Non-mediated or live theatre
theatre that is not observed through an electronic medium
Regional theatres
permanent, professional nonprofit theaters offering first-class productions to their audiences
Community theatres
Semiprofessional and experienced amateur groups that present plays that appeal to their specific audiences
Site Specific theatre
Theatre presented in a nontraditional setting so that the chosen environment helps illuminate the text
Performance art
Most often refers to a solo performance created by the performer but can also be a work that mixes visual arts, dance, film, and/or music
Visual arts
these include painting, sculpture, architecture, and photography
Performing arts
these include theatre, dance, opera, and music, where there are live performers and audience members
Spatial arts
art forms that exist in space and are created to last over time
Temporal arts
art forms that exist for only a specific period of time
Script (text)
the blueprint for a production, the material staged by the various theatre artists
Director
the coordinator of all the elements of a production who is responsible for the unifying vision of a production
Willing suspension of disbelief
the audience's desire to believe in the reality of what is happening on stage
Aesthetic distance
the separation of audience member from the performance or art work to experience its aesthetic qualities
Critic
someone who observes a production and then analyzes and comments on it.
Reviewer
a type of critic who reports on a production and gives a brief opinion about whether or not it is worth seeing
Dramaturg
the individual that works on literary and historical issues with members of the artistic team mounting a theatre production
Plot
as distinctive from story, the patterned arrangement in a drama of events and characters, with incidents selected and arranged for maximum dramatic impact. Also, in Elizabethan theatres, an outline of the play that was posted backstage for the actors
Action
According to the Greek philosopher Aristotle, the sequence of events linked by cause and effect, with a beginning, middle, and end. Said by Aristotle to be the best way to bring unity to a play. More generally, the central, unifying conflict and movement
Conflict
Tension between two or more characters that leads to crisis or a climax; a fundamental struggle or imbalance--involving ideologies, actions, personalities, etc.--underlying a play
Obstacle
That which delays or prevents the achieving of a goal by a character. An obstacle creates complication and conflict.
Complication
Introduction, in a play, of a new force that creates a new balance of power and entails a delay in reaching the climax
Crisis
Point within a play when the action reaches an important confrontation or takes a critical turn. In the tradition of the well-made play, a drama includes a series of crises that lead to the final crisis, known as the climax
Climax
often defined as the high point in the action or the final and most significant crisis in the action
Climatic structure
AKA intensive striation. Dramatic structure in which there are a few scenes , a short time passes, there are few locales, and the action begins chronologically close to the climax
Episodic structure
AKA extensive structure. Dramatic structure in which there are many scenes, taking place over a considerable period of time in a number of locations. And often use subplots
Exposition
Imparting of information necessary for an understanding of the story but not covered by action on stage; events or knowledge from the past, or occurring outside the play, which must be introduced for the audience to understand the characters or plot.
Deus ex machina
god from 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
Subplot
secondary plot that reinforces or runs parallel to the major plot in an episodic play
Ritual
specifically ordered ceremonial event, often religious
Dialogue
conversation between characters in a play
Representative characters
characters in a play who embody characteristics that represent an entire group
Stock characters
characters who have one outstanding trait 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.
Commedia dell'arte
form of comic theatre, originating in 16th century Italy, in which dialogue was improvised around a loose scenario calling for a set of stock characters
Dominant trait
Found in certain theatrical characters--one paramount trait or tendency that overshadows all others and appears to control the conduct of the character. Examples could include greed, jealousy, anger, and self-importance
Minor characters
In a drama, this characters who have small, secondary, or supporting roles. These could include soldiers and servants.
Chorus
In ancient Greek drama, a group of performers who sang and danced, sometimes participating in action but usually simply commenting on it. In modern times, performers in a musical play who sing and dance as a group
Protagonist
Principle character in a play, the one whom the drama is about.
Antagonist
Opponent of the protagonist in a drama
Tragedy
Dramatic form involving serious actions of universal significance and with important moral and philosophical implications, usually with an unhappy ending
Heroic drama
Serious but basically optimistic drama written in verse or elevated prose, with noble or heroic characters in extreme situations or unusual adventures
Romanticism
19th century dramatic movement that imitated the episodic structure of Shakespeare, and thematically focused on the gulf between human being's spiritual aspirations and physical limitations.
Bourgeois or domestic drama
Drama dealing with problems--particularly family problems--of middle and lower-class characters. There are serious and comic domestic dramas
Melodrama
Dramatic form mad popular in the 19th century that emphasized action and spectacular effects and also used music to underscore the action; it had stock characters, usually with clearly defined villains and heroes
Comedy
In general, a play that is light in tone, is concerned with issues that point out the excesses and folly of human behavior, has a happy ending, and is designed to amuse.
Slapstick
Type of comedy, or comic business, that relies on ridiculous physical activity--often violent in nature--for its humor
Comic premise
Idea or concept in a comedy that turns the accepted notion of things upside down
Farce
A subclass of comedy with emphasis on exaggerated plot complications and with few or not intellectual pretensions
Burlesque
A ludicrous, comic imitation of a dramatic form, play, piece of literature, or other popular entertainment
Satire
Comic form, using irony and exaggeration, to attack and expose folly and vice
Comedy of manners
form of comic drama that became popular in the English Restoration , that is set within sophisticated society, while poking fun at its characteristics' social pretensions, usually through verbal wit
Comedy of ideas
a comedy in which the humor is based on intellectual and verbal aspects of comedy rather than physical comedy or comedy of character. A drama whose emphasis is of the clash of ideas, as exemplified in the plays of George Bernard Shaw
Tragicomedy
During the Renaissance, a play having tragic themes and noble characters but a happy ending; today, a play in which serious and comic elements are integrated. Many plays of this type present a comic or ironic treatment of a serious theme
Theatre of the absurd
20th century plays expressing the dramatists' sense of absurdity and futility of human existence through the dramatic techniques they employ
Genre
A French word meaning type or category