Theater Appreciation Exam 2 Cards

Stage Design Primary Function

communicate ideas

Stage Design - how set designers communicate ideas

Costume Rendering

drawing drafts (think midsummer ^^)

Costume Inspiration Board

Pinterest queen

Costume Mockup

first version of garment in inexpensive fabric, dimensions and actors body

Lighting - Light Plot

after design finalized, production stage, for master electrician to hang lights, which part of stage / what color / how is it controlled

Lighting - Gobo

patterns! used with ERS, small template made of steel or glass placed in a slot in center of the light between source and lens

Lighting - Gel

stuck inside, used to be made of gelatin, color and quality of light

Lighting - Wash Fixture

type of lighting casting broad or beam of light over surfaces like walls, large spread uniform glow, can help highlight patterns and soften shadows/imperfections, looks like bar across ceiling

Lighting - PAR can

parabolic alumni’s reflector lamps, PAR goes into can that absorbs extra light, oval beam, turn lamp inside casing to adjust direction, size of beam change out lamp, very bright, sturdy for touring

Lighting / Cyclorama

made of special seamless canvas, fabric in back of set, if lit certain way appears to go on forever, like sky, white or light blue, “cyc”

Responsibilities of the Technical Director

once set designer makes model, technical director brings it into being - oversees operation of shop, determine appropriate materials and construction methods, know scenic and building techniques

Responsibilities of the Sound Designer

plan installation of mics and speakers, make storytelling more potent, make sure sound bounces off surfaces, add realistic sounds or abstract things to enhance story

Design - Major Developments in the 19th Century

“yes and”

improvvvvv

Aristotle idea on comedy

comedy represents men as worse than they are / tragedy represents them as better

Henri Bergson’s observations on comedy

nothing is comedic outside what is exclusively human, insensibility accompanies laughter, laughter needs company, comedy is culturally specific, comedy superimposes the mechanical of the living

Three psychological theories of Laughter

establishment of superiority (humor from weakness of others), incongruity (illogical and surprising juxtapositions), release (let go of unconscious turmoil)

Farce Features

extravagant plot, anything can happen, no psychological truth, exaggerated characters, slapstick humor, quick changes and tansformations, concealment, discovery, sex

High Comedy Features

upper class characters, life is a game - best game player wins (Mr. Horner), not a moral universe, players are witty and articulate, underlying sexuality

Melodrama Features

most popular form of 19th century, emotional appeal focus, “virtuous hero hounded by a villain”, musical underscoring to scene (melo=music), cliches (train tracks), strict poetic justice, very moral world, reversals, abductions, fortunate coincidences, vocal audiences

Realism Features

1880s-today, want authenticity, lifelike dialogue, scenery inhabitable (box sets, 4th wall), actors speak to each other, characters with psychological detail, focus on genuine social concerns, Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll House, Anton Chekhov’d The Seagull

Realism - new idea of “character”

Realism - Henrik Ibsen’s “A Doll’s House”

doll on the shelf, becomes self-reliant women, individual freedom and feminism, early for time!

Realism - Naturalism, David Belasci, Andre Antoine

David - naturalist advocate, technology, 12 minute of sunset with gelatin slide stage lights, set up scene from Child’s Diner by actually making working diner

Andre - theatre libre, naturalistic style of acting and staging

Realism - Influence of Darwin and Marx

esp in naturalism, biology survival of the fittest + economics and lives shaped by economic standing, dramatizes social determination

Tragedy Features (Dionysus)

three actors and a chorus (all male), full face mask, stories from mythology, all violence happens offstage, music and dance

Tragedy - Dithyramb (Thespis)

theater of dionysus descended from dithryambs, choral hymns narrative poems sung in his honor, Thespis was first actor who jumped out → thespians, contest to make Best piece, each wrote 3 tragedies and 1 satyr play

Tragedy definition by Aristotle

the initiation of an action that is serious, complete, and of a certain magnitude… with incidents arousing pity and fear, with which to accomplish its catharsis of such emotions

Tragedy definition by Arthur Miller

when in presence of character who is ready to lay down his life to secure his sense of personal dignity

Reactions to Realism: The Avant-Garde

futurism, expressionism, dadaism, surrealism

Features of Futurism

avant-garde, launched by FT Marnelli? manifesto 1909, rejects past “burn the libraries and museums!”, product of the machine age (trains/telegraphs), growing energy + speed, includes “synthetic drama” short and fast

Demise of Futurism

when WWI started killing people, tech not as cool anymore

Features of Afrofuturism

reimagined future of black experience through fusion of sci fi, fantasy, and history, doesn’t shun past, fascination with technicalities, rich color pallets, iconography, The Wiz, Black Panther

Features of Expressionism

Avant-Garde, 1910s-1920s, shows the inner emotional world externally, distortion in setting/dialogue/characters/actors, not characters instead types (The Daughter), dialogue compressed into short “texting style”, presentational acting style

Expressionism’s Influence on Theatrical Practice

*Avant-Garde, emphasizes emotional and subjective experience of characters, less narrative structure, quick speech, intensity

Features of Dadaism

intend to shock audience, began in 1916 Switzerland out of disgust for modern society (post-war), shake up at world, art must be senseless, uncivilized, anything that pops into mind, mustache on Mona Lisa w h*rny caption, Fountain, bleh bleh bleh art! weird costumes - art is dead, long live dada

Features of Surrealism

1924 surrealist manifesto Andre Breton, pure psychic automatism sharing true function of thought, thoughts are corrupted by reason, problem is reason! fascinated by dreams and subconscious, dreams are truth, surrender to dark forces of unconscious, we are freest in dreams, weird, little sense, use of “automatic writing” no edits/punctuation, games, word game, Exquisite Corpse: A Game

Theatre of the Absurd

name for plays (1940s-50s) with a a certain outlook, world has no rules or meaning, contains “spiritual derelicts”, trapped in time and space, first to win fame Samuel Beckett Waiting for Godot

#1 rule for stage violence

victim always the one in control, consent and attention, look at each other in eyes, see more in textbook

T.D. Rice

popularized Minstrelsy (1828), created character Jim Crow, critically acclaimed, copies became minstrel shows

Stephen Foster

wrote songs for minstrel shows, oh! Susannah Swanee river, camp town races

The Coon

lazy, easily frightened buffoon

Zip Coon

the urban dandy, ostentatiously dressed

The Mulatto

hyper sexual mixed race women ex: Yaller

The Tom

religious, jolly, loyal, eager to please

The Pickaninny

uncivilized, energetic, disheveled, poor child ex: Topsy

Mammy

obese, maternal, subservient, loves white family more than their own, ex: Aunt Jemima