DRAM 1101: EXAM 1
112 Cards in this Set
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theatre
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art form that uses live performance
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Theatron
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Seeing place
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LORT's
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League of Resident Theatres
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theatre as a place
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a structure that varies in size, decoration and functionality
1 requirement: an empty space for a place to act and place to watch
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theatre as a company
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collaborative art
-collaborators engage in shared vision
-can refer to a category:
-"The Elizabethan Theatre", "The American Theatre", "Theatre of the 1940s"
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theatre as an occupation
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work in two senses: as labor and as play
-labor: demands from physical exertion (many work in multiple roles)
-play: theatre is calculated, play is not
-theatre transforms work into art
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theatre as an art
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involves impersonation
-it differentiates between actor and character
-makes it unique among art forms
involves a paradox
-the actor must "disappear" behind character
-yet actor is applauded and celebrated
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theatre as performance
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-we all "perform" everyday (in classrooms, public spaces, sports, etc.)
-theatre is formal
-uses 2 types of performance:
-presentational
-representational
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Presentational Performance
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acknowledges audience
-example: stand-up comedy
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representational performance
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does not acknowledge audience, more common
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Theatre is live
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uses live performance
-its "liveliness" gives it 3 fundamental forces:
-rapport between audience and actor
-relationship among audience
-immediacy
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ritual
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a stereotyped sequence of activities involving gestures, words and objects performed in a particular place
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ritual & theatre similarities
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-often use dialogue
-costumes and props
-follow set sequence of events
-repetition of words, roles, movements and actions
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ritual & theatre differences
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-theatre is not primarily intended for prayer or intended to achieve efficacious (effective) results
-theatre's focus is often on human beings--- their joys, pains and fears
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theatre & sports similarities
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-perform for an audience
-costumes/uniforms
-director/coach
-generate response from audience
-live show
-perform on a stage
-takes practice
-choreographed movement
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theatre & sports differences
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-*impersonation*
-sports= factually real
-theatre= an illusion
-suspension of disbelief: relies on willingness to accept truth/reality
-a theatrical event that is scripted has a predetermined outcome
-sports events outcome is not predetermined, it is random
-popular culture …
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impersonation
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-sports= factually real
-theatre= an illusion
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suspension of disbelief
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relies on willingness to accept truth/reality
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"low brow"
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sports
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"high brow"
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theatre (upper class)
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amphitheatres
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outdoor w/ no roof built on slant/raised seating
-theatrical space that has most potential for realistic spectacle/scenery
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proscenium stage
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audience all on one side giving more space for stage to change scenes and costumes
-offers a lot more backstage space where you an hide machinery
-1.000 spectators
*BEST FOR REALISTIC SCENERY*
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box set
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walls are fixed, stationary set, walls/doors/windows don't move
-looks realistic with detail to give sense of life and reality
-most popular
EXAMPLE: A Doll's House (1880)
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thrust stage
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where the audience is seated on at least 2 but not more than 3 sides of the stage
-audience surrounding half of the stage (200-300 spectators)
-intimate, closer to audience
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disadvantages of proscenium stage
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-there is a lot of space for actor to fill
-worry about projection in voice to be heard
-less detailing for costume and scenery
-less intimacy (further away from action)
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disadvantages of thrust stage
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-actor has to worry about putting back to the audience
-harder to have a curtain/scenery changes happen in front of audience
EXAMPLE: classroom/lecture hall is a thrust stage
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arena stage
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audience on all 4 sides (stage in middle)
-major impact on scenic elements, lighting, etc.
-telling a different story on each side due to impact on audience
-there isn't a bad seat
-good for small budgets/might not have to do a lot of scenery
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disadvantages of arena stage
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-actors have to worry about angles available
-changing props will be in full view
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blackbox
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4 walls (typically black) with no fixed stage or seating
-seating and stage are moveable
-great for intimacy
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disadvantage of blackbox stage
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smaller
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comedy
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-humorously addresses topical and timely situations
-doesn't have same historical reputationas tragedy
-popularly, a funny play; classically, a play that ends happily; metaphorically, a play with some humor that celebrates the eternal ironies of human existence
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tragedy
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-a play that treats, at the most uncompromising level, human suffering
-"goat song" in greek
-Aristotle refined its meaning into the most celebrated of dramatic genres
-tells a story
-centers on great person (protagonist)
-ends in death/demise
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melodrama
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-the designation of a suspenseful, plot-oriented drama featuring all-good heroes, all-bad villains, simplistic dialogue, soaring moral conclusions, and bravura acting
-originally a term for musical theatre
-exotic locales (setting is exotic)
-special effects (hurricane, fire)
-latest …
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farce
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highly comic, lighthearted, gleefully contrived drama, usually involving stock situations (such as mistaken identity or discovered lovers' trysts), punctuated with broad physical stunts and pratfalls
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satire
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a play or other literary work that ridicules social follies, beliefs, religions, or human vices, almost always in a lighthearted vein
-not usually a lasting theatre form
-"Satire is what closes on Saturday night"
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1. plot
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-structure of action, timetable of plays events
-the events of the play, expressed as a series of linked dramatic actions
-in common terms, it is the story of the play
-according to Aristotle, it is the most important component of a play
-components= climax, exposition, resolution, fa…
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climax
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the point of no return, when the focus switches from the problem to the solution
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exposition
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the part of the story where you are introduced to characters and setting (warm-up)
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resolution
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problem is solved or unsolveable
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falling action
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focuses on solving problem
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rising action
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events focus on the conflict or problem
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inciting incident
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the single action that initiates the major conflict of the play
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genre
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a term used in dramatic theory to signify a distinctive class or category of play-- tragedy, comedy, farce, and so on
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Aristotle
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-wrote Poetics (335 B.C.E.)
