Odisha CHSE +2 Vocational Drama flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Natyashastra

Ancient Indian treatise attributed to Bharata, roughly 200 BCE–200 CE, covering dramaturgy, acting, dance, music and rasa theory; the foundational text of classical Indian performance.

Rasa theory

Bharata's theory that performance evokes aesthetic emotions in the spectator; the eight classical rasas include shringara (love), karuna (compassion), raudra (anger) and hasya (laughter).

Navarasa

The nine aesthetic emotions of later Indian theory: shringara, hasya, karuna, raudra, veera, bhayanaka, bibhatsa, adbhuta and shanta, the last added by later commentators.

Kutiyattam

Kerala's ancient Sanskrit theatre form, performed in temple theatres over many hours with elaborate gesture and eye movement; UNESCO recognised it as intangible cultural heritage.

Pala of Odisha

Odia devotional ballad form in which a group sings Radha-Krishna themes to harmonium and mridanga, with a lead singer and refrain chorus.

Daskathia

Odia narrative folk form with two performers, the Gayaka narrating and the Palia responding, using wooden clappers called kathi; themes centre on Shiva and mythology.

Chhau of Mayurbhanj

Masked dance-drama of Odisha combining vigorous martial-derived movement, acrobatics and epic themes; Mayurbhanj, Seraikella and Purulia are the three main styles.

Suanga

Coastal Odisha folk theatre mixing song, dance and prose dialogue, often humorous or socially satirical, performed in village squares during festivals.

Prahlad Nataka

Popular traditional Odia play form dramatising the Narasimha legend and the devotion of Prahlad, widely staged in rural Odisha with music and stylised acting.

Freytag's pyramid

Five-part plot model: exposition, rising action, climax, falling action and resolution (denouement), describing the tension curve of a dramatic story.

Protagonist

The central character whose objective and choices drive the main action of the play, and with whom the audience is invited to identify.

Antagonist

The character or force that opposes the protagonist's objective and generates the central conflict of the drama.

Subtext

The meaning and intention beneath the spoken words of dialogue, expressed through behaviour, pause and implication rather than literal statement.

Dramatic irony

A gap in knowledge where the audience understands something a character does not, producing tension, suspense or comic effect.

Super-objective

Stanislavski's term for the single overriding aim that unifies a character's life across the whole play, containing all smaller scene objectives.

Magic if

Stanislavski's imaginative question: what would I do if these were my given circumstances? It converts fictional situations into playable belief.

Alienation effect

Brecht's Verfremdungseffekt: techniques that prevent easy emotional identification so the audience critically judges the social action on stage.

Given circumstances

Stanislavski's term for all the facts of the play and role: period, place, relationships, events, and the character's situation at each moment.

Proscenium stage

A stage framed by an arch with the audience on one side only, allowing realistic box sets and concealed wings and flies.

Thrust stage

A stage projecting into the auditorium with the audience on three sides, giving close contact but limiting large scenic walls.

Gobo

A patterned metal or glass template placed in a lighting fixture to project shapes such as windows, leaves or textures onto the stage.

Gel

A coloured transparent filter placed in front of a lantern to tint the light, used to suggest time of day, mood or location.

Prompt book

The production script containing blocking, cue calls, property lists and notes, kept and used by the stage manager during rehearsals and performances.

Cue call

The stage manager's warning and execution of a technical change, given as 'standby' followed by 'go' at a fixed line or action.

Blocking

The planned movement and positioning of actors on stage, recorded in the prompt book and designed to keep focus and stage picture clear.

Technical rehearsal

A rehearsal integrating all light, sound, set and fly cues with the actors, focused on timing and safety rather than performance polish.

Diaphragmatic breathing

Breathing in which the diaphragm descends and the lower ribs expand, giving steady vocal support and longer controlled phrases on stage.

Projection

Sustained vocal support and forward resonance that carries the voice to the back of the auditorium without shouting or strain.

Diction

Clarity of speech produced by precise use of tongue, lips and jaw, ensuring consonants and word endings are audible to the audience.

Rangapuja

Traditional invocation performed before a show, honouring the stage and deities; in training it also functions as a physical and vocal warm-up.

Willing suspension of disbelief

The audience's voluntary acceptance of the staged fiction as emotionally real, enabling them to invest in the performance despite visible artifice.

Ephemeral art

A quality of theatre meaning each performance exists only at that moment and cannot be exactly reproduced, unlike recorded film or print.