1 / 31

Theatre Vocabulary

Theatre Vocabulary. Words and terms you should know. Section 1: theater Structure. Parts and places inside a theatER. First things first…. Theat ER : The structure within which theatrical performances are given. Usually includes an orchestra or seating area, and a stage.

Download Presentation

Theatre Vocabulary

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript


  1. Theatre Vocabulary Words and terms you should know

  2. Section 1: theaterStructure Parts and places inside a theatER.

  3. First things first… • TheatER: The structure within which theatrical performances are given. Usually includes an orchestra or seating area, and a stage. • TheatRE: A collaborative art form including the composition, enactment, and interpretation of dramatic presentations for an audience.

  4. The Actor’s perspective… • Center stage: The center of the area defined as the stage. • Downstage: The stage area toward the audience. • Stage left: The left side of the stage from the perspective of an actor facing the audience. • Stage right: The right side of the stage from the perspective of an actor facing the audience. • Upstage: Used as a noun, the stage area away from the audience; used as a verb, to steal the focus of a scene. • Green Room: Our classroom, or the area backstage where the actors wait during performances.

  5. The Audience perspective… • Catwalks: Platforms and walkways above the audience that are used by stage technicians to access lighting, sound and effects instruments. • Orchestra Pit: The area between the stage and the audience where the orchestra plays. • Front of house: The area in the theater where the audience sits • Offstage/backstage: The area of the stage concealed by the proscenium and drapery that is not seen by the audience • Booth: Room above the audience wherein the light board operator, sound board operator, and stage manager run the show.

  6. Checkpoint: Define these terms • Catwalks • Front of house • Orchestra pit • Green room • Upstage • Stage Left • Stage Right • Center Stage • Downstage • Booth • Backstage/offstage

  7. The big Picture… • Proscenium: The view of the stage for the audience; also called a proscenium arch. The archway is in a sense the frame for stage as defined by the boundaries of the stage beyond which a viewer cannot see. • Teaser: the border drapes across the top of the stage that conceals the lighting instruments • Tormentor: The border drapes on the sides of the stage that conceal the backstage areas • Cyclorama: The large muslin drape hung across the extreme upstage area that represents the sky. • Grand Drape: The main curtain that conceals the stage from the audience. Usually red. • Apron: The area of the stage on the audience side of the grand drape.

  8. Now you see it, Now you don’t… • Fly Rail: The ropes, pulleys, and arbors off stage right that control the height of the drapes, electrics, battens, and hanging scenery. • Battens: Pipes hung above the width of the stage that can be used for hanging scenery. • Electric: A batten affixed with electrical outlets used for hanging and powering lighting instruments. • Backdrop: A large piece of painted fabric hung behind the actors. Usually painted to resemble a realistic location.

  9. Checkpoint:Define these terms • Proscenium • Teaser • Tormentor • Cyclorama • Grand drape • Apron • Fly Rail • Battens • Electric • Backdrop

  10. Theatre Structure Quiz:Scavenger Hunt • Select a partner (ONE partner) • Take out a SINGLE piece of paper for your team. • Number it from 1-21 • Find the numbers in the space, and write the corresponding term next to the number. • The first 3 teams to turn their quiz in to me (all terms correct) get a prize!

  11. Section 2:Acting Vocabulary “Speak the speech, I pray you, as I pronounced it to you, trippingly on the tongue…”

  12. Who Are you? • Actor/Actress: A male or female person who performs a role in a play, television, or movie. • Director: The person who oversees the entire process of staging a production. • Ensemble: A group of theatrical artists working together to create a theatrical production. • Stage crew: The backstage technical crew responsible for running the show. In small theatre companies the same persons build the set and handle the load-in. Then, during performances, they change the scenery and handle the curtain. • Stage manager: The director’s liaison backstage during rehearsal and performance. The stage manager is responsible for the running of each performance.

  13. Moving about… • Blocking: The planning and working out of the movements of actors on stage. • Cross: A movement from one part of the stage to another • Position: The direction an actor is facing relative to the audience, but from the actor’s perspective. • Gesture: An expressive movement of the body or limbs. • Tableau: A silent and motionless depiction of a scene created by actors, often from a picture (plural tableaux).

  14. Checkpoint:Define these terms • Actor/Actress • Director • Ensemble • Stage Crew • Stage Manager • Blocking • Cross • Position • Gesture • Tableau

  15. Oral exam… • Volume: The degree of loudness or intensity of a voice. • Vocal quality: The characteristics of a voice, such as shrill, nasal, raspy, breathy, booming, and so forth. • Projection: The placement and delivery of volume, clarity, and distinctness of voice for communicating to an audience. • Pitch: The highness or lowness of voice • Articulation: The clear and precise pronunciation of words.

