Intro To Theatre Final Review Guide

Front 1

Directors- History & Forces that led to emergence

Back 1

-Advances in Theatre Technology
-Changes in theatre conventions
--Styles, genres, theory & criticism, acting
-Too much for an Actor/Manager to handle

Front 2

Directors-Responsibilities of

Back 2

-Casting Actors
-Coordinating/Approving Designs
-Conducting Rehearsals

Front 3

Invisible vs. Concept Directors

Back 3

“Invisible” - Interpretive Directors
-Take inspiration from intrinsic values
-“Conduct” score as written
-Director’s hand often “invisible”
“Concept” - Creative Directors
-Insert inspiration from extrinsic values
-“Remix” score
-Director’s hand usually quite visible

Front 4

Director as Storyteller

Back 4

-Select the story (choose the play)
U-nderstand/interpret the story
--Director’s Approach
-Stage the story for an audience

Front 5

Director’s Approach

Back 5

World of Play, characters, themes, conflict

Front 6

Director Preparation

Back 6

Read for Pleasure
Read for Analysis
Read for Production/Performance

Front 7

Read for Pleasure

Back 7

Does it engage?; have suspense; weight

Front 8

Read for Analysis

Back 8

-Character, conflict, world, style, themes
-Create “Director’s Approach”

Front 9

Read for Production/Performance

Back 9

-Technical Requirements
-Financial Viability

Front 10

Casting

Back 10

-Casting for Type (Stereotype)
-Casting for Qualities
-Audition Process
--Interviews, Monologues
--Call backs and Readings

Front 11

Working with Designers

Back 11

-Sets, Lighting, Costume, Sound
--convey themes
-groundplan
--create world of play

Front 12

Conducting Rehearsals

Back 12

-Coaching Actors
-Staging and Blocking
-Integrating Technical F/X and Cues

Front 13

Stage Manager

Back 13

-Handles communications, scheduling
-Runs Rehearsals, Production Meetings
-Prompt Book
--Records blocking, cues, technical notes
-Calls Show (Conducts); “Becomes” Director

Front 14

Dramaturg

Back 14

-Assists with Research
-Assists with Artistic Issues

Front 15

Staging and Blocking Conventions

Back 15

-Movement
--Positioning, composition, planes
-Pre-blocking
--Entrances, exits, key plot points

Front 16

Design:History and evolution of professions

Back 16

-Did not Exist in Early Theatre
-Historic Developments
--Renaissance: Stock Scenery
Garden, forest, street scene, interiors
--Gaslight in 1830’s: Lighting Design

Front 17

Design:The “New Stagecraft”

Back 17

3-D sets unique to each production

Front 18

Goals of Design

Back 18

-World of Play
-Support action/conflict
-Suggest themes
-Aesthetic Unity

Front 19

Design:World of Play

Back 19

Time, place, style, mood, culture

Front 20

Design:Aesthetic Unity

Back 20

“Beauty,” function, integration

Front 21

Design Process

Back 21

-Read the Play
-Generate & Share Ideas
-preliminary decisions

Front 22

Computer Aided Design (CAD)

Back 22

-Can sketch, add color, texture
-Can create 3-D “walk-throughs”
-Allows mutiple views (sightlines)
-Can auto create elevations/plans
-Can calculate material costs

Front 23

Types of Designers

Back 23

Scenic Designer
Lighting Designer
Costume Designer
Sound Designer
Technical Director

Front 24

Scenic Designer

Back 24

-Number of settings
-Shape and size of theatre
Sightlines
-Means of shifting scenery
-Special effects needs on scenery
-Properties
-Budget and Schedule

Front 25

Lighting Designer

Back 25

-Manipulates
-->Color, Direction, Intensity
-Create mood, direct focus

Front 26

Costume Designer

Back 26

-Historical Period and/or World of Play
-Fabric, texture, draping
-Silhouette
-Character
-Costume in motion
-Patterns
-Special effects

