THEATER

• Mimesis


  Imitation, inherent in all humans, the "re-presentation of nature"
• Aristotle


  • Greek philosopher, lived 384 BCE - 322 BCE
• Aeschylus


  • Poet, may have written 8-90 plays, only 7 complete texts and several fragments remain
  • Diminished the size of the chorus from 50 to 12 men
  • Added a second actor (deuteragonist)
• Paraskene


  Rectangular area just in front of the skene, primary acting area
• Paradoi


  Passages to the side of the paraskene leading offstage
• As Rome expanded its Empire into Greece, it would have encountered New Comedy
• The Romans were excellent at assimilating the best and most useful ideas and items in the countries they controlled through the Empire
• Fabula praetexta


  Plays with Roman stories
• Seneca


  • Most well-known Roman tragic playwright
  • Only surviving examples of Roman tragedy are nine plays by Seneca
• Actor


  A person who performs a role or represents a character in a play
• Audition


  An action-oriented interview between director and actors for the purpose of deciding who will be cast in what role
• Backstage


  The designation also applies to the wings area and, loosely, can be used to indicate anything in the physical plant that is not stage or house
• Blocking


  The actor's basic stage positioning given to the actor by the director or used in self-direction
• Character


  A person or entity in a play
• Dialogue


  A conversation between two or more characters
• Monologue


  A work written to be spoken by just one person
• Motivation


  Reasons why a character behaves or reacts in a particular way in a scene or play; the reason for an action