Entrance Exam

Front 1

Absolutism

Back 1

The concentration of all political authority and state power in the person of the monarch.

Assc: 17th Cent France and Spain

Neoclassicism

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Absurd, Theatre of

Back 2

Expression coined by Martin Esslin in 1961

related to the philosophy of Albert Camus (1913-1960) Human condition is meaningless

Assc: Arthur Adamov, Samuel Beckett, Eugene Ionesco, Jean Genet

Front 3

Acting modes

Back 3

From the perspective of Phenomenology

Audience encounters actors in performance

1. self-expressive mode: speaks in the first person "I"

2. Collaborative mode: second person "you"

3. representational mode: actor represents a character

Front 4

Actor-managers

Back 4

Actors playing lead roles also owning and managing entire theatre company

Emerged in Europe in the 1550's

Assc: one of first Lope de Rueda of Spain

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Aesthetics

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Branch of Philosophy concerned with artistic meaning and perception. The ways in which dramatic performances deliver particular kinds of pleasures for particular audiences through conventions

Ex: Aristotles poetics and the Natyasastra by Bharata

Front 6

Agit-Prop Theatre

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Agitation Propoganda: didactic theatre org from Soviet Union. Instructs about communism. Often refers to overtly ideological types of performance. (Get Time Period)

Front 7

Agonothetes

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Professional "arranger of contests" whoes effect was to diminish the communal and dialogical nature of ancient Greek drama after the defeat of Athens in the Peloponnesian War (404 B.C.E)

This meant both a more formal institutionalizing of the theatre and another step in the professionalizing of it. Moving it further from its complex origins toward skill

Front 8

Alphabetic writing

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system of writing developed by Phoenicians and introduced to Greece around 850 BCE

Separates meanings from sounds and opens up the possibility of difference between the two alphabetic writing invites debate which was central to athenian culture.

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Animism

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Belief that all things such as animals and plants have living spiritual identity

Front 10

Antiquarianism

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staging plays with historical accuracy

Assc: 19th century British prod. of Shakespeare

Charles Kemble, William Macready, Charles Kean

"immerse in English National Past"

Orientalist melodramas set in middle east of the British Empire after the 1880's

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Apartheid

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meaning "apartness" Afrikaans name for policy of racial segregation in South Africa from 1948-1994

Front 12

Aragoto

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"rough house" style of Kabuki

-non-realistic makeup, exaggerated costumes, using powerful gestures like Mie

Front 13

Archeology

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Study of human societies through recovery

Front 14

Aside

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Dramatic convention in which a character addresses an audience and other characters don't hear. DURRRRRR

Assc: Metatheatre

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Audiophony

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communication and performances made possible by telephone (1876) and phonograph (1877)

Front 16

Auteur director

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takes authorlike control of all the elements of stage or film production

Front 17

Authorship

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arrangement in which the self-employed author retains some economic and artistic control over his work

Front 18

Automatic writing

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technique of composition expounded by Andre Breton (1896-1963) in which writer embraces chance, spontaneity, unconscious to acheive dreamlike state for the purpose of discovering source of aesthetic truth

Assc: Surrealism

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Avant-garde

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(french military term) forward line of soldiers. Artists since 1880's have thought of themselves as front ranks in artistic progress in the service of utopian change.

Ex: symbolism, futurism, dadaism, expressionism, and surrealism.

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Balinese puppet theatre

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type of shamanic performance that employs shadow puppets in complex and often humorous ways for the purposes of healing and exorcism

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Bardic Performance

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Pre-Christian Celtic singers of praise poetry and Satire

Front 22

Baroque Aesthetics

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A late 17th cent orientation, especially popular in the catholic courts of Europe, celebrates allegory, metemorphosis, sensuality, and playfulness. In contrast with neoclassicalism, it reasserted the centralist of visual and oral culture.

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Baroque Opera

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17th cent European court musical entertainment make elaborate use of Italianate scenery

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Bhakti

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In indian theatre, an audience's deep devotinoal experience of the divine

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Bhava

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the actor's embodiment of character's state of mind/being/doing. A key element of Indian aesthetic theory

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Biomechanics

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Mode of training Actors. Vsevolod Meyerhold (1874-1940) designed to produce performers who could combine the art of characterization, singing, dancing, and acrobatics with precise physical and vocal expression.

Front 27

Blackface

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long tradition of western performance. White performers in black face.

