MATSEC IM Theatre and Performance cheat sheet

Ancient Greek tragedy: Thespis credited as first actor (6th century BCE); the three-actor rule (tritagonist) is attributed to Sophocles; Aristotle's Poetics (c. 335 BCE) defines tragedy by plot, character, thought, diction, song and spectacle.

Roman theatre adapted Greek forms: Plautus and Terence wrote palliata comedy; Seneca's closet dramas influenced later Elizabethan revenge tragedy; the arch-and-scene building (scaenae frons) shaped later stage design.

Medieval Europe: liturgical drama grew from Easter tropes; mystery cycles (York, Chester, Wakefield) were staged on pageant wagons; morality plays such as Everyman use allegorical characters.

Italian Renaissance: commedia dell'arte troupes improvised around fixed scenarios (canovaccio) with stock masks (zanni, Pantalone, Arlecchino); the proscenium arch and perspective scenery developed in court theatre.

Elizabethan and Jacobean England: open-air amphitheatres (the Globe, 1599) had thrust stages and no artificial lighting; indoor hall theatres (Blackfriars) used candlelight and higher ticket prices.

French neoclassicism: the unities of time, place and action were codified from Aristotelian readings; Racine and Corneille wrote in alexandrine verse; Molière satirised contemporary manners in prose and verse comedy.

Modern movements: naturalism (Zola, Strindberg) sought scientific observation; realism (Ibsen, Chekhov) placed fourth-wall interiors on stage; expressionism and epic theatre (Brecht) broke illusion through alienation effects.

Post-war and contemporary: Theatre of the Absurd (Beckett, Ionesco, Pinter) rejects linear causality; physical and devised theatre (Grotowski, Barba) foregrounds the performer's body over text.

Aristotelian plot structure: exposition, inciting incident, rising action, climax, falling action, denouement; a well-made play (Scribe, Sardou) tightens this with a secret and a required scene.

Given circumstances (Stanislavski) are the facts a text supplies: time, place, social setting, previous action, and relationships; inference beyond the text must be labelled as interpretation.

Dialogue analysis: track who speaks, to whom, in what register, and what is left unsaid; subtext is meaning carried beneath the literal line.

Stage directions are of two kinds: authorial (published in the script) and production (added by director or dramaturg); only the former is fixed text.

Verse and prose signal status and register in early modern drama; blank verse (unrhymed iambic pentameter) is the default for noble characters, prose for comic or lower-status figures.

Dramaturgy asks structural questions: whose story is told, where scenes begin and end, what information is withheld, and how time is compressed or expanded.

Adaptation decisions: transposition (same plot, new setting), translation (language only), and free adaptation (new structure) are distinct dramaturgical operations.

Textual cuts must be justified by production concept; cutting a subplot alters theme and rhythm, so record each cut and its rationale for the rehearsal room.

Stanislavski's system: given circumstances, objectives, super-objective, through-line of action, emotion memory, and the 'magic if' generate truthful behaviour on stage.

An objective is a transitive action verb (to persuade, to expose); a unit of action changes when the objective changes; the super-objective is the character's overarching aim.

Practitioners' vocabularies: Brecht's Gestus and Verfremdungseffekt; Grotowski's poor theatre and via negativa; Strasberg's affective memory; Meisner's repetition and 'living truthfully under imaginary circumstances'.

Voice: breath support from the diaphragm, open resonance, and articulation of consonants; the actor projects to the back row without shouting, using resonance rather than volume.

Physicality: alignment, centre of gravity, tempo-rhythm, and gesture economy; status transactions (Keith Johnstone) can be played through eye contact, posture and space.

Rehearsal progression: read-through, blocking, working runs, technical rehearsal, dress rehearsal, previews; notes are consolidated rather than given continuously.

Cold reading and audition craft: sight-read for sense and punctuation, take offered adjustments, and keep choices specific and playable rather than general.

Safe practice: warm-up before performance, cool-down after, vocal rest, and awareness of intimacy and fight choreography requiring trained supervision.

Devising starts from a stimulus (image, text, object, question, site) and builds material through improvisation, then selects, structures and rehearses it.

Ensemble principles: shared ownership, active listening, offer-and-accept (yes-and), and equal responsibility for the stage picture.

Improvisation rules: accept the offer, add information, avoid blocking, and keep the scene about the relationship rather than the plot.

Composition tools: montage, repetition, canon, chorus, still image, and physical score let a group shape material without a pre-existing script.

Documentation matters: record improvisations on video or in a devising log, listing date, stimulus, exercise and observed outcome, so material can be revisited.

