Theatre History I: People/characters

Front 1

Who is Aristotle and what is the main argument of the Poetics?

Back 1

Greek philosopher, student of Plato; mimesis is a natural occupation of people, characterizes tragedy

Front 2

Euripides

Back 2

Author of the Bacchae; Nietzche didn't like his tragedic style

Front 3

Jocasta

Back 3

Wife of Oedipus, begs him not to seek the truth of his origins, hangs herself

Front 4

Tiresias

Back 4

Blind seer; tries to avoid Oedipus' questions regarding his origins, is the first to disclose that he is the harbinger of the plague; also companion of Cadmus in the Bacchae

Front 5

Polybus

Back 5

Oedipus' adoptive father

Front 6

Shepherd

Back 6

Rescued baby Oedipus from the mountainside; confirms king's fears of his origins

Front 7

Creon

Back 7

Oedipus' brother in law and uncle; does not wish to be king, represents reason

Front 8

Pentheus

Back 8

King of Thebes, cousin of Dionysus, killed by his mother Agave

Front 9

Cadmus

Back 9

Originator of the royal house of Thebes in The Bacchae; elderly father of Agave and Semele

Front 10

Semele

Back 10

Mother of Dionysus, killed by Zeus' appearance as a lightening bolt

Front 11

The Bacchae

Back 11

The women of Thebes, made to celebrate the rites of Dionysus under the influence of violent and naturalistic ecstasy

Front 12

William Finley

Back 12

Played Dionysus in Dionysus in '69

Front 13

Richard Schechner

Back 13

Director of Dionysus in '69, originator of The Performance Group

Front 14

Antonin Artaud

Back 14

French theatre theorist responsible for the concept of the Theatre of Cruelty

Front 15

Friedrich Nietzche

Back 15

Turn of the century theorist, The Birth of Tragedy, the synthesis of the Apollonian/Dionysian IS tragedy

Front 16

G. B. Shaw

Back 16

Wrote Major Barbara; communist British playwright; author of "Ideals and Idealists"

Front 17

The Fabian Society

Back 17

Communists, but not revolutionary (believed in gradual social change)

Front 18

Undershaft

Back 18

Father of Major Barbara, factory owner with a highly cynical view of human behavior -- by manufacturing arms, he is able to create a utopian society

Front 19

Steven

Back 19

Major Barbara's fiance, academe and Greek scholar -- he is the villan of the play, because he is the Idealist who encourages others to seek goals that won't make them happy

Front 20

Lomax

Back 20

fiance of Major Barbara's sister; speaks in the most elevated language, but is incapable of intelligent communication; doesn't want to be faced with the ugliness of life

Front 21

"No More Masterpieces"

Back 21

Chapter of "The Theater and its Double" by Artaud; the classics are dead, cannot be replicated because they no longer pertain to present society

Front 22

Henry VIII

Back 22

1534 establishes himself as head of English Church via Act of Supremacy; bans the cycle dramas

Front 23

Everyman

Back 23

Allegorical representation of all human beings who will someday face death

Front 24

Fellowship

Back 24

First friend to whom Everyman appeals to accompany him to death; explains that he is only able to share in life's pleasures with Everyman

Front 25

Kinship

Back 25

refuses outright to go to death with Everyman

Front 26

Cousin

Back 26

has a cramp in his toe, and therefore cannot come with Everyman into death

Front 27

Goods

Back 27

laughs at Everyman's expectation that he will be able to bring them into death; explains that they will be more of a hindrance than a help to him there

Front 28

Good Deeds

Back 28

(female) initially too weak from neglect to accompany Everyman, is strengthened by Confessional and ascends with Everyman to heaven

Front 29

Knowledge

Back 29

accompanies Everyman all the way to the grave, but is left behind when Everyman's soul leaves his body

Front 30

Beauty, 5 wits, discretion

Back 30

summoned by Knowledge and Good Deeds, run away when they hear that they are going to the grave

Front 31

Confession

Back 31

represents the ORDER of the priesthood, strengthens Everyman's good deeds

Front 32

Doctor

Back 32

recites the Everyman epilogue, represents the scholar; conveys the moral

Front 33

Kenneth Burke

Back 33

author of "Identification" - promotes concept of Consubstantiality

Front 34

Head of the 12

Back 34

leaders of the 12 major guilds of York, responsible for electing the mayor

Front 35

Noah's wife

Back 35

comedic, argumentative (and often misguided) character

Front 36

Robert Deveroux

Back 36

Earl of Essex, tried to unseat the queen after being exiled; he returned before being invited back and allegedly paid off the Lord Chamberlain's Men to put on a production of "Richard II"

Front 37

Richard Burbage

Back 37

leading actor of the Lord Chamberlain's men; friend of the Earl of Essex

Front 38

Marlowe

Back 38

author of "Dr. Faustus," contemporary playwright of Shakespeare

Front 39

Edward Alleyn

Back 39

leading actor of Marlowe's company, originated the role of Faustus, wearing a large wooden cross on his chest; unusually tall

Front 40

Will Kemp

Back 40

comedic actor of the King's men ("enter Will Kemp") known for playing Peter, Falstaff and Bottom