Assc: 19th cent minstrel shows

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Bourgeoisie

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property owning and professional urban class that gradually supplanted royal sovereigns and landed aristocrats as rulers in western europe during the 18th and 19th cents

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Boy Actors

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cross dressing boys in women's roles common throughout medieval and early renaissance europe

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Bunraku

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aslso knows as ningyo joruri. Traditional japanese puppet theatre org in 1680's it is distinguished by the use of dolls that are expertly manipulated by 3 visible puppeteers and voiced by a chorus.

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Burlesque

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variety theatre featuring male comics, sketches, dance acts, musical pieces, scantily clad femals in all the numbers. acheived peak in early 20th cent. (America)

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Burletta

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Satorical opera sketches popular in England after 1740

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Cafe chantants

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French variety shows popular after 1789

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Calligraphy

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decorative writing

ex: traditions of reproducing Qur'an

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Capitalism

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Complex system of economic organization based on private ownership, production of commodities for profit, loose regulation, supply and demand. also functions as an ideology hostile to socialism and communism

Front 36

Carnivalesque humor

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As theorized by Mikhail Bakhtin, a type of humore that originated in euro carnival tradition similar cultural performances like medicine show. Material base of reality, daily labor or the functions of the body.

Front 37

Cencorship

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empoloyment of state regulatory power to control, contain, or abolish political and ethical performances especially those deemed to subvert the authority of powerful social groups.

Front 38

Chariot-and-pole system

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stage machinery for quickly changing flats. invented by Torelli in 1640's

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Chorus

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organized group of performers that sing, dance, or speak dialogue,

Ex: ancient greece (the dithyramb, old comedy, tragedy), Japanese no theatre.

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Clown

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stock character and type of performance. Roots in medieval carnical with mockert and parody.

ex: fun loving drunk german Hanswurst, brightly costumed pantomimic Harlequin (performed by David Garrick)

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Cognitive Studies

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science of how the mind perceives the world, engages emotionally with it, and makes meaning.

Front 42

Commedia Dell'arte

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a form of street theatre that originated in Italy in the 1540's. 8-12 actors used stock characters, prearranged comic business (lazzi) and improv. Drawn from the plays of Plautus and Terence

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Commedia Erudita

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16th cent euro academic comedies for aristocrats based on Plautus and Terence

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Commemorative drama

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drammas re-enacted mythological event created to enhance relationship of community of believers to the devine.

Ex: Egyptian osiris ritual-drama, Persian Ta'ziyeh

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Communism

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radical form of socialism inaugurated by russian revolution (1917) advocates the violent overthrow of capitalism. single party rule, state control

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Community-based theatre

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theatre dependent upon ongoing dialog between artists and spectators. worldwide phenomenon since 1980

ex: Mexico's Nuevo Teatro Popular

Cornerstone

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Concert Party Theatre

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form of performance popular in Ghana that mixes elements of American black vaudeville and african story-telling traditions

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Constructivism

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synthesis of retrospectivism and futurism achieved by Meyerhold in 1920's. Best represented by Lyubov Popova's set designs using ramps, slides, ladders allowing actors to demonstrate how humans could use their emotions and machines to produce engaging art and more productive life. Stalin censored these techniques during 1930's in favor of socialist realism.

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Consumerism

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and ideology in qhich people view themselves as consumers of capitalist marketing techniques rather than citizens who have responsibility to participate in democratic politics.

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Copyright

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legal protection to authors giving them control over the publication and performance of their work. firs law was enacted by France in 1790

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Cult of Sincerity

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Jean-Jacques Rousseau's (1712-1778) belief that people, contrary to the ethics of rationalism, should be natural sincere, and unencumbered by social masks.

Assc: sentimentalism

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Cultural Hegemony

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Antonio Gramsci's theory of how powerful social groups shape culture and legitimate their dominance

Front 53

Cuneiform

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A form of writing scratched on clay tablets invented by Sumerians around 3000 BCE

Front 54

Cycle Plays

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medieval Euro plays based on key biblical episodes that provided a historical version of christian salvations

Front 55

Dadaism

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switzerland during WWI using cabaret sketches to experiment with the chance ordering of sounds, simultaneous poetry, and movement that mocked the absurdity of western notions of logic and harmony

Front 56

Deconstruction

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developed by Derrisa (1930-2004) that seeks to unpack the array of meanings available in a text of performance, examine the process and materials by which it generates those meanings, and understand the ways in which these meanings may be self-contradictory

Assc: logocentric theory

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Decorum

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Precept of neoclassicism that there are specific behaviors for diff social classes.

assc: verisimilitude

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Dengaku

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"field music" a form of japanese performance connected to whinto fertility rites. it was a rival to sarugaku (the precurser to no) for the shogun's patronage

Assc: 14th cent turmoil and bouts of mass hysteria.