  16. Feelings, nothing more than feelings… • Sense memory: Memories of sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and textures. It is used to help define a character in a certain situation. • Subtext: Information that is implied by a character but not stated by a character in dialogue, including actions and thoughts • Objective: A character’s goal or intention • Motivation: A character’s reason for doing or saying things in a play. • Characterization: The development and portrayal of a personality through thought, action, dialogue, costuming, and makeup.

  17. Checkpoint:Define these terms • Volume • Projection • Vocal Quality • Pitch • Articulation • Sense memory • Subtext • Objective • Motivation • Characterization

  18. Section 3:The page From Billy Wiggle-sticks, to Eric Bogosian, it all starts with a script.

  19. Set the action to the word… • Text: Printed words, including dialogue and the stage directions for a script. • Dialogue: The conversation between actors on stage. • Monologue: A long speech by a single character. • Play: The stage representation of an action or a story; a dramatic composition. • Stage Direction: The actions of a play printed in the script by the publisher.

  20. A Comedy of Errors… • Genre: Themain types of literary form, principally tragedy and comedy, but also forms that are more specific such as the revenge tragedy, or comedy of manners. • Style: The distinctive and unique manner in which a writer arranges words to achieve particular effects. Usually associated with a historical era or period of time it was most popular. • Dramatic structure: The particular literary structure and style in which plays are written • Tragedy: In the classical sense, a play that demonstrates a character’s fall from grace, power, position, or moral standing through their own actions. • Comedy : A theatrical work that is intentionally humorous.

  21. Checkpoint:Define these terms • Text • Dialogue • Monologue • Play • Stage Direction • Genre • Style • Dramatic Structure • Tragedy • Comedy

  22. The Plot thickens… • Plot: The ordered structure of a play as the action progresses through the story. • Rising action: The part of a plot consisting of complications and discoveries that create conflict. • Protagonist: The character through whose eyes we see the action of a play. • Antagonist: A person or a situation that opposes the protagonist’s goals or desires. • Conflict : Opposition of persons or forces giving rise to dramatic action.

  23. …and thickens… • Crisis: A decisive point in the plot of a play on which the outcome of the remaining action depends. • Climax: The point of greatest dramatic tension in a theatrical work. • Denouement: The final resolution of the conflict in a plot – the “tying up of loose ends”. • Exposition: Detailed information revealing the facts of a plot. • Given Circumstances: the information laid out in the exposition – where, when, socioeconomic conditions, political climate, etc.

  24. Checkpoint:Define these terms • Plot • Rising Action • Protagonist • Antagonist • Conflict • Exposition • Crisis • Rising action • Climax • Denouement

  25. Section 4:The Process Once more… WITH FEELING!

  26. 2 Minutes to shine • Cold reading: A reading of a script done by actors who have not previously reviewed the play. • Dress rehearsals:The final few rehearsals just prior to opening night in which the show is run with full technical elements. Full costumes and makeup are worn. • Tech rehearsals: Rehearsals where technical elements such as sound and lighting are added to the show. • Pacing: The tempo of an entire theatrical performance. • Informal theatre: A theatrical performance that focuses on small presentations, such as one taking place in a classroom setting. Usually, it is not intended for public view. • Formal theatre: Theatre that focuses on public performance in the front of an audience and in which the final production is most important.

  27. I’ll take Theatre Styles for 800, Alex. • Improvisation: A spontaneous style of theatre through which scenes are created without advance rehearsal or a script. • Melodrama: A dramatic form popular in the 1800s and characterized by an emphasis on plot and physical action (versus characterization), cliff-hanging events, heart- tugging emotional appeals, the celebration of virtue, and a strongly moralistic tone. • Mime: An incident art form based on pantomime in which conventionalized gestures are used to express ideas rather than represent actions. • Musical theatre: A type of entertainment containing music, songs, and, usually, dance.

  28. Checkpoint:Define these terms • Cold Reading • Dress Rehearsal • Tech Rehearsal • Pacing • Informal Theatre • Formal Theatre • Improvisation • Melodrama • Mime • Musical Theatre

  29. Theatre styles for 1000. • Pantomime: Acting without words through facial expression, gesture, and movement. • Puppetry: Almost anything brought to life by human hands to create a performance. Types of puppets include rod, hand, and marionette. • Theatrical conventions: The established techniques, practices, and devices unique to theatrical productions.

  30. Where does he get those wonderful toys… • Wagon: Any piece of scenery on a wheeled platform designed to be moved on and off stage. • Props (properties): Items carried on stage by an actor; small items on the set used by the actors. • Set Piece: Anything not carried by an actor. • Masks: Coverings worn over the face or part of the face of an actor to emphasize or neutralize facial characteristics. • Make-up: Cosmetics and sometimes hairstyles that an actor wears on stage to emphasize facial features, historical periods, characterizations, and so forth. • Costume: Clothing worn by an actor on stage during a performance.

  31. Checkpoint:Define these terms • Pantomime • Puppetry • Theatrical Conventions • Wagon • Properties • Set piece(s) • Masks • Makeup • Costume

More Related