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| “God from a machine”, contrived ending that doesn’t come from the play’s action |
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| Italian Rennaisance commedy where each actor has a stock character and they improvise based on their characters |
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| high profile for-profit theater in NYC, 500+ seats, increased production costs lead to conservative approach b/c investment groups are the ones funding shows, money goes toward the space/actors/director/engineers |
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| smaller-scale for-profit theater in NYC, 100-499 seats, used to be experimental but are now part of the establishment |
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| professional, not-for-profit theaters, funded through grands such as the NEA and Ford Foundation, offer actors long-term contracts, subsidies allow more daring choices |
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| performances take place before an unsuspecting audience, designed to be provocative, hard to do in “traditional” space, audience may never know they’re watching a play which makes the message more poignant |
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| ancestral observance in Nigeria, calling ancestors through costumed dance and performance; performed in the village square |
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| author of The Poetics, arguably the 1st critic |
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| written by Aristotle c. 330 BC on the theater medium, defines tragedy and describes the requirements of plot and character |
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| writes longer pieces (anthologies, articles, books, academic journals), provides in-depth analysis/explanations, has job qualifications, gets to write about what interests him/her |
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| writes for a newspaper/periodical, reviews live productions usually in brief, almost always on a short deadline, little experience/education required, reviews plays as a public service |
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| invisible wall separating the actor from the audience, the curtain on a Proscenium stage |
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| areas at the sides of the Proscenium stage where non-suspended things appear |
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| 2nd wave of auditioning, reduced number of people, in the room with other actors trying out for the same part |
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| reading from the script at an audition, auditioning without preparing a scene, the 1st look at the script |
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| pattern and arrangement of performers’ movements onstage with respect to each other and stage space, set by the director |
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| actors who coordinate theater companies, performed many functions of a director, format of most companies in Western Europe and the United States after Shakespearean England (17th century – 19th century), (e.g. Thomas Betterton, William Charles Macready, Charles Kemble, Henry Irving, Shakespeare, Molier) |
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| German playwright/director (1898-1956), most famous for the Threepenny Opera and the Berliner Ensemble, wrote that theater is an engagement and not entertainment, came up with the alienation effect that audiences should be emotionally distant and know they’re watching a play, the actor doesn’t become a character – he “presents it” |
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| Russian actor/director (1863-1938), developed the foundation of realistic acting used today, intellectual and scientific as opposed to being emotional, came up with the “magic if” (what would I do in this situation) and “objective” (what is the character’s goal in this scene) |
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| director who doesn’t follow the “writer’s intentions” but rather makes the text serve their own purposes |
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| controls finances / hiring and firing / securing rights / space / materials, in for-profit theater absorbs profits and losses, in not-for-profit theater is referred to as an “artistic director”, responsible for the business side of the production |
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| encouraged by George II, acting that stresses the total unity of a group performance rather than individual performances |
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| impediments put in a character’s way that the character must overcome, problems that exist when the play begins |
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| problem that arises during the play, outside forces or new twists in the plot introduced at an opportune moment |
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| moment when a major decision is made that changes the direction of the plot, a series of problems that build from one to the next, leading to the climax |
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| biggest and final crisis, conflict ends here, we know the winners and losers |
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| imparting of info necessary to understand the story that isn’t covered by the action onstage |
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| character types that appear regularly, “off the rack”, ready-made and available for use (e.g. tricky servant, overwhelmed dad), ingredients can be station in life / gender / occupation / personality trait |
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| wrote The Birthday Party, came up with the theater of menace idea |
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| wrote True West and The God of Hell (about a futuristic US under totalitarian rule), combines concerns of high art like the plight of the Am family or the demise of the Am dream with film / pop music / melodrama, blurs the distinction between realism and abstraction, deals with American mythology / violence in American society / degeneration of the American family |
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| wrote Top Girls, used lack of realism to make the audience think |
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| wrote Fences (won a Pulitzer), wrote a cycle of ten plays (each from a different decade) about the comedy and tragedy of the African-American experience |
