Theatre Production 2

Theatre Production Syllabus

IMPROVISATION, ACTING & PERFORMANCE

• PA605.Cr3.1.8.b – Refine effective physical, vocal, and physiological traits of characters in an improvised or scripted drama/ theatre work.​

TECH THEATRE & THEATRE DESIGN

• PA605.Cr1.1.I.b – Explore the impact of technology on design choices in a drama/theatre work.​

SCRIPT & CHARACTER ANALYSIS​​

• PA605.Cr1.1.I.c – Use script analysis to generate ideas about character that is believable and authentic in a drama/theatre work​

CRITIQUING

• TH.Re7.1.I.a - Respond to what is seen, felt, and heard in a drama/theatre work to develop criteria for artistic choices of a drama/theatre work.​​

THEATRE HISTORY

• PA605.RE9.1.8.a – Respond to a drama/theatre work using supporting evidence, personal aesthetics and artistic criteria
• PA605.Re8.1.8.b – Analyze how cultural perspectives influence the evaluation of a drama/theatre work​​​

VOCABULARY​

• PA605.Pr5.1.I.a – Practice various acting techniques to expand skills in a rehearsal or drama/theatre performance.​

Quiz #1

• IMPROVISATION.    Creating a character or a scene without a script. 
• TRAGEDY.     A play in which the protagonist fails to achieve desired goals or is overcome by opposing forces. In ancient Greek theatre, the protagonist died.
• COMEDY.     A play that treats characters and situations in a humorous way and has a happy ending. In ancient Greek theatre, the protagonist lived.
• MUSICALS.     Plays or movies in which singing and dancing play an essential part. They were developed from light opera in the early 20th century.
• AUDITION.     A trial hearing given to an actor to test suitability for a cast, professional training program, scholarship, or competition.
• CALLBACKS.     A request for an actor to return for another audition. 
• PRODUCER.     The person who finds the financial investors, hires the director and production staff, sets the budget, and pays the bills for a theatrical production.
• ACTOR.     A person who performs on the stage, in movies, or on television.
• DIRECTOR.     The person in charge of molding all aspects of production--acting, scenery, costumes, makeup, lighting, and so on--into a unified whole.
• THESPIAN.     A person who is involved with theatre: named after the first actor.

 
Quiz #2

• SCRIPT.     The written text of a play.
• PLOT.     The series of related events that take place in a play.
• CONFLICT.     A struggle between two opposing forces.
• PRELIMINARY SITUATION.     A clearly defined explanation of the events in the lives of the leading characters before the start of a play's action.
• EXPOSITION.     The information put before an audience that gives the where, when, why, and who facts of a play.
• INCITING INCIDENT.     The first event in a play from which the rest of the plot develops.
• RISING ACTION.     The series of events following the initial incident in a play.
• CLIMAX.     The turning point in a play.
• FALLING ACTION.     The series of events following the climax.
• DENOUEMENT.     An element of plot that refers to the untangling and resolution of complications.

 
Quiz #3

• STAGE FRIGHT.     Nervousness before or during an appearance before an audience.
• THEATRE ETIQUETTE.     How you behave in the a theatre, rehearsal, or classroom in order to get along and be a good person in the theatrical world.
• PROTAGONIST.     The leading character or one of the major characters in a play, musical, or movie.
• REVIEW.     A critical appraisal of a play, musical, or movie.
• LOBBY.     The area where the audience waits to be let into the house or buys concessions at intermission
• USHER.     A person who takes scans tickets, hands out programs, and helps audience members find their seats.
• ANTAGONIST.     A person who actively opposes or is hostile to someone or something; an adversary.
• SKIT.     A short informal performance intended to educate, inform, or entertain.
• CALL.     A notification of a period of time to which the cast/crew are to report to the theatre.
• HALF HOUR.     Actors will usually be given a call thirty minutes before a show begins by the stage manager.