Front 41

Mephistopheles

Back 41

"Why this is hell, nor am I out of it"

Front 42

Helen

Back 42

appears to Dr. Faustus at the end of the play; it is upon seeing her that he becomes closest to being glutted

Front 43

Henslow

Back 43

diarist who keeps records of expenses of Marlowe's company

Front 44

Bowdler

Back 44

Made Shakespeare a Disney Channel Original Movie; "Bowdlerized"

Front 45

William Prynne

Back 45

acting "unmans, unChristians, unmakes;" compare to Sydney

Front 46

Robert Greene

Back 46

deeply critical of Shakespeare; "tiger's heart in a player's hide" wearing "our feathers"

Front 47

Hemings, Condell & Jaggard

Back 47

publishes Shakespeare's first folio in 1623

Front 48

Ben Johnson

Back 48

famous playwright who publishes his own "Works" in 1616 (falling into print), wrote "Masque of Queens"

Front 49

Bernardo

Back 49

guard in Hamlet, "who's there?"

Front 50

Ronaldo

Back 50

Polonius' servant, speaks untruths to provoke a response

Front 51

Polonius

Back 51

elderly aristocrat, father of Ophelia and Laertes; Hamlet characterizes him through the book he carries

Front 52

'Swounds

Back 52

By his wounds

Front 53

Sydney

Back 53

poet - art is the sublimation of desire (vs. Prynne's concept of the monstrous theatre)

Front 54

Tenant vs. Jacoby

Back 54

2 performances of Hamlet in the late 20th/early 21st centuries

Front 55

Andrea Palladio

Back 55

Italian architect, designed Teatro Olimpico of Venice

Front 56

Pedro Calderón de la Barca

Back 56

Wrote "Life is a Dream"

Front 57

Indigo Jones

Back 57

theatrical designer for "Masque of Queens," among other masques; collaborated with Ben Johnson

Front 58

James I

Back 58

ruling absolute monarch of England, in power when the "Masque of Queens" was written

Front 59

Charles I

Back 59

son of James I, absolute monarch who refused to call parliament, was executed by parliament and succeeded by Cromwell

Front 60

Commonwealth of England

Back 60

bans theatrical production

Front 61

Charles II

Back 61

son of Charles I, reinstated in 1660, reinstates theatre performance

Front 62

Turner

Back 62

author of "Social Dramas," anthropologist who characterized dramas as undergoing breach, crisis, redress, and either reintegration or schism; social drama and stage drama feed into each-other in an infinite loop

Front 63

Chariot & pole

Back 63

drives scenes back and forth on poles

Front 64

Vincenzo Scamozzi

Back 64

finished Andrea Palladio's work on the Teatro Olimpico

Front 65

Ferdinand & Isabella (the Catholic kings)

Back 65

initiate the Spanish Golden age

Front 66

Herod

Back 66

characterized as in a constant state of rage in cycle dramas

Front 67

Divine Narcissus

Back 67

Sor Juana submits this play to a contest in Spain for a religious drama ("Autos sacrimentales") about colonialism

Front 68

Phillip IV of Spain

Back 68

builds Palacio del Buen Retiro modeled on Teatro Olympico

Front 69

Sor Juana Inéz de la Cruz

Back 69

Daughter of a Spaniard and a Mexican, was a nun who wrote plays, poetry, letters; woman of words; all of her books were burned

Front 70

Hotel de Bourgogne

Back 70

built in 1548 in France, indoor building, modeled off of an indoor tennis court

Front 71

Louis XIV

Back 71

The Sun King, under his rule, theatre becomes extraordinary

Front 72

Palais Cardinal

Back 72

built in 1641, King and Wueen sit alon in chairs downstage, 2 galleries along the sides; proscenium structure

Front 73

Salle de Machine

Back 73

constructed under Louis XIV as a room for ballet performance -- contained machinery to raise and lower

Front 74

Jean Baptise Moliere

Back 74

author of "Tartuffe," considered a patron of French comedic theatre

Front 75

Scenarii

Back 75

Italian improvised scenes, based upon a set of stock characters

Front 76

Ammorato

Back 76

young lovers of scenarii

Front 77

Pantalone

Back 77

comical old man of scenarii

Front 78

Dottore

Back 78

comical, stupid doctor of scenarii

Front 79

Arlecchino

Back 79

Harlequin character, wore motley because he was poor in scenarii

Front 80

Pierre Corneille

Back 80

playwright of "Le Cid," neoclassical theatric icon

Front 81

William Dryden

Back 81

rewrites "The Tempest" in the 19th c. as a musical ballet

Front 82

Cardinal Richelieu

Back 82

patron of the Palais Cardinal, built in 1641 as a result of cardinal's desire to control the practice of arts/sciences

Front 83

"Le Cid"

Back 83

Georges de Scudery argued that this play by Corneille was unrealistic, appealed to Cardinal who sided with Scudery

Front 84

Jean Racine

Back 84

known for tragedy, applied Greek drama to uphold set structures of French theatre; the three unities