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Dialogic Drama

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term applied to any performance event in which competing views are brought to bear on some issue and audiences are either implicitly or explicitly enjoined in the debate

ex: athenian Great Dionysia

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Discourse Theory

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Foucault (1926-1984) that explores the relationship of discourse (what counts as knowledge in a given era)

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Dithyrambs

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Choral songs and dances in honor of Dionysis performed at Athen's Great Dionysia and elsewhere in ancient greece.

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Dixi

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chinese traditional performances based on the ancient Wu religion that make extensive use of shamanic masks

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Documentary Theatre

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plays that employ dialogue taken directly from newspapers, gov reports, court transcripts, and other fact-based texts.

Front 64

Drama

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from the greek work meaning to act. can be applied to plays intended for performance. tells a story through action.

Front 65

Early modernism

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Euro stage between 1880-1920 simultaneously employed and critiqued the conventions of photographic realism to dramatize the conflict between the individual's search for transformational self-fulfillment and the material realities of the era.

Ex: Ibsen (1828-1906), Chekhov (1860-1904)

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Empathy

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Stanislavsky (1863-1938) refers to this as both the actor's work on the character through "empathetic projection" and the desired reception by the audience

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Enlightenment

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18th century Euro intellectual movement that asserted human progress could only be acheived on the basis of liberty, freedoms, and the rights of private property

Assc: Rationalism, Liberal humanism

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Enviromental theatre

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Schechner (1934-) name for staging in which there is no demarcation between actor and spectator space, multiple focus, actors interact w/ audience

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Episodic communication

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IN the evolution of human speech, the earliest phase of communication characterized by speakers who are exclusively situated in the her-and-now.

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Equestrian drama

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British popular entertainment displaying elaborate feats of horsemanship that originated with Philis Astley's invention of the modern circus in 1768 and assumed the scale of grand, nationalistic spectacles in the 1820's.

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Eurhythmics

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A system of movement training for actors and dancers developed by Emile Jacques Dalcroze (1865-1960) that inked physical exercise to a variety of musical rhythms

Front 72

Evolution

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Charles Darwin that plants and animals flourish, mutate, or become extinct over time based solely on the process of natural selection.

Front 73

Exorcism

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ritual performance

Assc: Balinese puppet Theatre

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Expressionism

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avant-garde movement that flourished in Germany after WWI. called for anti-realist techniques asa grotesquely painted scenery, exaggerated acting, and "telegraphic" dialogue. Invited spectators to view the distorted dramatic action through the fevered eyes of the protagonist.

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Fabula palliata

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Literally "plays in greek dress" the roman term for the comedies of Plautus and Terence

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Fascism

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extreme form of nationalism that emerged in Euro after WWI (1914-1918). This ideology rejected enlightenment universalism and liberal democracy in favor of racial purity and violent authoritarian rule.

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Feminism

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umbrella term

assc: in theatre studies feminist scholarship considers the way women have been represented in performance and also seeks to recover neglected activities of female playwrights, actors, managers, director, critics and designers.

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Festival Theatre

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several theatre companies in a limited area for a limited time. usually less than a month

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Formalism

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responding to works of art that must be understood on their ownl

Assc: Kantian aesthetics

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Fourth wall

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realist convention of imaginary "wall"

Assc: realism

Front 81

Freaks

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subset of "spectacle bodies" abnormal displayed by 19th cent variety theatres and museums sucha s PT Barnum (1810-1891). strongmen, contortionist and dancers are sometimes freaks but it is most associated with you know blah blah blah

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Freudianism

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circulation of Sigmund Freud's theories as "pop psychology" sensationalized as a discourse positing the primitive nature of sexual desire, it had a major influence on both avant-garde and high modernist theatre, particularly the 1920's.

Front 83

Fringe Theatre

Back 83

small and experimental troupes that perform in the samecities hosting major international theatre events but are not on the official program. The famous sites for fringe theatre are the Edinburgh and Avignon festivals

Front 84

Futurism

Back 84

avant-garde movement that was launched in Italy with the manifesto by F.T. Marinetti (1876-1944) in 1909 damning the art of the past and advocating new forms exalting the dynamism of the machine age. Russian futurists, led by Mayakovsky ( 1893-1930), attempted to align this movement with the soviet revolution until the onset of the stalinist persecution.

