Theater Terms
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81 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 aesthetic distance | physical or psychological separation of audience from dramatic action, usually necessary. |
| Flashbacks | Movement back to a time in the past to show a scene or an event before the narrative resumes at the point at which it was interrupted. |
| Protagonist | Principle character in play, who the drama is about, makes action happen. |
| Antagonist | Opponent of the protagonist |
| Climactic Structure | Plot begins late in the story, story starts at climax, whole play happens in a couple hours, forces are centripetal, moving in. |
| Episodic structure | Begins early in the story and expands the drama, forces are centrifugal, moving out. |
| Realistic Theatre | Seems like it could happen in real life, characters aren't overly exaggerated and there are no wizards or anything out of the ordinary. |
| Nonrealistic Theatre | Use of symbols, asks audience to use their imagination, can have stuff out of the ordinary. |
| Plot | Patterned arrangements of events and characters in a drama with incidents selected and arranged for maximum impact. |
| Story | Everything including what is performed onstage and what is just referenced or happened before. |
| Climax | The high point in the development of the plot. Where the fate of the characters is determined. |
| Objective | Stanislavsky's term for that which is urgently desired and sought by a character, the long range goal that propels the character to action. |
| Obstacle | That which delays or prevents the achieving of a goal by a character. Creates complication and conflict. |
| Complications | Delay of the climax, introduce a new force into the story. |
| Off Book | Actors have memorized lines and no longer read from their scripts. |
| Props | Objects that are used onstage by actors or are part of the set. |
| Blocking | Arrangement of performer's movements onstage. |
| Projection | Speaking loudly and from your diaphragm |
| Cues | A prearranged signal like the last part of a speech to indicate that it is time to move to the next line or action. |
| Soliloquy | a monologue performed by an actor revealing his inner thoughts. No other actor can hear this. |
| Doubling | performer plays more than 1 role in a play |
| Focusing | Where the light beams are aimed at, a particular area, want to keep the audience's attention on the main action of the scene and lights help do this. |
| Building/pulling costumes or props | Building is custom making the costumes or props, specifically designed for the show while pulling is renting or finding the stuff in a storehouse. |
| Stage Directions | Upstage - toward the back of the stage Downstage - toward the audience Stage Right - right of the actor Stage Left - left of the actor |
| Raked Stage | An upward slope of the stage floor away from the audience. |
| Fly Loft | Space above stage where scenery may be flown by ropes and pulleys. |
| Wings | Left and Right offstage areas where actors wait to go onto the stage. |
| Social Roles | ex: Father, mother, daughter, teacher, business man, artist |
| Personal Roles | ex: Submissive, conspirator, martyrs, braggarts |
| Subtext | meaning and movement of a play below the surface, not stated but implied. |
| Ritual | a part of everyday life that we are generally unaware of. Have an order. ex: funerals, holidays, national anthem |
| Narrator | Person telling the story |
| Magic "If" | Stanislavsky's theory. If becomes a powerful lever for the mind, helps actors achieve an inner sense of truth. Lift us out of ourselves "If I were a dancer..." |
| Emotional Recall | a tool Stanislavsky came up with, encouraged by Stasberg, to develop a sense of emotional truth onstage. Actor should remember a past experience that is similar to the one the character is in. |
| Typecasting | Casting someone who is just like their character ex: Asian for Mulan |
| Auteur Directors | Auteur means author, pov almost entirely from director not writer, text serves their purposes not the other way around. |
| Tech Week | When the technical elements of the production are added to the play and rehearse with the actors. AKA Hell Week. Usually includes dress rehearsal. |
| Exposition | imparting of info necessary for an understanding of the story not covered by action onstage. Background so that the audience knows who the characters are and what has happened. |
| Greek Chorus | a group of performers who sang and danced sometimes participating with the action but usually just commenting on it. |
| Proscenium | Regular stage in a frame. |
| Arena Stage | Stage entirely surrounded by audience. Known as theater in the round. |
| Thrust | Surrounded on three sides by audience. |
| Black Box | open, flexible and adaptable, can by arranged to suit the need of the production. |
| Found Space | Anywhere that isn't a conventional theater. On the streets, on buses, usually low budget. |
