Theater 1st exam Study

Upstage or away from the audience.

 According to the Greek philosopher Aristotle, a sequence of events linked by cause and effect, with a beginning, middle, and end. Said by Aristotle to be the best way to unify a play. More generally, the central, unifying conflict and movement through a drama.

To improvise lines of a speech.

Physical or psycho- logical separation or detachment of audience from dramatic action, usually considered necessary for artistic illusion.

 In classical Greek Old Comedy, a scene with a debate between the two opposing forces in a play.

Bertolt Brecht's theory that, in his epic theater, audiences' emotional involvement should be minimized to increase their intellectual involvement with the political message.

Symbolic representation of abstract themes through characters, action, and other concrete elements of a play.

Large oval, circular, or semicircular outdoor theater with rising tiers of seats around an open playing area; also, an exceptionally large indoor auditorium.

Opponent of the protagonist in a drama.

Young performer training in an Elizabethan acting company.

Stage space in front of the curtain line or proscenium; also called the forestage.

Stage entirely surrounded by the audience; also known as theater-in-the-round.

Person responsible for all creative and artistic activities for resident and repertory companies.

Expression used to describe what is happening onstage at the moment when the curtain first rises or the lights come up.

A director who believes that his or her role is to be the author of a production. An auteur director's point of view dominates that of the playwright, and the director may make textual changes and modifications.

Intellectual, literary, or artistic movement that breaks with tradition and seems ahead of its time.

Large drapery or painted canvas which provides the rear or upstage masking of a set.

Specific problem or maladjustment from which a play arises.

Pipe or long pole suspended horizontally above the stage, upon which scenery, drapery, or lights may be hung.

Lighting instrument without a lens which uses a parabolic reflector to project a narrow, nonadjustable beam of light.

Lighting instrument without a lens which uses a parabolic reflector to project a narrow, nonadjustable beam of light.

Popular theater of China which developed in the nineteenth century.

Meyerhold's theory that a performer's body should be machinelike and that emotion could be represented externally.

Pattern and arrangement of performers' movements onstage with respect to each other and to the stage space, usually set by the director.

(1) Spoken (as opposed to sung) portion of the text of a musical play. (2) To schedule engagements for artists or productions.

Strip of drapery or painted canvas hung from a batten to mask the area above the stage; also, a row of lights hung from a batten.

Small private compartment for a group of spectators built into the walls of a traditional proscenium-arch theater.

Interior setting using flats to form the back and side walls and often the ceiling of a room.

 To create a costume from scratch in a costume shop.

Japanese puppet theater

Satire of a serious form of literature.

Obvious and detailed physical movement of performers to reveal character, aid action, or establish mood.

Greek word, usually translated as "purgation," which Aristotle used in his definition of tragedy, referring to the vicarious cleansing of emotions in the audience through their representation onstage.

Gallery above the tavern in the back wall of the theaters of the Spanish golden age; the area where unescorted women sat.

Wealthy person who financed a playwright's works at an ancient Greek dramatic festival.

Also referred to as intensive structure. Dramatic structure in which there are few scenes, a short time passes, there are few locales, and the action begins chronologically close to the climax.

Often defined as the high point in the action or the final and most significant crisis in the action.

 Full-length (three-act) nonreligious play of the Spanish golden age.

 Form of comic drama that became popular in seventeenth-century France and the English Restoration, emphasizing a cultivated or sophisticated atmosphere and witty dialogue.

Idea or concept in a comedy that turns the accepted notion of things upside down.

 Form of comic theater, originating in sixteenth-century Italy, in which dialogue was improvised around a loose scenario calling for a set of stock characters.

Acting troupes in the Spanish golden age, organized according to a sharing system.

How lighted areas are arranged onstage relative to each other.

Theater of the Spanish golden age, usually located in the courtyard of a series of adjoining buildings.

Device for balancing the weight of scenery in a system which allows scenery to be raised above the stage by means of ropes and pulleys.

Movement by a performer across the stage in a given direction.

Permanent fixture or curved drop used to mask the rear and sides of the stage, representing sky or open space.

Point near the end of a play when suspense is satisfied and "the knot is untied."

