Theatre Topics Guide
1. Character analysis & development - you must be able to list and describe them and how they relate to character analysis and or character development:
- a. Physical description
- b. Background
- c. Personality
- d. Relationships
- e. Words and Actions
- f. Motivation
- g. Conflict
- h. Change
2. Purpose of drama in Ancient Greece
- to honor the god of wine and fertility Dionysis
-to teach and entertain the audience (to change minds)
3. Performance Vocabulary
- a. Breaking character
- b. Blocking
- c. Organic blocking
- d. Diction
- e. Articulation
- f. Physicality
- g. Breath control
- h. Body language
- i. Sensory recall
- j. Projection
- k. Memorization
- l. Sensory recall
- m. Justified movement
4. Additional Topics
- a. Selective realism (scene design, Jo Mielziner)
- b. 20th Century Absurdist Drama
- c. Problem play
- d. Commedia dell’Arte (Italian Renaissance -historical period)
- e. Patronage - giving
- f. Community theatre - volunteers
5. People
- a. David Garrick
- b. Jo Mielziner
- c. Stanislavski
6. Dramatic Structure
- a. Plot of the play
- i. Defined by the arrangement of events
- ii. Driven by the characters
- b. The most effective tool the actor can use to prepare for a character in a
- performance is the script
- c. Sequence of the plot progression of a play - know the order and definition:
- i. inciting incident (also called initiating incident)
- ii. rising action – immediately follows the inciting incident
- iii. climax – turning point for the character, answers the dramatic question
- iv. falling action
- v. denouement
7. Important plays & works (match the author with the play - look up what genre/time period
- a. Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet
- b. Wilder’s Our Town
- c. Miller’s Sweet Bird of Youth
- d. Miller’s Death of a Salesman
- e. Frayn’s Noises Off
- f. William's Camino Real
- g. Albee's The Death of Bessie Smith
- h. O'Neill's Long Day's Journey Into Night
- i. Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead
- j. Price's Shout
- k. Ibsen's Doll's House
- l. Williams’s Glass Menagerie
- m. Simon's Prisoner of 42nd Street
8. Tony Awards – current events
9. Production roles – how they interact and function in producing a performance
- a. Scenic design - designs the set to establish the setting
- b. Costume design - designs the outfits
- c. Directing - THE BOSS
- d. Choreography - plans the dancing.
10. Mathematics connects with theatre.
- a. Technical applications. A triangle is important in geometry and in theatre blocking. Actors often stand in triangle formations onstage.
11. Dance connects with theatre through movement.
12. Implications and purposes of costuming - helps to establish things like groupings of people versus outsiders, ages, season, wealth, health, interests, etc.
13. The costume designer should meet and collaborate with the lighting designer during
pre-production to make sure the colors of the costumes and the lighting design
complement each other. THINK: Belle's dress was slightly brown but looked gold under the stage lights.
14. Types of stages and their function (benefits of one type over another)
- a. Arena
- b. Thrust
- c. Black box
- d. Proscenium
15. Copyright terms -be able to define and explain the terms below - don't mix them up!
- a. Royalty
- b. Intellectual property
- c. Public domain
- d. Copyright law
- e. Consequences of violations