Conventions of Theatre+

1. Conventions of Theatre+

2. Conventions of Theatre • Things that aren’t “real” but the audience accepts as a reality! • They imply rather than become explicit.

3. Acting Conventions • Vocal Projection • Speaking clearly enough to be heard throughout an auditorium. • Cheating Out • Turning the body out toward the audience in a proscenium theatre, thus rarely turning backs to the audience. • Exaggerated Gestures

4. Writing Conventions • Soliloquy • A monologue in which one character, who may or may not be alone, reveals to the audience their innermost thoughts. • Aside • Allows a character to speak directly to the audience. • Monologue • An extended speech by one character on stage.

5. Production Conventions • Sets • They suggest real places even though they are theatrical constructions. • Example: theatrical living rooms are not arranged like real living rooms. • Flats • Painted canvas frames used to create walls and on stage objects. • Props (short for properties) • Often props only represent objects. • Stage Lighting • Make-Up

6. Concepts about theatre

7. Legitimate Theatre • Any stage play, professional, regional, or community. • Originally referred only to sanctioned (read: funded) stage plays.

8. conflict • The Most important ingredient in Drama.

9. empathy • The emotional identification with someone or something outside oneself.

10. Sympathy vs. Empathy • Sympathy: feeling “for” a character • Empathy: feeling “with” a character

11. STAGEFRIGHT • The nervous anticipation of going onstage! • It is the extra energy your body needs to perform at a higher level!

12. Improvisation • The impromptu portrayal of a character or a scene without any rehearsal or preparation.

13. Scene-stealing • Calling attention to one’s presence onstage and diverting attention away from the main characters.

14. Characterization • All the things we chose to do to portray a character • Putting together all the facets of a character to bring life and interest to that character

15. “Do nothing effectively” • to be visible on stage without scene-stealing

16. “illusion of the first time” • The impression given by the performance that has spontaneity and freshness. • The audience should as if the events of the play are occurring for the first time.

17. “aesthetic distance” • The detachment that allows the audience to appreciate the beauty of a work. • An audience cannot physically be in the film, it is just an image. They can, however, react to it as if it were real. • Theatrical conventions establish this detachment while simultaneously attempting to bridge that distance.

18. “Suspension of Disbelief” • The audience knows that what it sees is not real, but accepts it as a reality – the Theatrical Reality