Criticism that attempts to describe as clearly and accurately as possible what is happening in a performance.

 Literally, "god from a machine," a resolution device in classic Greek drama; hence, intervention of supernatural forces-usually at the last moment-to save the action from its logical conclusion. In modern drama, an arbitrary and coincidental solution.

 In American usage, the person responsible for the overall unity of a production and for coordinating the work of con-tributing artists. The American director is the equivalent of the British producer and the French metteur-en-scène.

Ancient Greek choral song describing the adventures of a god or hero.

Drama dealing with problems-particularly family problems-of middle- and lower-class characters; also called bourgeois drama. There are serious and comic domestic dramas.

Word or phrase in comedy that has a double meaning, the second often sexual.

Front of the stage toward the audience.

Literary manager or dramatic adviser of a theater company.

Large piece of fabric, generally painted canvas, hung from a batten to the stage floor, usually to serve as backing.

Stanislavski's exercise which helps the performer present realistic emotions. The performer feels a character's emotion by thinking of an event in his or her own life which led to a similar emotion.

Acting that stresses the total artistic unity of a group performance rather than individual performances.

Noises from everyday life that provide background sound in a production.

Form of episodic drama associated with Bertolt Brecht and aimed at the intellect rather than the emotions.

 A brief scene or speech by one of the performers to the audience after the conclusion _of a play.

Also referred to as extensive structure. Dramatic structure in which there are many scenes, taking place over a considerable period of time in a number of locations. Many also employ such devices as subplots.

Term applied to plays illustrating a philosophy whose principal modern advocate was Jean-Paul Sartre and which holds that there are no longer any fixed standards or values.

Imparting of information necessary for an understanding of the story but not covered by the action onstage; events or knowledge from the past, or occurring outside the play, which must be introduced for the audience to understand the characters or plot.

Dramatic genre usually regarded as a subclass of comedy, with emphasis on plot complications and few or no intellectual pretensions.

Single piece of flat, rectangular scenery, used with other similar units to create a set.

Lighting instrument without lenses which is used for general or large-area lighting.

Space above the stage where scenery may be lifted out of sight by means of ropes and pulleys.

Aiming light on a particular area of the stage.

Large, powerful spotlight with a sharp focus and narrow beam which is used to follow principal performers as they move about the stage.

Row of lights in the floor along the front edge of the stage or apron.

Space not originally intended for theater use which _is converted for productions. Avant-garde artists often produce in found spaces.

Type of spotlight used over relatively short distances with a soft beam edge which allows the light to blend easily with light from other sources; also, the type of lenses used in such spotlights.

Portion of a theater reserved for the audience; includes both the auditorium and the lobby area. Sometimes called simply the house.

In traditional proscenium-arch theaters, the undivided seating area cut into the walls of the building.

 Thin, flexible color medium used in lighting instruments to give color to a light beam.

Richard Wagner's theory of a unified work of theatrical art.

Template in a theater lighting instrument that determines the shape and arrangement of the beam or pool of light thrown by the instrument. For example, a pattern created by a gobo or template could result in stripes, leaves on trees, the outline of a windowpane, or the like.

Metal framework above the stage, from which lights and scenery are suspended.

System in which tracks on the stage floor and above the stage allowed for the smooth movement of flat wings on and off the stage; usually there were a series of grooves at each stage position.

Blueprint or floor plan of stage design that outlines the various levels on the stage and indicates the placement of scenery, furniture, doors, windows, and other necessary scenic elements.

Ancient Greek term usually translated as "tragic flaw." The term literally translates as "missing the mark," which may suggest that hamartia is not so much a character flaw as an error in judgment.

In kabuki theater, a bridge running from behind the audience (toward the left side of the audience) to the stage. Performers can enter on the hanamichi; important scenes may also be played on it.

Small props carried on- or offstage by actors and actresses during a performance.

Nonliterary or unscripted theatrical event using a scenario that allows for chance occurrences.

Bridge in n¯o theater on which the performers make their entrance from the dressing area to the platform stage.

Serious but basically optimistic drama, written in verse or elevated prose, with noble or heroic characters in extreme situations or unusual adventures.

Ancient Greek term usually defined as "excessive pride" and cited as a common tragic flaw.