| Extraordinary Characters | Larger than life, remarkable in some way, Kings, Queens, bishops, military official, extreme behavior, extremely ambitious, generous |
| Quintessential Characters | Typical or ordinary characters that could embody an entire group. |
| Stock Characters | 2D characters that represent one particular characteristic of the exclusion of virtually everything else. ex: absentminded prof |
| Dominant Trait | One trait dwarfs all the other personality traits of the character. Ex: character named "Dapper" or "Subtle" |
| Environmental Theater | Treat the entire theatre space as performance space and there is no division btwn performers and viewers. |
| Multimedia | Joining theatre with other arts (dance, film and TV) adds new technology into theater. |
| Poor Theatre | Poor in scenery and special effects. Relied on performers to make the impact. |
| Book musicals | storyline, follows same characters |
| Opera | sing entirely |
| Operetta | "Little Opera" not completely set to music, some portions spoken |
| Minstrel show | a variety show that featured blackface. |
| Revue | Sketches alternate with musical numbers, all scenes can stand alone. |
| Traditional Tragedy | Tragic heroes, tragic circumstances, tragic irretrievability, tragic verse, and acceptance of responsibility. Must have extraordinary characters as the lead. |
| Modern Tragedy | Written in prose, why do men and women suffer? Characters aren't nobility. |
| Comedy | A play that ends better than it starts. |
| Melodrama | "Song drama" background music, murder mysteries, detective stories, Westerns, soap operas, good guys against bad guys |
| Realism | Closely identified with what ppl's own experiences were |
| Naturalism | a type of realism, what happens onstage is exactly like life down to the minute details of the stove functioning. "Splice of life" drama |
| Avante-garde | breaks with tradition and seems ahead of its time. Thought that traditional theater was no longer relevant, and wanted to rediscover the roots by getting rid of formality. Led to improv, nonverbal, ritual and physical environment. |
| Comedy of Manners | point out peculiarities of the upper class, uses verbal wit to expose the social pretensions, pointed barbs. |
| Showboat | based on a novel by Edna Ferber about life on the Mississippi riverboat. Serious story. Black woman and white man are in love. Took out the line of chorus girls. Songs carefully integrated. |
| Fiddler on the Roof | 1964 - end of the golden era for book musicals, directed and choreographed by Jerome Robbins. |
| Function of costumes | indicate position and status, sex, occupation, relative flamboyance or modesty, degree of independence, work or leisure, routine or special occasion. Symbolism. |
| Director | responsible for unity of production and coordinating the work of the contributing artists. |
| Producer | Responsible for business side of the production, including raising money |
| Dramaturg | Literary manager, analyzes scripts, advises directors and works with playwrights on new pieces. |
| Designers | in charge of set or costumes |
| Critic | Someone who observes and analyzes theater and comments on it . Usually he is very knowledgeable and highly sensitive. |
| Playwright | person who writes the play |
| Story Structure | usually takes the form of a plot which is an arrangement of events or the selection and order of scenes in a play. Plot based on story. |
| Current trends in Musical Theater | Revivals! Making movies into Broadway productions. |
| Stanislavsky and his acting technique | Technique for realistic acting; reeducation, relaxation, concentration, inner truth, magic if, objective, staying in character, outward behavior and inner needs. |
| Elizabethan theatre | England was becoming a dominant force in the world, one play could cover a number of years, no hesitation over showing blood and violence onstage. |
| Greek Characteristics of theater | Athenians were gaining control over the world around them and were taking pride in human achievement, only five scenes, with choral sections interspersed, setting was one place and in a short span of time, violence occurred offstage, anyone with excess of passion was usually punished. Greeks believed in moderation. |
| Relationship btwn audience members | theater is a group experience, groups have personalities, theater audience shares a collective mind, laugh and cry at same time. If we are friends with the ppl there or have a like mind we feel at ease and readily become part of the group experience. If we feel alien we will be estranged from the group and won't respond to the play positively. |
| War Horse | They use man operated puppets for the horses and have men make horse noises. |
| George M Cohan | Statue in Times Square Give my regards to Broadway, Yankee Doodle Dandy/Boy Vaudeville Jew |
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