NCEA Level 3 Drama flashcards

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

Drama element: role

The character or function a performer takes on, including status, objectives, and relationships; role shapes how the audience reads a character's actions and intentions in performance.

Drama element: tension

The dramatic pressure created through conflict, uncertainty, or anticipation; tension drives audience engagement and can be built through pacing, silence, status shifts, or withheld information.

Drama element: focus

The point of audience attention at any moment, directed by performers through gaze, staging, and movement; focus clarifies which action or relationship matters most in a scene.

Drama element: space

The physical and implied environment of a performance, including staging configuration, levels, and proximity; spatial choices shape actor-audience relationship and the meaning of the action.

Drama element: time

The treatment of duration, pace, and chronology in performance, including real time, compressed time, flashback, and pause; time manipulation shapes audience understanding of cause and effect.

Drama element: action

The sequence of physical and vocal events that drive the drama forward, including objectives, tactics, and beats; action is what performers do to pursue a goal in a scene.

Convention: aside

A convention in which a character speaks directly to the audience, unheard by other characters; it reveals private thought and creates intimacy or comic conspiracy with the audience.

Convention: soliloquy

A convention in which a character alone on stage speaks their thoughts aloud; it exposes inner conflict and motivation, and requires sustained vocal and physical control from the performer.

Convention: tableau

A frozen stage picture created by performers holding a still position; it isolates a moment, emphasises relationships or status, and can punctuate or open a scene.

Convention: direct address

A convention in which a performer speaks to the audience rather than to another character; it breaks the fourth wall and is central to epic theatre and many devised works.

Convention: chorus

A group of performers who speak, move, or sing collectively; the chorus comments on the action, provides context, and is central to Greek theatre and some devised work.

Convention: slow motion

A convention in which performers move at reduced speed to isolate and heighten a moment; it draws attention to emotional weight or consequence within a scene.

Convention: cross-cutting

A convention in which two or more locations or timelines are shown alternately on stage; it creates comparison, contrast, or parallel action for the audience.

Staging: proscenium arch

A staging configuration with the audience on one side facing a framed stage; it supports realistic box sets and pictorial staging but distances the audience from the action.

Staging: thrust stage

A staging configuration where the audience surrounds the stage on three sides; it creates intimacy and varied sightlines and demands staging that works from multiple angles.

Staging: theatre in the round

A staging configuration with the audience on all sides; it demands movement and staging that read from every angle and creates a strong shared audience experience.

Staging: traverse

A staging configuration with the audience on two opposite sides of a narrow acting area; it emphasises entrances and exits and creates strong diagonal sightlines.

Lighting term: gobo

A template placed in a lighting fixture to project a pattern or texture onto the stage; it can suggest location, mood, or abstraction within a design concept.

Lighting term: cue

A predetermined point at which a lighting or sound change occurs; cues are recorded in a cue sheet and called by the stage manager during performance.

Sound term: reinforcement

The amplification of live voices or instruments through a sound system; it balances levels so the audience hears clearly without the sound becoming artificial.

Stage manager's role

The person who runs the performance backstage, calling cues, managing entrances, and maintaining communication; the stage manager is the central link between technical and performance elements.

Naturalism conventions

A theatre form aiming for realistic representation, using the fourth wall, psychological motivation, detailed realistic setting, and everyday speech; it invites the audience to observe life as if unobserved.

Epic theatre conventions

A form associated with Brecht using direct address, placards, episodic structure, and song to prevent emotional immersion; the audience is invited to think critically rather than identify with characters.

Greek theatre conventions

Conventions of ancient Greek drama including the chorus, masks, the skene, the orchestra, and messenger speeches; these elements shaped how stories were told and received by audiences.

Commedia dell'arte conventions

Conventions of Italian improvised comedy including stock characters, masks, lazzi, and a scenario outline; performers improvise dialogue and action around a fixed plot structure.

Director's concept

The unifying interpretation a director applies to a script, including setting, style, and thematic emphasis; the concept guides all design and performance choices in production.

Devising process

The collaborative process of creating original drama through improvisation, research, and structured tasks; the process is documented in a portfolio showing decisions and revisions.

Verfremdungseffekt

Brecht's alienation effect, in which theatrical devices make the familiar strange; it discourages emotional identification and prompts the audience to analyse social and political issues.

Fourth wall

The imagined boundary between performers and audience in realistic theatre; when broken, the performer acknowledges the audience and the realistic illusion is disrupted.

Given circumstances

The facts of a script that define a character's situation, including time, place, relationships, and past events; actors use them to build believable objectives and actions.

Objective and tactic

An objective is what a character wants in a scene; a tactic is the action used to pursue it. Naming both clarifies acting choices and scene structure.

Analysis versus description

Description states what happened on stage; analysis explains why it happened and what effect it created for the audience, supported by specific evidence from the performance.