Intro to Theater – Collin College
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2 types of theater
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1. Ritual 2. Storytelling
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ritual
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religious or cultural. ex. marriage or baptism
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storytelling
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retelling of the history of a tribe. ex plots, characters, emotions; passing on the story
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Dionysus
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God of: 1. wine; 2. fertility; 3. theater; week long theater fest -
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roman theater
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told of Greek dramas and greek struggles; they stole from the Greeks - no great roman playwrights;they built more elaborate architecture - but no playwrights; degenerated theater to mass killing
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Aristophenes
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old comedy - written broad physical humor, gross sexual gags, brilliant word play at the expense of politicians
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Natyasastra
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most comprehensive treaty (study of theater) in ancient world;
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Kathakali
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story play; Province of Corala; based on 2 Indian epics w/ 1000's of stories; 17th century in India - started at 10pm and would go until dawn
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Chinese Xiqu
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Chinese opera w/ 4 fold skills: singing, speech, acting & movement, skilled in Martial Arts
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No Theater
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Japanese; oldest performed drama in world; most highly ceremonial dance/drama; 240 texts produced today from 500 years ago.
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Kabuki
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passed down thru family; Izumo Okuni - shrine maiden; all casts from only 11 families; Ka-song, bu-dance, ki-skill
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3 parts of theater
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theatron - audience; orchestra - stage; skene - dressing room area
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theatron
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word \"theater\" comes from it; it means - a seeing place
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requirements for a theater
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a place to act and a place to watch
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stage manager
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runs the show in all its complexity; running a play production; during rehearsals the director runs show then once play starts the stage manager runs all of it; even gives actor notes; gives line notes, calls lighting and sound ques
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troupe
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long standing collective group of theater artist who work together.
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running crew
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all technicians back stage who execute perfectly the: lighting, costumes, props, sound ques and scenery
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producer
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in charge of money - not an artist; responsible for: financing, hiring directors and designers, finding the theater, legal matters, distributes money to everyone, mkting of show
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house
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where the audience sits
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house manager
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seats audience; in charge of ushers, keeping head/seat count, on headset with director/stage manager
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art of impersonation
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that separates theater from other art forms
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2 different modes of performance in theater
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1. presentational or direct mode 2. representational or indirect mode the theater uses both modes
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Presentational or direct mode
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the actors directly acknowledge the audience continuously
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Representational or indirect mode
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the audience watches interactions on stage as thought no audience were present or the fourth wall
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willing suspension of disbelief
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as an audience member pretends that this is real so we can empathize with the actors; term for audience engendered with empathy
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advantages of live performance
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actors develop report/relationship with the audience and its fed upon; audience members develop; EXCITEMENT ABOUT THE IMMEDIACY OF A LIVE PERFORMANCE - ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN
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Aristophanes
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1st author of written comedies; greek world; given to us from greek world
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genre
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category of kind of play; tragedy, comedy, musical theater, etc.
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climax
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point of highest tension; when the conflicts are at their fullest expression - no turning back
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protagonist
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central character - main character
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antagonist
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character opposed to central/main character
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mask
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used in classical times (greek) physical and symbolic element that separates the actor from his character
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tragedy vs. comedy
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tragedy - catharsis; ex. a good cry ends in suffering; longer lasting and about serious issues comedy - laughter; ex. ends happy; topical in nature
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dark comedy
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genre of theater that allows audience to laugh at potentially serious or tragic events
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history play
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Shakespeare created his own genre of theater - he writes about actual kings and queens - true story; its historical b/c its about royalty
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the poetics
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treaty on theater that Aristotle wrote; strove to define tragedy and create a standard of perfection. ex Oedipus was a perfect tragedy.
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according to Aristotle: 6 mandatory elements of a play
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1. plot; 2. characters; 3. theme; 4. diction; 5. music; 6. spectacle - any visual masks or costumes
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documentary
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a fairly recent development that relies on authentic evidence to portray recent historical events
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farce
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over the top comedy - wild, hilarious base on twins, discoveries, disappearances, lovers in closets, switched identities, various disrobing
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2 primary demands of plot
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1. logic - has to be logical enough for audience to buy into it. 2. suspense - has to be suspenseful enough for audience to care about what happens next
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diction
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spoken dialogue of characters and literary nature of placed text, tone, imagery, articulation, verse, poetry, rhyme, metaphor
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orderly plot sequence of conventionally Aristolodian play experience
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1. exposition - any background info that audience needs to know to follow the plot 2. conflict 3. climax - conflict comes to a head 4. denouement - the ending
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dramatic criticism
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formulation of post play thinking and conversation
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5 different audience perspectives
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1. social; 2. personal;3. artistic; 4. theatrical;5. entertainment value
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professional dramatic criticism
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production reviews; scholarly books and reviews; theater critics (articles actually published); journalist - brief immediate reaction written within a few days of performance (not exhaustive study)
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observant critic
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critic that attends the performance with an open mind and sharply tuned senses
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articulate critic
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critic that expresses their thoughts with precision, clarity and grace; precise; gives logical argument and evidence to back up their opinion - helpful analogy
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demanding critic
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one that holds the theater to its highest possible standards - cuts against inherent danger to turn theater to pure sensationalism or entertainment.