 
Quiz #4

• ANTOINETTE PERRY.     An actor, director and co-founder of the American Theatre Wing. They are the namesake of the Tony Awards. 
• ARTHUR MILLER.     A playwright known for the plays Death of a Salesman, The Crucible, and All My Sons.
• COLE PORTER.     A composer and songwriter who won the 1st Tony Award for best musicals for Kiss Me Kate. They are also known for writing Anything Goes. 
• GEORGE GERSHWIN.     A composer and pianist whose compositions spanned both popular and classical genres. Among their best-known works are the orchestral compositions Rhapsody in Blue and An American in Paris, and the songs Swanee, Fascinating Rhythm, and I Got Rhythm, and the opera Porgy and Bess which includes the song Summertime.
• KANDER & EBB.     A famous songwriting team who wrote Cabaret and Chicago. They also wrote the score and title song for New York, New York.
• NEIL SIMON.     A playwright that received more Academy Award and Tony Award nominations than any other writer. Their notable works include Lost in Yonkers, The Odd Couple, and Barefoot in the Park.
• OSCAR HAMMERSTEIN II.     A librettist who won eight Tony Awards and two Academy Awards. They wrote lyrics for Show Boat, Oklahoma, Carousel, South Pacific, The King and I, and The Sound of Music. 
• RICHARD RODGERS.     A composer who wrote 43 Broadway Musicals. They were the first EGOT winner (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony). They also won a Pulitzer Prize. Their musicals include Oklahoma, Carousel, South Pacific, The King and I, The Sound of Music, and Cinderella.
• TENNESSEE WILLIAMS.     A playwright known for the plays The Glass Menagerie, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, and A Streetcar Named Desire.
• TIM RICE.     A lyricist who is best known for their collaborations with Andrew Lloyd Webber. They wrote lyrics for Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita, Chess, Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, and Aida. They are an EGOT for winning all for performance art awards in the US.

 
Quiz #5

• AD-LIB.     To improvise stage business or conversation, especially when an actor has missed or forgotten lines and other actors must supply the missing information.
• BREAKING CHARACTER.     Looking through the fourth wall at the audience or responding as yourself to the audience or other actors on stage while playing a character.
• CHEAT OUT.     A stage technique in which an actor who is facing sideways pivots the torso and turns the face toward the audience.
• LINE.     The word a performer uses when unsure of the dialogue.
• NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION.      Communicating without words, using facial expressions, gestures, and body language.
• GESTURE.     A movement of any part of the body to help express an idea.
• STAGE BUSINESS.     Any specific action, other than a change of location, performed on the stage, such as picking up a book or pouring tea; used to establish atmosphere, reveal character, or explain a situation.
• FOCUS (ACTING).     The direction of an actor’s attention, action, emotion, or line delivery to a definite target.
• CONCENTRATION.     The ability to direct all thoughts, energies, and skills toward a given goal.
• ENERGY.     The fuel that drives acting, enlivens performances, creates empathy, and makes powerful characters.    

 
Quiz #6

• BEAUTY AND THE BEAST.     A musical by Alan Menken and lyrics by Howard Ashman and Tim Rice about a cold-blooded prince who has been magically transformed into an unsightly creature as punishment for his selfish ways.
• ​ANNIE.     A musical composed by Charles Strouse with lyrics by Martin Charmin and book by Thomas Meehan. In the depths of the Great Depression a young orphan girl who lives in a miserable orphanage is selected to spend a short time at the residence of the wealthy industrialist.
• OKLAHOMA.     The first musical written by the team of composer Richard Rodgers and librettist Oscar Hammerstein II. It tells the story of farm girl and her courtship by two rival suitors, cowboy and a farmhand.
• PHANTOM OF THE OPERA.     A musical with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Lyrics by Charles Hart about a beautiful soprano who becomes the obsession of a mysterious, disfigured musical genius.
• WEST SIDE STORY.     an American musical with music by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. The musical's plot is based on Romeo and Juliet.
• A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM.     A comedy by William Shakespeare about the events surrounding the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. It also concerns six amateur actors and four young lovers who are controlled and manipulated by the fairies who inhabit the forest in which most of the play is set. 
• YOU CAN’T TAKE IT WITH YOU.     A comedic play by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart about an eccentric family that allows each member to pursue his own ambition in the home. Their routine is disrupted when a daughter with a regular job wants to bring her fiancé and his Wall Street family to dinner.
• DIARY OF ANNE FRANK.     A play that was dramatized by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett that won the Tony Award for Best Play and the Pulitzer Prize. It is based on the writings from the Dutch language diary kept by a a young girl while she was in hiding for two years with her family during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands.
• ANTIGONE.     A tragedy by Sophocles about a young woman who wishes to bury both of her brothers after they killed each other in a civil war. 
• THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME.     A play by Simon Stephens based on the novel of the same name by Mark Haddon concerning a mystery surrounding the death of a neighbor's dog that is investigated by young boy on the autism spectrum, and his relationships with his parents and a school mentor.