Front 27

Sound Designer

Back 27

-Background sound
-Vocal enhancement for actors
-Cued sound

Front 28

Technical Director

Back 28

-Key Management Position
-->Responsible for everything Backstage
-Scheduling
-Stock of scenery, props, lights
-Paint, tools, consumables
-Oversees set construction
-Oversees light hang

Front 29

Greece:Origins of Theatre

Back 29

-Early Tribal Rituals
-Storytelling: tribal myths
-Theatre Elements Developed
-->Masks, costumes, music, dance

Front 30

Birth of Theatre in Greece

Back 30

-Festival to Dionysus
-play competition
-5th Century BCE - Golden/Classical Age

Front 31

Festival to Dionysus

Back 31

God of wine

Front 32

Golden Age of Athens: 5th Century BCE

Back 32

-Created Democracy
-Peace & Prosperity
-Civic Investment
-Art, Architecture and Philosophy Flourish

Front 33

Greek Plays and their origins

Back 33

-Tragedy
-Comedy
-Satyr Plays

Front 34

Greece:Tragedy

Back 34

-Origin from dithyrambs
-->Sung/chanted poems around goat sacrifice
-Most respected form at Festival Dionysia

Front 35

Greece:Comedy

Back 35

-Origins from phallic songs
-->Sung/chanted poems about male potency
-Only one day devoted at Festival Dionysia

Front 36

Greece:Satyr Plays

Back 36

-Origins unknown
-Burlesques performed after tragedies
-->Irreverent
-->Broadly sexual

Front 37

Greek Tragedy Structure

Back 37

-Prologue
-Parados (Entrance of Chorus)
-Episode & Choral Ode Alternation
-Exodus (Exit of Chorus)
-Epilogue

Front 38

Greek Playwrights

Back 38

Aeschylus
Sophocles
Euripides
Aristophanes

Front 39

Aeschylus

Back 39

-Wrote Austere, lofty diction
-Simple powerful plots
-Solitary Heros in conflict with gods
-Often wrote in Trilogies (Oresteia)
-Introduced 2nd Actor

Front 40

Sophocles

Back 40

-More “realistic” than Aeschylus
-Imperfect Heros
-Chorus less predominant
-->More action; less explanation
-Introduced 3rd Actor
-His Masterpiece (Aristotle’s Fave)
-->Oedipus Rex

Front 41

Euripides

Back 41

-Most “realistic” of three
-More conversational language
-Social and interpersonal themes
-Lots of action and intrigue

Front 42

Aristophanes

Back 42

-Only 12 Extant Greek Comedies
-->All but one by Aristophanes
-Wrote form called “Old Comedy”
-Chorus often Animals (Birds)
-Thinly Veiled Political/Social Satires
-Masks often resembled known citizens

Front 43

Old comedy Structure

Back 43

-Part One
-->Prologue introduces “happy idea”
-->Debate about whether to adopt idea
-->Decision to put “happy idea” to action
-Part Two
-->Songs & Episodes show idea in action

Front 44

New Comedy

Back 44

-Foundation of Modern Comedy
-Family & Romantic Circumstances
-Themes of Rebellion
-Ending with Marriage/Reunions

Front 45

Theatre Structures

Back 45

Theatron
Orchestra
Skene
Parodoi

Front 46

Theatron

Back 46

Seeing Place

Front 47

Orchestra

Back 47

Dancing Place

Front 48

Skene

Back 48

Backstage Building

Front 49

Parodoi

Back 49

Entrances

Front 50

Stage Machinery
-->Eccyclema and Machene

Back 50

-“Eccyclema” - rolling platform
-->Rolled out from skene
-->Special entrances and appearances
-“Machene” - crane
-->Flying actors into a scene

Front 51

Greek Masks

Back 51

-Ubiquitous
-Generally Realistic
-Helped Identify Characters

Front 52

Satyr Costumes

Back 52

-Simple to Elaborate Robes
-Platform Boots: Cothurnus
-Satyr Plays: Grotesque padding

Front 53

Function of Chorus

Back 53

-Commented on Action; Gave POV
-Gave Advice and Warnings
-Heightened emotions and drama
-Added Song, dance, spectacle

