TH 141 exam #1

Peter Brook

"All that is needed for theatre to occur is an empty space and someone to walk across that empty space while someone else watches"

Pablo Picasso

"Art is a lie that enables us to realize the truth"

Ayn Rand

"Art is a selective re-creation of reality according to an artist's metaphysical value judgements. Man's profound need of art lies in the fact that his cognitive faculty is conceptual, i.e., that he acquires knowledge by means of abstractions, and needs the power to bring his wildest metaphysical abstractions into his immediate perceptual awareness"

Robert Edmond Jones

"Here is the secret of the flame that burns in the work of the great artists of the theatre. They seem so much more aware than we are, and so much more awake, and so much more alive that they make us feel that what we call living is not living at all, but a kind of sleep. Their knowledge, their wealth of emotions, their wonder, their elation, their swift, clear seeing surrounds every occasion with an expression of values that enriches it beyond anything which we, in our happy satisfaction had ever imagined. In their hands it becomes not only a thing of beauty but a thing of power. And we see it all, beauty and power alike, as a part of the life of the theatre"

drama

A form of theatre that tells a story about people, their actions, and the conflicts that result

copyright

A legal guarantee granted by the government to authors, composers, choreographers, inventors, publishers, and corporations that allows them to control and profit from their creative work and intellectual property

theatre

A performing art that is always changing and whose every performance is unique

experimental plays

A play that pushes the limits of theatre by eliminating the distance between actor and audience, trying out new staging techniques, or even questioning the nature of theatre

theatre of the people

A type of theatre that provides a forum for everyday people to express themselves

Harlem Renaissance

An african american literary, artistic, and musical movement during the 1920s and 1930s centered in the Harlem neighborhood in NYC

literary arts

Arts created with written language

pictorial arts

Arts, such as drawing and painting, created by applying line and color to two-dimensional surfaces

spatial arts

Arts, such as sculptures and architecture, that are created by manipulating material in space

performing arts

Arts, such as theatre, music, opera, and dance, whose medium is an act performed by a person

bourgeois theatre

Commercial theatre productions that, like big-budget Hollywood films, pursue maximum profits by reaffirming the audience's values

historical theatre

Dramas that use the styles, themes, and staging of plays of a particular historical period

stereotypes

Generalized assumptions about people who are not like us

corporate funding

Money contributed to the arts inculding the theatre from companies of all sizes

minstrel show

Stage entertainment consisting of songs, dances, and comic scenes performed by white actors in blackface, originated in the 19th century

Yiddish Broadway

The Jewish theatre district on 2nd avenue in New York in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century

censorship

The altering, restricting, or suppressing of information, images or words circulated within a society

multiculturalism

The attempt to achieve a pluralistic society by overcoming all forms of discrimination including racism, sexism, and homophobia

aesthetic distance

The audience's awareness that art and reality are not the same

aesthetics

The branch of philosophy that deals with the nature and expression of beauty

National Endowment for the Arts (NEA)

The federal agency that disperses tax dollars as grants to fund cultural programs

public domain

The legal realm of intellectual property that is not protected by copyright or patent and belongs to the community at large

medium

The method, substance, and technique used to create a work of art. Vehicle for communication

government funding

The money spent each year on the arts by federal, state, and local governments

ethnocentrism

The practice of using ones own culture as the standard for judging other cultures

values

The principles, standards, and qualities considered worthwhile or desirable within a given society

enculturation

The process by which we learn about our culture

cultural theatre

The type of theatre that is designed to support the heritage, customs, and point of view of a particular people, religion, class country, or community

commercial theatre

The type of theatre that, like the majority of Hollywood screen entertainments, has entertainment and profitability as its reason for existence

culture

The values, standards, and patterns of behavior of a particular group of people expressed in customs, language, rituals, history, religion, social and political institutions, and art and entertainment

political theatre

Theatre in which playwrights, directors, and actors express their personal opinions about current issues

cross-cultural theatre

Theatre that joins contrasting ideas, whether staging techniques or myths and rituals from diverse cultures into a single work in order to find parallels between cultures and promote cultural pluralism

conflict

They key to the movement of a story; the element that qualifies a theatrical work as a "play"

bowdlerize

To edit out vulgar, obscene or other wise possibly objectionable material before publication

human creation, subject and medium, reaction, and structure

What are the four qualities of art?

1. What were the artist(s) trying to do? 2. How well did the artist(s) accomplish, or fail to accomplish, their purpose? 3. Was it worth doing and why?

What are the three questions that a critic should ask?

By Skill, Beauty, and Meaning

What are the three ways art can be viewed as?

writers for hire

Writers such as screen and television writers who sell their words to production companies rather than retaining a copyright to them

will call

a booth or stand where audience members pick up the tickets they previously ordered by telephone or over the internet

dramatic criticism

a discriminating, often scholarly interpretation and analysis of a play. an artist's body of work or type of period of theatre

playwright's note

a not in a program in which the playwright conveys to the audience his or her artistic or personal thoughts about writing the play.

director's note

a note in a program in which the director conveys to the audience his or her artistic or personal thought about a play.

preview performances

a performance of a play open to the public before the official opening night

talk-back

a post performance discussion where the audience gets a chance to meet, and perhaps ask questions of the director, actors, and sometimes the playwright.

representational theatre

a style of theatre in which the actor attempts to create the illusion of reality, and go about their business as if there were no audience present

League of Resident Theaters (LORT)

an association of professional theatres that work together to promote the general welfare of the major regional theatres around the US.

Licensing Act of 1737

an english law that gave the lord chamberlain the authority to censor plays. the term "legitimate theatre" comes from this time

fourth wall

an imaginary wall separating the actors from the audience. an innovation of realism in the theatre in the mid 1800's

blackface

black makeup used by white performers playing black roles as in minstrel shows

realism

cultural movement behind theatrical realism. began around 1850 and popularized the idea that plays could be a force for social and political change.

patrons

individual contributors to the arts

royalty payment

payment to playwrights or to their estates in exchange for staging a copyrighted play

theatre of identity

plays by and about a particular culture or ethnic group

theatre of protest

plays that criticize the policies of the dominant culture and demand justice

souvenir programs

programs sold at large professional performances that have more pictures and information about the production and cast than the basic program.

reviews

published or broadcasted opinions of critics about whether a play is worth seeing. this can compare to dramatic criticism

willing suspension of disbelief

the audiences acceptance of the quasi-reality of a work of art that enables the playwright, director, and actors to communicate perceptions about reality. the term was coined by english poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge

parody

the exaggerated imitations that are done for comic effect or political criticism

group dynamics

the functioning of people when they come together in groups

road houses

theatre that has no resident company of actors of its own, but instead accepts productions from touring theatre companies.

paper the house

to give away free tickets to the families and friends of cast members in order to make it appear as though the play is popular.

presentational theatre

type of theatre that makes no attempt to offer a realistic illusion on stage. the actors openly acknowledge the audience

curtain

usually the start of a show, but can also be the end of a show or an act. signaled by the raising or lowering of the curtain.

subject

what a work of art is about, what it reflects, and what it attempts to comprehend