Mapeh

• Experimental theater (Also known as avant-garde theater)

  • Rejection of the conventional theater styles
  • Changes the theme, language, even the relationship of the actors to the audience
  • Breaking of the "fourth wall" where the actor address dialogues (questions) to the audience
• Realism


  • Depicts life as it is naturally
• Symbolism


  • Expressing the intangible or unseen internal feelings by means of visible or sensuous representations
• Expressionism


  • Express emotion and dreaming rather than normality
• Naturalism


  • Naturalistic which was influenced by Darwin's theory of evolution
  • One's character is determined by its heredity and environment
• Technological development made way for broadways and commercial plays as ropes and pulleys were utilized to support special effects and scene changes within seconds
• Another important product of this period was operas
• Neoclassical theater


  • Forms inspired by the classics
  • Emphasis on the exact adherence to the classical models
  • Contributed to proper decorum (audience etiquette) when watching a play
  • Characterized by lavish and complex scenery, costumes, large gestures and melodramas, political satirical comedies outshined the sexual farces of the restoration
• Baroque theater


  • Tragedy was the overall preferred genre
  • Aristrocracies preferred the lighter tragicomedy
  • Restoration comedies
  • Sentimental comedy - more realistic on the nature of human beings having tendencies to go astray and return to the right path after overcoming trials
• Romantic Theater

  • 1800 to 2000
  • Melodrama and opera's were the most popular theatrical forms
• Element


  A part or aspect of something, a component or a constituent of a whole
• Aristotle (384-322BC) was a Greek philosopher and scientist who first analyzed and wrote about the essential elements of drama more than 2,000 years ago
• Aristotle's list of 6 elements of drama

  • Plot (mythos)
  • Character (ethos)
  • Thought (dianoia)
  • Language/Diction (lexis)
  • Melody (melos)
  • Spectacle (Opsis)
• Plot


  The action; the basic storyline of the play
• Character


  The moral or ethical character of the agents, revealed when the agent makes moral choices
• Thought


  The story background being delivered in a spoken reasoning, the meaning of the play (theme)
• Language/Diction


  The quality of speech in a tragedy, the expression of the meaning of words
• Melody


  The rhythm of the actors' voices as they speak (as in the case of the "chorus")
• Spectacle


  The visual elements of a play: sets, costumes, special effects, etc.
• The list of elements grew gradually in number and became more specific and emphasized as modern playwrights and other theater enthusiasts applied some changes to it over the years
• Elements of Drama in the Modern Theater

  • Literary Elements
  • Technical Elements
  • Performance Elements
• Literary Elements


  • Plot
  • Theme (thought)
  • Character
  • Language/Dialogue
  • Rhythm/Music
  • Spectacle
  • Genre/Theatrical form
  • Audience
  • Convention
• Technical Elements


  • Scenery (Set)
  • Costumes
  • Properties (Props)
  • Lights
  • Sound
  • Make-up
• Performance Elements


  • Acting
  • Character Motivation
  • Character Analysis
  • Empathy
  • Speaking
  • Breath Control
  • Gestures
  • Facial expression
• The use of these elements depend on the complexity of the play because there are instances where some of the elements do not apply
• Theater


  Place of seeing, more than just the buildings where performance takes place
• Producing theater


  1. Playwright writes scripts

  2. Director rehearses performers

  3. Designer and technical crew produce props

  4. Actors and actresses perform on stage

  5. Audience witnesses it
• Greek theater


  • Began around 700 BC with festivals honoring the gods
  • Dionysus, god of wine and fertility, had religious festivals called "The Cult of Dionysus"
  • Three types of drama: tragedy, comedy, satyr
• Tragedy


  Most admired type of play, dealt with tragic events and had an unhappy ending, Thespis was the first actor and introduced masks
• Comedy


  Plays derived from imitation, Aristophanes wrote most of the comedy plays
• Satyr


  Plays contained comic elements to lighten the overall mood or a serious play with a happy ending, short and lighthearted tailpiece
• Parts of a Greek theater

  • Theatron (audience area), orchestra, skene (stage building)
• Roman theater


  • Varied and interesting art forms like festivals, street theater, acrobatics, comedies, tragedies
  • Usual themes were chariots races, gladiators, public executions
  • Christians opposed the barbaric themes and closed down theaters
• Roman comedy


  Popular from 350 to 250 BC, women were allowed to perform
• Triumvir of Pompey


  • One of the first permanent (non wooden) theaters in Rome, similar structure to the Theatron of Athens, part of a multi-use complex
• Medieval theater


  • Theater performances not allowed throughout Europe
  • Minstrels performed in markets, public places and festivals, viewed as dangerous and pagan