AP Lit Vocab 4

proscenium arch

An arch over the front of a stage. Thus, a “____ theater” is comprised of a raised stage framed by a ____ with the audience seated facing the stage, observing the action as if through a picture frame.

wings

Traditionally associated with the proscenium theater, ___ are the narrow areas off both sides of the stage where actors wait before making an entrance into the playing space. A curtain or piece of scenery often conceals the ____. ____ can also refer to scenery placed on the sides of a stage.

apron

The area of a stage that stretches out past the primary playing space or proscenium arch. The ____ can be used to cover the orchestra pit in a traditional proscenium theater.

fourth wall

Theatrical term applied to the realist stage, where actors no longer played directly to the audience by instead focused on each other. In nineteenth-century England, the convention became increasing popular, and stage sets were designed to replicate a traditional room with three walls, the “____” (that is, the proscenium arch, or front of the stage) being open for observation by the audience.

downstage

The area on stage closest to the audience

upstage

The area of the stage farthest from the audience

thespian

Term for an actor. According to tradition, The Greek performer Thespis was the first to separate from the Chorus and speak words as a character.

casting

The process of deciding which actors are to play which parts. ____ is an important factor in the establishment of character on stage.

dramatis personae

Literally, “people in the drama” (Latin). A character list identifying important characters and their relationships, intended to help the reader or spectator understand the actions and interactions occurring onstage. In the programs or playbills given to playgoers, this list often includes the names of the actors portraying the characters.

chorus

In greek drama, a group of singers and dancers who often provide exposition and commentary on the action in the play. Later in theater history, the ____ could simply be one person who speaks to the audience and provides the information and commentary.

dialogue

Language spoken by characters on stage. ____ differs from narration because it is delivered in the first person and seeks to imitate human interaction or convey the artistic purpose of the playwright. ____ does not necessarily need to be grounded in realism but must be consistent with the world of the play.

monologue

A long speech or narrative spoken by one character. A ____ can be addressed to another character on stage, spoken to oneself, or shared with the audience as a means of elucidating internal thoughts or desires that cannot be expressed in formal dialogue. A soliloquy is a form of ____, and an aside, if lengthy, can be characterized as a ____.

soliloquy

A monologue uttered by a character alone onstage that provides insight into his or her thoughts. The theatrical convention is common in plays from the Renaissance through the eighteenth century and is generally associated with Shakespeare’s works. The device was discarded by modern dramatists, such as August Strindberg, concerned with creating realistic depictions on stage.

aside

A theatrical convention (commonly used in drama prior to the nineteenth century but less often afterwards) in which a character, unnoticed by the other characters on stage, speaks frankly and directly to the audience to express a thought.

pantomime

Both a form of silent acting that relies heavily on gesture, facial expression, and dance, and also, in England beginning in the eighteenth century, a form of elaborate production, usually staged at Christmas, that includes ballet, music, and characters derived from the commedia dell’arte tradition.

stage directions

In the text of a play, directions or actions indicated by the playwright that describe the physical movements or emotional responses of the characters on stage. ____ may also note the setting, the physical appearance of the characters, and their relationships with one another. In a printed play, ____ are normally italicized and enclosed in brackets so they can readily be distinguished from dialogue. Eugene O’Neill is famous for his lengthy and detailed stage directions.

stage business

physical activities or gestures adapted by performers to enhance their level of characterization and help elucidate a play’s subtext. ____ is generally not included in the playwright’s text but is determined by the actor and/or director during the rehearsal process.

set

The design, decoration, and scenery of the stage during a play, usually meant to represent the location(s) in the drama.

props

Any objects used on stage by actors, for example, a pair of scissors or a hairbrush. Items that are small enough to hold are often referred to as “hand props." Pictures and decorative set items are also considered props. Costume pieces and items rooted to the set or playing space itself are not props.

act

Traditional segmentation of a play that indicates a change in time, action, or location, and helps organize a play’s dramatic structure. Plays may be composed of ____ that, in turn, are composed of scenes. The Romans were the first to divide plays into ____, although the Greeks before them broke up dramas with choral interludes. Various theatrical movements emphasized the importance of including a specified number of ____. Shakespeare’s plays were divided into five ____ when they were published, and thereafter the five-____ structure became the model for playwrights throughout the end of the nineteenth century. Modern dramatists began to break the tradition at the turn of the twentieth century; contemporary plays are often divided into two ____.

scene

Traditional segmentation of a play’s structure to indicate a change in time or location, to jump from one subplot to another, or to introduce new characters or rearrange the actors on the stage. Traditionally plays are composed of acts, which are then broken down into ____.

epilogue

A concluding address by an actor or group of actors that is directed toward the audience. The ____ may also be an additional scene, following the resolution of a play, intended to comment on the preceding events and offer a final perspective by the author or actors.

deus ex machina

Literally, “a god emerging from a machine” (Latin). The “mechane,” or crane, used for special effects in fifth-century Greek performance would suspend an actor in midair and propel him over the playing space. Dramatists, especially Euripides, often utilized the device to introduce a god who would appear at the end of the play and resolve the plot. In The Bacchae, Dionysus emerges in the final moments to punish those who do not recognize his divinity. The term is used in contemporary criticism to describe a quick and contrived resolution to a play.

unities

The principles of structure, derived from Aristotle’s Poetics, that require a plot’s action to be singular (meaning, one major action and few or no subplots), to complete itself within a twenty-four hour period, and to take place in one location. During the sixteenth century, a rigid neoclassical interpretation of Aristotle’s writings emphasized these “three unities” of action, time, and place.