Theatre

Front 1

Text:

Back 1

anything that can be read and analyzed, interpreted, and critiqued.

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Mediatization

Back 2

The process of filtering a text through technology, such as the lens of a camera.

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Play:

Back 3

a plan or blueprint or outline (two-dimensional) for a production, consisting of stage directions, dialogue, and dramatic action (the question, problem, or theme that forms the central focus of the play).

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Sides:

Back 4

pages from a play for an actor that includes only his or her lines.

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Plot:

Back 5

both the story told in the play, or the collected events that occur in a play, and the meaningful arrangement, or structure, of those events.

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Exposition:

Back 6

information about events that occurred before the start of the play, about the identity and relationship of the characters, and about the present situation.

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Point of Attack:

Back 7

the moment at which the action of the play starts in relation to the larger story.

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Inciting Incident

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an occurrence that sets the dramatic action of the play into motion.

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Climax:

Back 9

the moment of crisis when the original question(s) of the play must be answered.

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Dénouement:

Back 10

the resolution, or falling action, of a well-made play.

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Well-Made Play:

Back 11

term for the climactic play structure codified by Eugene Scribe and marked by cause-to-effect action, with heavy reliance on exposition, discoveries, complications, and reversals. The term is now sometimes used derisively.

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Episodic Play:

Back 12

as an alternative to the well-made play, emphasizes organization around an idea or theme, with various parts –scenes and/or acts -- standing on their own instead of relying on cause-to-effect.

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Sanskrit Drama:

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plays of classical India (~200-600 CE) written in the language of Sanskrit.

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Postmodern Play:

Back 14

a play that abandons a linear narrative and cause-to-effect events for pastiche and fragmented language; avoids “closure of meaning” for open-ended interpretations and often embraces nostalgia, parody, and technology.

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Pastiche:

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hodgepodge and/or juxtaposition of seemingly disparate things, such as different historical periods or styles.

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Character:

Back 16

the fictional people who perform the actions in the play and are the primary element out of which plots are created.

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Objective:

Back 17

What a character wants in play

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Protagonist:

Back 18

the central character of a play, also often the character who changes most or represents the author’s point of view.

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Antagonist:

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the chief adversary in a play who opposes the protagonist; can be a thing or condition as opposed to a person.

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Theme:

Back 20

the intellectual issues expressed by the play

Front 21

Dialogue:

Back 21

actual words spoken between and among the characters.