Theatre Exam

Steps for ligting design

• Analyze the script and consider the mood of each scene.

• Collaborate with the director to determine the desired visual style and themes.

• Create a rough draft of the light plot outlining fixture locations and types.

• Experiment with different lighting techniques to establish rhythm and pacing in the performance.

• Finalize the light plot and prepare for technical rehearsals

Properties of lighting design (Idiots Don’t Count Much)

• intensity

• distribution

• color

• movement

Types of stage light

• Ellipsoidal Reflector Spotlight: A versatile stage lighting instrument that provides a sharp, focused beam, ideal for highlighting actors or specific areas on the stage.

• Soft edge Satgelights: A type of lighting fixture that provides a softer, diffused beam that is suitable for creating a more ambient lighting atmosphere and washing large areas of the stage.

• Floodlights/strip lights: A powerful lighting tool used to illuminate large areas or backdrops, providing broad, even coverage with a wide beam of light.

• Automated/moving lights: Advanced lighting fixtures that can change position, color, and intensity dynamically during a performance, enabling designers to create dynamic lighting effects that enhance storytelling.

Sound reproduction vs reinforcement

Reproduction focuses on capturing and conveying sound accurately, while reinforcement emphasizes augmenting sound levels to ensure that all attendees receive a consistent auditory experience.

Special effects (lighting)

Striking, making visual pictures, adding to the other aspects of the play

The audiences view

• Look for specifics

• visual and aural signals being sent continually

• Visual and sural elements = time, place, mood..

The scenic designer (objectives)

• Tone and style

• local and period

• Design consistent with the concept

• Provide a central image or metaphor

• ensure coordinated with other elements

• Solve practical design problems

Layout (scenic design)

• Ground plan: A detailed drawing that illustrates the arrangement of the stage, seating, and other key elements of the theatre space.

• refers to the arrangement of set pieces, props, and scenery on the stage, ensuring optimal visual impact and practical function for the production.

Special effects (scenic)

• senery, lighting, sound, and props that seem usual or miraculous

  • fog, ghost, knives, swords, breakaway, props

Process (scenic design)

• read

• meet director → concept

• rough sketches (thumbnails)

• more meeting director

• complete sketch (rendering)

• director approval → 3D model

  • while vs color model

  • Use more tech now

• develop a ground plan and elevations communicated to collaborators

  • Elevations: to detailed drawings that show the vertical dimensions of the set pieces, including what the paint looks like and the textures of things

Primary collaborators

• Technical director: Responsible for overseeing the technical aspects of the production, ensuring that all equipment and setups align with the artistic vision.

• Property Designer: Responsible for creating and sourcing all props used on stage, ensuring they align with the overall aesthetic vision of the production.

• Scenic Charge Artist: Responsible for overseeing the painting and finishing of scenic elements to ensure visual consistency and quality.

Designing a total environment

• beyond scenery and special effects

  • reconfigure the whole theatre

• rearrange the seating for spectators

• Determine the relationship between the audience and performers

5 elements of scenic design (lions move cautiously through clouds)

• Line

• mass

• composition

• Texture

• Color

Adolphe Appia

• mood, style, rhythm

• a Swiss designer and theorist known for his influential ideas in modern stage design, emphasizing the importance of lighting and the integration of all design elements to create a cohesive artistic vision.

Sound Designer

• Putting together all aural aspects of the show

• where put speakers

Sound Creating Environments

• crucial aspect in the design

  • establish setting, time period, and transitions

  • Correct placement of speakers and mics

  • gather the sounds

Playwright decides

• The story told

• time/place

• Tone/emphasis

• how told

• how unfolds ends

• Other Choices

  • subject matter

  • focus

  • order events

  • Why use subject matter

  • degree of seriousness

  • point of view

Subject + verb = people + action

• subject: people

  • hopes, joys

• Verb: action

  • must be tension

• The basic sentence structure in which the subject is typically the doer of the action expressed by the verb. This structure conveys the interaction between individuals and their actions, forming the foundation of narrative.

