Bertolt Bercht
wrote plays centered around political theams
non tradition casting
casting of a race different from that of the character is written
commercial theatre
theatre for a profit
off broadway
seats less than 500 patrons
catharsis
greek term for purification
empathy
when an audience member experiences a sense of participation and identification with a character on stage
production
the fully realized performance of a play with actors, sets, costumes, lighting, and props
director
the person in charge of the artistic aspects of the production
house manager
the person responisble for the safety and comfort of the audience memebers during their time at the theatre
wings
the spaces offstage left and right for actors, crew and scenery that are not visible performance space
booth stage
a thrust stage that can be moved from place to place by a traveling troupe of players
arena
the traditional theatre space in which the audience completely surrounds the performance space
black box
a theatre space that is small and features flexible seating for the audience
aesthetic distance
phychological seperation or a sense of detachements; recognition that what happens on stage is not real
observation
your recognition of what actually happened on stage
believeability
when the audience accepts the authenticity of a character
ensemble
the theatrical term for actors working together as a team
Broadway
in theatre district and seats up to 1800 patrons
house
the audience area of any theatrical space
box office manager
responsible for orginizing and overseeing ticket sales
spectacle
visual elements of a play
plot
the orginization of action
linear plot
when the events of a play progress forward and sequentially in a play
exposition
information given by the playwright that is needed to understand the play
point of attack
the point in the story in which the playwright chooses to dramatize the action
inciting incident
the event that destroys the uneasy balance and sets off the major conflict of forces
rising action
small units of action that build in emotional intensity
climax
emotional high point
discovery
something found learned or realized during the action of the play
cliff hanger
a play that stops at the climax and does not show the outcome of the conflict
subplots
secondary lines of action that are entwined with the main plot
royalties
payments to the playwright made by the producing organization each time a play is produced
dionysus
Greek plays where performed in honor of this god
parados
in greece, the chorus entered and exited through....
theatron
in anceint Greek theare the audience was seated in....
Aeschylus
wrote the Orestia, the only surving trilogy of greek plays
Vomitories
stadium like entrances fo the audience (first developed by the romans)
rolling repertory
a system of daily changes of plays
Sturm and Drang
("storm and stress") a preromantic movement that deliberately broke all the rules of neoclassicism. Shocked audiences with forbidden topics like teen pregnancy, rape etc..
Box Set
Scenery that imitates the interior of a room with walls, sometimes ceiling, furniture, and visual detail, standard in Europe and North America.
Antiquarianism
19th century Europe, the practice of researching and recreating authentic styles of dress, architecture and interior design when producing plays written or set in the past.
Realism
A movement in the 19th century championing the depiction of everyday life on the stage and the frank treatment of social problems in the theatre. The plays of Henrik Ibsen of the 1870's where important in establishing a dramatic style for realism.
dramaturg
a specialist in dramatic literature and theatre history who serves as a consultant for production.
concept
artistic decisions meant to communicate a specific interpretation of a play to the audience
representational acting
acting style that does not acknowledge the presence of the audience and uses techniques that result in a subtle authentic style of performance
affective memory
a technique for developing a character in which the actor reexperiences a moment from his or hers life that stimulated an emotion similar to the one that the actors character is feeling at a certain point in the play