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| wrote the autobiographical MASTER HAROLD...and the boys, South African |
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| wrote Topdog/Underdog (won a 2002 Pulitzer) and Venus (won a 1998 Obie), doesn’t like writing about “women’s” issues or “black” issues, writes about sex / poverty / crime / violence / abandonment, influenced by Gertrude Stein, first black woman to win a Pulitzer |
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| wrote Angels in America, won a Tony and Pulitzer, lesbian and gay theater |
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| drama set entirely to music, originally the popular theater in Renaissance Italy, performed in Italian / French / German |
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| white actors take on stereotypes of blacks by painting faces |
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| Hammerstein’s 1927 musical which advanced the state of musical theater, first “book musical” |
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| the playwright team who brought the art of musical theater into the 1940s and 1950s, the “golden era of musicals” in the USA |
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| American dancer and choreographer, choreographed “Oklahoma” and “Carousel”, choreography enhanced the plot, reflected the angst and turmoil of the characters instead of simply focusing on a dancer's physical technique |
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| last of a dying breed of composers, composer / librettist / lyricist, created an increased complexity and increased darkness of subject matter, wrote “A Little Night Music” / “Sweeny Todd”, “Into the Woods”, “Assassins”, “West Side Story” |
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| bringing old-school musicals back to the theater, worked once, why not do it again?, (e.g. “Showboat”, “Oklahoma”, “Cabaret”), an example of fiscal conservatism like what’s going on in Hollywood now |
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| movement pieces such as “STOMP,” “Riverdance,” and Steven Glover’s “Bring in Da Noise, Bring in Da Funk” (tap dance version of musical theater) |
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| take a well-known collection of songs and build a story around them (e.g. “Mamma Mia”, “Movin’ Out”, “All Shook Up”, “We Will Rock You”) |
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| term used for physical comedy, also a device used to simulate an onstage beating |
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| a humorous use of words with the same sound but different meanings, the simplest form of wit |
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| a word which sounds like the right word but actually means something quite different (ex. “My daughter is illegible for marriage”) |
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| idea that is so crazy it might work, hero comes up with a crazy idea to jump-start the plot |
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| a type of comedy that thrives on exaggeration, humor results from excessive plot complications / ridiculous situations / pratfalls / horseplay, physical comedy |
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| makes fun of a specific person or thing, relies on your familiarity of that thing (ex. Saturday Night Live) |
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| a type of comedy that uses wit / irony / exaggeration to attack or expose evil and foolishness, makes fun of something general, not aimed at anything / anyone specific |
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| combines fear / suffering / death with comic elements, a balancing act – do you feel for the characters or laugh at what happens to them? |
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| type of drama which asks very basic questions about human existence and assumes that the universe is cruel / malevolent / indifferent to human concerns |
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| type of tragedy featuring extraordinary characters in leading roles who often find themselves in irretrievable situations, positions ordinary people would never be in (e.g. Hercules) |
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| Greek for “tragic mistake” or “tragic flaw” in the character of the protagonist (e.g. hubris), the one fatal mistake the character makes due to incomplete self-knowledge |
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| type of tragedy which indicates serious drama of any period and incorporates elements of traditional tragedy, may end happily or assume an optimistic outlook even when the endings are sad |
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| type of tragedy involving the middle or lower class rather than the aristocracy, problems are often based within a family or a home |
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| features exaggerated characters and events arranged to create horror or suspense or to present a didactic argument for some political / moral / social point of view, oversimplified morals and sensation scenes, characters are the pure hero / virgin damsel in distress heroine, older wants-girl villain (ex. Soap operas, made-for-tv movies) |
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| small acts designed to keep the audience entertained during scene changes |
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| “picture-frame stage” / fourth wall stage, audience sits directly in front of the stage, arch separates the stage environment from the auditorium, began to appear in Renaissance Europe as plays moved indoors |
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| single flat units in stage scenery used to create walls or divisions |
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| raised surface on a stage floor serving as an elevation for parts of the stage action and allowing for a multiplicity of stage levels |
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| rotating flats or platforms |
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| gauze or cloth screen which can be painted with thin paint or dye for scenery purposes, can appear translucent when backlit and good for shadow puppets |
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| scenery which is moved down from the flies above the stage, uses fly loft and counterweight system |
