3 ways to become one; if you’re allowed to be one, $1,800 Initiation Fee, $176 annual dues, 2.5% of pay

Iambic Pentameter

The rhythm in poems

Scansion

breaking up the lines of a poem and identifying the stressed parts of each line