Exit Exam

The fee one has to pay to obtain the rights to a published piece.

a. Play Title
b. Place of Performance (City, State, & Theatre)
c. Producing organization
d. Seating capacity
e. Ticket prices
f. Not-for-profit or for-profit group
g. Number of performances
h. Performance dates
i. Equity (Actor's Union) or non-Equity production

The person with primary responsibility for interpreting a script, rehearsing the actors, and coordinating all elements of production. (Also, casting the actors, working with designers, and rehearsing the actors [blocking].)

The individual responsible for running the show during performances, making sure everything function as intended. (Also, running the show during rehearsals, compiling the promptbook, and rehearsing the actors [once show has opened].)

The breaking down of a work in order to increase an understanding of it. Each element of the piece is examined.

This style of a production is used to show candid truths about ordinary existence within recognizable environments. The purpose of the detailed environment was to show how a person's character and life choices are determined in part by environmental or social forces and in part by gender or genetic forces. Visual elements, such as clothing, furnishings, and stage properties became very specific to the environment (ex. Realism, Naturalism).

This style of production offers a performance with full recognition that the actors are at work on a stage, speaking and acting out a script with music, under lights, and in costumes. There is no attempt to disguise the fact that a theatrical performance is taking place to entertain or instruct audiences (ex. Greek Theatre, Shakespeare, Musicals, Brecht).

A type of theatre using an architectural arch to frame a raised stage.

A type of theatre with audience seating on all sides of a performing space; also known as theatre-in-the-round.

A type of theatre with audience seating arranged around three, or occasionally two, sides of a raised platform; sometimes called an open stage.

A type of theatre with an infinitely flexible performance space in regard to seating arrangements and lighting.

Loudly "whispered" dialogue between characters that is clearly audible to audience.

Role of a young girl...

Role other than a leading man/lady or juvenile.

The area of the stage farthest away from the audience. A written stage direction might call for an actor to cross ___ table".

Opposite of upstage.

A stage floor that slopes upward toward the rear of the stage.

The area above the stage out of sight of the audience. It is usually at least as tall as the stage. It's where scenery for scene changes hangs. It is hung up on cables and lowered by pulleys for a scene change. When scenery is brought down, it is "flown in".

The framework above the stage in a close grid-iron formation to allow operators access for positioning lights and scenery.

Any arrangement of cloth or other material (including plaster) that curves around the rear of the stage and partially down the sides. Usually neutral in color, it is often lighted to represent the sky or used as a projection surface.

The most common form of theatre building in the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries. The "___" is like a picture frame through which the action can be seen. The term "______ ____" is also now used to describe any staging configuration in which the audience faces the stage straight-on regardless of whether or not there is a physical "____". Most theaters built from the 1950s onwards have an "open ___" which is essentially an undecorated aperture in a wall.

The amount of space on the stage that is not visible to the audience, ex. "off right", "off left", etc.

In Greek Theatre, the space in which the chorus sang and danced. In modern theatre, the ground floor audience seating. Also, the group of musicians who perform instrumental music in the theater.

Lower section of the second tier of seating.

In a traditional theater, the part of the stage which projects in front of the curtain. In many theaters this can be extended, sometimes by building out over the pit.

The circular horizontal rotating platform on a stage where a set is able to move in a circular motion.

Low trolley, either running in tracks or free moving, on which scenery (etc.) can be mounted.

A wheeled platform rolled out through a skene in ancient Greek Theatre. It was usually used to indicate that the scene taking place on this was an interior scene.

The earliest known examples of the use of scenery, as used in the ancient Greek and Roman Theatre. They probably consisted of painted prisms, which revolved to suggest a change in setting and also helped to project sound from the stage into the auditorium. Subsequently they were further developed on the Renaissance stage.

A crane that gave the impression of a flying actor.

A term for work and equipment related to a theatrical fly system. It exists primarily to move lights, sets, and drape to a stage or above it into a fly tower.

A template or pattern cut into a circular plate used to create patterns of projected light.

Can be outside or inside the light.

A device (generally used by carpenters) that holds things firmly together.

A transparent colored material that is used in theatre, event production, photography, videography and cinematography to color light and for color correction. Modern ones are thin sheets of polycarbonate or polyester, placed in front of a lighting fixture in the path of the beam.

