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1.
Arena Stage
: Also called Theatre in the Round. The audience surrounds the stage, and the actors enter down the aisles. Either stage or audience may be raised for better viewing.
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2.
Three-quarter Stage
: The audience sits on three sides of the stage, and the actors enter from the fourth side or down the aisles.
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3.
Proscenium Stage
: The audience sits in front of a raised platform which is viewed through a “picture frame” opening called the Proscenium Arch. This is the most common type of stage. Yale University Theatre is an example.
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4.
Thrust Stage
: A combination of proscenium and three-quarter stage which projects out through the proscenium arch into what would normally be the audience. Some of the audience sees the action from the sides, but most see it only from the front. The Long Wharf stage is an example of a modified thrust stage.
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5.
Apron Forestage
: Also called the Forestage. The forward edge of the stage platform nearest the audience and in front of the main curtain. The thrust stage emphasizes and enlarges the apron. Yale Repertory Theatre has a modified apron stage.
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6.
Curtains
: Drapes which conceal the stage from the audience before, during or after the performance. Curtains may either Fly (be raised or lowered), or Draw (open to the sides on tracks).
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7.
Borders
: Short curtains hung at intervals above the acting area to mask lights and scenery from the audience.
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8.
Flat
: A piece of scenery usually made of canvas stretched over a wooden frame. The canvas is then painted to represent a particular setting, such as the walls of a room. Flats may fly or be hand carried.
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9.
Backing
: Flats used behind the scene windows and doors to mask backstage areas from audience view.
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10.
Tormentors
: Also called “torms”. Flats bordering the two sides of the proscenium arch, erected to block the audience’s view of the backstage area. Scenery may be attached to the tormentors, or they may stand free. Most school stages use black curtains as tormentors.
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11.
Teaser
: Also called Border. A flat or curtain hung horizontally to the stage to block the audience’s view of the lights and equipment hanging in the stage house, as well as to prevent onstage lights from shining into the first few rows of the audience.
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12.
Wings
: Offstage space to the left and right.
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13.
Battens
: Long pipes from which curtains, lights or flats are hung.
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14.
Flies
: The entire area above the stage in back of the proscenium arch, below the grid, where Drops (curtain pieces of canvas or cloth, painted or unpainted), flats and lights are hung.
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15.
Fly Gallery
: Narrow platform about half-way up the backstage side wall from which lines for flying scenery are worked. Some stage houses do not have a fly gallery, but work their fly lines from the backstage floor.
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16.
Grid
: Abbreviated form of “gridiron”. Framework of wood or steel above the stage, used to support lights, drops, flats and other hanging pieces from lines and blocks.
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17.
Trap
: Opening in the stage floor, permitting entrances and exits from underneath the floor.
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18.
Tray Rake
: A platform placed on top of the stage floor as part of the acting area. Trays are often placed at an angle, slanted down towards the audience. This angle is known as a Rake. A raked stage can be more dynamic and it can suggest action. It also affords better visibility for the audience.
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19.
Ground Cloth
: Canvas to cover the floor of acting area.
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20.
Back Wall
: Opposite the proscenium opening. If painted white and finely spattered with colors, when lighted it is a good background for exterior sets.
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21.
Downstage
: The part of the acting area nearest the audience.
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22.
Upstage
: The part of the acting area farthest from the audience.
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23.
Stage Left and Right
: All directions on the stage are given as if a person were facing the audience. In other words, stage right is audience left and so on.
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24.
Acting Areas
: The stage is divided up into six acting areas: up right, up center, up left, down right, down center, down left.
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25.
Inner Stage
: In the Elizabethan Theatre, this was a small upstage area enclosed by curtains. The inner stage might have been used to represent a small room or study. After a scene was underway, the actors could move towards the audience on the outer stage.
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26.
Outer Stage
: The apron of the Elizabethan Theatre, used for soliloquies and most dramatic scenes.
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27.
Backdrop
: A hanging piece, usually made of canvas, painted to represent a locale. These drops most often cover the whole upstage area from left to right. When a backdrop is painted to represent the sky, it is called a Sky-drop.
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28. C
yclorama
: Often called the “cyc”. A curtain of canvas or fabric usually hung in a semi-circle, covering the back and sides of the stage. The cyc may represent a blue sky, a rear wall, or any other background, depending on what lights illuminate it and what colors are used in those lights.
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29.
Traveler
: A draw curtain, often at the middle or rear of the stage, serving as a formal background. The traveler is a straight curtain rather than a half circle like the cyc. The traveler is usually made of a lighter fabric than the main curtain.
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30.
Catwalk
: A narrow walkway, usually located in the flies, providing access to lights and other hanging pieces. The term may refer to any narrow walkway in a theatre.
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31.
Flats
: Wooden frames made from 1 x 3 white pine. They are usually 12’ high and no wider than five feet nine inches. They are covered with eight ounce flameproof canvas or six ounce muslin. The canvas is glued to the flat and the surface sized and painted. The basecoat should be a neutral color. Flats are then hinged together. They are braced in an upright position with a wooden right-angle brace jack or with sandbags.
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32.
Set Pieces
: Are three dimension. Ex: rocks, stairs, ramps
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33.
Cutouts
: Are small flat sections of scenery cut out in a certain shape and supported at the back by a brace. (Bushes are often made from cutouts).
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34.
A Groundrow
: Is a cutout placed on the floor at the back of the stage to
suggest
mountains, buildings, trees.
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35.
