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History of Theatre

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Term
Definition
closet drama   a play intended to be read rather than performed  
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Passion Play   a play that presents the last week of the life of Christ  
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satirist   the term for an author who mocks human vices and follies by using wit and humor  
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amphitheater   a circular arena surrounded by tiers of seats  
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mansions   a series of acting stations that represented biblical settings; used in Saint and Mystery plays  
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pathos   an element in drama that evokes sorrow and compassion  
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cycle   a series of short plays that depict religious history from creation through doomsday  
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Mystery play   a play based on biblical history  
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Moral Interlude   a type of play that evolved from the Morality plays; these plays were shorter and included humorous incidents  
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deux ex machina   an artificial plot device that an author introduces late in a play to resolve difficulties  
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folk drama   secular drama that took place during planting time, harvest time, and Christmas; developed simultaneously with liturgical drama  
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Aeschylus   the Greek tragedian responsible for increasing the number of actors; he wrote the Oresteia, the only surviving Greek trilogy  
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chorus   a group of characters that explain the situation and comment on the action of the play  
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Aristophanes   the Greek satirist whose first nine plays represent Old Comedy  
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Dionysus   the Greek god who was honored by the dramatic contests that began in the sixth century B.C.  
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Saint play   a play based on the legends of saints  
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trilogy   a series of three plays related by theme, myth, or character  
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Andronicus   he received a commission to write the first work of Roman drama  
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Seneca   an ancient Roman writer of bombastic tragedies; his plays were closet dramas  
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Euripides   the Greek tragedian who was a master of pathos; he wrote Medea  
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pageant wagon   a stage on wheels that was used by the medieval guilds of the fourteenth century  
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Morality play   a play primarily concerned with teaching right and wrong  
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Sophocles   the Greek tragedian who wrote Oedipus Rex and Antigone  
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thespian   a term often used to refer to an actor  
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Menander   the author responsible for New Comedy  
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soliloquy   a speech delivered by an actor alone onstage that revels the character's innermost thoughts  
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tarras   the balcony on the second floor of an Elizabethan playhouse  
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William Shakespeare   the Elizabethan playwright who is often considered the greatest dramatist of all time; he wrote Romeo and Juliet  
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Eugene O'Neill   American dramatist known for such works as Long Day's Journey into Night and The Hairy Ape  
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Goethe   the German dramatist who wrote Faust  
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commedia dell'arte   professional improvised comedy that used stock characters  
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opera   an attempt by Italian playwrights during the Renaissance to revive the music of ancient Greek drama  
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No (Noh)   created by Zeami Morokiyo, this type of Japanese drama combines words, dance, and music that are rhythmically coordinated to the events in the story  
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Globe Theatre   the Elizabethan playhouse with which Shakespeare was associated  
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Restoration   the time period following the Puritan Rebellion; theater was decreed legal once again  
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lazzi   humorous bits of stage business set apart from the main action; used in the commedia dell'arte  
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raked stage   an acting area that is slanted upward away from the audience  
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innamorati and innamoratae   upper-class young lovers of the commedia dell'arte  
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Bunraku   a type of Japanese theater that features four-foot-tall marionettes; also called doll theater  
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Stanislavski   Russian author whose works are used as the basis for defining method acting  
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the humors   a combination of elements and body fluids that the Elizabethans believed to have an effect on personality  
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Renaissance   term meaning "rebirth" ; the time between the medieval and modern ages in western Europe  
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scenarios   plot outlines that were posted backstage before each performance of the commedia dell'arte troupes  
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groundlings   the lower-class playgoers of the Elizabethan era who stood in the pit to watch the performances  
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Kabuki   a type of Japanese theater that developed as entertainment for the general public; it borrows aspects of No and Bunraku  
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Christopher Marlowe   the Elizabethan dramatist who introduced the first important use of blank verse; he wrote Tamburlaine the Great  
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the Barrymores   the family of actors that links the early American stage with the modern  
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Ben Jonson   the Elizabethan author who is known as a master of English comedy; he wrote Volpone  
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Peking Opera   Chinese drama that incorporates historical, spoken, dance, and song drama and ballet  
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"Thinking Person's Society"   Shaw's theory that states, "Of every 1,000 people, 700 do not think, 299 are idealists, and 1 thinks."  
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