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absurdism

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an avant-garde "ism" that was the result of the two world wars; it as three types: fatalist, existentialist, and hilarious

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alienation effect

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the result of techniques to keep the audience aware that what they are witnessing is only a play; used by Bertolt Brecht; alienation techniques include having the actors address the audience out of character, exposing the lights, removing the proscenium arch and curtains, and having the actors perform on bare platforms or simple sets that are sometimes punctuated with political slogans

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anagnorisis

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element of Greek tragedy; the tragic hero's self-examination leading to realization of true identity; follows peripeteia (radical reversal of fortune)

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avant-garde

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any work of art that is experimental, innovative, or unconventional

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blank verse

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poetic lines that do not rhyme

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Bunraku

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Japanese puppet theatre with large wooden puppets with many more movable parts, onstage puppeteers dressed in black, and a narrator who chants the script

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catharsis

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an intense, twofold feeling of pity and fear that is the goal of Greek tragedy

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character flaw

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an inner flaw that hampers a character's good judgement and leads the character to make unfortunate choices; sometimes called fatal flaw, tragic flaw, or hamartia

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chorus

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in ancient Greek plays, an all-male group of singers and dances who commented on and participated in the action

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comedy of ideas

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a form of high comedy comprising cerebral, socially relevant plays that force audiences to reassess their culture, community, and values

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comedy of manners

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a form of Restoration comedy that features wit and wordplay and often includes themes of sexual gratification, bedroom escapades, and humankind's primitive nature when it comes to sex

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dark comedy

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comedy that is gloomy, even sinister, allowing the audience to laugh at the bleaker and more absurd aspects of life

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domestic comedy

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a type of play characterized by stories about common everyday people, rather than ones of noble birth, whose problems and complications are lighthearted and entertaining

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epic theatre

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features plays that have a grand scope, large casts, and cover a long period and a wide range of sometimes unrelated incidents

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episode

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one scene in an ancient Greek play; alternates with stasimons

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exodos

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in ancient Greek theatre, the summation by the chorus on the theme and wisdom of the play

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expressionism

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a style that shows the audience that action of the play through the mind of one character; instead of seeing photographic reality, the audience sees the character's own emotions and point of view

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farce

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a popular form of low comedy where the characters are trapped in a fast-paced situation with wild complications, mistaken identities, and incredible coincidences; also called "door-slamming farce": the pace of can be so fast because the characters are constantly running in and out of doors

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fourth wall

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an imaginary wall separating the actors from the audience; an innovation of Realism in the theatre in the mid-1800s

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hamarita

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in ancient Greek tragedies, a personal weakness (also called a tragic flaw or fatal flaw) that leads to a tragic hero's downfall; a common hamartia is hubris

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happening

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unstructured theatrical events on street corners, at bus stops, in lobbies, and virtually anywhere else people gather

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high comedy

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a style that depends on sophisticated humor, wit, political satire, or social commentary

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hip hop theatre

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productions influenced by hip-hop music, art, and culture

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hubris

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the term used in classical Greek drama for overbearing pride or arrogance; a type of hamartia

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iambic pentameter

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poetic lines of a play that describe the accent and length of each line; there are ten syllables per line (pentameter) and the stress goes on the second syllable (iambic)

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Kabuki

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a popular, robust, and spectacular version of the Japanese Noh theatre; the name comes from the characters for "song" (ka), "dance" (bu), and "skill" (ki)

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Karkaesque

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marked by surreal distortion and senseless danger; a term that comes from the way that Czech writer Franz Kafka depicted the world

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Ki

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in Kabuki theatre, wooden clappers whose beat accompany a mie pose at a particular intense or profound moment

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low comedy

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a style that depends on gags, clowning, puns, and slapstick

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melodrama

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most popular in the late nineteenth century, a type of play that usually features working-class heroes who set out on a great adventure; story lines that praise marriage, God, and country; and florid background music; the word is a blend of "melody" and "drama"

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mie pose

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in Kabuki theatre, a sudden, striking pose (with eyes crossed, chin sharply turned, and the big toe pointed toward the sky) at a particular intense or profound moment; accompanied by several beats of wooden clappers; the Ki

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naturalism

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a style of theatrical design and acting whose goal is to imitate real life, including its seamy side; also called "slice of life" theatre

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Noh

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a form of traditional Japanese drama combining poetry, acting, singing, and dancing that was developed during the 1300s

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parodos

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the entrance of the chorus into the playing area in ancient Greek theatre

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Peking opera

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a synthesis of music, dance, acting, and acrobatics first performed in the 1700s in China by strolling players in markets, temples, courtyards, and the streets; known in China as the "opera of the capital," or ching-hsi, it was founded by Qing dynasty Emperor Ch'ien-lung (1736-1795)

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performance art

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an art form from the mid-twentieth century in which one or more performers use some combination of visual arts (including video), theatre, dance, music, and poetry, often to dramatize political ideas; the purpose is less to tell a story than to convey a state of being

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peripeteia

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in ancient Greek tragedies, a radical reversal of fortune experienced by the hero

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poetic realism

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a style of realism that is expressed through lyrical language

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precolonial African theatre

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indigenous African theatre that grew out of ritual and predates contact with Europeans; a combination of ritual, ceremony, and drama, it incorporates acting, music, storytelling, poetry, and dance; the costumed actors often wear masks; audience participation is common