Front 54

Elizabethan Period & History

Back 54

-Religious Turmoil
-->Protestant Reformation
-->Church of England vs. Catholics
-Internal and External Threats
-->Mary Stuart (Queen of Scots)
-->Spain: Economic Rival/Ally of Mary

Front 55

Elizabeth’s Impact on Secular Theatre

Back 55

-No more Liturgical Drama
-->Plays had been Church Driven
-Secular Theatre Thrives
-->Private sector takes over from Church
-->Colloquial stories & themes introduced

Front 56

Sharing Companies

Back 56

Professional Companies

Front 57

Noble patronage

Back 57

Lord Chamberlain’s Men

Front 58

Public vs. private theatres

Back 58

-Public Theatres (The Globe)
-->Outdoor Polygonal Structures
-->Thrust Stages
-->Roofed galleries and open pit
-Private Theatres
-->Indoors (out of the elements)
-->More Affluent Audience

Front 59

Production Practices

Back 59

-Little to no Scenic Complexity
-Priority on Acting and Story

Front 60

William Shakespeare:His Life

Back 60

-Provincial Middle Class Background
-->Father a Successful Craftsman
-->Good Education but no College
-->At 18 married Anne Hathaway
-Left for London in 1585?
-->Joined Lord Chamberlain’s Men

Front 61

William Shakespeare::His Legacy

Back 61

-Plays rich in texture and pulse of life
-“Invented” character
-->Wide variety (heroic to prosaic)

Front 62

Court Theatre & Masques

Back 62

-For Nobility and Royalty Only
-->Performed in Palaces or at Court
-Performers
-->Professional Actors in Key Roles
-Taste for Italian Staging & Illusion
-->Elaborate scenery, costumes, special f/x

Front 63

Cromwell and Commonwealth

Back 63

-Charles I Executed
-Commonwealth (1649 to 1660)
-Puritans Rule
-Theatre banned
-->Considered decadent

Front 64

The Restoration

Back 64

-Monarchy Restored
-Theatre Revived
-->20 year gap in English Theatre History
-->Charles influenced by French Court Drama
-->Elizabethan conventions ignored/forgotten

Front 65

Romance Genre

Back 65

-Not defined like Romance genre today
-->Romantic Love not emphasized
-Set in unusual parallel worlds
-->Exotic locales; Islands; Magical places
-->Supernatural Elements
-Hero/Heroine on Quest/Journey
-->For Identity; Reunion; Redemption
-->To fulfill True Destiny

Front 66

Shakespeare's Canon

Back 66

Comedies
Tragedies
Histories
Romances

Front 67

The Church and Theatre in Middle Ages

Back 67

-Ancient Rome
-->Rise of Christianity
-Middle Ages
-->Church Expansion & Centralization
-->Theatre in the middle Ages
-Church Power is Challenged
-Emergence of Renaissance

Front 68

Festival Nature

Back 68

-Performances on Holidays
-Elaborate Day-long Events
-Episodic; Multiple Stage

Front 69

Secular Theatre in Middle Ages

Back 69

-Traveling Jugglers, Mimes, Troubadours
-Persecuted by Church
-Needed Patronage by Nobles

Front 70

Challenges to Church

Back 70

-Nationalism
-Protestant Reformation
-Urbanization and Secularization

Front 71

Renaissance Begins

Back 71

-Fall of Constantinople
-Exiles to Italy
-Spread of Renaissance

Front 72

Renaissance Theatre in Italy

Back 72

-Medieval Religious Epics
-Classical Forms Reintroduced
-The Intermezzi
-Italianate Staging
-Commedia dell’ Arte

Front 73

The Intermezzi

Back 73

-Interludes between Acts
-Subjects: Greek & Folk Myths
-Very Similar to Court Masques
-Subjects: Greek & Folk Myths
-Very Similar to Court Masques

Front 74

Italianate Staging

Back 74

-Rediscoverd Vitruvius
-->Linear Perspective
-->Theatre Architecture
-New Technology
-->Moveable Scenery

