Playing Spaces and Stage Directions
A playing space with audience on three sides.
What is a Thrust Playing Space?
These are the characteristics of actor's neutral.
The actor stands with feet shoulder-width apart, hands by their side, knees are relaxed, and face is neutral. The actor is silent.
What is a ritual?
A ritual is something performed repeatedly in exactly the same way for a specific outcome.
These are the 3 main types of Greek plays
Tragedies, Comedies, & Satyr plays
These are the 3 names for the period after the fall of the Roman Empire?
Medieval Period, Middle Ages, Dark Ages
A playing space with audience on all four sides?
What is a Theatre-in-the-round or Arena playing space?
These are the 3 actor's tools.
Voice, Body, & Imagination
What is a popular theory for the origin of theatre?
Hunters would return from a hunt and reenact the hunt for the rest of the tribe. To entertain the tribe & to teach younger hunters
These are the 3 main Greek tragedians?
Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides
Why was theatre outlawed during this time?
Church leaders believed that theatre was vulgar and evil. They were also threatened because it criticized those in charge & commented on society.
These are three characteristics of a proscenium playing space.
Audience sits on one side, facing stage
Proscenium arch frames the stage like a picture frame
Often room for an orchestra pit
Deep stage area
Front of stage, APRON, might extend past proscenium
Easy scene changes & detailed scenery
Theatre OR Theater?
I was working late in the ______ when I saw a ghost!
Theater (Playing space)
What are 3 example of ritual in contemporary theatre practices?
Theatre class rituals:
Warm up/Check In/Reinforcement
Ritual within performance:
Unison movement & action/chorus/ensemble
Who is Dionysus?
The Greek god of wine and the harvest--celebrated in the festival of Dionysus
What was a trope? What was a set of tropes performed together known as?
A short biblical scene. Cycle.
These are the nine stage areas labeled on a 3x3 grid.
Let me see your drawings!
Theatre OR Theater?
What is the purpose of teaching ______ in schools?
Theatre (art form)
What is the main difference between Ritual and Theatre?
Theatre is for entertainment & ritual is for efficacy (an intended outcome) but there is a wide spectrum in between
This is the name of Creon's son in Antigone?
Who is Haemon?
What are the key features of morality plays?
These shows usually have a LESSON at the end
These shows are still based in CHRISTIAN thought--as in good deeds on earth, will get you far in the afterlife
The characters are usually named with ALLEGORY names--such as “Greed”, “Humanity”, or “Death”
This is how you spell the name of the playing space with audience on only one side
Proscenium
This is the purpose of check in.
To gauge how our classmates are doing each day & inform us on how to best approach and care for one another.
Why was it difficult to separate theater and religion in many primitive civilizations?
The rituals became the religious celebrations of the tribes. In these primitive times, religion and theater were the same. In many civilizations that followed, it was hard to separate theater from religion. Theatrical performances were an important part of almost all religious ceremonies.
Roman theatre was competing with these other forms of entertainment.
Gladiator battles, sea battles, lion hunting, public executions, etc.
Answers vary