Strucutal Conventions

• • The rules of the game (ground rules)

    • Limited space

    • Limited time

    • Strongly opposed forces

    • A balance of forces

    • Incentives and motivation

Story

Full account of events told in chronological order.

Plot

selection and arrangement of scenes

The opening scene

• sets tone

• information

• exposition

Obsticals and complications

• Obstacles: Impediments in a character's path. These can include personal doubts, conflicting desires, or external pressures that challenge their goals.

• Compliactions: outside forces that create unforeseen difficulties, such as societal expectations, other characters' actions, or unforeseen events.

Crisis and Climate

Significant turning points where the stakes are highest, often forcing characters to confront their deepest fears or desires.

Point of View

• • POV begins with a strong personal view of a subject

  • Playwrite puts POV in script

  • Theatre and society are intertwined

  • Tragedy is popular when society has certain attitudes towards people

  • Tragic drama stalled when unbound optimism

  • Dramatist → POV

Climatic Structure

• “well-made play”

• Plot goes A → B → C → D

• Plot flow cause/effect

• subplot, deviation flow from plot (few)

• Exposion → rising action → climax → falling action → resolution

  

Climatic structure (rules)

• Takes place short period of time

• Few scenes and segments

• limited characters and location

• events are inevitable

  • except deus ex machina

Episodic Structure

• Climatic structure reversed

  • Plot story happen closer together

  • Covering longer periods of time

  • shorter scenes

  • Can travel and have friends

  • Can have subplots (many)

  • Tone shifts and juxtaposition welcome

Musical theatre

• Focus jutxpostion and alternation

• Balancing tone, character, music, and dialogue

• How does the introduction change the structure?

  • The introduction sets the stage by establishing the overall mood and themes, which in turn influences how subsequent elements like character development and musical numbers are interwoven throughout the performance.’

• a form of dramatic performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance to tell a story. It often emphasizes the interplay of various elements, such as music and character development, to enhance emotional impact

Other forms and uses of structure

• Ritual structure

  • Theatrical rituals often involve specific conventions and repeated practices that reinforce the themes of the play, providing a familiar framework for the audience.

    • Graduation

• Serial structure

  • Nonlinear storytelling - A technique often used in modern theatre to engage the audience by presenting events out of chronological order.

    • SNL, comedy, Almost Main

• Pattern structure

  • A method of organizing a narrative where specific themes or ideas are repeated throughout the play, often leading to a deeper understanding of the characters' motivations and the story's message.

    • establish a pattern in the play

    • Break or keep pattern

• Feminist structure

  • This approach can highlight societal issues and challenge traditional narratives, offering a fresh perspective on the character dynamics and their development.

• Avant-Garde structure

  • nonverbal, improv

  • This approach challenges conventional narrative forms and encourages innovation in character development and stage design.

Extraordinary character (Dramatic character)

• major

• larger than life or important nature

• extreme of human nature

• can be boring but need traits people them forward in story

  • No one likes a boring protagonist

Representative Character (Dramatic character)

• embodies a group

• used sources of commentary

Stock Character (Dramatic Character)

• Often used comedy

• recognizing archetypes

• can include “dominant traits”

  • “I am led by ____”

Non main characters (dramatic charaters)

• still important

  • minor characters

    • help out major characters

  • narrator/ chorus

    • frame the story

  • nonhuman characters

    • basically human but not

    • Personification

Melding the characters

• main opposition

  • protagonist: main driver of the plot

    • Can be good or bad

  • Antagonist: main foil

    • Can be good or bad

• Contrasting character

  • work off each other

  • Show other options or perspectives

• Other considerations

  • Are they distinctive? Do they fit into the world? How does it fit into a cohesive narrative?

Tragedy

• asking the hard questions about human existence

• The universe does not care about humanity

Traditional tragedy

• • Tragic protagonist/extraordinary character

  • tragic circumstances

    • character caught in a tragic web with no escape

  • tagic irreveability

    • no backtracking

  • Tragic verse

    • poetry

    • a poetic form depicting the deep emotions and conflicts faced by the characters, often leading to a devastating climax.

