Genre- type of play

1
Genre- type of play

• Tragedy- 5th c. BC hero larger than life, gains
  moral victory but suffers physical defeat he has
  tragic flaw that participates in his own downfall
• Comedy deals with light and amusing themes, a
  farce has wildly active, trivial theme, a satire
  uses ridicule and irony

2
(No Transcript)
3
(No Transcript)
4
Genre- type of play

• Tragicomedy- mixed form with no happy ending, but
  at least catastrophe is avoided
• Melodrama- characterized by stereotyped
  characters, implausible plots, and an emphasis on
  spectacle- the forces of good and evil battling
  in exaggerated circumstances

5
(No Transcript)
6
The Play

• Plot- structure of the play, the framework on
  which all the other elements hang, how the play
  moves through time from one event to the next
• Point of attack- where the playwright takes up
  the story, if set in chronological order, little
  exposition is needed

7
How Its Put Together

• Exposition- necessary background information
  through which the playwright introduces the
  characters can be delivered in the form of
  dialogue, narration, setting, lighting, or
  costume often at the beginning

8
(No Transcript)
9
(No Transcript)
10
(No Transcript)
11
How Its Put Together

• Complication- frustrates the expected course of
  events, keeps audience interested
• Inciting incident- in the complication, an action
  or decision that upsets the current state of
  affairs

12
(No Transcript)
13
(No Transcript)
14
How Its Put Together

• Foreshadowing- prepares the audience for
  subsequent action, gives credibility for future
  action, and moves the play forward by pointing to
  events that will occur later
• Discovery- revelation of information about
  characters, relationships, and feelings

15
(No Transcript)
16
Reversal

• Reversal a sudden turn of fortune

17
(No Transcript)
18
Reversal

• In comedy it often changes the roles of the
  social classes

19
(No Transcript)
20
(No Transcript)
21
(No Transcript)
22
(No Transcript)
23
How It Ends

• Climax- the ultimate crisis, the dynamics of the
  play rise in intensity until this moment
• Denouement- the final resolution, material
  following the crisis, the intensity lessons to
  the end of the action

24
(No Transcript)
25
The Actors

• Script- dialogue of actors, language tone
• Character- the psychological motivation of the
  persons in play shows how persons with specific
  character motivations react to the circumstances
  in which they find themselves
• Protagonist- central personage, which is not
  always clear, it depends upon whom the director
  chooses to focus. We journey through the workings
  of the play by the actions and decisions of the
  protagonist.

26
Actors portrayal of the role

• The Actor the main channel of communication
  between the playwright and the audience. The
  actors portrayal of a role that enhance our
  response and understanding are two-fold
• (1) speech, words written by playwright, manner
  in which the lines are delivered
• (2) physical reinforcement of the characters
  motivation
• The consistency of the motivations drives the
  decisions and actions of the actor

27
(No Transcript)
28
(No Transcript)
29
Theme

• Theme-the ideas that comprise the intellectual
  content of the play not necessarily the plot,
  which is what the play is about, but the thought
  behind the play which is for us to discover and
  develop
• There are three aspects of this
• a) The playwrights idea,
• b) The interpretation of the director his
  decisions
• c) The audiences perception

30
(No Transcript)
31
Visual Elements Types of Theatres

• The theatre provides aesthetic distance, our
  response is shaped by the design of the space in
  which the play is produced
• Arena audience on all sides
• Thrust audience on three sides
• Proscenium audience views play through a frame

32
(No Transcript)
33
(No Transcript)
34
(No Transcript)
35
Visual Elements- Scene Design

• Scene design (stage setting)- creates an
  environment conducive to the productions ends
• Tools of composition are used- line, form, mass,
  color, repetition, and unity- but scene design
  sculpts in 3-D space
• Scene designer limited by the stage space,
  concepts of the director, the abilities of the
  staff available to execute the design

36
(No Transcript)
37
(No Transcript)
38
(No Transcript)
39
Visual Elements- Lighting Design

• Lighting design- reinforces the dramatic
  structure and dynamics of the play by working
  with light and shade without shadows and
  highlights the human face and body become
  imperceptible
• The lighting designer works to sculpt with light
  and shadows they must enhance the color of a
  costume, accent the physique of an actor and
  reinforce the plasticity of a setting

40
(No Transcript)
41
(No Transcript)
42
Visual Elements-Costume Design

• Stage Costuming- costume designers work with the
  entire body of the actor including hair styles
  and makeup to suit a specific purpose
• -stage costuming has three functions
• accents which actors are the most important
  their relationships
• reflects particular era, time of day, climate,
  season, or location
• reveals the style of the performance, the
  characters of the personages, the personages
  social position, profession, cleanliness, age,
  physique, and health

43
(No Transcript)
44
(No Transcript)
45
(No Transcript)
46
Properties-Set Props

• Set props- these are part of the scene design,
  such as furniture, pictures, rugs, fireplace
  accessories, etc.
• They identify the mood of the play and the
  character of those who inhabit the set
• Properties can be significant to our
  understanding of a play- if all is neat and in
  order as the curtain opens, but as the play
  develops the actors disrupt the properties, that
  transition can help illustrate what may have
  happened

47
(No Transcript)
48
(No Transcript)
49
Properties-Hand props

• Hand props- used by the actors to help portray
  characters, such as cigarettes, papers, glasses
• Whatever an actor carries on and off stage
• If the actor carries it, its a prop, if the
  actor wears it, its a costume

50
(No Transcript)
51
(No Transcript)
52
Aural Elements

• Background music
• Actors voices
• Sound effects

53
Dynamics

• Structural pattern of a play
• The director establishes audience interest
• This must peak and then relax to keep audience
  engaged
• Director controls the actors volume intensity,
  both bodily and vocal

54
(No Transcript)
55
(No Transcript)