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Gay Theatre

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alternative theatres focused on the gay experience in the US since the 1960's

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Geju

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national drama, or song-opera, which flourished in China after the 1949 communist revolution

Front 87

Genero Chico

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The most popular form of entertainment in Buenos Aires after WWI (1914-1918). It consisted of one-act skits written as comedies or melodramas, presenting familiar characters, local color, and light satire.

Front 88

Gesamtkunstwerk

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Richard Wagner's (1813-1883) influential term for a total synthesized art work in which all elements of a theatrical production are controlled by the vision of a single master-artist.

Assc: auteur

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Gestus

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Brecht's term for expressive means an actor can employ- such as a way of standing or moving, or pattern of behavior that indicates to the audience the social position or condition of the character the actor is playing

Assc: Verfremdungseffekt

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Gigaku

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Japanese Buddhist masked dance drama imported from China in the early 17th cent.

Front 91

Globalization

Back 91

ongoing process of widespread and accelerating transnational engagement in which frequent interaction with other cultures has become commonplace

Front 92

Great Dionysia

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annual athenian civic/religous festival in honor of Dionysus at which dramas were first performed (thesis 534 BCE) rituals, competitions in dithyrambs, tragedies, and comedies

Front 93

Guilds

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Medieval European trade unions that regulated wages, trained apprentices, and undertook charitable projects such as the sponsorship of cycle plays

Front 94

Happenings

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Performance events designed to blur the boundaries between the experience of the art and commonplace experiences that were created in New York and elsewhere in the 1960's

Front 95

Heightened realism

Back 95

a stage orientation of late modernism that mixed close attention to the language of a play, a generally spare but distinctive use of design elements, and carefully crafted, often forceful movement. British director Peter Hall (1930-) established the conventions of this style with notable productions of plays by Shakespeare, Beckett, and Pinter

Front 96

High Modernism

Back 96

Orientation to the Euro stage between 1910 and 1940 W/ written dialogue and frequently employed the techniques of metatheatre and the minimization of the actor's physical presence to create a theatre that would move people to transcend the material realities of the modern world. Expemplary figures were William Butler Yeats (1865-1939) and luigi Pirandello (1867-1936)

Assc: Modernism

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Holy Theatre

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Directo Peter Brook's (1925-) vision of a theatre marked by sincerity and authenticity, which he opposed to the "deadly theatre" produced by consumerism

Front 98

Huaju

Back 98

Chinese spoken drama on Western models of realism. The 1st play in this style was 1907

Front 99

Humanism

Back 99

central to western thought since the renaissance. Emphasis on human potential, putting life in this world more at the center of concern than the christian afterlife. assumes all people share common essence.

Front 100

Ideology

Back 100

encompasses the implicit and explicit ideas, theories, and assumptions that inform the human subject's consideration and interpretation of his/her condition

Front 101

Imperialism

Back 101

ideology of creating and maintaining empires. during 19th cent euro imperialist countries expand their control of their states over conquered people by colonization

Front 102

Interludes

Back 102

revised morality plays that were perfromed by small companies of profesh actors at baquets in 16th cent england

Front 103

Interpretive community

Back 103

a historical group of interpreters, such as theatre critics, who share certain cultural expectations and assign shared meanings to a work of art.

Assc: reception theory

Front 104

Intraculturalism

Back 104

in the context of globalization a term describing works combining performance modes drawn from different cultural traditions within nationstate boundaries, rather than across them. An early example is the Indian "theatre of roots" developed in the 1950's.

Front 105

Jinxi

Back 105

chinese term for what is known as "bejing opera" created in 1790, musical theatre that relates mostly romantic and melodramatic stories through a mix song speech and spectacle dance, acrobatics. Also known as jungju

Front 106

Kabuki

Back 106

still poluar traditional japanese theatre noted for lavish use of scenic display costumes and makeup. plays involving conflicts between merchant and samurai classes. org in 1600 as a mode of dance that reflected the chic social fashions. later troupes would be male only.

Front 107

Kachina dances

Back 107

north american Puebloan ceremonies performed with large masks to appease the spirits of the dead, bring rain, and enforce social laws.

Assc: commemorative drama

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Kantian aesthetics

Back 108

Enlightenment philosopher Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) view that the experience of art is a mental activity distinct from either making ethical judgements or engaging in scientific reasoning. rather, aesthetics is the realm of bodily and purely subjective feeling with no connection to conceptual thought.