  • Downfall

    • Hamartia: a tragic flaw or error in judgment that ultimately leads to the protagonist's downfall.

      • displayed as hubris

  • acceptance and responsibility

    • self-aware kind, suffer for pain they caused

    • pessimism: the world sucks and you can’t do anything about it

    • fear in the hearts of others

Modern tragedy

• late 19th century → now

• written from the perspective of normal people

• Is it truly a tagity?

  • Yes, still asks the same questions about humanity

• Focus on effect rather than form

  • not poetry but emotions of characters

Heroic drama

• traditional tragedy but happier ending

  • asian theater

• heroic hero brings good

• inspired by romanticism

Bourgeois/domestic drama

• development “middle class”

• Deals with issues of family/home life

• more identifiable to the common man

Melodrama

• a genre that emphasizes exaggerated emotions, strong moral dichotomies, and sensational events, often culminating in a clear victory of good over evil.

  • “music” or “song drama”

    • not musical but movie

  • Elements: outlook, happy ending, stick characters, background music, emphasis on spectical

  • Emphasis on fright and horror

    • explores the paranoid person after us

  • Good triumphs over evil

  • typically features overstated performances and plots originated in the 19th century and incorporates music to enhance emotional responses, often leading to a dramatic and climactic conclusion.

Rock Musicals

• edger subject matter

• marketed → younger audiences

• RENT, Hair, Jesus Christ Superstar

Juke Box Musicals

• The plot is constructed through already written songs

• Collection of songs

  • album, genre/time period, discovery of band

Disney Musicals

• • Corporate influence broadway

    • kid friendly, big budgets, amazing inventions

  • The Lion King

    • Puppet work

    • Beauty and the Beast, Mary Poppins

      • Large, animated, moveable sets

Concept Musical (60-70)

• centered on the central concept, idea, or characters

  • idea is more important plot

  • “Me generation”

  • Againstthe golden age

  • not traditional or strictly chronological

• Cabaret

Musical based on Shakesphere

• Kiss me kate (taming of the shrew)

• West Side Story (Romeo and Juliet)

Show Boat (1927)

• First American musical

• Jerome Kern (composer)

• Oscar Hammerstein ll (lyraicist/lirettist)

• Florence Ziegfeild (producer)

• Innovative for time

• Changed subject

  • Themes:

    • Empowerment of women in performances

    • Celebrating diversity and different cultures in storytelling

    • The contrast between wealth and poverty in show business

    • The evolution of love and relationships in the modern world

Musical theatre vs opera

Musical theatre incorporates spoken dialogue, songs, and dance to tell a story, while opera primarily focuses on singing to convey the narrative, often with little or no spoken dialogue.

Minstrel (antecedents musical)

A theatrical performance featuring music, dance, and comic skits, historically rooted in African American traditions, often characterized by the use of blackface.

Vaudeville (antecedents musical)

A theatrical variety show that featured a mixture of comedy, music, and other performances, popular in the United States from the late 19th century to the early 20th century.

roots in earlier forms of entertainment like minstrel shows and music halls, combining various acts to appeal to a broad audience.

unrelated acts such as comedians, musicians, acrobats, magicians, and dancers. Each act was independent, and the show had no overarching theme or narrative. designed for mass entertainment and was a major influence on early television and film

Burlesque (antecedents musical)

A form of entertainment that combines music, dance, and theatrical skits, often with a comedic or risqué twist, popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

revue (antecedents musical)

A multi-act theatrical production that combines music, dance, and sketches, often featuring topical satire and humorous commentary on current events.

combines music, dance, and sketches without a continuous storyline (zigmans follies)

ziegfeld follies (antecedents musical)

A series of elaborate theatrical reviews that showcased music, comedy, and dance, produced by Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. in the early 20th century, noted for their glamorous production values and star-studded casts.

Beautiful girls often wear glittering costumes and elaborate sets.