Front 75

Linear Perspective

Back 75

-Perspective & Vanishing Point
-Illusion of Depth
-Rediscovered First by Painters
-Adopted Later by Theatre

Front 76

Commedia dell’arte

Back 76

-Traveling “Professional Artists”
-Comedies with Stock Characters
-Commercial Sharing Companies (Families)
-No Noble Patronage or Protection

Front 77

Stock characters

Back 77

Masked Male and Female Actors

Front 78

Stock Scenarios

Back 78

-Partly Scripted
-Partly improvised
-Plots: Prohibited Love Affairs

Front 79

Improvisation and virtuosity

Back 79

-Actors Specialized in one Role
-Trained/Worked for Years
-Became Famous/Renowned
-Extremely Popular

Front 80

Theatre Architecture and development

Back 80

Adapt outdoor Roman theatres
Proscenium Arch
New Theatre Technology (moveable scenary)
Italian Opera House

Front 81

Conflict between Neoclassicism & Italianate Staging

Back 81

-Neoclassicism
-->3 Unities; Purity of Genre; Austere
-Italianate Staging
-->Illusionism; Lavish Stage Design
-->Intermezzi, Opera, Ballet
--->not Constrained by Neoclassicism

Front 82

France:Neoclassical ideals applied to theatre

Back 82

-3 Unities; Pure Genres
-Austere and Terse

Front 83

Italianate staging applied to ballet, opera, machine plays

Back 83

-Ballet, Opera, Machine Plays
-Court Theatre & Masques
-->Romance and Mythology
-->Elaborate Costumes and Special F/X

Front 84

Moliere

Back 84

-Actor/Dramatist
-Favorite of Louis XIV
-Wrote Comic Satires
-Comedie Francaise

Front 85

England: The Restoration

Back 85

-Charles II Returns
-Women Actors
-Italianate Staging
-Royally Licensed Theatre Monopolies

Front 86

Restoration Theatres

Back 86

-Italianate Staging & Elizabethan Elements
-Proscenium Arch & Raked Stage
-Deep Thrust Forestage into Pit

Front 87

Comedy of Manners

Back 87

-Amoral, Artificial, Aristocratic
-Valued Wit over Virtue
-Valued Reputation over Integrity

Front 88

English afterpieces

Back 88

-Shorts after main play
-Pantomimes with Italianate Spectacle
-Influenced as well by Commedia

Front 89

Decline of Neoclassicism

Back 89

-Innovation stifled
-Middle Class desire for spectacle and sentimentalism
-Sentimentalism vs. Neoclassicism
-Rise in “illegitimate theatres” (commercial)

Front 90

Commercial vs. Reformist Trends

Back 90

-Commercial Theatre Booms
-Reformist Theatre Begins

Front 91

Romanticism Emergence

Back 91

-Monarchies Lose Power
-Mass Social Upheaval

Front 92

Romanticism Ideas

Back 92

-Liberty, equality, individualism
-Primitivism, Nature
-Emotion/Intuition vs. Reason
-These Ideas Persist Today

Front 93

Cult of Individual

Back 93

-Great Artist; Great by Merit not Birth
-Romantic Hero

Front 94

Primitivism

Back 94

-Idealization of the rustic; natural
-Innocence; sentimentality
-Noble savage; children

Front 95

Mistrust of Reason

Back 95

-Anti-Enlightenment
-Lost connection between utility and beauty

Front 96

Romanticism vs. Neoclassicism

Back 96

-Romantic
1.Emotion/Intuit
2.In Particular
3.Great by Merit
4.Natural World
5.Progress/Change

-Neoclassical
1.Reason/Logic
2.Truth in Norms
3.Great by Birth
4.Social World
5.Order/Balance

Front 97

Theatre and Romanticism

Back 97

-German Theorists
-Shakespeare as Icon
-Romantic Themes
-Failure as a Movement
-Legacy for Theatre

Front 98

Romanticism’s Themes

Back 98

-Free will and rebellion
-Search for wisdom
-Love and loss

Front 99

Romanticism’s Failure

Back 99

-Bombastic, Boring, Pretentious
-Retreat to “Closet Drama”

