Theatre technique
Encyclopedia
Theatre techniques are procedures that facilitate a successful presentation of a play. They also include any practices that advance and enhance the understanding the audience brings to the action and the acting by the cast
on stage.

The playwright's craft

Theatre technique is part of the playwright
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...

's creative writing of drama, as a kind of mimesis
Mimesis
Mimesis , from μιμεῖσθαι , "to imitate," from μῖμος , "imitator, actor") is a critical and philosophical term that carries a wide range of meanings, which include imitation, representation, mimicry, imitatio, receptivity, nonsensuous similarity, the act of resembling, the act of expression, and the...

 rather than mere illusion
Illusion
An illusion is a distortion of the senses, revealing how the brain normally organizes and interprets sensory stimulation. While illusions distort reality, they are generally shared by most people....

 or imitation
Imitation
Imitation is an advanced behavior whereby an individual observes and replicates another's. The word can be applied in many contexts, ranging from animal training to international politics.-Anthropology and social sciences:...

 of life, in that the playwright is able to present a reality to the audience that is different, yet recognisable to that which they usually identify with in their everyday lives.
Another aspect of this is that of creating the kind of dialogue
Dialogue
Dialogue is a literary and theatrical form consisting of a written or spoken conversational exchange between two or more people....

 that makes the playwright's characters come alive and allows for their development in the course of his dramatization.

The playwright's art also consists in the ability to convey to the audience the ideas that give essence to the drama within the frame of its structure.
Finally, the feeling for the natural divisions of a play—including act
Act (theater)
An act is a division or unit of a drama. The number of acts in a production can range from one to five or more, depending on how a writer structures the outline of the story...

s, scene
Scene (fiction)
In fiction, a scene is a unit of drama. A sequel is what follows; an aftermath. Together, scene and sequel provide the building blocks of plot for short stories, novels, and other forms of fiction.-Characteristics of a scene:...

s, and changes of place—its entries and exits, and the positioning of the cast
Cast member
A cast member is:* An actor who performs in a theatrical production, motion picture, or television program. The actors who perform in the show are collectively referred to as the cast....

 are integral to playwriting technique.

One of the playwright’s functions is that concerned with adaptation
Adaptation
An adaptation in biology is a trait with a current functional role in the life history of an organism that is maintained and evolved by means of natural selection. An adaptation refers to both the current state of being adapted and to the dynamic evolutionary process that leads to the adaptation....

s of existing traditional drama, such as Charles Marowitz
Charles Marowitz
Charles Marowitz is an American critic, theatre director, and playwright who has been a regular columnist on Swans Commentary—a cultural-political bi-weekly—since 2004...

’s collage
Collage
A collage is a work of formal art, primarily in the visual arts, made from an assemblage of different forms, thus creating a new whole....

s of Hamlet
Hamlet
The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...

and Macbeth
Macbeth
The Tragedy of Macbeth is a play by William Shakespeare about a regicide and its aftermath. It is Shakespeare's shortest tragedy and is believed to have been written sometime between 1603 and 1607...

and other re-interpretations of Shakespeare's works, as well as Tom Stoppard
Tom Stoppard
Sir Tom Stoppard OM, CBE, FRSL is a British playwright, knighted in 1997. He has written prolifically for TV, radio, film and stage, finding prominence with plays such as Arcadia, The Coast of Utopia, Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, Professional Foul, The Real Thing, and Rosencrantz and...

’s approaches in Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead
Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead is an absurdist, existentialist tragicomedy by Tom Stoppard, first staged at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 1966. The play expands upon the exploits of two minor characters from Shakespeare's Hamlet, the courtiers Rosencrantz and Guildenstern...

, Dogg's Hamlet, and Cahoot's Macbeth.

The director’s craft

The director these days is responsible for the actual production of a play, as opposed to earlier days when it was the producer who, at least in Britain until the 1950s, had this task. In earlier centuries it was the author, an actor-manager, or a leading actor with whom the responsibilities of staging a drama were invested.

The director produces the play in the way he envisages how it ought to be seen as he interprets what the playwright intended within the drama; he takes care of the effictiveness of the rehearsals of the actors; and coordinates the work of designers and technicians in the production.

However, the playwright’s work is still reflected in the director’s prompt copy
Prompt (theatre)
The prompt in a theatre is traditionally the person who prompts or cues actors when they forget their lines or neglect to move on the stage to where they are supposed to be situated....

, a separate form of stage instructions worked out in detail by the director, in which each actor is given details as to what is happening onstage, where exactly he has to be in relation to the back, front, left, or right of the stage, and what he is to do at any one time during the play.

Stage management and stagecraft

The stage manager has to work with the director, and ascertain whether both the director’s objectives and the perceptions of the stage designers are compatible and realistic. He is usually the link between the director and the rest of the company, and is responsible for the director’s visions being passed down to each actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...

 and member of the running crew
Running crew
Running crew or run crew, is a collective term used in theatre to describe the members of the technical crew who supervise and operate the various technical aspects of the production during a performance...

