English 120: Final Exam

“What to Pay Attention to When Reading a Play” (Six)

1. title

2. character descriptions/breakdown

3. setting

4. playwright

5. opening moments

6. closing moments

Barbara Clayton’s Elements of Production

1. scenery

2. acting

3. spatial relationships

4. costumes

5. lighting

6. sound

7. audience

8. props

Fuch’s Questions for a Small Planet

1. How does TIME behave on this planet?

2. What is the CLIMATE of this planet

3. What is the MOOD on this planet?

4. What are the HIDDEN WORLDS on this planet like?

5. What patterns of sound make up the MUSIC on this planet?

6. What are the CLASS RULES on this planet?

7. In what kind of PATTERNS do people on this planet arrange themselves 

8. How do figures DRESS on this planet?

9. How do figures INTERACT on this planet?

10. Who has POWER on this planet?

11. What are the LANGUAGE HABITS on this planet?

Aristotle’s Six Elements of Drama

1. plot

2. character

3. thought

4. language

5. music

6. spectacle

Representational Acting

• illusion that the artist represents life

• utilizes the fourth wall

• performer focused audience is passive observer

Presentational Acting

• no attempt to hide theatrical “tricks”

• actor knows audience is present

• audience focused

• passivity of the audience is challenged

Expressionism

• Not focused on objective/physical reality, but instead subjective/emotional experiences 

• Reality is distorted in order to make it expressive of inner thoughts 

• Focuses on individual’s internal thoughts, feelings, and subconscious

Realism

• Recognizable situations (the appearance of reality)

• Everyday language and settings (generally “middle class”)

• Focuses on individual choices

Naturalism

• “Realism but worse” 

• Often rejects a traditional climatic plot structure (and show many everyday events instead)

• Focuses on the influence of external forces (social environment, lineage, etc.)

Comedy

• Fortunes of the central character rise by the end of the play

• Generally end in unity

• Central characters attitudes and actions create comic situations of themselves and others

Satire

• Employs exaggerated characters and situations

• Depends on intimate familiarity with the model of the parody

• Mocks weaknesses and exposes problems

• Uses visual images, language, symbols, and situations from the model of the parody

Tragedy

• The fortunes of the central character fall by the end of the play

• Generally end in “disunion”

• Central character plays a role in their own downfall

Tragicomedy

contains elements of both comedy and tragedy

The American Musical

• Tells a story through spoken dialogue (like a play) and musical numbers (that employ song), and dance (movement)

• Features music that cannot be separated from the the story as the musical numbers further the plot and character development

Autobiographical Theatre

• Open world

• Multiple points of view 

• Time, space and perspective do not need to be presented realistically

Cabaret

• Celebrates the intimacy of the audience/actor relationship (there is no fourth wall)

• Is generally performed in more intimate settings (a nightclub, rather than a large proscenium theater)

• Plays with form (can include music, song, dance, monologues, stand-up comedy, etc.)

• Is concerned more with storytelling than plot (but has a beginning, middle, and an end)

definition of theatre

theatre = (actor + idea + audience) / time

types of stages

1. thrust (circular)

2. proscenium (straight on)

3. found-space/site-specific

4. new-vic (arena)

types of theatres

• Non-profit (nonunion)

  • Community theatre

    • Participants are working on a volunteer basis and are drawn from the community 

  • Educational theatre

    • Affiliated with an educational institution, participants are generally students 

  • Semi-professional theatre

    • Some or all participants are paid, but not under union contracts 

• Non-profit (union)

  • Professional theatre 

    • All participants are paid

• For profit (union)

  • Broadway

    • All participants are paid

vulnerability

A performer is vulnerable, as the space/act of performance:

1. invites looking

2. aims to create a sense of “public solitude”

3. leaves the performer subject to injury and/or criticism

Dramatic/Theatrical Speech

rooted in vulnerability, never rhetorical, and is built to cause action

Fatal Flaw

Tragic flaw or sometimes an error in judgement that contributes to a characters downfall

Catharsis

• The process of purging emotions of pity and fear within the audience by the action of the play

  • Emotional experience that (hopefully) leads to a feeling of renewal born from the purging of emotions

Unity of Plot

• Focus on one action (and have minimal to no subplots)

• Be constructed so that each scene logically follows the one before it AND so that no scene can be removed without the whole story falling apart

Subtext

Meaning that it is implied or even explicit that does not match (or complicates) the words being spoken

Fourth Wall

Theatrical convention that there is an invisible, imaginary “wall” that separates actors from an audience

Panoramic Focus

• Storytelling technique that rejects singular narrative for a wider focus that includes multiple plots/subplots, perspectives, and characters

• Plays with this focus emphasize ensemble casts and offer broader context that can explore political/social factors that impact the characters’ lives

Parallel Monologue

meaning that is implied or even explicit that does not match (or complicates) the words being spoken

central character

1. The CC is in the play.

2. The CC is at the center of things

3. The CC drives the play’s action and generally has the greatest journey

main oppositional character

1. The MOC is in the play

2. The MOC stands in objective to the CC’s objective and POV

3. The MOC is not the foil

Dramaturg

1. a dramatist.

2. a literary editor on the staff of a theater who consults with authors and edits texts.

Colorblind Casting

 casting without taking an actor’s race or ethnicity into account 

• EX: newest version of Wicked

Color-conscious Casting

casting that takes an actors race or ethnicity into account

what is theatre?

people + objects

what is film?

people + places

what is fiction?

people + ideas