A cabling device used in theatrical stage lighting. It allows two stage lighting instruments to be connected to one dimmer. It is wired in parallel, such that voltage is consistent throughout the circuit, and current is shared between the two instruments. They can be used in conjunction with cables with the same types of connectors.

Backing device for the lights to the grid, in case they ever should fall. (Heavily insulated and has to withstand much wear.)

Control board that controls the lights in the theater. It can also program specific lights (strobes, washes, spotlights, etc.) and areas. Connects active and passive electronic components such as resistors, capacitors, microprocessors, transistors or vacuum tubes.

Device used in theatrical lighting to shield the audience's eyes from the direct source of light (looks like a tin can with both of the sides taken off).

Adjusting the light to fit the director's vision of what would be most practical/useful/important in the scene. For example, minimizing the light to illuminate a specific area/person, broadening the light to include several people/things, changing the color of the light, etc.

Colors that are usually associated, and used for, different moods:
Bright warm light = gaiety and well being.
Cool light = somberness
Sharp, bright lights = starkness

Thin black rope like twine that can tie set pieces together, etc.

A chart that lists separately each lighting instrument with specifications (type, wattage, lens, etc.), mounting position, color filter, and the dimmer connected to it.

A detailed diagram of electrical rigging.

The area on the stage with light focus that is most color saturated.

A light that illuminates all or most of the stage with one color (general light).

May be used to reduce to contrast of a scene and provide some illumination for the areas of the image that are in shadow.

Used by the costume designer that lists the clothes (and sometimes important props) that each character wears. It is also sometimes used backstage during the performance.

The designer's idea for what the characters will be wearing. It may fit the style/period of the play and reflect the playwright's intent, or it could be justified by the director's interpretation.

What the actors wear onstage -- important because, otherwise, the stage lights will "wash out" the actors' faces or bodies.

The "base" of the make-up -- color is closest to the actor's skin tone and gets rid of blemishes or scars. Basically, it creates an almost neutral canvas.

Darker/lighter shades of make-up used to give dimensions to the "canvas". It is usually used to accentuate the bone structure and other facial features (jawline, cheekbones, nose, etc.) but it can also be used to "reconstruct" the face. For example, extending this further down the nose will appear as if your nose is suddenly longer.

A representation of the given circumstances and a tension device for discovering and illustrating the dramatic action of a play in specific terms of space and of the necessary obstacles that break up that space. It is a 2D drawing of the entire set.

Indicates the type of construction, materials, methods to be used in assembling each unit as seen from the rear.

Show units in two dimensions from the front, indicating molding, baseboards, and platforms.

Show units in profile, indicating thickness and shape.

Color of base coat of each unit.

Equals size.

The use of this can create status. Variety in this can be attained with platforms, or with position (standing, sitting, kneeling, lying).

The point of peak emotional intensity, and the point of maximum disturbance. It often answers the question that was posed at the beginning of the play. All parts of the plot have conspired to bring about the chain reaction of explosions that consummate in a dramatic cataclysm.

An occurrence that sets the main action in motion. The single event that sparks the "first explosion" of the play. It is "the event that lit the fuse before the curtain goes up".

A summary of a play's incidents and also the organization of all elements into a meaningful pattern. It is the overall structure of the play. This is the succession of carefully selected and arranged events designed to create an audience response. This gives shape to story, the particular way the playwright tells the story, not the story itself.

Any element that changes the direction of the action; the discovery of new information (ex. arrival of a new character).

Also known as the denouement, the French word meaning "untying". It is the final resolution of the action, the untying of the knot created by the complications. The conflict is over, and equilibrium is restored.

The part of the play that provides important background information. It sets forth information (about earlier events, identity/relationship of characters, present situation). It generally introduces the audience of the everyday world of the characters. It is the single most important function in describing the inciting incident.

The repetition of the inital consonant sounds at the beginning of words in a phrase.

The repetition of vowel sounds that can occur at the beginning of or within words in a phrase.

A sudden emotional breakdown or climax that constitutes overwhelming feelings of great sorrow, pity, laughter or any extreme change in emotion that resutls in restoration, renewal and revitalization. This term was first used by Aristotle to refer to the emotional cleansing or purgation that would overcome an audience after watching a tragedy (a release of pent-up emotion or energy).

