Theatre Exam Review #1

What is theatre (4 Things)

Building, Human Pursuit, Art, Organization

What play did we read and who wrote it?

Trifles, Susan Glaspell

What is the heart of live theatre?

Relationship between actor and audience

What are the 2 basic purposes of theatre?

Entertain and educate

What is non-mediated theatre?

theatre observed live, not through an electronic medium

Best US Theatre?

Broadway

Regional Theatre

permanent, professional, non-profit organizations that offer first-class productions to audience

Community Theatre

semi-professional and experienced amateur groups

What are visual and performing arts?

Visual: experience meant to be seen and touched; painting, sculpture, architecture, photography. Performing: experience created by people. Usually rehearsed, and presented at a set time and place

Which is temporal?

Form exists for only a specific period of time: Music, dance, and theatre

What is suspension of disbelief?

Desire to believe in reality of what is happening onstage

What is aesthetic distance?

Mental separation of audience from performance to experience artistic qualities

What are the responsibilities of the audience when watching a play?

Watching, Listening, Eliminate distractions, Respond to performance

What are the 5 design elements of theatre?

Scenery- Lights- Sound- Costumes- Makeup

What is a critic?

A person who observes a production and then analyzes it and comments on it

3 Critical Criteria

1) What is being attempted? 2) Have the intentions been achieved? 3) Was the attempt worthwhile?

Creative Artist?

The playwrights

What is the blueprint of a production?

The script, concept of Production: Story, subject matter, dramatic episodes seen onstage, dialogue, and character

What is Plot?

Order of events of the story

What is action?

A sequence of events led by cause and effect

What is Conflict?

Tensions between two or more characters that leads to a crisis or (and then) a climax

What is crisis?

Point within the play where action reaches an important confrontation, or takes a critical turn

What is climax?

The high point of the action or the final and most significant crisis

What are the characteristics of climactic (Intensive) play structure?

Few scenes, short amount of time passes, few locales, and action begins chronologically close to climax

What are the characteristics of episodic (Extensive) play structure?

Many scenes, takes place over a considerable amount of time, large number of locations, and may include subplots

What are three types of Characters?

Nonhuman, Protagonist, Antagonist

What is genre?

A type or category in theatre

What is Tragedy?

A dramatic form involving serious actions of universal significance and usually with an unhappy ending

What is Traditional Tragedy?

A more extreme version of a tragedy.
Tragic Heroes and Heroines- Usually royalty, or nobility

What is Modern Tragedy?

Heroes and heroines are no longer royalty and nobility. Regular people suffering

What is Comedy?

A play that is light in tone, has a happy ending, and is designed to amuse

What is a Farce?

Has an emphasis on absurd plot complications with few or no intellectual pretensions. e.g. love makes people do stupid things

What is Melodrama?

Emphasizes action and spectacular effects, uses music to underscore emotionality, has stock characters, usually clearly defined heroes and villains

What is a Tragicomedy?

A play having tragic themes and noble characters, but a happy ending

What are the 5 kinds of theatre spaces?

Proscenium: audience sits on 1 side. Arena: audience sits on all or 4 sides. Thrust: audience sits on 3 sides. Found: audience sits wherever there are seats. Blackbox: audience sits wherever there are seats

4th wall

Proscenium theatre creates the illusion of separation between the audience and actors

Difference Between Found/Created and Black Box

Found/created: transform non-theatre buildings, including site-specific (Make play fit the space)

Black Box: a theatre that is built to be fluid and flexible

What is Slapstick?

type of comedy that relies on ridiculous physical activity, often violent in nature, for its humor

What is the antagonist and the protagonist?

Antagonist: Opponent of lead character; tries to prevent or defeat protagonist
Protagonist: principal characters in play tries to do or achieve something

Six aspects of the dramatic script?

Subjects, Focus, Purpose, Characters, and point of view