-first major dramatic critic in the Western Drama
-first major genre classification
-6 Components of Theatre
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hamartia
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tragic flaw or fatal mistake
-scholars differ as to whether Aristotle was referring primarily to a character's ignorance of certain facts or to a character's moral defect
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catharsis
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purge emotionsn (of pity/fear)
-the purging or cleansing of the terror and pity that the audience feels during the climax of a tragedy
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protagonist
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-"good guy"
-the carrier of the action, in any drama, the principal character, often opposed by an antagonist
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antagonist
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-"bad guy"
-the opposer of the action
-the opponent of the protagonist
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dramaturgy
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how action of play is structured
-2 ways to analyze dramaturgy
-"vertical" axis= components of play
-"horizontal" axis= temporal experience/order
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Aristotle's 6 Components
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1. Plot
2. Character
3. Theme
4. Diction
5. Music
6. Spectacle
*new component= 7. Convention*
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2. character
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-quality and complexity of character to make you as an audience care about them
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3. theme
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basic idea of play/the thought or message/central idea
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4. diction
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words, language (poetical, lyrical, etc.) of text
-tone or imagery of play
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5. music
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spoken or sung/way language is spoken in play
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6. spectacle
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special effects, visual aspects of stage (costumes, lighting, etc.)
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7. convention
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rules of agreement between you and audience that allows it to work
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horizontal axis
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order and timing of what happens in a play
-play is divided into 3 waves:
-preplay
-play
-postplay
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vertical axis
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what are components
-Aristotle broke down dramaturgy to 6 parts (from most to least important)
-add new component=convention
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preplay
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what attracts the audience to the play
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play
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concerned with events within script
-binds audience together
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postplay
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you and the audience have left the theatre and are discussing the play after
-end of show when bows and curtain call
-discussion with panel of experts
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playwright
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creating dramatic action
-literary and non-literary
-not just literary text (movement, lighting, scenery)
-text is about action (relating an observable, dramatizable/event writing)
-no set formula (depends on the playwright)
-all plays deal with 3 major areas: dialogue, conflict, str…
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David Mamet
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-scripts have rough, broken dialogue, lots of swears
-focus on issues of masculinity and sexuality
-playwright for
-Race
-Speed the Plough
-Glengarry Glen Ross
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Tony Kushner
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-playwright for Angels in America
-contemporary masterpiece
-deals with AIDS
-his work has "explosive humor"
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David Henry Hwang
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plays with sexuality and cultural tensions (between East and West)
-playwright for M. Butterfly
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Neil LaBute
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prolific playwright
-playwright for
-Reasons to be Pretty
-Fat Pig
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Lynn Nottage
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focus on human rights, african american women, prostitution, genital castration.
-playwright for "Ruined"
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Dialogue
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sometimes composed in text
-the speeches---delivered to one another of the characters in a play
-contrast with monologue
-has 3 levels:
-1st level= saying what you mean
-2nd level= having subtext/something underneath dialogue
-saying o…
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conflict
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within internal character, institution or external
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structure
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conscious or subconscious, move chronologically or episodically
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conventions of melodrama
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-musical score
-almost always a theme song you identify with protagonist
-simple, powerful stories
-set pattern of action
-stereotypes
-example= damsel in distress (female), hero (male), bad guy/villain (male)
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realism
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-general principle that the stage should portray, in a reasonable facsimile, ordinary people in ordinary circumstances and that actors should behave, as much as possible, as real people do in real life
-most pervasive influence on contemporary theatre
-Darwin used in terms of heredity
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naturalism
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-a version of realism advancing the notion that the natural and social environment more than individual willpower, controlled human behavior
-in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, proponents sought to dispense with all theatrical convention in the search for "a slice of life"
-atte…
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naturalism on stage
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-through costumes, settings and decor realistically rendered
-real materials (furniture from home used)
-Zola is playwright, Antoine is director
-everyday language, no lengthy exposition
-natural staging, acting and diction
-realistic characterizations and simple plot constructio…
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stylization
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to deliberately shape a play (or a setting, a costume, etc.) in a specifically non-naturalistic manner
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Emile Zola
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1849-1902
-head of naturalist movement
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Henrik Ibsen
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1828-1906
-questioned ideas/truths (he's unconventional)
-skeptical of majority views
-"Father of Realism"
-playwright of A Doll's House
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Problem Plays
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Plays that focus on general social concerns
-example= A Doll's House
-demonstrated a marriage in crisis
-critiqued social conventions and inequalities
-failed to offer reconciliation
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causal plot
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secret that is gradually revealed to the audience
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symbolism
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-emphasizes the symbolic nature of theatrical presentation and the abstract possibilities of drama
-first major antirealistic movement in the arts and in theatre
-broke into various submovements: expressionism, surrealism, theatricalism, and many others
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metatheatre
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plays or theatrical acts that are self-consciously theatrical that refer back to the art of the theatre and call attention to their own theatricality
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ensemble
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the group of actors (and sometimes directors and designers) who put a play together
-metaphorically, the rapport and shared sense of purpose that bind such a group into a unified artistic entity
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expressionism
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an artistic style that greatly exaggerates perceived reality in order to express inner truths directly
-is notable for its gutsy dialogue, piercing sounds, bright lighting and coloring, bold scenery, and shocking, vivid imagery
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"Hero's Journey" plot structure
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-old world order
-exposition
-inciting action
-complication/resolution 1
-complication/resolution 2
-complication/crisis
-climax
-denouement
-new world order
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Major Dramatic Question (MDQ)
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main question of the plot, usually shown during the beginning of the play
-will _____(protagonist) ______(action) _______(antagonist) in order to _____(action) for the purpose of ______(moral of story)?
