Exam Structure You will have 60 minutes to take the exam It will consist of A combination of Multiple Choice True False Matching and Diagram pulled randomly from question pools on blackboard 90 of the exam Fill in the Blank 10 of the exam 5 Extra Credit questions 2 3 word answers Plays Review characters plots themes theatrical conventions and relevant social or cultural history that we discussed in class or that was a part of lecture Lysistrata Aristophanes in your anthology Fences August Wilson in your anthology The Clean House Sarah Ruhl full text on blackboard M Butterfly David Henry Hwang in your anthology Topics We ve covered many different types of theatre thus far this semester Review the characteristics of the different types of theatre and performance we have discussed and hint alert make sure that you have seen all of the required videos Consider the ways in which each form type or style developed theatrical conventions major playwrights or figures major advancements and function One good way to prepare would be to compare the characteristics of the different types for example how is Japanese Theatre different from Classical Greek Theatre How and why did each form begin What roles did they play in their societies How are they different What social and cultural history informs each form You should find quite a bit of crossover between this portion and the Terms People listed later on this guide if you go into detail here Greek Theatre Tragedy Comedy Aristotle s 6 elements of tragedy Greek Theatre ground plan Comedy Old Comedy Aristophanes 448 385 BCE Lysistrata and The Birds New Comedy Menander aimed at encounters in your daily life Mime popular entertainment 1st actresses 1st professional performance Aristotle s 6 elements of Tragedy 1 Plot 2 character 3 diction 4 thought theme or idea 5 spectacle special effects 6 song music Ground Plan flashcard Roman Theatre especially paratheatricals Main point of roman theatre is entertainment Paratheatricals Bloody and violent violence was real gladiators beast wars chariot races African Theatre African American Theatre Asian Theatre including Indian Chinese and Japanese Theatre Western theatre Dialogue and speech linear plots creates reality uses scenery Eastern theatre Gesture sound and rhythm non linear evens transcends reality uses platform and spaces For the practice of theatre topics below think about the responsibilities or function process and ultimate goals of each position What is Theatre Requirements of Theatre Drama vs Theatre etc Requirements Actor or performer audience text liveness Theatre is unique Drama The text you read the reading experience personal individual fixed because its ephemeral fleeting never experience it again the skeleton Theatre The whole production sensory experience communal interpretive skeleton muscles Playwriting Plot structures and their parts Tools of the Playwright Design Different designers Types of Design Functional Design Process Stage shapes Proscenium Thrust Arena Black Box Types of Design Set or scenic design costume design lighting design sound design production concept and meet the budget Functional design set the mood tone visually function support the Terms What do these terms mean and why are they significant Make sure you also check the Topics section above for more terms For example Roman paratheatricals be a term as well 534 BCE the golden Age of ancient Greek theatre Era where theatre was born Abydos Passion Play One of the earliest records of and performance comes from Africa Performed as early as 2500 BCE It focused on the myths of Egyptian culture the story of the life death and resurrection of god Osiris It is performed in the most sacred place of Egypt The burial site of Osiris Abydos Came to us on a tablet created by Ikhernoret Aesthetic Distance Allows the audience to separate themselves from the events on stage and to recognize that these are not a part of their objective reality Children don t have this ability EX Doctor Osborne s son thinking fire on TV is real Athens Famous for the cultural stronghold for Greece Artist or philosopher or theatre person you wanted to reside in Athens Bunraku Japanese puppet theatre Began in 1734 Each puppet required 3 puppeteers One person moves legs another left hand another right hand and head 10 years of training for each Most experienced puppeteer trains 30 years and moves head and right arm Puppets are about 3 feet tall Catharsis Greek Theatre It is an emotional purging Audience members go into a theatre and the process of watching a tragedy helps them purge negative emotions Particularly pity and fear Get rid of negative emotions Chitlin Circuit A popular form of entertainment that started in the 1920s but has had a popular resurgence again It consists of shows that advertise there shows as black theatre A lot of them are over the top comedies that deal with real life issues EX Beauty Shop Choregos Behind the scenes of Greek Tragedy the producer the citizen in charge of paying for everything and making stuff happen City Dionysia Festival of Theatre Oldest theatre that has been recorded of Athens was linked to this and theatre tragedies Thespis won the competition on acting and it was recorded on the Parian Marble this documents theatre definitely happening Festival lasted 7 days in honor of Greek god Dionysis Days 1 3 Parades rituals Days 4 6 3 tragedies everyday and a satyr play Day 7 5 Comedies was a nice way to end competition Colonialism With Colonialism you have some kind of power that will send people to colonize in an uncolinized land The Europeans continue to explore and colonize Africa The Europeans divided the land up in Africa into different countries there were a bunch of tribes that ended up being separated Africa is primarily unstable because of this Color blind Casting The equal opportunity act which is designed to give people opportunities not based on looks but based on acting and talent Regardless of race religion or creed you can be cast in whatever role your talent suits Wilson came out really strongly about this He didn t like it Content Form What story is being told Content How is the story being told Form Deus ex machina Special effects in Greek Theatre It is a big crane that would allow someone to be launched up into the air so that they would fly into the stage Euripides was fond of this device and he would fly in a god in his play Didaskalos Behind the scenes of Greek Tragedy Playwrights were also