Across
- 10. Objects used by an actor in a performance. These include any physical items an actor interacts with or uses during the course of the play.
- 11. 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.
- 13. Reason(s) that drive a character to think, act or speak in a certain way.
- 14. A signal, such as a line, action, or sound, that alerts an actor to speak, move, enter, or exit. Stage managers also use cues as indications to initiate a light, sound or other technical element.
- 15. The way language is used by the playwright and actor
- 18. The particular time and place in which the play takes place. It defines the specific social, historical and economic, and political world of the play and the characters who inhabit that world. Sometimes a play has more than one setting. Setting should be indicated through stage directions and characters' dialogue and action as the characters interact with their environment.
- 19. The person who stages the production
- 21. A figure who undertakes the action of the plot
- 23. What happens, the sequence of events that take place in a story. The sequence of events usually follow a traditional pattern: exposition, in which characters, relationships, setting are introduced; complications (or rising action), in which matters begin getting complicated, conflict develops; then climax, the point of great tension or the turning point, when dramatic intensity peaks; then falling action, in which the consequences of the climatic events unfolds; and finally denouement (or conclusion), in which action comes to a meaningful end.
- 24. What happens in a play
- 25. A level of meaning implicit or underlying the surface of a script.
- 26. The play’s central idea.
- 27. The playwright’s attitude toward the characters and situations in the script.
- 31. When actors read through the entire script with all involved artists present; usually on the first day of rehearsal.
- 32. A speech or portion of a play in which only one character speaks; oftentimes monologues are used in auditions. Monologues can be performed alone by one character, addressed to a silent or absent character, as a chance to hear a character’s uninterrupted thoughts.
- 35. An added element to a story that makes the main conflict more difficult for the main character.
- 37. A problem or complication that gets in the way of a character achieving his or her objective.
- 41. The sense that the events of play and the actions of the characters are progressing in a believable and psychologically motivated way. The play should make sense as an image of human action. A play should embody a well-integrated artistic whole.
- 42. Pages that contain only the lines or part of a scene that an actor is to use for an audition. Sides are often selected pieces of a play chosen by a director. Actors will often be asked to do a cold reading of sides at an audition.
- 43. A (usually brief) trial performance by an actor, dancer, singer, or musician to demonstrate one’s suitability for a role
Down
- 1. A performer creating a scene or elements of a scene (including movement, dialogue, characters, situations) with little or no preparation or rehearsal.
- 2. Performing a monologue or scene in an audition without ever having read it prior to the audition.
- 3. The point at which the conflict explodes.
- 4. Music integrated into a play script has the power to move an audience.
- 5. Hints, delivered through the characters’ lines and/or actions, of events to come that help create an air of suspense in the play.
- 6. What the character is wearing
- 7. A major division in the action of a play.
- 8. Directions Information included in the script by the playwright which provides: 1) Physical descriptions of characters; 2) Psychological descriptions of characters; 3) Characters' actions on stage; and 4) Descriptions of the setting which can help one envision, design and build the set.
- 9. A struggle between opposing forces
- 12. Deepening or building a conflict for a character such that there is a dire consequence if they don't achieve their objective. The consequence will give the character a reason to pursue the objective throughout the play. Raising the stakes can make the audience more interested and invested in your characters.
- 16. The structure of a story
- 17. Spoken language between characters
- 20. Specific stage movements by actors, which includes entrances, exits, and any steps in any direction of the stage;
- 22. 1) Division of an act of a play. Each act is broken up into scenes. Scenes are numbered, beginning with "Scene 1" at the start of each new act of the play. A new scene only begins when there is a change in time or location on stage. 2) The term also refers to the physical surrounding or locale in which the play’s action is set.
- 28. The conclusion or ending of the play.
- 29. The way in which a character sees the world. These are opinions, feelings, and background experiences that influence the character's objectives, actions, and dialogue in the play.
- 30. 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.
- 33. 1) A character's style is established by the way he or she speaks and acts. 2) The playwright’s style is establish by the words and phrases he or she chooses to make up the characters’ actions, lines and setting in which they speak and act.
- 34. A character's goal or desire in a scene or play. Objectives should always drive characters' actions and dialogue to help move the story forward. Opposing objectives create conflict in a play.
- 36. When an actor has memorized his or her lines enough to not carry his or her script in hand during rehearsals. Directors often choose an "off-book" date for their actors by which the actor must have lines memorized.
- 38. When an actor improvises or makes up dialogue during a scene
- 39. A play written in prose or verse that tells a story
- 40. 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.