MATSEC SEC Theatre flashcards

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

Hamartia

The error, flaw or misjudgement in a tragic protagonist that contributes to their downfall. In Aristotle's analysis it is not simple wickedness but a mistake that makes the fall both plausible and pitiable.

Catharsis

The purging or release of pity and fear that Aristotle says tragedy produces in the audience. It explains why watching suffering can be pleasurable rather than merely distressing.

Soliloquy

A speech delivered by a character alone on stage, revealing inner thoughts to the audience rather than to other characters. It is a theatrical convention, not realistic conversation.

Aside

A short remark spoken by a character that the audience hears but other characters on stage do not. It creates complicity with the audience and often supplies irony or comic commentary.

Dramatic irony

A situation where the audience knows something a character does not, so the character's words or actions carry a meaning they cannot see. It generates tension, pity or comedy.

Subtext

The meaning beneath the spoken words: what a character really wants, feels or hides. Actors play subtext through tone, pause and physical action rather than stating it aloud.

Given circumstances

The facts a script supplies about a character's world: time, place, social situation, relationships and past events. Actors use them to build believable motivation.

Super-objective

The single overriding desire that drives a character through the whole play, as opposed to the smaller objectives pursued scene by scene. A Stanislavski-derived rehearsal term.

Blocking

The planned pattern of movement and stage positions fixed in rehearsal, recorded in the prompt book. Consistent blocking makes entrances, exits and sightlines repeatable for every performance.

Upstage and downstage

Upstage is the area furthest from the audience; downstage is nearest. The terms come from raked historical stages, where the stage literally sloped upward away from the spectators.

Stage right and left

Directions taken from the performer's viewpoint facing the audience. Stage right is the audience's left, so written stage directions must always be read from the actor's perspective.

Proscenium arch stage

A stage framed by an arch with the audience on one side only, creating a picture-frame effect. It suits elaborate scenery but distances the audience from the performers.

Thrust stage

A stage projecting into the auditorium with audience on three sides. It creates intimacy and fast audience contact but demands careful blocking because some spectators see actors' backs.

Theatre in the round

Performance space surrounded by audience on all four sides. Entrances run through the aisles, scenery must be minimal, and actors must constantly play to all directions.

Traverse staging

A stage with audience on two opposite sides and the action in a central corridor between them. It emphasises confrontation and linear movement along the acting space.

Fourth wall

The imaginary boundary between the stage and the audience in realistic theatre. Actors behave as if unobserved, and the audience watches as invisible observers of a private world.

Breaking the fourth wall

Direct address or acknowledgement of the audience that shatters the illusion of realism. It is a deliberate alienation device used for comedy, commentary or political effect.

Exposition

The opening section of a play that supplies necessary background: relationships, setting, prior events and the initial situation. Effective exposition is woven into action, not announced.

Climax

The point of greatest tension where the central conflict reaches its decisive turning point. Everything before it builds toward it; everything after shows its consequences.

Denouement

The final unravelling after the climax, in which remaining confusions are resolved and the new order is established. It may be brief or, in some modern plays, deliberately absent.

Falling action

The section following the climax in which consequences unfold and tension decreases. It shows characters reacting to the turning point before the final resolution.

Commedia dell'arte

Italian improvised comedy from the sixteenth century built on stock characters, masks and lazzi (comic routines). It influenced later physical comedy, pantomime and character comedy.

Greek chorus

A group in ancient Greek theatre who comment, question and narrate between episodes. The chorus provides moral perspective and bridges the action and the audience.

Realism in theatre

A late nineteenth-century style aiming at plausible everyday life, consistent psychology and recognisable settings. Dialogue imitates ordinary speech and the fourth wall is usually intact.

Naturalism

An extreme form of realism emphasising heredity and environment as forces shaping behaviour. Associated with Zola's theories and Strindberg's preface to Miss Julie.

Farce

Comedy built on improbable situations, mistaken identity, rapid entrances and exits, and escalating chaos. Plot machinery matters more than character depth, and physical timing is essential.

Melodrama

A style with clearly opposed good and evil characters, sensational incidents and heightened emotion. Music originally underscored action, and moral outcomes are unambiguous.

Tragicomedy

A play mixing tragic and comic elements so that neither mode dominates. It reflects the mixed nature of experience and often refuses a wholly sad or happy ending.

Production concept

The unifying directorial interpretation of a script, covering period, setting, style and casting logic. A defensible concept must be supported by evidence in the text.

Prompt book

The stage manager's master script containing blocking, technical cues and running order. It is the operational document that allows a production to be repeated consistently.

Lighting cue

A recorded change in the lighting state, numbered and called during performance. Cues control visibility, focus, atmosphere and the audience's attention at each moment.

Costume plot

A chart listing every character's costumes by scene, with notes on changes and accessories. It coordinates wardrobe, quick changes and continuity across the production.