Opera/Operetta (antecedents musical)

A dramatic art form that combines singing, orchestral music, and often dance to tell a story, with opera being typically more serious and operetta featuring lighter themes and spoken dialogue.

film musical

A genre of film that features songs sung by the characters as part of the narrative, often incorporating dance sequences and lavish production numbers.

concept musical

A type of musical that focuses on a specific theme or idea, often with an unconventional narrative structure, emphasizing artistic expression over traditional storytelling.

integrated musical

A musical in which the songs and dances are fully integrated into the story, advancing the narrative and developing characters.

Into the Woods

What happens after happily ever after (grim fairytales)

more accessible

What does the metaphor of “the woods” represent?

What do the characters wish for?

Themes: No one is alone, and what you wish for may not be exactly what you thought it was

(antecedents musical)

• Ancient Greek and Roman theatre

• Italian opera

• Court Masques

• Shakespeare’s play

  • Inserted songs/dances

• Noh, Kabuki, Chinese Opera

comedy

• light in tone

• make fun of human behavior

• amuse

• happy ending

• subjective

• characteristics

  • logic out the window

  • suspension of natural law

Slaptick

physical, often violent forms of comedy

Incongruity

• inappropriate behavior that results in verbal humor

  • Malapropism

  • Epigram

  • pun

Characterization

differences in how the character and cast are perceived by the audience, leading to a dynamic interplay that shapes the story's message.

Comedic situation

The absurdity of the circumstances often highlights the disparity between the characters' intentions and the audience's interpretations, creating layers of humor that enrich the narrative.

Types of comedy

• Farce: pure entertainment nd exaggeration. poly complications and physical humor

• Burlesque: Physical human and vulgarity. Often features “ludicrous imitations” of well-known plays

• Satire: B. but more wit and intellect pokes fun ay specific figures and ideas

• Domestic: sitcomes

• Comedy of Manners

  • make fun oppuer class

  • intellectual comedy, fousing on wit

• Comedy of ideas

  • Uses wit and comedy to further discussion of controversial ideas

• tragic Comedy

  • “Problem play”

  • akin heroic drama: tramic themes and noble characters with happy ending

  • mix serious and comedic elements

  • reflects the world close

Chorus

A group of characters in a play who comment on the action or provide background, often through song or dialogue, enhancing the narrative and themes.

Revival

A renewed production of a play or musical, often with updated interpretations or new casts, aiming to re-engage audiences and highlight its relevance.

Overture

A musical introduction to a theatrical performance, often setting the mood and themes for the show. musical introduction, typically preceding the start of a theatre production, often setting the tone for the show. (sets the tone, style, vibe before the play)

Ballad

A simple song-like poem that tells a story, often featuring a musical arrangement and emotional themes.

Can center is the downfall of a hero or a tragic event.

Show-stopper

a performance or musical number that receives an overwhelming audience reaction, often causing applause or cheers that interrupts the show.

Theatre of the Absurd

• Repetitive or nonsensical dialogue that highlights the breakdown of communication.

• Characters trapped in meaningless routines, emphasizing the futility of human action.

• Circular or fragmented plots, where events seem to repeat without resolution.

• Dark humor and tragicomedy, blending comedy with existential despair.

• 1950

Broadway theatre

• 500+ seats

• Both commercial and non-profit

• cost

  • Broadway play: 5 million (average)

  • Broadway musical: 12-18 million (average)

    • 15% make money back profit

• schedule

  • 8 Shows a week

  • off Monday

• Tickets

  • Depends on show

  • $50-$990

• 41 total theatres

off broadway

• 960s (developed)

• 100-499 seats

• Both commercial and non-profit

• cost

  • lower

• Tours

off-off broadway

• • 1958

  • 99 seats less

  • Artistic neighborhoods, coffee shops, experimental, avantgaurd, less commercial

  • La MaMa (1961)

    • An influential off-off-Broadway theater known for nurturing experimental works and diverse artistic voices.

    • Sarted

  • Cost

    • Lower cost

    • Lower risk

regional theatres

• Grew out Federal Theare protect 1930’s

• Always professional non-profit theatres

• cost

  • big budgets

Getting produced

• Broadway is about Ticket Sales

• Regional & non-profit take on new works

• Transfers

  • It can take a long time for a play or musical to get to Broadway

Basic components musical theatre

score

• music and lyrics

Libretto/book

• the script containing the dialogue and story components.

