Drama vocab 1

• Action narration


  A technique where a narrative is read out and performers react to the actions being described
• Alienation


  A misleading translation of Brecht's expression Verfremdungseffekt which refers to the devices and acting style used in epic theatre to distance the audience from having any sense that the theatrical experience is real
• Anticlimax


  As a climax is meant to be where all things come together and conclusion, an anticlimax is incomplete and therefore can be disappointing or unsatisfying
• Chorus/charus work


  A group of people working collectively using vocal and movement skills to communicate thoughts, feelings and ideas. The group may be homogeneous or may be broken down into sub-groups. In the manner of a Classical Greek Chorus, they may narrate a story, comment on the action and express an opinion.
• Communal voice


  A variation on chorus work where a group of performers speaks with 'one voice. The voice of the chorus in this instance has a shared understanding and shared views about a situation or character.
• Conscience corridor (also known as 'conscience alley or 'thought tunnel')


  Two straight lines are formed and the individuals in each group face each other with a gap (or corridor, or alley, or tunnel) of about one metre between them. A person in a role which the whole group has prior knowledge of, walks through the corridor and hears thoughts or questions from each person either side of them as they move from one end to the other. The exercise is useful for character building and development.
• Cross-cutting


  After creating a series of scenes or sequences, they are reordered to create a drama that goes backwards forwards in time.
• Epic theatre


  A reaction to dramatic theatre which is manifest in Brecht's later work. Features of epic theatre include episodic scenes, a lack of tension, breaking the theatrical illusion through devices such as direct audience address, use of songs, projections and narration. Elements of epic theatre can be found in earlier plays such as the use of the chorus in Greek theatre and the short episodic scenes in Shakespeare.
• Flashback


  Enacting a moment from a character's remembered past. This can help to gain an understanding of a character's behaviour, emotions and attitude and provide some of the 'back story.
• Hot-seating


  A technique to gain a deeper understanding of a character or role. An individual sits in a chair designated as the 'hat-seat. The rest of the group asks the person in the hot-seat relevant questions about their feelings, thoughts, actions or circumstances. The person in the hot-seat answers the questions in role or as they think the character they are playing would answer.
• Improvisation


  To perform quickly in response to something, or to act without previous planning.
• Narration


  Dialogue designed to tell the story or provide accompanying information. Narration can accompany onstage action or be presented in its own right.
• Narrator


  A role that functions like a story teller. A narrator can be used to describe the action, provide a commentary or give additional information. A narrator can be present onstage or be an off-stage, or pre-recorded, voice.
• Ranking


  An exercise used to explore the status of roles of character. Each performer 'ranks' their role within defined terms, such as social standing or economic prosperity, by assigning a number between one and ten. One is the lowest status and ten the highest. The exercise can be repeated at anytime to determine whether the status of the roles may have altered during the course of the drama.
• Role reversal


  During an improvisation or rehearsal for a scene, the actors reverse the roles/characters they are portraying in order to gain a different view or understanding of their own role.
• Role transfer


  One person begins acting out a character or role which they pass on to another person to develop, imitate or alter.
• Soundscape


  Using sounds made vocally to create an aural environment for a scene. Each individual creates a sound appropriate for a given circumstance to accompany or introduce a scene. For example, one person makes sea sounds, while another imitates the cry of a seagull to suggest the seaside. Repeated words and phrases overlapping each other can also be used to suggest a location or might be portrayed as sounds in a character's head, as though from a nightmare or series of flashbacks.
• Tableau(x)


  A variation on still-image referring to a dramatic grouping of characters. A tableau may not necessarily be a still or frozen image as dialogue can be spoken and gestures used when it refers to the general 'stage picture during a sequence in a scene. Tableau vivant is a particular instance where the performers are positioned to represent a picture or 'fresco' and props and costumes are often used as an integral part of the stage picture. It can also be used to describe a pause on the stage where all performers briefly freeze in position. This can typically be found at the end of scenes in Victorian melodramas.
• Thought tracking


  An exercise that allows the inner thoughts of a character or role to be heard out loud. It is often used in conjunction with freeze-frame or still-image where a participant is asked say what they are thinking at that point in time.
• Transporting a character


  A technique to explore how a character or role might react or behave in a different situation, location or time. For example, an intimate bedroom scene between two lovers is 'transported' to a crowded supermarket.