The Most important theater features Are closely related to the elements common to any work or performance.
The term theater has its origins in the Greek word Theatron , Which means a"place to look". Thus, originally, the theater referred to both a place and a particular form of perception. Nowadays, the concept of theater can refer to: a building, an activity ('going to' or 'doing' theater), an institution and an art form.
Theater is the branch of stage art related to the performance and representation of stories in front of a live audience, using a combination of speeches, gestures, scenography, music, sounds and spectacle that seek to stimulate and excite the viewer.
The mind also plays an important role in the theater, since this artistic expression is deciphered according to the perception and imagination of the spectator.
All plays have common elements that characterize this art. Then, you will see in more detail the most outstanding features.
15 characteristic elements of the theater
1- Plot
It is what happens in the work. It refers to action. The organization of events or the selection and order of scenes in a play. In accordance with Aristotle , Is an abstract concept that refers to the disposition of incidents that constitute the raw material and components of history.
The plot is how these incidents are structured into a coherent whole. If the layout of the original order is altered a new frame will be generated. In the theater two types of plot prevail. Here are the main features and differentiating elements:
Resolution Plot
- The plot starts late in the story, closer to the end or climax.
- Covers a short time.
- Contains a few solid and expanded scenes.
- It occurs in a restricted location, a room or a house.
- The number of characters is severely delimited.
- Few secondary frames arise.
- The line of action proceeds in a chain of cause and effect. The characters and events are closely linked in a sequence of logical development, almost inevitable.
Plot of Revelation
- The plot begins relatively early in the story and moves through a series of acts.
- It covers long periods of time.
- Many short and fragmented scenes or alternating between short and long scenes.
- It can cover an entire city or even several countries.
- Abundance of characters.
- Frequently marked by several threads of action, several parallel stories.
- The scenes are associated with each other. An event can result from several causes, or no apparent cause, but arises in a network of circumstances.
2- Topic
While the plot refers to the action of the work, the subject refers to the meaning of the work. Sometimes it is clearly indicated in the title.
Other times it can be declared through dialogue by a character who acts as the voice of the playwright. Sometimes, the subject is less obvious and arises only after analyzing the content of the work.
3- Characters
They are the people, animals or ideas that are represented by the actors in the work. In structural terms, the characters are the agents of action, which provide the motivations for events to occur in the plot.
Each character must have its own personality, age, appearance, beliefs, socioeconomic background and language. According to its functions in the work can be outlined some types of personages:
- Protagonist : The main character.
- Antagonistic : The main opponent of the protagonist.
- Counterparts : Reveal some aspects of the main character by having similar or different circumstances or behaviors.
4- Script or Text
This is the starting point of the theatrical performance. It is the text by which the play is created. It consists of dialogue, stage instructions, descriptions of characters and the like in a play. It refers to the words written by the playwright and interpreted by the characters.
5- Gender
Distinguishing class of the work. Gender comes from a French word meaning"category"or"type." The choice of gender reflects the writer's point of view toward the subject.
In the theater the following types of works are usually represented: tragedy, comedy, melodrama and tragicomedy. Each of these genres can be further subdivided by style and content into:
Tragedy
It is an imitation of an action that is serious, complex and relevant. The tragedy is serious by nature in its subject and it deals with deep problems. These deep problems are universal and arouse compassion and fear in the audience as they witness the action.
Comedy
It has the vision to make the audience laugh, it is usually physical and energetic. The behavior of the characters presented is ridiculous and sometimes absurd. It stimulates the audience to correct the behavior of society.
Melodrama
It is the drama of the disaster, circumstances beyond the control of the protagonist cause the significant events of the plot. The aspects of guilt and responsibility of the protagonist are eliminated.
The protagonist is a victim of circumstances. The melodrama has a strict sense of moral judgment. All the topics presented are resolved in a well defined way. Good characters are rewarded and bad characters are punished.
Tragicomedy
It is a reflection of life itself, it contains all the previous genres. It is not intended to judge, or to make absolute judgments. It focuses on character relationships and shows society in a state of continuous flow.
Costume and Makeup
They are elements that serve to characterize the actors when recreating a character.
Locker room
It refers to clothes and accessories used on stage by an actor or an interpreter. The ancient Greeks were the pioneers in elaborating specific costumes for each personage, this art served to revive the medieval time and to represent great marquesses of the court.
Makeup
It is the use of cosmetics in altering the physical appearance of an actor in order for their appearance to fit a particular role or to compensate for the effects of stage lighting.
The art of makeup was revolutionized by the introduction of electric and gas lighting and has now become a highly technical practice.
7- Lighting and sound effects
The placement, intensity and color of the lights as well as the sound effects help the director communicate the mood, mood or feeling in a scene.
Lighting was recognized as an important feature of theatrical production when indoor performances were given for the first time during the Renaissance , Involving the use of flammable candles and liquids.
Crucial innovations in lighting technology included the introduction of floor lamps, the use of reflectors to increase the intensity of light beams and the darkening of the lights in the auditorium in 1876.
The development of gas lighting at the beginning of the 19th century represented an important advance in spite of the hazards involved. The use of electric lighting began at the California Theater in San Francisco in 1879.
Currently lighting systems in modern theaters are controlled by highly sophisticated computerized boards, which can coordinate the lighting of an entire system. Other recent innovations have included experiments with ultraviolet light, lasers and holography.
Sound effects are the noises that are generated to accompany a scene in a play, which can be produced by computers or by actors on and off the stage.
8- Director
He is the person responsible for the total unity of production and for coordinating the efforts of the artists. The work of the director is central to the production of a play, since it is the director who establishes the vision of production for all involved.