An extended speech, directed to the audience rather than to other characters, in which the speaker explores his thoughts and feelings. It is different from a "dramatic aside" (a comment spoken during a passage of dialogue not meant to be heard by other characters); in this, a character seems to step outside the time of the play for reflection.

Consisted of four religious festivals, three of which offered theatrical performances in honor of a goddess.

Showcased Athenian wealth and power. It became a religious and civic celebration of Athenian superiority over the other Greek states.

An Athenian playwright who won Best Tragedy in the first noted theatrical contest in 534 B.C. The contest, in which three tragic dramatists presented four plays, took place at City Dionysia each year. The plays consisted of three tragedies and one satyr. From his name, we have derived the term "thespian", which is a term often used in reference to actors today.

The Greek philopsher who studied at the Academy in Athens. There, he learned under philosophers such as Plato and later took his knowledge and began teaching students such as Alexander the Great. He wrote on many different subjects, as well as his most famous treatise on drama, "Poetics".

Took place at the Theatre of Dionysus, located on the slope of a hill beneath the Athenian Acropolis. The theatre sits 14,000 - 17,000 spectators.

Seating place; origin of the word "theatre".

Known as an altar in the middle of the orchestra (dancing place) of a Greek Theatre.

Located on the side of the orchestra, opposite the audience was this hut or tent. Used as a place for the actors to retire or change costumes. Eventually, it became much more elaborate in size and design, and posed as a background. The roof became a "high" place in which actors playing a God would be able to appear during plays.

Located on either side of the skene, was used as actor/chorus entrances and exits.

1. Actors
2. Chorus (15 men)
3. Supernumeraries (extras -- did not speak in most of the play)
4. Musicians

Resembled that of an athlete and an opera singer. They were put on controlled exercise and diet plans, as well as voice and dance training. They always performed in unison or two groups of 7 with one leader.

A flautist who preceded the chorus.

Wore masks (made of wood, cork, or linen) and tunics (long-sleeved and heavily embroidered).

Wealthy and well educated, served as one of ten generals in the highest elected office in the Athenian state. As a dramatist, he wrote more than 120 plays including Ajax, Antigone, Oedipus the King, Electra, Trachiniae, Philoctetes, and Oedipus at Colonus.

A Greek dramatist who wrote about 90 plays in his lifetime. His most well known as Alcestis, Medea, Hippolytus, The Trojan Woman, Electra, The Bacchae, and Iphigenia in Aulis. He is also the writer of the only surviving satyr from Ancient Greece, Cyclops. Was rarely honored during his lifetime because he questioned many Athenian beliefs and customs. He also suggested that the Gods of the Greek myth were morally corrupt.

Was brought up in Carthage and brought to Rome were he was enslaved, educated, and finally freed. He wrote six plays, Andia, Mother-in-Law, Self-Tormentor, Eunuch, Phormio, and The Brothers. He was more interested in character than anything else. He also created double plots that gave him the opportunity to demonstrate contrast in human behavior.

Born in Spain, but traveled to Rome at a young age. As a philosopher and dramatist, He wrote numerous tragedies, nine of which have survived: Medea, Oedipus, and Phaedra. Although the subject of his tragedies were similar to those of the Greek dramatists, his plays were remarkably different, not only in text but in style. For example, most of the action and horror in his plays took place on stage, as opposed to the Greek rules that all violence had to take place off stage. His plays were written to be read rather than performed.

Was a member of a literary circle that included Virgil and Lucius Varius Rufus, who introduced him to Maecenas, friend and confidant of Augustus. He wrote many Latin phrases that remain in use (in Latin or in translation) including "carpe diem", "seize the day".

In medieval theatre, a platform on wheels (resembling a modern float) on which plays were mounted and moved from one playing place to another.

They focused on the representation of Bible stories in churches as tableau. These were cycles of multiple plays. Each play was performed on a pageant wagon that moved from location to location until all of the plays in the cycle had been seen at each stop along the route.

Liturgical plays similar to the mystery plays however -- not always performed in cycles. The themes represented in these plays were staged to be as realistic as possible to reinforce faith.

