THEATER TERMS # 4
NTC’s
Dictionary of Theatre and Drama Terms,
Jonnie Patricia Mobley, National
Textbook Company, 1992
- Legitimate
theatre: Straight drama, without songs, dance or music
- Low
comedy: Physical rather than intellectual comedy. A comedy that is obvious,
elementary or crude. Usually
involves slapstick.
- High
comedy: Sophisticated comedy using verbal wit and intellect more than
physical action
- Groundling:
In Elizabethan times, an audience member who stood directly in front of the
stage in the pit. The tickets
were cheaper, and usually these people were unruly.
Actors would throw their low comedy lines to them to entertain them
- Chamber
play: A play written to be performed (or
merely read aloud) in a room rather than a stage, and for friends/family
rather than a paying audience
- Histrionics:
Overly dramatic acting. Also
known as “Chewing the Scenery” or “Mugging”
- Domestic
tragedy: A tragic play that deals with the lives of ordinary people
- Classical
tragedy: A tragic play that deals with the lives of kings who fall from
grace
- Catharsis:
The feeling of release at the end of a tragedy experienced by the audience.
They are set free from the emotional grasp of the action. Aristotle
called it “The cleansing pleasure of tragedy”.
- Centering:
Concentrating, focusing on the work at hand. Being in character, in the moment