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| (1697-1678) came up with the chariot and pole system, also came up with a counterweight system where scenery was hung on ropes and balanced by weights |
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| 2D paintings of 3D images used for backgrounds, set on poles that were pulled by sub-stage chariots to change scenes, developed by Giacomo Torelli |
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| costume that is kept in storage at the play house, already on hand |
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| costume that must be bought from an outside supply company |
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| costume that is assembled (sewn and put together) |
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| introduced in London in 1803, intensity of light could be controlled by fire was a big danger |
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| rendering of the stage showing the location of instruments / focus areas / and color |
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| list of lighting changes during the play |
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| control panels which allow light intensity to be changed smoothly |
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| plastic sheet which allows the color of light to be manipulated |
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| light source controlled by a performer onstage (e.g. candles, lamps) |
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| sounds that have to happen for the play to move forward, (e.g. phone ringing, doorbell) |
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| atmosphere, sounds that don’t really change throughout the scene (e.g. crickets at night) |
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| (935-973) first female dramatist, nun in a convent, unearthed Roman plays in the library, wrote her own plays depicting Bible stories |
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| (1640-1689) English dramatist, first woman to write plays professionally, wrote “The Rover” |
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| (1642-1687) comic actress and “kept” woman |
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| (1906-1984) realist American playwright of The Children’s Hour and The Little Foxes, was called “the American Ibsen (the author of A Doll’s House)” |
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| (1643-1687) surrealist American playwright, wrote 75+ plays (as many as Shakespeare), wrote Dr. Faustus Lights the Lights |
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| wrote Fires in the Mirror (about the 1991 murder/riots in NY) and Twilight (about the 1992 LA riots after the Rodney King case) |
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| director, head of the Saratoga International Theater Institute (SITI) |
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| directed The Producers for Broadway and theater, produced Showboat |
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| head of the Wooster Group in NYC, William Dafoe got his start there |
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| wrote Malibou Mines, briefly head of the NY Shakespeare Festival |
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| oldest form of Japanese theater, began as court entertainment in the 1370s (not for the masses), all-male family business which takes 25 years to learn (starting at age 5), mask dramas, slow and stylized: “the art of walking”, hierarchy of character types |
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| began in 1603, initially all-female raucous / satirical plays, women were available as prostitutes so changed to boys and young men, violence and prostitution continued so changed to all-adult men (actors forelocks shaved to make them less attractive), involves set character types |
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| puppet theater, 3 puppeteers for each doll, often performed on a full-size kabuki stage |
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| part of a Kabuki stage, the “flower walk”, bridge going from the stage to the back of the auditorium |
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| part of a Noh stage, bridge leading backstage to a dressing room for all major entrances/exits |
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| female founder of Kabuki theater, maiden at the Izumo shinto shrine who performed outside |
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| Kabuki character type, “rough style”, wild and warrior-like male character, generally a comic sidekick |
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| Kabuki character type, “delicate style”, lead male character, scholarly type, romantic |
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| Kabuki character type, female, always played by a male |
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| lead Noh actor, always wears a mask and colorful clothing |
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| avant-garde director/theorist, co-founder of the SITI company in Saratoga Springs, NY, wrote “The Way of Acting” |
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(1653-1742), “the Japanese Shakespeare”, wrote plays for puppets and humans (bunraku theater);
wrote “love suicide plays”, where lovers kill themselves for honor and acceptance, people started copycatting these plays |
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| climactic moment in Kabuki theater where the actor stops and poses, drums beat and the audience wildly applauds |
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| Sources for Twelfth Night |
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| title comes from the 12th night of Christmas celebrations (festival of misrule), plot is borrowed from Gl’igannati (an Italian play from the 1530s about gender-swapping) and Appollonius and Silla (English play) |
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| mixing of period styles, borrowing of source material, mixing “high” and “low” art |
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| current movie setting Twelfth Night in a modern-day high school |
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| Shakespeare’s contemporary, wrote Edward II where the king has a homosexual affair and is murdered |
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| gay playwright, wrote The Glass Menagerie |
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