Front 109

Kathakali

Back 109

literally "story" "dance" form of indian dance-drama. Highly physical based on traditional martial arts and its complex use of gesture and expression. shortened performances have been created for tourists in the indian state of Kerala

Front 110

Koken

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IN both japanese no and kabuki these stage assistants who visibly handle props etc.

Front 111

Kunqu

Back 111

type of chinese musical drama favored by elite confucian audiences during Ming dynasty (1368-1644)

Front 112

Kusemai

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secular entertainments performed by women in male clothing that were popular in 14th century japan. the main dance in No

Front 113

Kut

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Korean ritual performed by shamans to appease to appease the dead, heal the sick, or to obtain good fortune

Front 114

Kutiyattam

Back 114

a style of staging late-sanskrit drama in the indian state of Kerala that employs sanskrit and pakrit as well as the local language. takes place in a type of temple architecture.

Front 115

Kyogen

Back 115

short farcical interludes in Japanese no plays

Front 116

Late modernism

Back 116

in the final phase of this stage orientation (1940-1970) theatre directors largely embraces filmic realism and applied its techniques or developened analogues for its effects.

assc: psychological realism, heightened realism, lyrical abstraction

Front 117

Liberal humanism

Back 117

the notion that every individual has the potential, unimpeded by any material barriers, to acheive self-fullfillment. obscures the material conditions that limit individual agency.

Front 118

Liberalism

Back 118

politcal orientation that declares right to individuals pursue their own interests unrestrained by aristocratic privilege or state regulations

Front 119

Lila

Back 119

Hindu concept of "divine play" or joyful intervention of the gods into the human sphere

Front 120

Lion Comique

Back 120

a loquacious and swaggering lower class character in the English music hall tradition

Front 121

Logocentric theory

Back 121

a rubric that can be applied to a range of thought that holds that language is capable of representing stable and eternal truth. Postmodern theorists have generally claimed this idea to be a unique characteristic of the Western intellectual tradition.

Assc: deconstruction.

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Low Other

Back 122

A minority group classified by a mainstream culture as immoral, dirty, noisy, and/or unworthy. Dominant culture engages in this practice to create an image of itself as morally superior but often remains fascinated and attracted to the group they have tried to exclude.

Front 123

Ludi

Back 123

"games" to mark the observance of Roman holidays and funerals. festivities presented chariot racing etc. most importantly in honor of the god jupiter

Assc: Munera

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Lyrical abstractions

Back 124

a style of theatre pioneered by Jacques Copeau (1879-1949). Adapted reality effects if radio dramas for the french stage. Emblematic characters, universal theme, appeal to an imaginized past, intimate staging, and action that is almost allegory

Front 125

Machine plays

Back 125

Euro court entertainments that, to the accompaniment of orchestral music, featured Giacomo torelli's chariot and pole system ability

Front 126

Magic lantern shows

Back 126

an optical entertainment that feat projections of photographic images and painted glass slides onto a screen

Front 127

Mansion

Back 127

elevated platforms representing different locations in christian dramas. arr around an open space in a cathedral (platea) offered allegorical depictions of places within the christian imagination

Front 128

Masques

Back 128

lavish court spectacle often employing perspective scenery 17th cent England , france, and spain as powerful mythological figures. expensive entertainments allegorically supported prerogatives of absolutism

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Materialism

Back 129

derives from the economic and cultural theories of marxism. society's thinking are determined by basic economic organization

Front 130

Medicine shows

Back 130

comic street theatre where hawkers sell potions. early modern europe and 19th cen US

assc: carnivalesque

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melodrama

Back 131

dramatizes social morality, good guys vs bad guys, helps audience negotiate problems of political power, economic justice, and racial inequality

Front 132

Metatheatre

Back 132

trigger audience awareness of the make-believe quality of a performance. useful for procoking audiences to reasses the process by which they construct meaning

Ex: pirandello's Six characters in search of an author

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Method acting

Back 133

a 20th cent style of american acting that married personality of actor to character through empathy

Front 134

Mie

Back 134

fierce pose struck by a kabuki actor @ climax with stamp.

Assc: aragoto

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Mimesis

Back 135

aristotle's term in Poetics (c.353 BCE) for direct imitation of reality. An operation that is uniquely the property of drama

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Mimetic excess

Back 136

Michael Taussig's term for a defensive strategy of representation by which colonized people fashion performances that imitate and parody their colonizers

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Minstrel shows

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a form of blackface popular in US in 1840's until rise of vaudville in 1880's. Variety show acts with blackface, musical numbers, and parody.

