Unit+1

**__Definition of Theatre:__** "Theater is a unique live event that involved actors and audience, that happens in a particular place at a particular time, that takes place in the present tense and yet has a predetermined structure, that uses understood conventions to communicate through all five senses, and that has a lasting impact on the audience”
 * __ Unit 1: Introduction to Live Theatre __** **__ Class Notes __**


 * __ 10 Traits of Theatre: __**
 * 1) A live event – takes place only once; unique experience each time
 * 2) Actors – someone has to play a part; without actors there is no action
 * 3) Audience – someone needs to be a recipient of the action; this is what the audience does; a good audience is more than just passive, however
 * 4) Particular place – theater happens in a particular place; we go to theater, it doesn’t just come to us (except for flash mobs!)
 * 5) Particular time – theater only happens when all of these elements come together; it doesn’t just “happen” any time we want it to!
 * 6) Present tense – true, live theater happens in the present moment; recordings never do a performance justice!
 * 7) Predetermined structure – each show has a predetermined structure to it; a number of acts, scenes, etc.; even though at times the action might become improvised
 * 8) Understood conventions – there are certain elements of a show that the audience must understand coming into the performance: the fact that what is happening is NOT for real, when the actors take a bow at the end, the audience claps, other actors on the stage pretend not to know what is happening when in fact they’ve read the script
 * 9) Communication through all five senses – a truly spectacular theatrical experience uses as many of the senses as possible; this is due to the fact that this is how we communicate as human beings
 * 10) Lasting impact – theater is an experience that we always take with us (hopefully); the goal of any actor is that they are able to leave an impact on their audience


 * __ The 6 Elements of Theatre of Aristotle: __**
 * 1) Plot – the “life and soul of the drama”; this is perhaps the most important; this is the story itself, what is it that we are trying to say by this performance
 * 2) Character – the “agent for the action”; when we describe a scene, we are referring to what the characters do; without characters, there is no action!
 * 3) Thought – the meaning of a play, or the “message”; what is the universal idea that we want the audience to come away with?
 * 4) Diction – refers to both the vocabulary that the playwright uses and the order in which the words are placed; diction will vary from writer to writer; Puccini wrote in a very formal manner when he wrote “La Boheme” where Jonathan Larson writes in a very modern, almost crass way at times when he wrote “Rent”; both tell the same basic story but in two very different ways!
 * 5) Music – this includes everything we hear during a performance: the musical accompaniment, sound effects, even sometimes the voices of the actors.
 * 6) Spectacle – the special components that finish off a performance; not just visual!

A: Play – a show that is dialogue-driven B: Musical – a show that uses music in telling the story
 * __ Types of Theatre __**
 * 1) Drama – a category of play that is serious but not tragic
 * 2) Comedy – the genre of play that makes you laugh, has plots that end happily, and reaffirms the values you hold to be important
 * 3) Tragedy – a serious play that makes you feel exhilarated because the hero’s experience teaches you some profound truth about your life; a tragedy guides you toward feeling a sort of calm affirmation that your worst expectations about life are true, and you feel wiser for reaching this certainty
 * 1) Opera – a form of theatre that is entirely sung, is serious in subject, and is musically complex
 * 2) Operetta – a form of theatre that is light in subject, has scenes of spoken dialogue, and is less musically complex than an opera
 * 3) Rock-Opera – a form of theatre that is entirely sung, using contemporary, rock music
 * 4) Concert – a performance which focuses on the music alone; sometimes singers may be costumed, but the focus is on the music