Intro To Theatre 100 Exam 1

Front 1

Point of attack

Back 1

In a play, the beginning moment that starts the action of the play, chosen by the playwright out of the larger story of a character's life

Front 2

suspension of disbelief

Back 2

willingness on the part of the audience to "give over" to a theatre performance - to "believe" allowing an empathetic response to the work

Front 3

Aesthetic distance

Back 3

the part of us that never forgets we are watching a show and taking in whatever messages are being conveyed

Front 4

Medium

Back 4

the raw material chosen by the artist as the starting place for creative activity. A painter may choose oil and watercolor, while a playwright may choose between media and live theatre

Front 5

mood

Back 5

a play's predominant attitude, which is particularly comic or serious

Front 6

episodic structure

Back 6

a plot connected by characters, an image or motif, a place, etc. Not by the usual cause and effect

Front 7

Mahabharata

Back 7

One of the two great epics of Indian tradition

Front 8

Xiqu

Back 8

"Tuneful theatre" in Chinese; the common term for all forms of traditional Chinese Theatre; also known as Chinese Opera

Front 9

Zaju

Back 9

The earliest form of 'Xiqu' or Chinese Opera; a comic form of popular theatre with songs, acrobatics, clowns, and puppets

Front 10

Given circumstances

Back 10

The facts that create the world of the play

Front 11

Ramayana

Back 11

One of the two great epics of Indian tradition

Front 12

foreshadowing

Back 12

A structural device in the form of a warning of impending danger that is used to increase tension

Front 13

Noh

Back 13

a classical dance drama created in 14th century Japan that relies heavily on tradition

Front 14

Exposition

Back 14

In a play, information about prior events or events that have taken place off stage that is necessary for the understanding of the plot of the play. This information is usually given in the for of a narrative

Front 15

onnagata

Back 15

male performer in traditional Japanese theatre who specialized in playing female roles

Front 16

inciting incident

Back 16

the event that sets the action of a play into motion

Front 17

rising action

Back 17

the intensifying action

Front 18

resolution

Back 18

the point of the play, usually the final scene, where the results of the climax are revealed and any loose ends are tied up

Front 19

climax

Back 19

the point of greatest dramatic tension when the conflicts of a play all come to a head, Sometimes it is the moment the antagonist is defeated and/or the highest point of excitement for the audience when watching a play

Front 20

Antagonist

Back 20

the character the works in opposition to the protagonist's intention

Front 21

Protagonist

Back 21

In Greek theatre, the main actor. Today it is known as the central character that drives the action onward; also known as the hero

Front 22

aside

Back 22

brief lines given directly to the audience that reveals a character's inner thoughts; commonly used by Shakespeare, often to comic effect

Front 23

fourth wall

Back 23

a device of Realism created in the mid-18th Century in which an imaginary wall is placed between the actors and the audience

Front 24

soliloquy

Back 24

a monologue in which the character speaks his or her thoughts aloud, not directed toward any other person

Front 25

masks

Back 25

Establishing a character by covering the face. Also the piece used to cover the face. It may be full face or cover only part of the face. It may be 3-D or include makeup. Used since the beginning of theatre including Greek, Roman, etc.

Front 26

call and response

Back 26

the actor expects the audience to vocally support the performance. Community involvement is so important, only by hearing the shouts and praises of the people can the actor feel secure. The performers often talk directly to the audience, and , unlike most Western theatre, they expect the audience to talk back

Front 27

Thespis

Back 27

(an actor) The semimythical man known as Thespis, the first Greek actor identified by Aristotle

Front 28

dithyramb

Back 28

In ancient Greece, a song sung to honor the god Dionysus; precursor to the Greek tragedy

Front 29

ode

Back 29

A lyric poem of some length, usually of a serious or meditative nature and having an elevated style and formal stanzaic structure.
A choric song of classical Greece, often accompanied by a dance and performed at a public festival or as part of a drama.
A classical Greek poem modeled on the choric ode and usually having a three-part structure consisting of a strophe, an antistrophe, and an epode.

Front 30

episode

Back 30

A section of a classic Greek tragedy that occurs
An incident or event that is part of a progression or a larger sequence between two choric songs.

Front 31

Orchestra

Back 31

In ancient Greek theatre, the circular area in front of the stage that was the performance area for the chorus

Front 32

Skene

Back 32

In ancient Greek theatre, the stage house behind the theatre

Front 33

tragedy

Back 33

one of the most renowned of all dramatic genres; a serious play with an unhappy ending in which the main character, or hero, elicits our sympathy through forces or events that were out of the characters' control

Front 34

Sanskrit

Back 34

the classical language of South/Southwest Asia; currently one of 23 official lanfuages of India used in Hindu and Buddhist ceremonies

Front 35

Bharata

Back 35

Author of the 'Natrya Sastra' (Canons of Dance and Drama) According to legend, Bharata received the Canons directly from the god Brahma. The Canons describe the elements of Sanskrit and much of Eastern theatre

Front 36

Aristotle

Back 36

First known Western theatre critic and author of 'Poetics'

Front 37

Athol Fugard

Back 37

South African playwright, whose antiapartheid plays got him in trouble with the authorities

Front 38

Griot/ Griotte

Back 38

The singer, storyteller, and keeper of the community's collective memory/history in traditional African theatre

Front 39

Aeschylus

Back 39

The earliest of the three great Athenian tagedians, author of our only complete trilogy 'The Orestia'

Front 40

Sophocles

Back 40

Greek tragedian of the 5th century or 'Golden Age' of Athens, considered by some to be the finest of the Greek tragic playwrights

Front 41

Euripides

Back 41

The last of the great classical Greek teagedians; author of Medea and The Bacchae

Front 42

Homer

Back 42

A person (or persons) who first recorded the ancient stories of Greece in the 8th century including the Iliad and the Odyssey

Front 43

David Hwang

Back 43

Asian American playwright; author of M. Butterfly

Front 44

Joseph Campbell

Back 44

theory - the human capacity to imitate and fantasize, leads to the creation of myth and ritual

Front 45

Robert Edmund Jones

Back 45

Theorized the possible first play 'The Dramatic Imagination'
He is credited with incorporating the new stagecraft into the American drama - "Simplified Realism"

Front 46

exodos

Back 46

in Greek drama, the final scene; in tragedy, it is the action following the final stasimon (choral ode); in comedy it is the final rejoicing following the last episode.

Front 47

paean

Back 47

A song of joyful praise or exultation. An ancient Greek hymn of thanksgiving or invocation, especially to Apollo.

Front 48

parados

Back 48

A parados is a song sung by a Greek chorus as it first enters the theatre. This is used mainly in presenting the information already given.

Front 49

Prologue

Back 49

an introductory section of a play, speech, or other literary work. The term is also sometimes applied to the performer who makes an introductory speech in a play.