Area at the rear of the stage which can be cut off from the rest by means of curtains or scenery and revealed for special scenes.

Component of a lighting instrument that controls the size of the beam or pool of light thrown by the instrument.

Form of popular Japanese theater combining music, dance, and dramatic scenes.

Traditional dance-drama of India.

To eliminate or suppress; for example, to remove unwanted light or to ruin an effect through improper execution.

Comic pieces of business used repeatedly by characters in Italian commedia dell'arte.

Left side of the stage from the point of view of a performer facing the audience.

Detailed outline or diagram showing where each lighting instrument is placed in relationship to the stage.

Early medieval drama, written in Latin and dealing with biblical stories.

In the United States, the Federal Theater Project's dramatizations of newsworthy events in the 1930s.

Term used in commercial theater when a drama is performed for as long as it is popular.

Stanislavski's acting exercise which requires the performer to ask, "How would I react if I were in this character's position?"

Individual scenic units used for the staging of religious dramas in the Middle Ages.

(1) To cut backstage areas or technical equipment off from the view of the audience by means of scenery. (2) Face or head covering in the image of the character portrayed.

  Scenery or draperies used to hide or cover.

 Lavish and spectacular form of private theater in Renaissance Italy and the courts of France and England.

Dramatic form made popular in the nineteenth century which emphasized action and spectacular effects and also used music; it had stock characters and clearly defined villains and heroes.

Type of nineteenth-century production featuring white performers made up in blackface.

Arrangement of all the elements in a stage picture at a given moment or throughout a performance.

Medieval drama designed to teach a lesson. The characters were often allegorical and represented virtues or faults

Sounds called for in the script that usually come from recognizable sources.

Theater in which something is going on simultaneously in several playing areas.

Broad category which includes opera, operetta, musical comedy, and other musical plays (sometimes called lyric theater).

Also called cycle plays. Short dramas of the Middle Ages based on events of the Old and New Testaments and often organized into historical cycles.

 Rigidly traditional form of Japanese drama combining music, dance, and lyrics.

Stanislavski's term for that which is urgently desired and sought by a character, the desired goal which propels a character to action.

That which delays or prevents the achieving of a goal by a character. An obstacle creates complication and conflict.

Ground-floor seating in an auditorium; also, a circular playing space in ancient Greek theaters.

Rate at which a performance is played; also, to play a scene or an entire event to determine its proper speed.

Term used in theater lighting when a beam of light from a lighting instrument moves horizontally, from side to side.

In classical Greek drama, the scene in which the chorus enters. Also, the entranceway for the chorus in Greek theater.

In the theater of the Spanish golden age, the pit area for the audience.

Experimental theater that initially incorporated elements of dance and the visual arts. Since performance art often is based on an individual performer or director's vision, rather than a playwright's, the autobiographical monologue has become a popular performance art form.

Illusion of depth in painting, introduced into scene design during the Italian Renaissance.

Floor of the house in a traditional proscenium-arch theater. It was originally a standing area; by the end of the eighteenth century, backless benches were added.

Raised surface on the stage floor serving as an elevation for parts of the stage action and allowing for a multiplicity of stage levels.

The moment in the story when a play actually begins. The dramatist chooses a point which he or she judges will best start the action and propel it forward.

A contemporary concept suggesting that artists and audiences have gone beyond the modernist movements of realism and the various departures from realism.

Criticism that offers advice and sometimes suggests rules for what should be done in theater.

Indoor theaters in Elizabethan England.

In American usage, the person responsible for the business side of a production, including raising the necessary money. (In British usage, a producer is the equivalent of an American director.)

Introductory speech delivered to the audience by one of the actors or actresses before a play begins.

To furnish a performer with missed or forgotten lines or cues during a performance.

Script of a play indicating performers' movements, light cues, sound cues, etc.

Arch or frame surrounding the stage opening in a box or picture stage.

Principal character in a play, the one whom the drama is about.

Outdoor theaters in Elizabethan England.

To choose a costume from an inventory owned by a theater company.

To position scenery on a slant or at an angle other than parallel or perpendicular to the curtain line; also, an upward slope of the stage floor away from the audience.