A type of medieval drama that treated the spiritual trials of ordinary persons, usually an allegory about the temptation besetting all human beings.

A type of performance that emerged in Italy during the sixteenth century. Starting from a scenario that merely outlined the situation, complications, and outcome, the actors improvised the dialogue and action. Each actor always played the same stock character, who wore his or her distinctive costume and mask. The most popular characters were the zanni, or comic servants, whose contrivances severed both to create and resolved complications. Companies played throughout Europe and enjoyed great popularity until the middle of the eighteenth century.

A type of comic drama that usually emphasizes situation over character or idea. Coincidence, misunderstanding, ridiculous violence, and rapid pace are its typical ingredients.

They work closely with the production management team for the presentation of the theatrical production. Often in regional or smaller theatres the responsibility falls under the production manager.

1. The maintenance and management of the theater building itself.
2. The ushering of patrons in front of house areas.
3. The selling of tickets.

Used by many symphony orchestras to designate the primary conductor and artistic leader of the orchestra. The responsibility brings an almost unlimited influence over the particular orchestra's affairs. They not only conduct concerts, but also control what music the orchestra will perform or record, and has much authority regarding hiring, firing, and other personnel decisions over an orchestra's musicians. In American orchestras, they also assist with fund-raising. They are the primary focus of publicity for the orchestra, as what is often called its "public face".

1. The overall musical performance, including ensuring that the cast knows the music thoroughly
2. Supervising the musical interpretation of the performers and pit orchestra
3. Conducting the orchestra

The person whose responsibility is to design costumes for a film/stage production. They are considered part of the "production team", alongside the director, scenic and lighting designers. They might also collaborate with a hair/wig master or a make-up designer, with the latter two operating on a subordinate level.

1. Must work in consultation with not only the director, but the set and lighting designers to ensure that the overall design of the production works together
2. Ensure that the designs allow the actor to move in a manner consistent with the historical period and enables the actor to execute the director's blocking of the production without damage to the garments
3. Enhance a character's persona, within the framework of the director's vision, through the way that character is dressed.

A theatre that provokes us to think about morality, human relations, history, or politics.

Emerged in France in 1950s. They believed that rational and meaningful choices seemed impossible in such a universe. For them, truth consisted of chaos and lack of order, logic, or certainty (thus, they averted cause-and-effect relationships in their plays). It extended the relativist view as far as it could go.

Developed in Germany in the 1920s in the wake of expressionism. They desired to transform society. Bertolt Brecht is the most prominent name associated with this. It is called what it's called because it is thought to have more in common with similar styles of poetry than the theatre of the Renaissance.

Emerged around 1910 in Germany, after WWI. It sought to encounter materialism and industrialism, which it saw as the principal perverters of the human spirit. It believed that industrialism turned people into machines and caused conditioned responses and souls shriveled by materialistic values. Its properties wished to reshape the world and make it conform to what is best in the human spirit and therby achieve "the regeneration of man".

This movement began in France in the late 19th century; it was an art form that went against the grain of the traditional.

Was concerned with those impulses buried within the unconscious mind. ___, one of the most well-known names in this theatrical movement, thought that the key lies in confronting internal divisions. He was also a fan of Surrealism which focused on one aspect of Freud's teachings which was importance in the unconscious. According to this movement, significant truths are those which are deeply buried in the psyche, suppressed by the conscious mind. He wanted to do away with scenery all together and replace it with symbolic costumes and properties. He often described lighting as "vibrating, shredded". He considered these properties to allow one to surpass his conscious mind.

- Intermingling of visual arts, dance, music, video, and theatre
- may be improvised
- often a solo performance
- possible use of props and costumes
- often explores issues of sexuality, violence, and power in ways that challenge marketplace values, governmental authority, and the way the media manipulates perceptions
- no rules!