Front 138

Mnemonics

Back 138

memory aids, particularly those techniques central to oral cultures such as knot records and pictographs.

Front 139

Model-brook

Back 139

detailed photographic records of Brecht's plays in production that he published to instruct future directors in their "authorized" staging

Front 140

Modernism

Back 140

emphasized the written texts of the playwright, questioned the representational basis of the theatre 9meta) and applied kantian aesthetics to posit the existence of an idea realm that transcended the anguish of material conditions. 1880-1970

phases: early modernism, high, late

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Monodrama

Back 141

a form of drama performed by a singe actor focused on externalizing the consciousness of the protagonist

Front 142

monologic drama

Back 142

performance that seeks to assert a single viewpoint rather than invite reflexive engagement.

early ex: is ritual drama of Osiris at Abydos.

Front 143

Monomane

Back 143

the no actor's revelation of the fictional character's "invisible body" or essence

Front 144

montage

Back 144

film techinque

Front 145

moral sense philosophy

Back 145

articulated by John Locke (1632-1704) and others, the belief that humanity has an inherent sense of right and wrong, and that doing the right thing is product of emotional sensitivity rather than abstract reasoning.

assc: sentimentalism

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Morality Plays

Back 146

late medieval christian allegoires usually focused on "everyman" faced witha choice between good and bad behavior.

Front 147

Orientalism

Back 147

Edward said's term for the way western countries represent the oriental east.

Front 148

Pageant wagons

Back 148

mobile stages used is processional routes for the performance of cycle plays

Front 149

Panoramas

Back 149

optical entertainments popular in the 19th cent that told dramatic stories through long unrolling cylinders and painted canvas.

Front 150

Paradoi

Back 150

entrance/exit passages for the chorus in greece

Front 151

Parody

Back 151

the comic imitation of another's socially typical speech, behavior, thinkingm or deepest principles. according to Mikhail Bakhtin (1895-1975) carnival parody uncrowned the old order and simultaniously made a place for the new, unlike modern satire, which can be terminally negative.

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Parsi Theatre

Back 152

a form of indian melodramatic popular theatre that combined english and south asian stage contentions to present traditional hindu stories to different language groups

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Passion play

Back 153

drama's depicting christ's sufferings that originated in medieval europe and remain in production

ex: oberammergau passion play

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patents

Back 154

license granting a company or an individual the privilege to pursue an activity that is otherwise subjected to restriction. Historically, governments, such as that of the english king charles II (1630-1685), censorship.

Front 155

Patriarchy

Back 155

the belief that males have the inherent right to superior social and political positions

assc: idology

Front 156

patronage

Back 156

support extended by a powerful individual or an elite to an arts-producing entity.

ex: legal permission to perform, subsidy, and protection from competing social groups

Assc: patents

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performance art

Back 157

contemporary expresssion of the avante garde. solo works that seek to break through seperation of art and life

Front 158

Periodization

Back 158

in writing historical narratives the strategy of organizing human events and practices into shared categories of time, or "periods"

Front 159

Phallic Humor

Back 159

refers both to the literal employment of penis-shaped costume pieces in the oldest of western comic forms such as the satyr play and more broadly to humor derived from the physical actions of the male body.

Front 160

Phenomenology

Back 160

a method of philosophical inquiry concerned with describing how we encounter experience think about and come to know the world.

Front 161

Platea

Back 161

in the staging of medieval european biblical drama, an open place such as the nave of a cathedral used as a neutral location the text required at an given moment

assc: mansion

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poetic justice

Back 162

neoclassical criterion requiring that evil characters should be punished and good ones rewarded.

Front 163

Poor theatre

Back 163

Jerzy Grotowski's (1934-1999) concept of stripped theatre dedicated to holy actors athletically embodying the human spirit

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positivism

Back 164

theory that objective knowledge is possible through observation and collection of facts

Front 165

postcolonial criticism

Back 165

interpretfjklas;fjdsakl;fnkla;

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postmodernism

Back 166

1980's and has many theorists. ongoing set of responses to derrida's initial critique of structuralism over the question of whether meaning can be determined or communicated in a stable manner. artists tend to emphasize a deep skepticism toward modernism's desire to wrap experience in a single unified cohesive vision

assc: structuralism, deconstruction, modernism, discourse theory, relativism

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primary orality

Back 167

a term for those peoples whose entire worldview is untouched by any form of writing

Front 168

proscenium arch

Back 168

1st created in the renaissance

assc: triumphal arch

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prototype effect

Back 169

the tendency for spectators to maek generalizations about members of an entire group on the basis of a selected character or group of characters.

ex: character of christy in Synge's The playboy of the western world

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psalmody

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melodies attached to medieval christian liturgical texts consisting of plain chant and Q&A responsorial

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psychological realism

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an orientation to stage practice that effectively became the national style of the us during the 1950's incorporation of filmic reality effects, psychologically attuned directing, fluid scenography, and variations on method acting.