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problem plays

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a play that expresses a social problem so that it can be remedied

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prologue

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in ancient Greek theatre, a short introductory speech or scene

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realism

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a style of theatre that attempts to seem life like, with authentic-looking sets, "honest" acting, and dialogue that sounds like everyday speech; a cultural movement behind theatrical realism, it began around 1850 and popularized the idea that plays could be a force or social and political change

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Romantic comedy

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a style of theatre that examines the funny side of falling in love-often with sympathetic young lovers kept apart by complicated circumstances, who in the end surmount any obstacles and live happily ever after

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Romantics

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enlightenment-era poets, novelists, and playwrights who questioned the Scientific Revolution's obsession with logic; they felt that science was not adequate to describe the full range of human experience, and stressed instinct, intuition, and feeling in their writings

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Sanskrit drama

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one of the earliest forms of theatre in India, performed in Sanskrit by professional touring companies on special occasions in temples, palaces, or temporary theatres

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sentimental comedy

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a type of comedy that features middle-class characters finding happiness and true love

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shadow theatre

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a form of theatre created by lighting two-dimenstonal figures and casting their shadows on a screen; probably originated in China around 100 BCE and later became popular in Islamic lands, where people were prohibited from playing characters

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stasimon

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in ancient Greek plays, a choral interlude between episodes

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straight plays

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in contrast to a musical, the category of plays without music

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tragedies of the common man

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modern versions of tragedies that, just as in ancient Greek tragedies, leave the audience with a feeling of catharsis but, unlike the ancient Greeks, base heroes on common people

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tragic hero

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in ancient Greek tragedies, an extraordinary but empathetic person of noble birth or a person who has risen to prominence and makes a choice (due to bad judgement or to a character flaw) that leads to trouble, but who ultimately takes responsibility for the choice

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tragicomedy

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performance that blends comedy and tragedy

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verbal scene painting

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a technique used by English and Spanish playwrights to set the mood or place of a scene; because the words paint pictures, the audience "dresses" the stage in their imagination

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ballad

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a love song

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ballad opera

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comic opera that mixed popular songs of the day with spoken dialogue; brought from England to the colonies during the colonial period

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book

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for a musical, the spoken lines of dialogue and the plot; written by the librettist

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book musical

answer

a musical with a particularly well-developed story and characters, such as Fiddler on the Roof

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burlesque

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a form of musical entertainment that features bawdy songs, dancing women, and sometimes striptease; begun in the 1840s as a parody of opera and the upper class

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comedy number

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a song number in a musical that provides comic relief

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comic opera

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a style of opera, including operetta, that developed out of intermezzi, or comic interludes performed during the intermissions of operas; popularized by the work of Gilbert and Sullivan

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composer

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for a musical, the person who writes the music

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dance musical

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a musical that features the work of a director-choreographer such as Tommy Tune, Michael Bennett, or Bob Fosse

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jukebox musical

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a musical that features a particular band's song

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librettist

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for a musical, the person who writes the book, or the spoken lines of dialogue and plot

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lyricist

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for a musical, the person who writes the lyrics

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lyrics

answer

for a musical, the sung words; the writer is called a lyricist

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minstrel show

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stage entertainment consisting of songs, dances, and comic scenes performed by white actors in blackface makeup; originated in the nineteenth century

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music

answer

in a musical script, the orchestrated melodies, which are written by the composer

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musical

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a type of theatre that features song and dance interspersed with spoken text; the genre includes not only modern musicals with popular songs and impressive spectacle but also the masques, operas, burlesques, minstrel shows, variety shows, and musical hall reviews of earlier periods

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musical comedy

answer

a type of musical characterized by a lighthearted, fast-moving comic story, whose dialogue is interspersed with popular music

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opera

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a type of drama introduced at the end of the sixteenth century that is entirely sung

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operatic musical

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a musical that is mostly singing, with less spoken dialogue and usually a darker, more dramatic tone than an operetta has

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operetta

answer

like an opera, a drama set to music, but with a frivolous, comic theme, some spoken dialogue, a melodramatic story, and usually a little dancing; also called "light opera"; popularized by Gilbert and Sullivan

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overture

answer

at the beginning of a musical; a melody of the songs played by the orchestra as a preview

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reprise

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in a musical, the repetition of a song, sometimes with new lyrics, in a later scene; the new meaning or subtext makes a dramatic point

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revue

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a program of satirical sketches, singing, and dancing about a particular theme; also called a "musical review"

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rock musical

answer

a musical that uses rock and roll music, psychedelic rock, or contemporary pop and rock

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showstopper

answer

in a musical, a big production number number which receives so much applause that it stops the show

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straight play

answer

in contrast to a musical, the category of plays without music

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variety show

answer

a program if unrelated singing, dancing, and comedy numbers

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vaudeville

answer

a popular form of stage entertainment from the 1880s to the 1930s, descended from burlesque; programs included slapstick comedy routines, song-and-dance numbers, magic acts, juggling, and acrobatic performances

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simplified, or suggested, realism

answer

a design style that suggests rather than exactly duplicates the look of a period

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selective realism

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a design style that mixes authentic looking elements with stylized ones

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surrealism

answer

a genre of theatre that emphasizes the subconscious realities of the character, usually through design, and often includes random sets with dreamlike qualities

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symbolism

answer

a design style or theatre genre in which a certain piece of scenery, a costume, or light represent that essence of the entire environment

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