1/79
Vocabulary flashcards covering major terms, people, movements, and technical elements from the lecture on world theatre history, suitable for exam review.
Name | Mastery | Learn | Test | Matching | Spaced |
---|
No study sessions yet.
Italian Renaissance Theatre
Period that introduced innovations in theatre architecture, scenic design, and neoclassical dramatic rules.
Sofonisha
First significant vernacular Italian tragedy by Giangiorgio Trissino featuring a 15-member chorus.
Neoclassical Ideal
Renaissance dramatic doctrine stressing verisimilitude, moral lessons, and avoidance of fantasy or the supernatural.
Verisimilitude
Appearance of truth and reality on stage, a core demand of neoclassical drama.
Perspective Scenery
Italian technique of painting and architecture that created the illusion of depth on stage.
Chariot-and-Pole System
1641 scenery-shifting method invented by Giacomo Torelli using wheeled wagons beneath the stage.
Teatro Olimpico
Permanent indoor theatre (1580-1584) in Vicenza designed by Andrea Palladio and completed by Vincenzo Scamozzi.
Teatro Farnese
1618 Parma theatre noted for its modern proscenium arch and movable scenery.
Commedia dell’Arte
Italian ‘comedy of professional players’ characterized by improvisation, stock characters, and masks.
Stock Characters
Fixed comedic types (e.g., Pantalone, Arlecchino) used in commedia dell’arte improvisations.
Sebastiano Serlio
Mannerist architect whose theatre treatise influenced Renaissance stage design.
Andrea Palladio
Architect who began the design of Teatro Olimpico but died before its completion.
Vincenzo Scamozzi
Venetian architect and writer who finished Teatro Olimpico’s design.
Isabella (Bella) Andreini
Celebrated commedia dell’arte actress and writer.
Elizabethan Era
English theatrical golden age during the reign of Elizabeth I (1558-1603).
Red Lion
1567 London playhouse—first purpose-built theatre in England, ultimately unsuccessful.
The Theatre (1576)
First commercially successful English playhouse, built by James Burbage.
Globe Theatre
1599 public theatre associated with William Shakespeare’s company.
Elizabethan Comedy
Play genre with happy endings, often concluding in marriage (e.g., A Midsummer Night’s Dream).
Elizabethan History Play
Drama focused on the lives of English kings, such as Henry V or Richard II.
Elizabethan Tragedy
Play in which the protagonist’s downfall ends in death (e.g., Hamlet, Othello).
Thomas Kyd
Playwright of The Spanish Tragedy, pioneering Elizabethan revenge tragedy.
Christopher Marlowe
Elizabethan dramatist known for Doctor Faustus and Edward II.
Thomas Heywood
Playwright of domestic tragedy A Woman Killed with Kindness.
John Webster
Jacobean tragedian famed for The White Devil and The Duchess of Malfi.
Sam Wanamaker Playhouse
Modern indoor reconstruction of a Jacobean private theatre next to the Globe.
20th-Century Black Theatre
Movement portraying African-American life and racism, emerging from 1950-60s racial turmoil.
LeRoi Jones (Amiri Baraka)
Playwright of The Toilet and Dutchman, key voice in Black Arts Movement.
Douglas Turner Ward
Author of Day of Absence (1967), satirizing racial dynamics in America.
Ntozake Shange
Playwright of choreopoem For Colored Girls… (1976), giving voice to Black women.
Women’s Theatre (1970s)
Stage movement advancing feminism and women artists’ careers.
Wendy Wasserstein
Playwright of Uncommon Women and Others, linked to feminist theatre.
Marsha Norman
Author of Getting Out, representing women’s issues on stage.
Beth Henley
Pulitzer-winning playwright of Crimes of the Heart.
Gay and Lesbian Theatre
Genre tackling homosexual themes, legally constrained until 1960s free-speech rulings.
Stonewall Riot (1969)
Police raid–turned-uprising at NYC’s Stonewall Inn that sparked the modern gay rights movement.