Front 100

Romanticism’s legacy

Back 100

Master Artist
-Master Artwork (aesthetic unity)
-Commercial adaptations – sentimentality
-Continental Seating; audience passivity

Front 101

Emergence of Realism

Back 101

-Faced rather than avoided social problems
-Scientific revolution (new models for solutions)

Front 102

Realism’s ideas

Back 102

-Truth in objective reality
-Human character: heredity and environment
-Belief in progress

Front 103

Realism in Theatre

Back 103

-Life as it is
-Problem Plays
-Naturalism

Front 104

Naturalism

Back 104

-Realism on steroids
-Militant
-Obsessed with everyday detail

Front 105

Saxe-Meiningen

Back 105

-“First” director
-Realistic staging and acting
-Director creates Unified Master Artwork
-3 dimensional box sets
-Actors move within set

Front 106

Andre Antoine

Back 106

-Theatre Libre
-Independent Theatre Movement & Censorship
-The “4th wall”

Front 107

Stanislavsky

Back 107

-Moscow Art Theatre
-“System” for Actor Training
-Influence on American actor training

Front 108

Ibsen

Back 108

-Social Realism
-Legacy: Arthur Miller

Front 109

Chekhov

Back 109

-Psychological Realism
-Legacy: Tennessee Williams

Front 110

Revolt against Realism

Back 110

-Mundane, untheatrical trivial, no essential truths
-Audience passive and uncritical

Front 111

Impressionism

Back 111

Truth in fleeting glimpses, “impressions”

Front 112

Symbolism

Back 112

-Truth in dreams, imagination
-Sought to evoke not describe
-Considered decadent by Russians
-Great influence on scenic design (New Stagecraft)

Front 113

Expressionism

Back 113

-Nightmare of modern urban life
-Jagged edges, garish colors

Front 114

Absurdism

Back 114

-Nihilistic; life is meaningless
-No causality; everything is random
-Great influence on modern sensibility and humor

Front 115

Brecht

Back 115

-Epic Theatre
-Alienation Effect
-Re-theatricalize theatre experience
-Keep audience thinking; Marxist motivations

Front 116

Artaud

Back 116

-Surrealist
-Theatre of Cruelty
-Appealed to subconscious primal mind
-Used strong sensory onslaught

Front 117

Art Theatre Movement

Back 117

-Arrived with New Stagecraft
-Little Theatres
-Legacy: off-off Broadway and experimental theatre

Front 118

New Stagecraft

Back 118

-Simplification
-Suggestion
-Aesthetic Unity

Front 119

Ascendency: 1750 to 1900

Back 119

-Profit Driven
-Mass Audience
-Spectacle, Sentimentality, Thrills, Action, Sex
-Acceptable and Accessible

Front 120

Melodrama

Back 120

-Most popular form
-Sentimental values
-Musical Underscoring
-Episodic Plots
-Amazing spectacle and special effects

Front 121

Sentimental Values

Back 121

-Good and Bad guys
-Good guys win despite the odds
-Associated beauty with virtue

Front 122

Romantic vs. Realistic melodrama

Back 122

-Romantic
-->Great spectacle
-->Many animal subgenres
-->Little concern for probability in plot
-Realistic
-->More refined; upper class audience
-->Realistic threats
-->Cause and effect possible but not probable

Front 123

Melodrama’s legacy

Back 123

-Comics, TV, Film, Popular Entertainment

Front 124

Shakespeare

Back 124

-Great popularity (most often produced playwright 19th century)
-Familiarity of text; romantic heroes, action, comedy
-Rite of Passage roles for actors

Front 125

Vaudeville

Back 125

-Origins
-->Concert Saloons
-->Burlesque
-->European Music Halls
-->Arose after Civil War
-Family Variety
-->Cut risqué acts; no liquor
-Decline
-->1920’s and 30’s
-->Rise of Film and Radio

Front 126

Vaudeville’s Legacy

Back 126

-Televison variety, talent and talk shows
-Vegas, Cruise Ships, Catskills
-New Vaudeville Movement