The director has the challenging task of bringing together many complex pieces of a production: script, actors, costumes, lighting, sound and music into a unified whole. To accomplish this task, a director needs:
- Interpret the script.
- Collaborate with the designers.
- Plan the trials.
- Guide the actors in their work during rehearsals.
The work of the director is often based on a detailed study and analysis of the script object of the assembly. Many careful readings of the script help the principal develop an individual view of the playwright's intentions. Your perception will influence any aspect of production.
Directors also study the characters in the script, collecting as much information as possible about their physical and psychological traits, which is vital to casting.
9- Audience
Group of people who see the work. Many playwrights and actors believe that the public is the most important element of the theater, since all the effort put into writing and producing a play is for the enjoyment of the audience.
Because in the theater the performers are in direct presence with the audience a circular flow of energy is generated, the actor affects the audience and vice versa. This effect is amplified by the fact that theater is a communal event.
The group experience is indispensable, since the group strengthens the emotions experienced by the individual and creates a collective consciousness. When a group of individuals responds in a similar way to what is happening on the stage, their relationship with others is reaffirmed and strengthened.
The degree of separation between cast and audience is what differentiates conventional theater from participatory theater.
In the first, the public uses their imagination to participate in the play while separating from the action. In the second, the actors interact with the audience trying to follow an established and improvised script, with an emphasis on personal development or collective therapy.
In the theater, an audience is asked to accept many types of imaginary worlds. One way to differentiate these imaginary realms is to divide them into what is called realistic and non-realistic theater.
He realism , Became the dominant form of European theater in the late nineteenth century, tries to recreate life so closely that the audience assumes it must be life. Non-realism, on the other hand, tries to transcend the reality observed and present the part of life that exists in the mind.
However, it is a mistake to assume that these two approaches are mutually exclusive. Most theatrical performances contain a mixture of realistic and non-realistic elements.
10- Scenography
It serves to recreate the environment in which the plot is developed, the scenery has the following objectives:
- Set the tone and style of production.
- Set time and place.
- Distinguish realism from non-realism.
- Coordinate the landscape with other elements.
- Deal with the limitations of stage space and off-stage area.
All these objectives are addressed in multiple meetings between the director, the set designer and the design team. Later the ideas are expressed in sketches, which after revisions, analyzes and modifications allow to devise the scenery that best adapts to the history and the vision of the creative ones.
Once this stage is finished, the designs are delivered to a technical director, who realizes the necessary constructions, adjustments and facilities in the scenario for the materialization of what is planned.
11- Scenario
They are theatrical equipment, like curtains, floors, backgrounds or platforms, that are used in a dramatic production.
12- Utility
There are different categories of props. Much of the handy props come from the script and are elements required by the director. The scenographer also usually asks for set props as the furniture that appears on the scene, sometimes there is a thin line between this type of props and the scenery.
The props are any moving items that appear during a performance, except the costumes and stage. They are articles manipulated by one or more actors. A book, a gun, a glass of wine, among others.
13- Acts
They represent an important division in the development of play. Most plays of the Elizabethan period up to the nineteenth century were divided into five acts by playwrights or later editors.
At the end of the 19th century, many writers began writing works of four acts. Today, one, two and three acts are the most common games.
14- Theaters (Building)
It is the space in which actors or audiences are united. It is essential to have an area where the artist / performer communicates with a living audience.
Theatrical buildings evolved from the open-air amphitheatres of the Greeks and Romans to the incredible variety of forms we see today. It is a space that supports the emotional exchange between the cast and the audience.
15- Convention
A theatrical convention is a practical tool used by the playwright or director to help tell the story of the play in the theater. The most common theatrical convention is that of the characters talking to each other and pretending not to notice the audience.
Often referred to as the fourth or fourth screen convention, the existence of a (invisible) division between the actors and the audience is simulated.
Origins and historical evolution of the theater
When the theater started exactly is a mystery. Prehistoric hunters represented stories about their hunting expeditions. The ancient Egyptians performed sacred songs and danced for their gods in religious ceremonies. But the idea of theater as dramatic entertainment came later.
It is known that the English words for tragedy and comedy come from the language of the ancient Greeks. Although the Greeks were not the first to play plays, they were very interested in the origins of tragedy and comedy.
In his writings, the philosopher Aristotle and other Greek writers proposed theories and hypothesized how the form of the art of the theater was developed.
The Greek works were performed in the open-air theaters. At first, the theaters were in open areas located in the center of the city or next to slopes. The audience was ready to listen and see the chorus sing about the adventures of a god or a hero.
Towards the end of the 6th century a. C., the theatrical structures became more elaborated. As the theater became increasingly popular and competitive among cities, theaters became larger with structures with a capacity to accommodate up to 15,000 people at a time.
The theater has existed since people first met to hear someone else tell a story. Friends and family shared the responsibilities of the audience and the interpreter, sharing roles as long as someone had a story to share.
Modern theater may be more formal, with actors trained to recreate a story and sophisticated viewers who react to a staging, but the idea of sharing energy between the cast and a live audience remains invariant.
References
- Cameron, K. and Gillespie P. (1999). The Enjoyment of Theater, 5th edition. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
- Columbus State University: Theater Appreciation Terms by Deb Moore. Retrieved from: theater.columbusstate.edu.
- Di Benedetto, S. (2012). An Introduction to Theater Design. Oxon, Routledge.
- Northern Virginia Community College: Introduction to Theater by Dr. Eric W. Trumbull. Retrieved from: novaonline.nvcc.edu.
- Wilson, E. (2010). The Theater Experience. New York, McGraw-Hill.
- Wolf, L. (2012). Introduction to Theater: a Direct Approach. Bloomington, Xlibris Corporation.