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Theater Chapters 1-4

physical space and also a art form
3 categories of art
literary, visual, and performing
literary art
novels, short stories, and poetry
visual art
painting, sculpture, architecture, and photography. focuses on sight and touch
theater, dance, opera, and music. takes up time and space
elements of theater
audience, performers, text or script, director, theater space, and design elements
written form of the play. mostly dialogue
the person who rehearses the performers and coordinates the work of the designers and others to make sure the production is cohesive
visual aspects
costumes, lighting, and some form of scenic background and sound
having to do with any activity- political, economic, artistic, cultural- in which nations and people around the world relate and interact
repetitions of a scene in film
aesthetic distance
appreciation of artistic event. audience feels "safe" they feel emotionally comfortable
willing suspension of disbelief
we want so much to believe in the reality of what is happening onstage that we willingly put aside all literal and practical considerations in order to enter into the world of the drama. as an audience member i will stop disbelieving as an audience member
homogeneous audience
audience members come mostly from similar backgrounds and experiences. examples would be a college production audience would mostly have college students of the same age
audience of many ethnic and social backgrounds of all ages
someone who observes theater and then analyzes and comments on it
find fault or to understand and appraise
usually works for a newspaper, a magazine, or a tv station, and reports on what has occurred at a theater event
auteur director
usually attempts to present his or her own version of a dramatic work, not necessarily that of the playwright
descriptive criticism
criticism that attempts to describe as clearly and accurately as possible what is happening in a performance
prescriptive criticism
criticism that offers advice and sometimes suggests rules for what should be done in theater
you feel exactly the same feeling as the character in the play
you feel bad for the character at all
playwrights must
select the specific subject, determine the focus and emphasis, establish a purpose, develop dramatic structure, create dramatic characters, establish point of view
order in which actions happen
the collision of opposition of persons or forces in a drama that gives rise to dramatic action
opposed forces
conflicting characters have clear strong goals or objectives but there also must be a sort of balance between them
climatic structure
contained, intense, structure in which little time passes until the climax occurs
episodic structure
cover an extended period of time, sometimes many years and ranges over a number of locations. it can jump from 3 years then jump to 2 years
stock characters
familiar traits and actions are always predictable. they are stereotypical characters
dominant trait
one aspect of such a character dominates, making for an unbalanced, often comic personality
minor characters
characters who play a small part in the overall action
the leading character in a play, the chief or outstanding figure in action
the character who opposes the protagonist
opening scene
establishes the setting, a conflict, opposing forces, and some characters
a theater that provides space for performances but is is not owned by a specific group of actors/actresses
often defined as the high point in the action or the final and most significant crisis in the action
secondary plot that reinforces or runs parallel to the major plot in an episodic play
point within a play when the action reaches an important confrontation or takes a critical turn
that which delays or prevents the achieving of a goal by a character. creates complication and conflict