Robert Cohen - Theatre, Brief Version-McGraw-Hill Education (2016)

G-4 Glossary
drop A flat piece of scenery hung from the fly gallery, which
can “drop” into place by a flying system.
emotion memory A technique in which an actor stimulates
emotion by remembering the feelings he or she experienced
during a previous, real-life event. Employed since ancient
times, it was developed and named by Konstantin Stanislavsky
(who, however, subsequently disowned it) and was promoted
in America by Lee Strasberg. Also called “affective
memory.”
empathy Audience members’ identification with dramatic
characters and their consequent shared feelings with the plights
and fortunes of those characters. Empathy is one of the principal
effects of good drama.
ensemble Literally, the group of actors (and sometimes directors
and designers) who put a play together; metaphorically,
the rapport and shared sense of purpose that bind such a group
into a unified artistic entity.
environmental theatre Plays produced not on a conventional
stage but in an area where the actors and the audience are intermixed
in the same “environment” and there is no precise line
distinguishing stage space from audience space.
epic theatre As popularized by Bertolt Brecht, a style
of theatre in which the play presents a series of semiisolated
episodes intermixed with songs and other forms of direct
address, all leading to a general moral conclusion or set of integrated
moral questions. Brecht’s Mother Courage is a celebrated
example. See also distancing effect.
epilogue In Greek tragedy, a short concluding scene of certain
plays, generally involving a substantial shift of tone or a
deus ex machina. Today, the epilogue is a concluding scene set
substantially beyond the time frame of the rest of the play, in
which characters, now somewhat older, reflect on the preceding
events.
episode In Greek tragedy, a scene between characters and
between choral odes. The word literally means “between odes.”
existential drama A play based on the notions of existentialism,
particularly as developed by playwright/philosopher
Jean-Paul Sartre. Existentialism, basically, preaches Sartre’s
principal tenet in No Exit that “you are your acts, and nothing
else” and that people must be held fully accountable for their
own behavior.
exodos In Greek tragedy, the departure ode of the chorus at
the end of the play.
exposition In play construction, the conveyance, through dialogue,
of story events that occurred before the play begins.
expressionism An artistic style that greatly exaggerates perceived
reality in order to express inner truths directly. Popular
mainly in Germany between the world wars, expressionism in
the theatre is notable for its gutsy dialogue, piercing sounds,
bright lighting and coloring, bold scenery, and shocking, vivid
imagery.
farce Highly comic, lighthearted, gleefully contrived drama,
usually involving stock situations (such as mistaken identity
or discovered lovers’ trysts), punctuated with broad physical
stunts and pratfalls.
flat A wooden frame covered by fabric or by a hard surface
and then painted, often to resemble a wall or portion of a wall.
The flat is a traditional staple of stage scenery, particularly in
the realistic theatre, because it is exceptionally lightweight,
can be combined with other flats in various ways, and can be
repainted and reused many times over several years.
fly (verb) To raise a piece of scenery (or an actor) out of sight
by a system of ropes or wires. This theatre practice dates back
at least to ancient Greek times. See also deus ex machina.
fly gallery The operating area for flying scenery, where fly
ropes are tied off (on a pinrail) or where ropes in a counterweight
system are clamped in a fixed position.
follow-spot A swivel-mounted spotlight that can be pointed in
any direction by an operator.
footlights In a proscenium theatre, a row of lights across the
front of the stage, used to light the actors’ faces from below
and to add light and color to the setting. Footlights were used
universally in previous centuries but are employed only on special
occasions today.
forced perspective A principle of design that simulates depth
in a narrow space, so that a backdrop creates a sense of distance
even though its images are in two dimensions.
forestage See apron.
found object In scene or costume design (and art in general),
an item that is found (rather than created) and is incorporated
into the finished design.
full house Audience seating filled to capacity. See also house.
gel Short for “gelatin,” a sheet of colored plastic placed over
a light source to color the beam emitted from a lighting instrument.
Also used as a verb: to insert gels into the instruments.
genre A French noun meaning “kind”; a term used in dramatic
theory to signify a distinctive class or category of play—
tragedy, comedy, farce, and so on.
geza The stage right, semienclosed musicians’ box in kabuki
theatre. This term also refers to the music that is played in this
box.
gidayu The traditional style of chanting in kabuki and bunraku
theatre.
gobo A perforated sheet of metal that, when placed in front
of the lens of a sharply focused lighting instrument, projects
designs on the floor or wall the light falls on.
greenroom A room near the stage where actors may sit comfortably
before and after the show or during scenes in which
they do not appear. This room is traditionally painted green;
the custom arose in England, where the color was thought to
be soothing.
ground plan A schematic drawing of the stage setting, as seen
from above, indicating the location of stage-scenery pieces and
furniture on (and sometimes above) the floor. A vital working
document for directors in rehearsal, as well as for technicians
in the installation of scenery.
hamartia In Aristotle’s Poetics, the “tragic flaw” of the protagonist.
Scholars differ as to whether Aristotle was referring
primarily to a character’s ignorance of certain facts or to a
character’s moral defect.
hanamichi In the kabuki theatre, a long narrow runway leading
from the stage to a door at the back of the auditorium that
is used for raised and highly theatrical entrances and exits
through the audience. For some plays, a second hanamichi may
be added.
Hellenistic theatre Ancient Greek theatre during the fourth
and third centuries b.c. The surviving stone theatres of Athens
and Epidaurus date from the Hellenistic period, which began
well after the great fifth-century tragedies and comedies were
written. The Hellenistic period did produce an important form
of comedy (New Comedy), however, and Alexandrian scholars