Exam Review - Exam #2
THTR176
Kattwinkel

The following list of topics is not necessarily a complete list of what will be on the test (I don’t think, I haven’t made it up yet). But looking up these subjects should lead you to a review of everything you need to know. Make sure you go over the pages in the book that were assigned. The plays - Threepenny Opera, The Visit, The Underpants, Peer Pleasures - know who wrote them and when and have a basic working knowledge of the plot and characters, and how they reflect the theatre of their time period.

Brecht
History
Verfremdungseffekt
Theatrical techniques

Absurdism
Its influences, historical and philosophical
Best known playwrights and plays
Basic themes and style of the form

German Theatre
Relevant history (from Prof. Koerner's lecture and my lectures - some of this may be from before the first test) His PowerPoint is here.
Farce and satire - styles and subjects

Scene Design (since it wasn't covered on the first exam)
form follows function
talents required by a scene designer
how scene design serves a play (its functions)
the process for a scene designer
how the scene design for Memory of Water or Don Juan served the play

Types of theatrical spaces and the demands/opportunities presented by each
raked stage
parts of the theatre from our tour of the Emmett Robinson

Directing
Process
Four types of directing
Translator
interpretive artist
creator
collaborator
Also think about your directing project - once you came up with a concept, what practical steps had to be taken to communicate that process to an audience?

Costume Design
basic skills
how costume design contributes to the play
process
Question: What effect did the costumes in Memory of Water and Don Juan seem to have on 1) the actors’ movements, 2) the characterizations, 3) the style of the production?

Stage managers and other members of the production team - what do they do, what are they responsible for? Check your text for additional information.

Character analysis - I know this was on the first test, but it ties in to all the main production positions, and is a good entrance to script analysis.

There are also things we've been talking about all semester that could show up on this exam, even though they were on the first one. I'm thinking about acting techniques, ideas of representational and presentational theatre, and the themes of the plays that have carried through the semester. There are also liable to be questions on Don Juan.

Student-provided questions:

When set designers "dress the set," what are they doing?

What use do platforms serve on the acting area?

What is "props" an abbreviation for and what are they?

What are three goals of stage lighting? (we didn't talk about this in class, but you did read about it)

What is a "practical" in stage lighting?

What is the process for costume design?