. He is also responsible for safety
Safety
Safety is the state of being "safe" , the condition of being protected against physical, social, spiritual, financial, political, emotional, occupational, psychological, educational or other types or consequences of failure, damage, error, accidents, harm or any other event which could be...

 and running an orderly backstage area. He maintains the prompt book and the call board, to which rehearsal
Rehearsal
For other uses, see Rehearsal or Dress rehearsal A rehearsal is a preparatory event in music and theatre that is performed before the official public performance, as a form of practice, and to ensure that all details of the performance are adequately prepared and coordinated for professional...

 schedule notes are affixed for the cast.

Stagecraft
Stagecraft
Stagecraft is a generic term referring to the technical aspects of theatrical, film, and video production. It includes, but is not limited to, constructing and rigging scenery, hanging and focusing of lighting, design and procurement of costumes, makeup, procurement of props, stage management, and...

 overall has to address the various shortcomings of the stage’s spatial and physical limitations. For example, the stage alone cannot be expected to provide wide and distant vista
View
A view is what can be seen in a range of vision. View may also be used as a synonym of point of view in the first sense. View may also be used figuratively or with special significance—for example, to imply a scenic outlook or significant vantage point:...

s, or vast spaces where armies gather or huge masses of people congregate. Natural phenomena such as thunderstorm
Thunderstorm
A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm, a lightning storm, thundershower or simply a storm is a form of weather characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere known as thunder. The meteorologically assigned cloud type associated with the...

s or wind
Wind
Wind is the flow of gases on a large scale. On Earth, wind consists of the bulk movement of air. In outer space, solar wind is the movement of gases or charged particles from the sun through space, while planetary wind is the outgassing of light chemical elements from a planet's atmosphere into space...

s, that are often part of the drama, cannot be recreated in their original form. Furthermore, because of the distance involved, it is difficult for actors to portray the feelings, tensions and passions of their characters to the audience
Audience
An audience is a group of people who participate in a show or encounter a work of art, literature , theatre, music or academics in any medium...

 with much distinctiveness.

It is for these reasons that special technologies and techniques have been developed from classical times onward to supplement and augment the effects that are to be realised. Technical specialists help to implement these techniques by providing expertise in various areas of the production. The stage manager and his team must ultimately draw all these separate techniques together to create an effective and successful stage production.
  • Sets and sceneries
    Theatrical scenery
    Theatrical scenery is that which is used as a setting for a theatrical production. Scenery may be just about anything, from a single chair to an elaborately re-created street, no matter how large or how small, whether or not the item was custom-made or is, in fact, the genuine item, appropriated...

     have to be designed and created in the workshop
    Workshop
    A workshop is a room or building which provides both the area and tools that may be required for the manufacture or repair of manufactured goods...

    . They include outdoor and indoor scenes, or special types of constructions, and must also usually achieve the appearance of depth and distance within the spatial limitations of the stage
    Stage (theatre)
    In theatre or performance arts, the stage is a designated space for the performance productions. The stage serves as a space for actors or performers and a focal point for the members of the audience...

    .

  • Stage lighting
    Stage lighting
    Modern stage lighting is a flexible tool in the production of theatre, dance, opera and other performance arts. Several different types of stage lighting instruments are used in the pursuit of the various principles or goals of lighting. Stage lighting has grown considerably in recent years...

     has to be provided to set the moods and sensitivities of the play, and to permit the showing of the emotional charge in the face of the actors, possibly reinforcing the pallor or vividness of their faces.

  • Costumes
    Costume design
    Costume design is the fabrication of apparel for the overall appearance of a character or performer. This usually involves researching, designing and building the actual items from conception. Costumes may be for a theater or cinema performance but may not be limited to such...

     have to typify characters from the moment they appear on stage and signify the period or the social milieu in which the characters are to be seen. They can also indicate the characters' circumstances (whether they should appear rich or poor) or even whether they should be seen as comic
    Comedy
    Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...

     or tragic
    Tragedy
    Tragedy is a form of art based on human suffering that offers its audience pleasure. While most cultures have developed forms that provoke this paradoxical response, tragedy refers to a specific tradition of drama that has played a unique and important role historically in the self-definition of...

     personae.

  • Sound effect
    Sound design
    Sound design is the process of specifying, acquiring, manipulating or generating audio elements. It is employed in a variety of disciplines including filmmaking, television production, theatre, sound recording and reproduction, live performance, sound art, post-production and video game software...

    s have to convey natural phenomena, such as wind or storm. However, it is also their function to call forth moods and feelings the audience will recognise.