 Stage which slopes upward away from the audience toward the back of the set.

Broadly, an attempt to present onstage people and events corresponding to those in everyday life.

(1) Theater whose subject matter is specific to a particular geographic region. (2) Theaters situated in theatrical centers across the country.

Preparation by a cast for the performance of a play through repetition and practice.

 Amplification of sounds in the theater.

Acting company which at any given time can perform a number of plays alternately; also, the plays regularly performed by a company.

 Characters in a play who embody characteristics that represent an entire group.

• Use of mechanically re-created sounds in
• the theater.

Sudden switch of circumstances or knowledge which leads to a result contrary to expectations; called peripeteia or peripety in Greek drama.

 Large circular turntable in a stage floor on which scenery is placed so that, as it moves, one set is brought into view while another one turns out of sight.

Right side of the stage from the point of view of a performer facing the audience.

 Movement of the nineteenth century which sought to free the artist from rules and considered unfettered inspiration the source of all creativity.

Rehearsal in which the cast goes through the entire text of the play in the order that it will be performed.

Dramatic form using techniques of comedy-such as wit, irony, and exaggeration-to attack and expose folly and vice.

Thin, open-weave fabric which is nearly transparent when lit from behind and opaque when lit from the front.

Written or printed text-consisting of dialogue, stage directions, character descriptions, and the like.

Speech in which a character who is alone onstage speaks inner thoughts.

 Light from stage-lighting instruments which falls outside of the areas for which it is intended, such as light that falls on the audience.

 In the Stanislavski method, a character's dominant desire or motivation; usually thought of as an action and expressed as a verb.

Understanding established through custom or usage that certain devices will be arbitrarily accepted or assigned a specific meaning.

Person who coordinates all the rehearsals for the director and runs the actual show during its performances.

Visual composition of how an entire scene onstage will appear to the audience

Constantin Stanislavski's techniques and theories about acting, which promote a naturalistic style stressing (among other things) "inner truth" as opposed to conventional theatricality.

Character who has one outstanding characteristic of human behavior to the exclusion of virtually all other attributes. These characters often seem like stereotypes and are most often used in comedy and melodrama.

To remove pieces of scenery or props from onstage or to take down an entire set after a final performance.

Short horizontal curtain just beyond the proscenium used to mask the fly loft and, in effect, to lower the height of the proscenium.

Person who oversees all technical aspects of a theater production, especially the building, painting, and installation of scenery and related elements.

Rehearsal at which all the design and technical elements are brought together.

Theater space in which the audience sits on three sides of the stage.

Term in theater lighting used when a beam of light from an instrument moves vertically, up and down.

At or toward the back of the stage, away from the front edge of the stage.

Left and right offstage areas; also, narrow standing pieces of scenery, or "legs", more or less parallel to the proscenium, which form the sides of a setting.

Lights arranged for the convenience of stage technicians, situated either in backstage areas and shaded or over the stage area for use while the curtain is down.

Blocking of actors, most stuff directors direct, encompasses a lot

Thought shadow or absence of light was most important part of lighting

a sprinkler system that drops a lot of water on the stage in case of a fire

cuts off audience from fire, cuts fire oxygen

 See how actors look on stage

In professional theatre, play runs but critics are not allowed to publish reviews, as that starts a financial clock

•  Often become directors as they are concerned with all things directors are concerned witho  
•  Directors must have a creative “thing going” that stage managers do not have to have   
• His jurisdiction is to the edge of the stage to the back of the stage to the dressing room as opposed to house manager

His stock thing was anger, found his wife in bed

• Marito phigero was another version of it
• Clever servant who fixes everything
• Trickster that fixes everything, ie Bugs Bunny

describes a gruesome or horrid item, based on a medieval story

the relationship between the performer and the audience

A)    literary        B)    visual        C)    performing

space but not time

time but not space

time and space

vicarious

aesthetic distance

almost the entire city

• What is being attempted?           
• How well has the attempt succeeded?       
• Was the attempt worth making?

A)story

plot

obstacles and complications

bold climax?

comedy

comic

body and mind

purposeful actions led to emotions

Lee Strasberg

recalling past emotions to boost stage performance

Auteur director

auteur and traditional

arena