Assc: method acting

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Puranas

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enclyclopedic collection of traditional indian stories, including many about the life of the god Krishna

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Queer theory

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an interpretive approach... construct of reality

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Ramlila

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indian commemorative drama alls participants to immediate access to an encounter with the hindu god ram. celebrated as pluralistic open air event reenactments of episodes of Ram's life

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Rasa

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ideal aesthetic experience in sanskrit drama. compared to tastes at a meal. the concept along with bhava is central to indian aesthetic theory

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Rationalism

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a philosophy deriving from the idea of Descartes (1596-1650) that proposed that reason alone independent of experience is the source of truth

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Realism

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also referred to a stage realism. org largely in response to the emerging technolohy of photography. initially employed in the commercial theatre. later adapted for use by naturalists. 4th wall, accurate costumes, box sets. Assc: moscow art theatre

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reception theory

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See: interpretive community

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reification

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"thingification" the fallacy of treating an abstract idea as a concrete thing or entity

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relativism

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philosophical position that there is no objective truth

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Renaissance

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literally "rebirth" category of periodization for euro history from 14th cent-17th cent. word reflects the growing interest taken by euro elites int the classical cultures of the ancient world. produced ideologies of humanism and absolutism

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Retrospectivism

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arose in pre revolutionary russia in reaction to symbolism. nikolai evreinov (1879-1953) aimed to recover old forms as means of injecting their playful energy into contemporary life

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Riots

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obvi

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Ritual Performance

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form self-identity . have real consequences.

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Roman pantomime

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solo performances to music that silently enacted all the characters of a drama using series of costumes and masks

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Romanticism

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European aesthetic movement (1790-1840) subjectivity of genius, looked for nature for inspiration, elevated stron emotions above reasonable restraint. sought to embody universal conflicts within individual figures.

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Rupaka

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the sanskrit term for a form of poetry intended specifically for stage performance rather than for reading or recitation.

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samurai

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japanese warriors during tokugawa shogunate (1603-1868) samurai rulers censored kabuki theatre of the period and made No a state ritual

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sanskrit drama

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an umbrella term for a rich variety of sanskrit and prakrit languages theatre practices that date back at least to 300 bce in what is modern day india

Assc: natyasastra

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Satyr plays

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farcical renditions of Greek myth performed at the great dionysia after a day's program of tragedies

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Scrim

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painted fabric in the proscenium theatres that presents the illusion of solidity or transparency depending on the direction of the lighting

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Semiotics

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The study of signs and signification proctices.

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sentimentalism

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18th cent positive term for social philosophy in which the intellect, emotions, and morality were harmoniously integrated. emphasized virtuous decision-making and tearful reconciliations in their sentimental plays.

ex: Diderot (1713-1784) and Lessing (1729-1781)

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Shaman

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siberian tungus word for "one who is excited, moved, and raised"

assc: ritual performance

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Shimpa

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literally "new style" late 19th cent and early 20th cent fashipn of adapting western dramatic forms such as well-made-play to japanese tastes

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Skene

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multipurpose wood structure behind the orchestra of ancient greek theatre that facilitated entrance/exits of the actors

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social darwinism

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discredited assumpton that cultures have evolved and can be viewed hierarchal from the "primitive" cultures on the bottom to the great civilizations at the top

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Socialsim

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draws on Marx's arguments about inherent class conflict between workers and capitalists. reform rather than revolution

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Spatiality

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one of the primary conceptual categories of the human mind/brain. some of the concepts that derive from the experience of spatiality include inside/outside, near/far

assc: cognitive studies

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Speech act theory

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analysis of language as the performance of actions. ex: making promises and issuing commands

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structuralism

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20th cent literary theory that claimed that language is a stable system of references to stable meaning

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Surrealism

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avant garde movement that emphasized spontaneity, shock, and psychological imagery such as dreams

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symbolism

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avant garde movement that rejected naturalism in order to concretize the unseen spiritual realities that shape human fate

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Syncretism

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merging of different systems of beliefs from sources inside/outside cultures

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synesthesia

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the phenomenon of cross-sensory perception in which for example a sound produces the mental experience of an image. key aesthetic for symbolism

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Ta'siyeh

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An islamic/persian commemorative mourning drama dedicated to Husayn ibn Ali. Plays chronicle each episode of the event over the course of ten days

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theatre in the round

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state that is surrounded on all sides by audience.