Choreography

Composer

The individual who creates the music for a musical, often in collaboration with a lyricist for the lyrics.

Librettist

The person responsible for writing the libretto, or the text and lyrics, of a musical.

Lyricist

A writer who composes the lyrics for songs in a musical, often working closely with the composer.

Choreographer

The individual responsible for designing and directing the dance and movement sequences in a musical, working closely with the director and sometimes with the composer.

Golden age of Musicals

Book musicals

1940 (Oklahoma) → 1960 (Fiddler on the Roof)

Rodgers and Hammerstein, Agnes De Mille

Book musical

• cohesive structure, common climatic structures, often romantic

• Songs advance narritve

• Dance integrated, multiple forms

• Well crafted book with dialogue that supports the plot, featuring well-developed characters and themes. These musicals combine music, lyrics, and storytelling to create a seamless flow from song to dialogue.

Rogers and Hammerstein

Rogers: composer Hammerstein: lyricist

revolutionized musical storytelling by integrating songs seamlessly into the narrative, rather than using them as standalone entertainment pieces.

Oklahoma, Fiddler on the Roof, Carousel, South Pacific

Fiddler on the roof

• last big book musical

• Based on the painting “The Dead Man”

• Themes

  • Parent/child, minority culture/majority culture, and the struggles of identity and belonging are explored through the characters' journeys.

• Pogram: Targeted and repeated anti-Jewish rioting

  • Jews leaving Russia

Oklahoma

• First big book musical

• integrated

• ballet dream sequence

Stephen Sondheim

Prominent American composer and lyricist known for complex music and innovative lyrics in musicals like "Sweeney Todd" and "Into the Woods."

Mentored by family friend → Hammerstein

big break West Side Story

used the same music both acts into the wood changed the tone etc of the songsto enhance character development and emotional depth, showcasing how a shift in musical arrangement can parallel the transformation of the narrative.

World of the Musical (Stephen Sondheim)

• Less optimistic vision of society

• De-romanticied

• Dislliustioned

• Derioration and decay

• Loss of faith, hope, and love

• Cities of strangers

Characters (Stephen Sondheim)

• deepens their psychology

• old vs young

• real vs romantic

• confused, frustrated

• survivors

• Impermanence of relationships

• Unhappy

• “so little to be sure of”

• Closet to Musical Tragedy

Music (Stephen Sondheim)

• Sphisitcated difficult

• dissonant

• engaged ear

• irony, jux.

• aristry of word and music

• content dictates form

Lyrics (Stephen Sondheim)

• wit

• Ambiguity

• Subtext

• Intricate rhyme schemes

why is abstract theatre need?

needed to explore complex themes, emotions, and human experiences, allowing audiences to engage with ideas in non-traditional forms that challenge perceptions and interpretations.

interpretation

People want it

Abstract/experimental theatre

a form of performance that emphasizes non-representational elements, focusing on the exploration of abstract concepts through innovative methods.

Expressionism

Inner life through dreams, symbols, and abstractions

proagonist point of view

• suffering, hero on a quest for salvation, spiritual awakening

Mechanized

Language

Futurism

confrounted

a radical departure from traditional theatrical forms, pioneered by Italian Futurists in the early 20th century. It aimed to break away from realism and conventional storytelling, embracing speed, technology, and the chaotic energy of modern life.

Surrealism

dream world (came out of dada) mimic dream states

-ism overachring idea

the mind

Dada

confused

Epic Theatre (mind)

Brecht (German)

Audience alienation, athsetic distance, interppstion

• breaks in scenes to give audience time to think and not get to engrossed int show

episodic, intellect

Hisorification

Theatre of curelty (mind)

Antonin Artaud

• rejected psychological, literary, realistic Western theatre

• clense society

Created a form of theatre that emphasizes emotional and psychological experience, using chaotic visuals and sound to provoke deep reactions from the audience.

Bombarding the senses

1930

“No more masterpieces”

• Classical works should not be performed in the contemporary framework unless updated

• rejection of text-based theatre