- Wrote Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, Fences, The Piano Lesson, Two Trains Running, Seven Guitars
- African-American playwright
- His plays don't exploit themes of rage about whites; instead, they focus on African-American identity and quests for fulfillment and dignity
- Felt strongly about the need for separate African-American theatres

- Favorite form of theatre in the 19th century
- Develops a temporarily serious action that is initiated and kept in motion by the malicious designs of a villian; a happy resolution is made possible by destroying the villain's power
- Depicts a world where good and evil are sharply differentiated; there is seldom any question where the audience's sympathies should lie

- Because financial conditions forced Broadway producers to cater almost exclusively to mass audiences, theatrical groups found out-of-the-way buildings where low production costs permitted them to offer short runs of plays not likely to appeal to Broadway audiences
- Off-Broadway companies play to small audiences because theatre seating more than two hundred people had to adhere to fire and safety provisions more stringent than the companies would have been able to meet
- An important off-Broadway group was Circle in the Square, which became successful after their production of Tennessee William' "Summer and Smoke", which was a failure on Broadway
- This movement led to the Off-off Broadway movement

- Was the government's first financial support of theatre in the US
- Its primary task was to provide free, adult, uncensored theatre
- Best remembered for the Living Newspaper, a form that aimed at achieving in the theatre something comparable to the printed newspaper
- Existed from 1935 to 1939 as a branch of the Works Progress Administration

- Works Progress Administration
- Provided jobs in many fields, including theatre
- Created as a reaction to the Depression and growing unemployment

- Method of creating and promoting silent film stars
- Studios would select promising young actors and create personas form them, often inventing new names and backgrounds
- Put an emphasis on the image rather than the acting

- Genre of stage performances popular in North America from the early 1880s until the 1930s
- It developed from many sources including the concert saloon, minstrelsy, freak shows, dime museums, and burlesque
- The night was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts
- Acts included musicians, dancers, comedians, trained animals, magicians, acrobats, one-act plays, scenes from plays, athletes, and short movies

- tells a coherent story with first-person lyrics sung by the characters
- it consists of singers acting out a specific character within the drama
- Tommy, Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita, The Wall, Rent

- style of street theatre popularized in the 1960s, usually political in nature
- means little war in Spanish, describes the act of spontaneous, surprise performances in unlikely public places with an unsuspecting audience
- these performances draw attention to a political/social issue through satire, protest, and carnivalesque techniques
- Popular performance groups: Bread and Puppet Theatre, The Church of Euthanasia, Clown Army, etc.

- theatrical entertainment of broad and parodic humor, which usually consists of comic skits (and sometimes striptease).
- Origins in 19th century music halls and vaudeville
- In the 20th century, it became a blend of satire, performance art, and adult entertainment
- Performers, usually female, would create elaborate sets, with colorful costumes, mood appropriate music, and dramatic lighting
- Sometimes the performances included novelty acts such as fire-breathing or contortionists, to enhance the impact of the performances
- Turns social norms head over heels; literally means "in an upside down style"

In the 14th Century, it became a solid type of theatre in Japan (rising from its folk roots) due to royal patronage.

A walkway that leads onto stage right position from an entrance doorway at right angle to the backboard in Noh Theatre.

Main actor in Noh.

Shite's companions in Noh.

Boy in Noh.

Secondary characters in Noh.

Follies of human nature/society, gov., etc.

Same characters remaining in similar situations. Developed out of variety shows like vaudeville. As media developed, audiences could tune in regularly.

Vocal techniques that affect how a word or note is phrased. (Music: slur, phrase mark, staccato, etc.; Voice: making words clear by pronouncing the specific sounds within the words.)

Breathing, use abdomen, diaphragm, back and legs for support. When exhaling, protrusion should come from lower stomach area, not chest.

The process of producing vocal sound by the vibration of the vocal folds that is in turn modified by the resonance of the vocal tract. It takes place in the larynx when the vocal folds are brought together and breath pressure is applied to them in such a way that vibration ensues causing an audible source of acoustic energy.

The buzz created by the vocal folds vibrates the air column and this in turn causes the structures above and around the larynx to vibrate/resonate as well.

Any of the several consonants sounds produced at the back of the tongue, mouth, or throat. Sometimes harsh (like French "r"), "ing".

Relaxing muscles (jaw, throat, belly, back) to allow the diaphragm to be able to fully support breath without being hindered by muscle tension.

A way for directors to look at the scene from a visual aspect. It also serves as a tool to generate not just ground plan ideas, but related production concept ideas as well.

A liaison between AEA and the actors in a company.