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credibility and intrigue
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-has to have something to draw us in
-has to be structurally consistent (no contradictions)
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speakability
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words of action that have maximum impact
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stageability
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dialogue must be conceived as an integral element of a particular staged situation, in which setting, physical acting, and spoken dialogue are inextricably combined
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flow
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requires a continual stream of information
-a play that flows is one that is continually saying something, doing something and meaning something to the audience
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stage left
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left, from the actor's point of view
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richness
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-depth in language to create authority and make it compelling
-qualities common to plays that leave us with this sense of satisfaction
-richness of detail and dimension
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depth of characterization
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-characters distinctness
-requires that every character possess an independence of intention, expression, and motivation
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gravity
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-a plays central theme is one of serious and lasting significance in humanity's spiritual, moral, or intellectual life
-relevant to us today
-idea that big ideas matter
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pertinence
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refers to the play's touching on current audience concerns, both of-the-moment and timeless
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compression
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refers to the playwright's skill in condensing a story (which may span many days, even years, of chronological time)
-no play is more then 2 hours
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economy
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-relates to an author's skill in eliminating or consolidating characters, events, locales, and words in the service of compression
-most important moments are shown
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intensity
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-one of the theatre's most powerful attributes
-it conveys to the audience an undestroyable feeling that that moment in theatre is unique and its revelations are profound
-find uniqueness in moments
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upstage
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-proscenium theatre= the part of the stage farthest from the audience; the rear of the stage
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downstage
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the part of the stage closest to the audience
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apron
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-part of the stage located in front of the proscenium
-the forwardmost portion of the stage
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drama
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-the art of the theatre
-plays, playmaking and the whole body of literature of and for the stage
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wings
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-proscenium stage= vertical pieces of scenery to the left and right of the stage, usually parallel with the footlights
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Samuel Beckett
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the unquestioned leader of the absurdist writers
-avoided all realism, romanticism, and rationalism to create works that are relentlessly unenlightening
-theatre was based on the thesis that man is and will remain ignorant regarding all matters of importance
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Eugene O'Neill
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-began as a realistic playwright
-wrote a play that became a landmark of expressionist theatre in 1921
-wrote 'The Hairy Ape'
-used visual and auditory effects
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The Hairy Ape
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-by Eugene O'Neill
-a one-act play featuring eight scenes
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George Bernard Shaw
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-created a comedic realism through which he addressed issues such as slum landlordism, prostitution, and urban poverty
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Luigi Pirandello
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-'all the world's a stage'
-contrasts the passionate story of the "characters" whose "drama" concerns a broken family, adultery, and a suggestion of incest--- with the artifice of the stage and its simulations
-playwrights have use of paradox, irony and the theatre as a metaphor to crea…
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Six Characters in Search of An Author
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expresses from its famous title onward a "meta-theatrical" motif by which the theatre itself becomes part of the content of play production
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Andre Antoine
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-created Theatre Libre to encourage stagings of realistic dramas
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Anton Chekhov
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-achieved success as a playwright through a set of plays that portray the end of the tsarist era
-created deeply complex relationships among his characters and to develop his plots and themes more or less between the lines
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theatre of cruelty
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-notion of theatre developed by French theorist Antonin Artaud
-goal was to employ language more for its sound than for its meaning and to create a shocking stream of sensations rather than a coherent plot and cast of characters
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theatre of the absurd
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-to describe plays with unrealistic and illogical plots, repetitious and disconnected language, and unclear themes, relfecting a world in which humans "absurdly" seek meaning but never find it
-theatrical style named by Martin Esslin
-the term derived by essay by Albert Camus
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DRAM 1101: FINAL