Front 85

Northrop Frye

Back 85

wrote "The Argument of Comedy" in the early 1950s that comedy has 1 argument, 1 plot that is derived from ritual: the reknitting of society and rebirth in spring; can be represented by different social classes

Front 86

Gilbert Murray

Back 86

famous classicist from turn of 20th century upon whom Steven is based

Front 87

Orgon

Back 87

protagonist of "Tartuffe" develops from a soppy, enamored old man into a disillusioned and sober figure; W. describes him as having a single animating character principle

Front 88

Tartuffe

Back 88

when he enters Molliere's play, his performance has already been accepted

Front 89

Elmire

Back 89

wife of Orgon, seduced by Tartuffe

Front 90

Sir William Davenant

Back 90

claims to be illegit. child of Shakespeare, head of Duke's co., 1 on 2 sharers to receive patent from Charles II

Front 91

Betterton

Back 91

under this actor, the King's Co. and the Duke's Co. merge into the United Co., featuring actress Anne Bracegirdle

Front 92

Christopher Wren

Back 92

designs Theatre Rural Drury Lane; pit is series of flat, backless benches

Front 93

John Dryden

Back 93

(1631-1700) poet laureate, wrote original tragedies and tragicomedies, spectacular dimension introduced by scenery

Front 94

Thomas Otway

Back 94

playwright for those of Neoclassical tastes, write "Venice Preserved" (tragedy)

Front 95

William Wycherly

Back 95

comic playwright, wrote "The Country Wife"

Front 96

Sir George Etherege

Back 96

originator of "fop" character, "The Man of Mode," "stop my vitals"

Front 97

William Congreve

Back 97

interested in how plays will look on the page (Restoration), gives play in the book its modern shape

Front 98

Nell Gwynn

Back 98

actress, mistress of King Charles II, considered the "flirt" to Bracegirdle's "wit"

Front 99

Thomas Betterton

Back 99

star of english stage, ugly but elegant and graceful; gesture in this period is formalized (think Hamlet & skull)

Front 100

Charles Macklin

Back 100

humanized Shylock

Front 101

David Garrick

Back 101

believed that the role of the actor was as a public figure

Front 102

Aphra Behn

Back 102

author of "The Rover," famous in her time and rediscovered in the 1970s

Front 103

Edie Sedgwick

Back 103

author of "Between Men," Gender and sexuality act like ideology by confirming certain kinds of social relations

Front 104

Cavaliers

Back 104

supporters of Charles who were in Italy in exile during the Commonwealth

Front 105

Cits

Back 105

not aristocrats, but upper-middle class tradespeople wealthy enough to attend the theatre

Front 106

Don Pedro

Back 106

Spanish brother of Florinda, in love with Angelica

Front 107

Belvile

Back 107

the only decent Englishman of the Cavaliers, in love with Florinda

Front 108

Hellena

Back 108

friend of Florinda, flirtatious and manipulative; marries Wilmore

Front 109

Willmore

Back 109

the Rover, promiscuous; falls in love with every woman he sees

Front 110

Angelica

Back 110

prostitute of "The Rover" who advertises with a poster of herself; ruins her campaign by falling for Willmore

Front 111

Antonio

Back 111

Pedro wants Florinda to marry this Italian aristocrat

Front 112

Blunt

Back 112

stupid Englishman who tries to ravish many women

Front 113

Restoration

Back 113

the period beginning with the reinstatement of Charles II to the English throne, extending to end of 17th century

Front 114

Conquest of Granada

Back 114

1492, the Catholic monarchs expel the Moors and the Jews from Spain.

Front 115

Academe Francaise

Back 115

chartered in 1637 by Cardinal Richelieu to bring sciences and arts under gov. control

Front 116

Comedie Francaise

Back 116

new version of Moliere's company, patronized by the King and featuring Mademoiselle Champmesle

Front 117

Raked stage

Back 117

where downstage upstage terminology comes from

Front 118

Sociéteres

Back 118

12 main actors of the Comedie Francaise; new members could be recruited only after retirement of old members

Front 119

William Davenant & Thomas Killigrew

Back 119

received patent from Charles II to reopen the King's Co.

Front 120

Patent theatres/Theatres royal

Back 120

held the patent of the king of England

Front 121

proscenium

Back 121

stage with a large, arched frame surrounding it

Front 122

auto sacramentale

Back 122

allegorical religious dramas in Spain (although Sor Juana writes one)

Front 123

Corral

Back 123

public theatre of the Spanish Golden Age

Front 124

Comedy of Manners

Back 124

contemporary Restoration dramas in which witty aristocrats, city dupes and dandies and dull country gentlemen are engaged in an adventure of sexual intrigue

Front 125

Basil

Back 125

King of Poland in Life is a Dream, father of Segismund

Front 126

Segismund

Back 126

Prince of Poland; his father hears a prophecy that his son will become a bloody tyrant, so he is imprisoned for the majority of his young life

Front 127

Clarion

Back 127

comical servant in Life is a Dream

Front 128

Rosaura

Back 128

a lady of the Polish court, is desired by Segismund

Front 129

Stella

Back 129

Princess, engaged to Astolfo

Front 130

Clotaldo

Back 130

old man who guards Segismund for the majority of his life