The Boys in the Band
1968 Mart Crowley play—first mainstream hit comedy about gay men.
John Glines
Producer who opened a NYC theatre in 1976 dedicated to gay-themed plays.
AIDS Plays
1980s subgenre addressing the AIDS epidemic and its impact on the gay community.
Realism (Theatre)
19th-century movement striving for lifelike text and performance reflecting everyday life.
Naturalism (Theatre)
More extreme realism presenting life scientifically and unselectively, often bleak.
Konstantin Stanislavski
Co-founder of Moscow Art Theatre; developed psychological realism acting system.
Moscow Art Theatre
1898 Russian company dedicated to realistic production, led by Stanislavski & Nemirovich-Danchenko.
A Doll’s House
Henrik Ibsen’s realist play challenging 19th-century marital norms.
Miss Julie
August Strindberg’s naturalistic drama of class and sexual conflict.
Kabuki
Japanese popular theatre form begun in 1603 featuring stylized acting, dance, and elaborate makeup.
Hanamichi
Kabuki walkway extending into the audience for dramatic entrances and exits.
Mawari-Butai
Revolving stage mechanism used in kabuki theatres.
Onnagata
Male kabuki actors specializing in female roles.
Jidai-Mono
Kabuki plays dealing with historical, often samurai, subjects.
Sewa-Mono
Kabuki domestic dramas focusing on commoners and romance.
Shosagoto
Dance-centred kabuki pieces emphasizing movement over plot.
Oshiroi
White rice-powder base makeup used in kabuki.
Kumadori
Colored facial lines in kabuki makeup denoting character traits.
Noh
Classical Japanese masked dance-drama emphasizing austere movement and music.
Kyogen
Traditional Japanese comic theatre featuring stock master-servant characters.
Bunraku
Japanese puppet theatre with large, intricately controlled puppets.
Butoh
Post-WWII Japanese avant-garde dance-theatre blending absurdist, grotesque movement.
Shingeki
20th-century Japanese modern drama using naturalistic acting and Western techniques.
Tadashi Suzuki
Japanese director who fused avant-garde methods with classical Noh and Kabuki.
Sho-Gekijo
‘Little theatre’ movement of the 1980s fostering small, experimental Japanese companies.
French Classicism
17th-century movement reverting to Greek-Roman ideals; stressed order, clarity, and the unities.
Louis XIV
French ‘Sun King’ who patronized the arts and asserted absolute monarchy ('L’état, c’est moi').
Cardinal Richelieu
Chief minister who founded the French Academy (1635) and used ballet de cour for propaganda.
French Academy of Language and Literature
1635 institution standardizing French arts, language, and dramatic rules.
Giacomo Torelli
Italian designer nicknamed ‘The Great Wizard’ for rapid set-change machinery in Paris and Venice.
Ballet de Cour
Court ballet genre mixing dance and allegory to glorify the monarchy.
Hôtel de Bourgogne
First permanent Paris theatre, rectangular with tiered seating and large parterre.
Théâtre du Marais
Former tennis court converted to theatre in 1645, featuring proscenium and raked stage.
Salle des Machines
1662 Paris theatre with 140-foot-deep stage and elaborate set-changing machinery.
Habit à la Romaine
Stock costume for tragic roles in French classical theatre, styled after Roman dress.
Palais à Volonté
Generic exterior palace backdrop used in French tragedies.
Bienséance
French classical rule of propriety—no onstage violence or coarse language; moral elevation of audience.
The Unities
Classical principles requiring a play’s single action to occur in one place within 24 hours.
Molière
French comic playwright of Tartuffe, The Misanthrope, and The Imaginary Invalid.
Jean Racine
Tragic playwright noted for Phèdre, exemplifying psychological depth and strict unities.
Pierre Corneille
Playwright of Le Cid and Horace, exploring honor and duty in French tragedy.
Victor Hugo
Romantic author who broke classical rules with plays like Hernani.
Marivaux
French playwright of refined comedies about love and class, e.g., The Game of Love and Chance.
Alexandre Dumas père
19th-century dramatist of historical adventure plays such as Henri III and His Court.