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THEATRE

THEATRE . PART 2 . Aristotle’s 3 UNITIES OF THEATRE. 1. The Unity of Action A play should have only one simple plot, so that the audience can learn from its clear example and not be confused by secondary plots

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THEATRE

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  1. THEATRE PART 2

  2. Aristotle’s 3 UNITIES OF THEATRE 1. The Unity of Action • A play should have only one simple plot, so that the audience can learn from its clear example and not be confused by secondary plots • Playwrights have invented new forms of plots in the centuries since Aristotle and today we enjoy plays in which the ending of the story is at the beginning and the rest of the plot presented as a flashback example Rapunzel

  3. The unity of Time • Aristotle believed that a play should occur in one passage of consecutive time. • Example: Oedipus the King it takes place in a single day • Some directors have understood this to mean one 24 hour day, or one 12 hour day dawn to sunset and sometimes the play matches the exact duration of the play • Example ‘night, Mother, they use a real clock on the wall to keep time, Marsha Norman • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnoLnhMOwdQ

  4. The unity of place • Aristotle believed that we get the greatest pleasure from plays that set their action in one place • Example Oedipus the King, is set entirely in the public square in front of the palace of Thebes; Night, Mother: set entirely in one house mainly kitchen and living room

  5. The six elements of theatre • 1- Plot- Aristotle described plot as “the life and soul of the drama”; he meant that plot was the most important of the six elements • Until a plot unfolds, there is no play • 6 different plot arrangements: • Linear structure –description of the plot of a play that progresses without flashbacks to jumble the chronology; the action progresses “along a line.” • Cinematic structure- The arrangement of the plot of a play that presents flashbacks and subjective scenes in other than chronological order • Contextual structure- The arrangement and sequence of scenes in a play that is determined by their relationship to a central theme instead of by a chronological or cause and effect logic • Exposition structure-conflict between the 1st and 2nd theme • Foreshadowing- Information included in the dialogue that the audience needs to know so it can understand later developments of the plot • Resolution- Progression from a dissonance to a consonance

  6. The six elements of theatre • 2- Character- Aristotle described character as “the agent for the action”. When you describe a play you describe what the characters do • The play unfolds when the characters enact the action of the plot • These 2 elements of plot and character are bound together 4- Diction-describes both the vocabulary the playwright uses and the order in which the words are placed * No 2 people speak in the same way; * this makes a character unique; * Shakespeare’s diction makes it hard for us to read 3- Thought- the meaning of a play sometimes called the message; this is the universal idea that the audience draws from it

  7. The six elements of theatre • 5- Music – Aristotle believed that the more the actors used their voices to embellish the playwrights words, the more deeply the audience would feel the characters emotions • This explains why actors performing in Shakespeare and early Greek plays sometimes speak differently from the way we speak everyday • In todays theatre an audience hears the performance in ways Aristotle never imagined; through electronic music, amplified human speech, and prerecorded sound effects • Music enriches our experience but does not help us learn the truth • 6- Spectacle- Aristotle's analysis of theatre led him to believe that what the audience sees is the least important of the 6 elements

  8. EXPOSITION • Radio Drama is a form of theatrical performance in which the entirety of the experience is communicated aurally • No spectacle • Very popular in the 1930’s and 1940’s shows such as The Shadow and the The Mercury where the theatre of the Air • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJR8AG0h8WY&list=PL59BCC6E6EE5D8420 • Ancient Greece presented much less visual stimulation than contemporary theatre • The scenery in ancient Greek theatres was stationary • The actors didn’t move about much • They wore masks that covered their facial expressions • Usually no more than 3 actors on the stage at one time

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