Eng-Lit Drama Vocabulary

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Across
  1. 2. The point at which the conflict explodes.
  2. 3. A dramaturg has many roles in theatre; at various points they can: serve as a company literary manager, ensure the play’s story is effectively communicated in production, serve as intermediary between a director and playwright, support new play development, research background and origins of the play; at all times, a dramaturg is focused on telling the story of the play successfully.
  3. 8. A (usually brief) trial performance by an actor, dancer, singer, or musician to demonstrate one’s suitability for a role.
  4. 10. The playwright’s attitude toward the characters and situations in the script.
  5. 11. Pages that contain only the lines or part of a scene that an actor is to use for an audition.
  6. 13. A character's goal or desire in a scene or play.
  7. 14. Spoken interchange or conversation between two or more characters, or, loosely defined, the speech of a single character.
  8. 16. LIB When an actor improvises or makes up dialogue during a scene.
  9. 19. DIRECTIONS Information included in the script by the playwright which provides: Physical descriptions of characters; Psychological descriptions of characters; Characters' actions on stage; and Descriptions of the setting which can help one envision, design and build the set.
  10. 20. The conclusion or ending of the play.
  11. 21. THE STAKES Deepening or building a conflict for a character such that there is a dire consequence if they don't achieve their objective.
  12. 24. Often included at the beginning of a play, exposition is dialogue or stage directions that explains and introduces the major characters, settings, back story, events and problems that the play will address.
  13. 27. A figure who undertakes the action of the plot.
  14. 28. The structure of a story, built around a beginning (rising action), middle (climax), and end (falling action and resolution).
  15. 29. The way language is used by the playwright and the actor; the playwright’s choice of words.
  16. 30. When an actor has memorized his or her lines enough to not carry his or her script in hand during rehearsals.
  17. 35. Specific stage movements by actors, which includes entrances, exits, and any steps in any direction of the stage
  18. 36. A level of meaning implicit or underlying the surface of a script.
  19. 38. An added element to a story that makes the main conflict more difficult for the main character.
  20. 39. OF VIEW The way in which a character sees the world.
  21. 40. A character's style is established by the way he or she speaks and acts.
  22. 41. The set, as well as the furniture and other props, that suggest to the audience the environment in which a play’s action takes place.
Down
  1. 1. What happens, the sequence of events that take place in a story.
  2. 4. When actors read through the entire script with all involved artists present; usually on the first day of rehearsal.
  3. 5. A major division in the action of a play.
  4. 6. A signal, such as a line, action, or sound, that alerts an actor to speak, move, enter, or exit.
  5. 7. READING Performing a monologue or scene in an audition without ever having read it prior to the audition.
  6. 9. The play’s central idea. What the play adds up to, its underlying meaning.
  7. 11. Division of acts in a play.
  8. 12. The particular time and place in which the play takes place.
  9. 15. What happens in a play; the events that make up the plot.
  10. 17. The person who stages the production.
  11. 18. Reason(s) that drive a character to think, act or speak in a certain way.
  12. 22. A performer creating a scene or elements of a scene (including movement, dialogue, characters, situations) with little or no preparation or rehearsal.
  13. 23. A play written in prose or verse that tells a story through dialogue and actions performed by actors impersonating the characters of the story.
  14. 25. Music integrated into a play script has the power to move an audience.
  15. 26. Hints, delivered through the characters’ lines and/or actions, of events to come that help create an air of suspense in the play.
  16. 27. All plays focus on a conflict, a struggle between opposing forces.
  17. 31. A problem or complication that gets in the way of a character achieving his or her objective.
  18. 32. A character’s clothing tells a great deal about him or her.
  19. 33. Objects used by an actor in a performance.
  20. 34. A speech or portion of a play in which only one character speaks.
  21. 37. OF ACTION AND CHARACTER The sense that the events of play and the actions of the characters are progressing in a believable and psychologically motivated way.