A Drop
: is a large painted cloth, fastened to battens (pipes) at top and bottom to represent sky or scenery.
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36.
A Scrim
: Is a drop of loose weave (cheesecloth) material. When lighted from the front the audience sees the painted design. When light from the back it becomes transparent (dream scenes, flashbacks, supernatural elements, etc.).
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37.
Break Character
: Losing concentration and falling out of character.
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38.
Concentration
: Believing in the character through constant thought or attention to what is being said or done.
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39.
Observation
: Observing how various people think, walk, feel, behave, look, etc.
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40.
Focus
: Keeping your attention on the necessary object.
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41.
Sense Memory or Recall
: The ability to recall an experience or past sensation.
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42.
Imagination
: That which brings to mind detailed pictures from your insight and your past life experiences.
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43.
Warmup
: Preparing yourself physically, emotionally and vocally to perform.
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44.
Enunciate
: Clear, precise speech.
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45.
Pronunciate
: Accurately producing the speech sounds with proper division into syllables and accents.
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46.
Inflection
: Using a variety of pitch—low, high, varied.
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47.
Diaphragm
: A flat muscle separating the chest from the abdominal cavity.
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48.
Motivation
: Communicating your character’s desires in believable action.
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49.
Internal Qualities
: A character’s personal background, mental, spiritual, emotional, religious qualities.
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50.
External Qualities
: Costumes, makeup, movement, voice, physical appearance.
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51.
Protagonist
: Leading character or hero.
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52.
Antagonist
: Opposes the hero or main figure.
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53.
Climax
: The highest point of emotional intensity.
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54.
Soliloquy
: Long speech given by a character alone on stage.
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55.
Theme
: Encompasses an accepted truth of life and embodies the author’s purpose of the play.
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56.
Tragedy
: The audience watches the tragic hero struggle with a problem he is unable to solve.
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57.
Unit Memorization
: Learning materials scene by scene and coordinating the lines with the assigned movement.
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58.
Blocking
: Stage movement given to each actor by the director.
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59.
Cue
: The last few words of the actor’s speech that precedes your lines.
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60.
Ad-lib
: To make up your own words and business to cover up mistakes on stage.
Lesson Plan VI
Objective
To expose students to the background information on Giraudoux and the play.
Strategies
Notes will be given in a class lecture.
Background
Jean Giraudoux was born in Bellac, France in 1882. He is described as a writer whose style reflected his personal observations and philosophies of life. He tried to create a style not yet developed, one which gave its reader an original, exciting and romantic notion of life. He was twenty-five when he was first published by a friend. Prior to that he had spent a year teaching French at Harvard. He chose to see beyond the brutality of the world and thus created “a drama of delightful surprises, somewhere between the art of the candid Carmera and the art of fairy ta1e.”
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His characters embody his romanticisms, and political views as well. He saw life in a tragic yet comic light. His plays are described as “poetic fantasies”.
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Other plays he has written include; “The Madwoman of Chaillot”, “Ondine”, and “The Apollo of Bellac”. He died in 1944.
Background
This summary will be included in part in my prompt book for character development and production unity.
“The Enchanted” is a story of a young female school teacher who falls in love with death. (These notes will be appropriate for the student playing Isabel). She rejects the accepted methods of teaching and turns her students into anti-establishment, flower children. This of course upsets local government officials who would like to replace Isabel. Isabel is in love with the poetry or notion of death and has to be convinced that there is poetry in life as well. Isabel is Giraudoux’s mouthpiece. She presents the conflict of the play and its tragic and comic elements. She expresses his passion for beauty and life and his hope for change. It also shows his distaste for politicians and government officials.
The overall
mood
and
atmosphere
of the play is contained in the supernatural. Isabel uses the Spring and the enchanted forest as her classroom for her students. She tries to
communicate freedom
and
humanit
y.
On the
opposite
pole from Isabel we have the local officials. The Mayor and the Supervisor represent the negative aspects of the play and society. They are the uncultured bourgeoisie, incapable of anything outside their foolish laws. They
plot
to catch her with her ghost friend and show her as a witch. The only thing they catch her at is teaching her children the poetry of life. Isabel begins to fall in love with the ghost who symbolizes death. He tries to convince her that her mission to save the world can only happen in “his” world. She has however, another suitor, the Supervisor. He of course represents the real world and so the conflict is established. In Act III, which is the scene I will block for performance, we see the
conflict
between the Supervisor and the Ghost. It is in this scene that Isabel must decide and choose the world she will live in. It would appear that she has chosen the Ghost and death at the end when she faints; however, she comes back as she is surrounded by the sounds of life and “I love you” repeated by the Supervisor.
Lesson Plan VII
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1. Tape the stage areas and playing areas, exits and entrances.
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2. Pass out the floor plan.
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3. Read and cast the parts for Act III in
Great Scenes From The World Theatre
.
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The Floor Plan
(The floor plan illustrates my interpretation of the stage directions). The directions indicate that it is the balcony of Isabel’s room. The balcony has French doors which open out to a view of the City Square.
The stage directions in this scene call for a variety of movements and set pieces: (see floor plan)
A fireplace, a balcony with French doors, windows, an outside door.
I have determined my blocking by rereading the scene and stage directions as you would a word problem. The next step is to run the scene with the actors. The actor’s job is to write the blocking in pencil in the margins of their scripts. Changes in blocking will take place if crosses or entrances are sloppy or if they are not relevant to the action in the scene.