Share (S24) Ancient Greek and Elizabethan Theatre + Theatre Terms
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This is a still-in-use ancient Greek theatre that has perfect acoustics.
EPHIDARUS
In Ancient Greek drama, this is a term used for any dramatic device outside of the main action used to bring the play to a final resolution.
DEUS EX MACHINA
Name six conventions of Ancient Greek drama.
Deus ex Machina, masks, violence off stage, single-gender (male) cast, chorus, wooden phalluses, singing, dancing, musical instruments on stage.
This is a Shakespearean/Elizabethan theatrical convention involving short comments that reveal a character’s inner thoughts to the audience, often with comic effect.
ASIDES
This is a moment during a play that deliberately draws attention to the craft of performance (i.e. the art of theatre), and is a convention Shakespeare used extensively in his plays to promote his artform.
METATHEATRICALITY
This is a Shakespearean/Elizabethan theatrical convention involving a lengthy solo speech through which a character reveals an interior state of mind.
SOLILOQUY
This is the area of the stage farthest from the audience in proscenium or thrust staging.
UPSTAGE
This is the area to the actor’s right when standing center stage, facing the audience on a proscenium or thrust stage.
STAGE RIGHT
These are areas on the periphery of the playing area that can be masked to hide actors, technicians, props, and scenery.
WINGS
The area of the stage closest to the audience in proscenium or thrust staging.
DOWNSTAGE
These are very high ceilings behind the proscenium arch of a theatre used to house scenery that is “flown” up and down on a system of pulleys to change the sets.
FLY SPACES
This is the name for spectators in Shakespeare’s time who could not afford seats and stood for the entire performance in the open-pit area in front of the stage.
GROUNDLINGS
This is a performance space, usually painted black, that permits the rearrangement of seating and playing areas for every production in a variety of traditional and non-traditional arrangements.
BLACK BOX THEATRE
This is a booth where theatre tickets are sold.
BOX OFFICE
This is a type of set design in which flats (painted scenery) form the back and side walls, and sometimes even the ceiling, of a room. Actors make entrances and exits through doors in these walls.
BOX SET
In proscenium theatres, these are the private seating areas set in the balcony above the orchestra.
BOXES