  • Special effect
    Special effect
    The illusions used in the film, television, theatre, or entertainment industries to simulate the imagined events in a story are traditionally called special effects ....

    s have to deliver the imitations of physical actions on stage, such as explosions, fireworks, fog, or even earthquakes that are often part of the story.

  • Rigging is an important aspect that is not often visible. All sound and lighting features and their cabling and wiring have to be held in a safe position, above both the stage and the auditorium, and therefore require specialist temporary and permanent fittings to be installed.

  • The technical director
    Technical director
    The Technical Director or Technical Manager is usually a senior technical person within a software company, film studio, theatrical company or television studio...

    , especially in larger theatres, has the responsibility of overseeing the rigging and construction of the stage scenery. He creates working drawings from the scenic designer’s drawings in order to pass on the designs to the scene shop.

The three unities

The Classical unities
Classical unities
The classical unities, Aristotelian unities or three unities are rules for drama derived from a passage in Aristotle's Poetics. In their neoclassical form they are as follows:...

of time, action and place were the main principles of French neo-classical
Neoclassicism
Neoclassicism is the name given to Western movements in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that draw inspiration from the "classical" art and culture of Ancient Greece or Ancient Rome...

 drama
Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...

 during part of the 17th century.
They were introduced by Jean Mairet
Jean Mairet
Jean Mairet was a classical French dramatist who wrote both tragedies and comedies.- Life :He was born at Besançon, and went to Paris to study at the Collège des Grassins about 1625. In that year he produced his first piece Chryséide et Arimand...

 after a misreading of Aristotle
Aristotle
Aristotle was a Greek philosopher and polymath, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. His writings cover many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric, linguistics, politics, government, ethics, biology, and zoology...

's Poetics, and the critic Castelvetro insisted that playwrights and directors adhere to the unities. In the Poetics Aristotle had merely recommended that action should consist only of the main plot without any subplot
Subplot
A subplot is a secondary plot strand that is a supporting side story for any story or the main plot. Subplots may connect to main plots, in either time and place or in thematic significance...

s, and that the time represented by action should not stretch beyond the length of one day. Time merely entered into his recommendations as a hint as to the limits of the attention
Attention
Attention is the cognitive process of paying attention to one aspect of the environment while ignoring others. Attention is one of the most intensely studied topics within psychology and cognitive neuroscience....

 span the audience could be expected to have. The unity of place, that of the confinement of the action in a play to one locality only, was not mentioned at all.
The effect of the three unities on French drama during this period was that their presentation became very restrictive, and it was only when later dramatists began to avoid mentioning specific times and places that the presentation of plays became more creative again.

Theatre presentation

Some dramatists and dramaturgists try to achieve particular effects that are not normally sought in a theatre presentation.

Defamiliarization effect (Verfremdungseffekt)

Bertolt Brecht
Bertolt Brecht
Bertolt Brecht was a German poet, playwright, and theatre director.An influential theatre practitioner of the 20th century, Brecht made equally significant contributions to dramaturgy and theatrical production, the latter particularly through the seismic impact of the tours undertaken by the...

 coined the term "defamiliarization effect" (sometimes called "estrangement effect" or "alienation effect"; German Verfremdungseffekt) for an approach to theater that focused on the central ideas and decisions in the play, and discouraged involving the audience in an illusory world and in the emotions of the characters. Brecht thought the audience required an emotional distance to reflect on what is being presented. See epic theater
Epic theater
Epic theatre was a theatrical movement arising in the early to mid-20th century from the theories and practice of a number of theatre practitioners, including Erwin Piscator, Vladimir Mayakovsky, Vsevolod Meyerhold and, most famously, Bertolt Brecht...

.

Techniques

Some Drama Techniques

-Flashforward/Flashback

-Conscience Corridor

-Sound-scaping

-Role-on-the-wall

-Physical Theatre

-Split focus

-Cross-cutting

-Tableaux (a.k.a. Freeze Frame)

-Mime

-Slow motion

-Choral Speech

-Choral movement

-Clocking the audience

-Still image

-Slap stick

-Thought tracking

-Exaggerated movement

-Spoofing
There are many drama techniques. These are often used in theatre productions.

Teichoscopy

One of the oldest techniques that has been used often, is that of teichoscopy
Teichoscopy
Teichoscopy or teichoscopia, meaning "viewing from the walls," is a famous passage in the Iliad that takes place in Book 3, lines 121-244.The Teichoscopy begins with Helen approached in her chamber by Iris, disguised as her sister-in-law Laodike, the daughter of Priam...

or the "viewing from the wall", in which actors observe events beyond the confines of the stage, such as a distant battle, and discuss it on stage while the battle is taking place, as opposed to the event being reported by messengers at a later time after the event has happened. Shakespeare uses this technique in the final scenes of Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar (play)
The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, also known simply as Julius Caesar, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1599. It portrays the 44 BC conspiracy against...

.
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