Viewpoints (Bogart and Landau): time (tempo, duration, kinesthetic response, repetition) and space (shape, gesture, architecture, spatial relationship, topography) provide a shared compositional vocabulary.

Structuring a devised piece: establish a clear spine or through-line, decide the audience relationship, and test each section against the whole.

Ethical devising: credit all contributors, obtain consent for personal material, and agree authorship before public performance.

Set design: ground plan (viewed from above) and elevation (viewed from the front) are the two core drawings; a scale of 1:25 or 1:50 is standard for a model box.

Lighting functions: visibility, selective focus, mood, time of day, and composition; key light, fill light and back light shape the stage picture.

Lighting units: a profile (ellipsoidal) gives a hard, shaped beam with shutters and gobos; a fresnel gives a soft wash; a par can gives an intense, unfocused beam.

Gel colour: warm tones (amber, straw) suggest sunlight or interior warmth; cool tones (steel, lavender) suggest moonlight, night or distance; saturated colour reduces visibility.

Sound: reinforcement (amplifying voices) and design (effects, atmosphere, music) are separate jobs; check sightlines and mic placement against feedback risk.

Costume: silhouette, colour, fabric weight and period accuracy communicate status, era and character; quick changes require dresser plots and fastenings planned in advance.

Stage management: the prompt copy records blocking, cues and running order; the calling script is used by the DSM to cue lighting, sound and fly operators.

Health and safety: risk assessment before get-in, correct lifting technique, cable management, fire regulations for scenic materials, and a licensed professional for pyrotechnics.

The director's early work: script analysis, research, concept statement, and casting; the concept must be defensible from the text, not imposed on it.

Production timeline: pre-production (design, budget, schedule), rehearsal period, technical week, performances, get-out; each stage has fixed deadlines for design approvals.

Blocking is recorded in the prompt copy with a consistent notation (stage left/right from the actor's perspective facing the audience; upstage is away from the audience).

Rehearsal techniques: improvisation into scene, actioning the text, hot-seating, and etudes; notes should be specific, actionable and few.

Technical and dress rehearsals are for the crew and for integration; directors should stop only for safety or blocking changes, noting other issues for later.

Budget lines: rights and royalties, set, costume, lighting hire, sound, venue, marketing, contingency (typically a percentage of total); rights for musicals are usually higher than for plays.

Collaboration: the director chairs production meetings with design, stage management and technical departments; decisions are minuted and shared.

Preview and press protocol: previews allow adjustment; critics are usually invited to a set performance, and changes after press night should be minimal.

A performance review separates description (what happened), analysis (how it was made to mean), and evaluation (how far it succeeded against its own aims).

Evidence-based judgement: cite specific moments, design choices, acting decisions and audience response rather than general impressions.

Concept-led evaluation: judge a production against its stated interpretation, not against an imagined 'correct' version of the play.

Rehearsal log structure: date, aim, activity, observation, problem, and next step; logs are primary evidence for practical coursework.

Peer and self-assessment need criteria: clarity of intention, vocal and physical skill, ensemble contribution, and responsiveness to notes.

Reflective models: Gibbs' reflective cycle (description, feelings, evaluation, analysis, conclusion, action plan) structures written evaluation of process.

Common weaknesses: plot summary instead of analysis, unsupported opinion, and ignoring the audience's role in meaning-making.

Terminology precision: distinguish 'character' from 'actor', 'design' from 'real object', and 'intention' from 'effect' when evaluating.

Maltese theatre history: religious and liturgical drama was performed in churches; the Manoel Theatre in Valletta, opened in 1732, is one of Europe's oldest working theatres and was built by Grand Master António Manoel de Vilhena.

Language duality: Maltese-language and English-language productions coexist; code-switching and translation choices are live artistic decisions in Maltese theatre.

Maltese dramatic writing: twentieth-century playwrights wrote in Maltese for local audiences, and contemporary companies stage new Maltese work alongside translated classics.

Carnival (il-Karnival) traditions include masked and costumed performance, and the Maltese festa includes band clubs and processions as communal performance forms.

Global frameworks: intercultural theatre (Brook, Mnouchkine) and postcolonial theatre raise questions about who represents whom and in whose language.

Festival circuits: Edinburgh Festival Fringe (founded 1947) and Avignon Festival (founded 1947) are major international platforms; fringe models rely on self-produced companies.

Funding and infrastructure: national arts councils, EU cultural funding, and venue capacity shape what can be produced locally; touring costs include transport, per diems and accommodation.

Audience and access: surtitles, relaxed performances, and accessible venues widen participation; language access is especially significant in bilingual contexts.