Ex: arena stage in washington DC

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Theatre of Cruelty

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French Artaud's (1896-1948) title of a theatre that would break throught language to access the mysteries and darker forces of life left untouched by literary masterpieces. The Theatre and its double (1938) were influenced by surrealism

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Thymele

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a flat stone embedded in the orchestra of Greek theatres that probably served as the central axis for the movement of the chorus.

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Totalitariansim

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a system of gov single party rule and the total constriction of individual rights as enforced by a terror network os "secret police" coined early in the cold war to present fascism and communism as ideologically equivalent

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Tourism

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grand tour dates back to the end of the 17th cent

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Tragedy (aristotle def)

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poetics (330 BCE) fairly uniform dramatic structure that plots the actions of highborn characters struggling with weighty moral issues who fall from a state of grace because of a flaw

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Triumphal arch

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freestanding stone archway to commemorate a military victory or some other exploit of a country or political leader. first proscenium arches in theatres were patterned on these structures and usually sported some glorifying motif at that top center.

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Ubermarionette

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large puppets that, according to edward craig (1872-1966) should replace live performers because they would be easier to control than actors and more effective at evoking spiritual realities

assc: gesmtskunstwerk

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Utopia

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literally "no place" ideas that offer a vision of bliss and that would require an advocate to seek revolutionary change in the social order

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Variety theatre

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form of pop performance after 1850 that consisted of light entertainments unconnected by any overriding theme story or major star.

see Vaudville

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Vaudville

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form of variety theatre that replaced minstrel shows in the US during late 1880's. rep acts include skits, comics, trained animals, singers, dancers, and acrobats. Vaudvule declined during the 1920's as many performers began working in radio and film

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Vedic chanting

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oral mode of transmitting the sacred vedic texts of india involving prodigious memorization that has been performed for over 3,000 years.

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Verfremdungseffect

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Brecht's term for process of providing spectators of his productions with some distance and insight by rendering their past and present worlds strange and unusual for them, "alienation effect"

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Verisimilitude

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quality which neoclassicism held to be a virtue of a plays composed according to the three unities of time, place, and action

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Vitalism

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a spiritualized concept of evolving life process and personal development thought to be informed by a vital impuls or "elan vital" that works for perfection in ways that science and materialsim cannot explain

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Volksgeist

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literally meaning the "spirit of the nation" the german historian Johann Gottfried von Herder (1744-1803) employed the romantic belief to affirm that all nations possess highly distinct identities to counter enlightenment notions of the potential universality of historical interpretation. Herder's ideas about history shaped most discussions about cultural nationalism during the 19th cent.

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Vortex of behavior

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theatre districts and other urban areas dedicated to performance like times square in new york city that pull performers and audiences together and transform everyday behavior into performances that nurture and validate a culture.

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Wayang Golek

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Sudanese-language puppet theatre of west java. since the 1970's a hybrid comic form of it has been regularly performed on Indonesian television

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Well-made play

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a form of drama pioneered by french playwright Eugene Scribe (1791-1861) that cleverly manipulates plot to reveal a secret whose disclosure in an obligatory scene is key to resolving the play's central conflict

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Wing-and-groove system

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british counterpart to chariot and pole during the 18th century it operated by using flats athat slid in grooves built on the stage floor

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Women's theatre

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since 1960's form of alternative theatre has served as a forum for women playwrights like cuban borm Maria Irene Fornes (1930-) and the performance groups like spiderwoman.

Assc: feminism

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World Fairs

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urban carnivals that became potent entertainments to legitimate capitalist-industrial order in the pre 1914 era. particularly in the UK and the US. the first world fair was the Crystal Palace exhibition in London in 1851.

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Xiqu

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a chinese word that encompasses all types of traditional sung drama

assc: jingxi

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yangge

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Communist agit-prop musical theatre that was created in the 1930's to dramatize abusive social conditions in rural pre-revolutionary china

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Yigen

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a deep, quiet, mysterious beauty tinged with sadness produced by no dramas

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Zaju

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a chinese variety theatre consisting of song, dance, monologues, and farce popular during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644)

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Picture recitation

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Telling of lengthy stories with pictures

(Super early times Asia)