Intro to Theatre - Exam 1 Study Guide Flashcards

9/28 Exam 1

Effective Dramatic Action

• Complete and self-contained: beginning, middle, end

• Deliberate shape or organization that reveals purpose or genre

• Internal Consistency - Not changing constantly, doesn’t seem like something is missing

Common Approaches for Unifying Dramatic Action

• Most common sources of unity:

  • Cause-to-effect: logical progression of actions/events

  • Character: all events focus on one character

  • Thought: scenes linked by a central theme or idea

Dithyramb

• Hymn sung and danced in honor of Dionysus

• Annual Dithyrambic Contest: Boys would come into Athens, they would sing. Was at City Dionysus festival

Thespis

• Credited with adding prologue and spoken lines to Dithyramb

• Athenian

Tragedy

• A play dealing with tragic events and having an unhappy ending, especially one concerning the downfall of the main character

Protagonist

• Carrier of the action

The Poetics

• Nature of “Imitation” [mimesis]

• Contrasts “Epic Poem” with tragedy and comedy

• Section on comedy has been lost

• Written by Aristotle

Aristotle’s Six Components of Tragedy

Aristotle’s Hierarchy of the Constituent Elements of Tragedy

1. Plot - MOST IMPORTANT

2. Character

3. Thought/Theme

4. Diction

5. Music

6. Spectacle - LEAST IMPORTANT

Reversal (Peripeteia)

• Reversal of fortune

Recognition (Anagnorisis)

• Recognition/discovery

• Character realizes they made a mistake, etc

• Typically happens at the same time as peripetia

Purgation of Pity/Fear (Catharsis)

• Purpose of tube tragedy = elicit “pity and fear”

• Catharsis of such emotions

  • Purgation of these emotions; experience something vicariously then move on

Structure of Greek Tragedy

All extant plays follow this breakdown:

1. Prologue

• Provide audience with a “point of attack”

2. Parodos

• Entrance of the chorus

• (Also name of the theatre building entrances themselves)

3. Episode

• Exchange of dialogue

• Numbered

4. Stasimon

• A Choral Ode - only the chorus will be chanting

• Often commenting on something that just happened, etc

• The Episode followed by Stasimon sequence repeats 5 times, then…

5. Exodos

• Chorus leaves the stage: the “story” will end here

Aristotle: The Tragic Character

Aristotle: The Tragic Character

• The Tragic Character:

  • Must be good (good character, nice person, not a jerk)

  • Must be appropriate (high-born person, important)

    • Slaves, women cannot be good tragic characters

  • Must maintain a likeness to human nature

    • Vices and virtues

    • Audience themselves can understand the emotions that the character is going through

  • Must be consistent

  • Exhibit hamartia

    • “Missing the mark”

      • Ex. character is trying to fix something and makes crucial mistake

Aristotle: The Tragic Plot

Aristotle: The Tragic Plot

• Defines Tragedy = Imitation of an ACTION

• Poetics were all about imitation

• Tragic Plot:

  • Must be complete and whole and have some magnitude

    • Not a simple story

    • Requires linear development

  • Must be unified (internal consistency)

    • Seem like one unit, doesn’t confused the audience

  • Should be single not double

    • Single plot, a single focus

    • One tragic character, everything revolves around that character

    • Nothing in there that doesn’t need to be there in relation to the plot

  • Episodic play =  the WORST

    • No connection between the scenes

    • Things happen rapidly on stage

    • Collection of scenes, Aristotle believes it is the worst

Tragoidia

“Goat song”

City Dionysia

• Theatre only presented at festival for Dionysus

• Largest Festival (March/April)

  • In Athens

  • Extended over several days

  • Included presentation of plays

  • Dithyramb Contest

• Showcase for Athenian wealth

  • Influx of visitors, merchants, travellers

  • Wanted to show off Athens

• Held under the general supervision of principle magistrate: archon eponymos

• Expensed for production borne by choregus (wealthy citizens)

  • Paid for musicians, training for chorus

  • One appointed to each dramatist

Choregus

• Wealthy citizens in Athens

The Greek Stage

Greek structure of stage:

• Theatron (seeing place)

• Orchestra (dancing place)

• Parodos (plural parodoi, entrance)

• Skene (hut)

Exposition

• Background information

Conflict

• Complications

Climax

• Point at which things cannot return to original set up

  • Variable

  • Comedy versus tragedy

Resolution (Denouement)

