STUDY MATERIAL on Generic Elective (ENGLISH) Paper TEXT AND PERFORMANCE
THEATRICAL CONVENTIONS AND PERFORMANCE STYLES
Performance Styles
The way in which the plot is conveyed in a performance: sometimes to a particular philosophy of performance, sometimes to an historic period.
Theatrical Conventions
Things done on stage by the actors which contribute to an overall performance style
| Theatrical Convention | Definition | Related Performance Style |
| Burle | Comic banter or verbal game playing; ‘spin’ to mock | Commedia dell’Arte, stand-up comedy, clowning |
| Burlesque | Any ludicrous take-off or debasing caricature, To burlesque …(a person) to create a mocking representation | Greek &, Roman Comedy, cabaret, farce, satire, Absurd theatre |
| Caricature | Exaggeration of character that is often ludicrous or grotesque, using voice, gesture and movement | Melodrama, Roman Comedy, Commedia dell’Arte, Story- telling, cartoons, Asian styles |
| Character transformation | The actor plays more than one role, shifting from one to another without going off stage. Transformation is made using expressive skills, characterization, use of props and costume. | Story-telling, Documentary Theatre, Realism. |
| Psycho/social characterization | Actor portrays an in-depth psychologically rounded character | Naturalism & Realism |
| Chorus | Use of a group in performance, to comment on the plot or action of a play, usually using heightened use of language, direct address, stylized and choreographed movement and tableau. | Greek Drama, Medieval Drama, Epic Theatre |
| Continuous time sequence | Dramatic structure follows a continuous time pattern, possibly using real time | Naturalism, Realism |
| Disjointed time sequence | Dramatic structure that does not unfold chronologically. Past, present and future events are performed in a non- sequential order. | Story-telling, Epic Theatre, Modern Realism |
| Direct address | The actor speaks directly to the audience, either as their character or as the actor stepping out of character. | Stand-up comedy, Epic Theatre (Brecht), circus, Realism, Greek Theatre |
| Dramatic metaphor | Heightened symbolic use of word, object or gesture beyond the literal meaning. | Greek theatre, physical theatre, Symbolist Theatre, Total Theatre, Epic theatre |
| Audience Endowment | The audience is constructed by the actor as a particular group of people, usually through direct address. E.g. audience as citizens of Vienna in Measure for Measure | Elizabethan Theatre, Greek Theatre, Epic Theatre, story- telling, Stand-up comedy, cabaret, clowning, realism |
| Documentary | Use of reported or researched fact to convey a particular set of views or ideas. | Cabaret, Epic Theatre, Realism. |
| Exaggerated Movement | Action that is deliberately overstated for a dramatic purpose, often for purposes of ridicule. | Clowning, Commedia Dell’ Arte, Greek Theatre |
| Fourth Wall | Often called ‘slice of life’, a style dependent on the life-like representation of everyday life. No manipulation of time or space. Audience not recognized. | Naturalism and Realism |
| Heightened use of language | Poetic or exaggerated use of language. Includes choice of words whose syntax, alliteration and rhyming patterns lead to heightened delivery. | Greek theatre, Epic Theatre, various non-naturalistic |
| Heightened use of movement | Ritualized, dance-like movement sequences either individually or in a group, often using repetition, symbolic gesture | Physical Theatre, Greek Theatre, Medieval Theatre, Opera, Kabuki, Noh Drama, Asian performance styles, realism. |
| Implied character | Actor creates a sense of another person being present or addressed | Monologues, realism |
| Implied space | Actor creates a sense of a particular environment through voice and action | Monologues, Realism, Elizabethan Theatre, Story- telling, Epic theatre, Non- Naturalistic styles |
| Lazzo/ Lazzi (pl.) | A short comic routine based in a single ludicrous idea, often using sight gags, or slapstick. | Commedia Dell’ Arte, other comedy. |
| Lyrical | Use of verse, heightened song or movement, including the use of poetic imagery | Greek Drama, Musicals. Opera, Asian performance styles, Elizabethan Theatre |
| Mask | Use of false noses, half masks, or full masks, for purposes of caricature, stereo-type, abstraction, or ready identification with known characters. | Clowning, Greek drama, Commedia dell’ Arte, Noh Drama, Kabuki, Other Asian performance styles |
| Mime | Unvoiced physical performance implying object and space | Realism and non-naturalistic |
| Montage | Juxtaposition of dramatic images or vignettes often presented in rapid succession uses: introduction of ideas summary of characters/events/actions. | Story-telling, visual theatre, epic theatre, other non- naturalistic styles. |
| Narration | Direct address where plot elements are conveyed | Story-telling, Epic Theatre, Stand-up, Realism |
| Puppetry | Use of objects or puppets as characters | Black Theatre, Visual Theatre, Shadow Puppetry, Bunraku (Japanese), Object Theatre, Asian styles |
| Satire | Use of sarcasm, irony and ridicule in denouncing, exposing or deriding vice, folly and abuse. | Cabaret, stand-up comedy, Farce, Clowning, Sitcoms |
| Slapstick | Comedy technique using physical humor, often stage violence | Clowning, Cabaret |
| Stillness and Silence | Absence of sound or movement to enhance dramatic effect | All styles |
| Soliloquy | Monologue addressed to self to argue an issue. Usually has a thesis/antithesis or argument structure | Elizabethan Theatre, especially Shakespeare |
| Song | Use of song to break up or comment upon a narrative or plot | Opera, Musicals, Epic Theatre, Music Hall, Cabaret |
| Stereo-type | Characterization that uses highly recognizable simplistic or clichéd character elements for dramatic purpose. | Melodrama, Commedia Dell’ Arte, Agitprop, Sketch comedy. Cartoons, Cabaret |
| Transformation of place | The actor creates more than one place or setting without the use of scenery. This may be achieved using transformation of props or through use of expressive skills. | Story-telling |
| Transformation of object | A prop is used to represent more than one object | Story-telling and design styles which require minimal set. |
| Use of symbol | Minimalist focus on objects to represent ideas | Realism, & Non-naturalistic styles, Ritual Theatre |