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