• Ending which resolves conflict

Acting: External vs. Internal

• Basic Breakdown

  • External

    • Mimetic - imitate something and do so very effectively

  • Internal

    • Psychological - think in terms of the character

Stanislavsky’s Acting System

• Concept of emotional memory for which an actor focuses internally to portray a character’s emotions onstage

Actor Training Methods

• Voice classes

  • Strengthen voice: projection

  • Dialect

• Movement classes

  • Mask work

  • Bodily response

• Specialized training

  • Fight choreography

  • “Period styles”

  • Dancing

  • Singing

The Actor’s Instruments

• Body

• Voice

• Imagination

• Concentration

• Psychological Responsiveness

• Flexibility (in all above)

Theatre Games

• Exercises with the intention to get you to imagine, work on focus, concentration, etc

• Improvisational techniques

• Break down inhibition

  • Less self-conscious, etc

• Spontaneity and impulse

• Listening skills

• Build self-confidence

• Foster ensemble

  • Able to work with other people

• May involve entire class or smaller groups

“Open Scene”

• Exercises for acting classes

• Contain dialogue that is open to many interpretations

• Lines suggest no particular plot

Stage Business

• Small actions carried out by the actor

  • Rarely in the script

Blocking

• Movement from place to place

  • Determined by director

Actors’ Equity Association

• Labor Union for stage actors and stage managers

  • Negotiation of wages and contracts

  • Audition and rehearsal rules

  • Benefits

    • Health and pension plans

  • Dispute resolution

  • Initiation fee: $1,800

    • + annual basic and working dues

Stage Left/Right

• Stage left = actor’s left (when facing audience)

• Stage right = actor’s right (when facing audience)

Upstage/Downstage

• Upstage  = rear of stage

• Downstage = front of stage

Apron

• Part of stage that audience can see even when curtain is closed

Auditions

• Prepared monologues

• Cold reading

• Call backs

• Songs

Callbacks

• Called back for audition

Playwriting

• Script = STARTING POINT for production

• Goal = Production

• Since 19th century, playwrights have usually worked in isolation (outside of the production)

• In contemporary theatre, playwright as the artist most removed from the production process

Contemporary Playwriting:

• Script = STARTING POINT for production

• Goal = Production

• Since 19th century, playwrights have usually worked in isolation (outside of the production)

• In contemporary theatre, playwright as the artist most removed from the production process

Dramaturg

• Scope of dramaturgy varies from company to company

• The dramaturg’s work may be divided roughly into 2 parts:

  • 1. Literary Management = Selecting, developing, shaping scripts

  • 2. Production Dramaturgy = Working on specific productions of plays

Staged Readings

• The reading of a drama in which actors use manuscripts and rough blocking

New Play Festival

• Round House Theatre

• Bethesda, MD

• Annual event celebrating new work by some of the country’s leading playwrights and newer voices.

Play Development Workskop

• Playwright works with “new play dramaturg”, directors, actors

• Rewrites, revisions, restructuring, etc

• May lead to full production

Production Dramaturgy

Production Dramaturgy: Focus on Specific Production

• Research

  • To add to/provide for the director’s, actors’, production team or audience’s understanding of the script or its context

• Create

  • Dramaturgical Packet (all research)

  • Program notes (essays, biographies, etc)

  • Study guides, play guides (outreach)

  • Facilitate Talk-Back Sessions

    • Audience can stay after production, ask questions

Literary Management

• Evaluation of submitted plays

• Highlight scripts with potential to warrant further consideration

  • Recommend of reproduction

• Organize Facilitate

  • Script Development Workshops

  • New Play Festivals

  • Stages Readings

• Oversee archives

Elizabethan Public Theatres

• Open air

• Less expensive

• Constructed on the South Bank

• Adult troupes only

• Ex. The Globe

Elizabethan Private Theatres

• Converted indoor space

• Charged more for entry

• License companies: Boyds and Adult troupes

• Ex. Blackfriars

1574: Legal Status of Actors

• Royal Patent System created (in London)

  • Licensing regulation

  • Recognition of “acting” as valid occupation

• Granted by Master of the Revels

  • 1581: Licensing of PLAYS as well

  • NO PLAYS about RELIGION

  • NO PLAYS critical of CURRENT MONARCH

• Limitation on professional companies in London

Elizabethan Acting Troupes

• Shareholders: Actors = Part owners of company

  • Put up money + 3 year commitment

  • Self-governing

  • Additional responsibilities

• Also: “Hired men” under contract

• 4 - 6 boy apprentices

  • Women did not appear on the Elizabethan stage

• Strict rules of conduct

• Touring

Thrust Stage

A performance space that extends outward into the auditorium so that the audience sits on three sides of the platform