Post on 01-Jun-2021
The Curious Incident – Knowledge Organiser 1
Working with Script
Subtext - The underlying personality of a dramatic character as implied or indicated by a script or text and interpreted by
an actor in performance.
Duologue – A conversation between two characters
Monologue – An extended speech by one character, to an audience or to another character(s)
Stage Directions – an instruction written into the script of a play, indicating stage actions, movements of performers, or
production requirements.
Physical Theatre
PlotThe Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time follows the story of Christopher Boone, a 15 year old, who is exceptional
at Maths but finds people confusing. The play opens with Christopher discovering a dead dog in his neighbour, Mrs Shears',
garden. Despite his father, Ed, warning Christopher not to get involved, Christopher decides to investigate the death of the
dog. In doing so he discovers that his mother is not dead as his father had told him, but alive and well, living in London. He
also discovers that it was his father who killed the dog.
Christopher feels that his father is a murderer, who he cannot trust. He can no longer live with him and so he bravely
travels to London to find his mother. Christopher has difficulty settling into his new life in London and returns to Swindon to
take his A-level Maths exam. The play ends with him passing the exam and the realisation that he can do anything he puts
his mind to.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is an adaptation by Simon Stephens of the original novel by Mark Haddon.
Published in 2003, the novel quickly became a huge success. Many readers discuss and recognise Christopher as having
autism or Asperger's syndrome. This, however, is never mentioned directly in the novel. Haddon also states that he did very
little research into the topic of autism whilst writing the book.
Mark Haddon approached Simon Stephens to adapt the book for the stage. Stephens used the dialogue from the novel as the
driving force for the adaptation. He felt that its popularity was due to the play being a story about family and bravery. The
play was first staged in 2012 at the National Theatre. It was very popular with audiences and has since moved to the West
End and Broadway.
The Curious Incident – Knowledge Organiser 2
Vocal skills
Pitch
Pace
Pause
Accent
Emphasis
Intonation
Texture
Tone
Physical Skills
Posture
Demeanour
Eye contact and
its withdrawal
Gesture
Gait
Interaction
Body Language
Key Words
Synchronisation – movement or speech that happens at the same time.
Physical Theatre - a form of theatre that puts emphasis on movement rather than dialogue
Chorus - those who perform vocally in a group as opposed to those who perform singly.
Soundscape – layered voices and sounds to create a location or atmosphere
Abstract – representational and symbolic, not life-like or naturalistic
Sequence – an order of events/movements
Pattern – a repeated phrase/sequence of movements
Naturalism - ‘A slice of life’ on stage. Naturalistic performances should aim to look like real life and do not acknowledge
the audience.
Motivation - the reason a character does anything
Revelations – when information is disclosed
Thought-tracking - Actors speak the thoughts of the characters they are representing. This is a useful way of finding out
more about a character’s reactions to other characters of the events they are experiencing. Other characters cannot
hear the thought tracking, only the audience.
Forum Theatre - Forum theatre was developed by a Brazilian theatre maker called Augusto Boal. It’s a very useful tool
for exploring drama during the rehearsal process. Company members become ‘spect-actors’ rather than spectators.
This means that while watching work they can stop it and take the place of an existing performer to try out a new idea.
Sharing ideas in this improvised practical way can provide fresh insight into a role and stop the drama from becoming
stale.
‘Spectactor’ – see forum theatre
Tension - a growing sense of expectation within the drama, a feeling that the story is building up towards something
exciting happening.
Climax – is a play or a specific scene’s point of highest tension and drama
Narrative – The story
Motif – A symbolic movement that captures the essence of a character or moment
Symbol – is something which stands for, or represents something else. Symbols are often used in drama to deepen
its meaning and remind the audience of the themes or issues it is discussing.
Essence Machine – A group performance that combines symbolic movement and sound to capture the essence of a
something – this could be anything but for example, a character, a place, a feeling.
Knowledge Organiser – Theatre in
EducationWhat is Theatre in Education?
There is a clear aim and educational objective running throughout.
Typically low budget so a small cast, and actors need to be versatile as they will often have to multi-role. Actors often play instruments too.
The production must be portable so the design is simple and representational.
They explore issues from various viewpoints, so we can see the effect of an action upon a range of people.
There is some level of audience involvement.
They are rarely wholly naturalistic because direct address or narration is used to engage the audience.
The costumes are simple and representational, especially if actors have to multi-role.
They may include facts and figures to educate the audience.
They may have a strong message or moral running throughout.
Vocabulary
Artistic intention
Target audience
Engagement
Education
Logo
Ethos
Concept
Aim
Spect ‘actor’
Oppression
Joker
Hypnosis
Trust circle
Theatrical Skills
Characterisation
Narration
Thought Tracking
Marking the
Moment
Still Image
Cross Cutting
Forum theatre was developed by a
Brazilian theatre maker called
Augusto Boal. It’s a very useful tool
for exploring drama during the
rehearsal process. Company members
become ‘spect-actors’ rather than
spectators. This means that while
watching work they can stop it and
take the place of an existing
performer to try out a new idea.
History of Theatre
Knowledge Organiser
Ancient Greek Theatre
Vocabulary
Theatron
Skene
Orchestra
Parados
Chorus
Masks
WHEN
This early form of theatre
flourished between 550 and 220
BC.
The city-state of Athens, which
became a significant cultural,
political and military power during
this period, was its centre.
It was created as part of a festival
called the Dionysia, which
honoured the god Dionysus (the
Greek God of wine and fun!)
Theatres were built on a large
scale to accommodate the large
cast and about 14,000 audience
members.
THE MASKED CHORUS
In a large open-air
theatre, like the
Theatre of Dionysus
in Athens, the
classical masks were
able to bring the
characters' face
closer to the
audience.
Exaggerated facial
features and
expressions.
Enabled an actor to appear in
several different roles, thus
preventing the audience from
identifying the actor to one
specific character.
Helped the audience to
distinguish sex, age, and
social status,
Worn by the chorus, the
masks created a sense of
unity and uniformity
Playwrights
Aeschylus
Eurpides
Aristophanes
Sophocles
History of Theatre
Medieval Theatre
Medieval theatre refers to
the theatre of Europe
between the fall of the
Western Roman Empire in
the 5th century A.D. and the
beginning of the Renaissance
in approximately the 15th
century A.D.
Medieval theatre covers all
drama produced in Europe
over that thousand year
period and refers to a
variety of genres, including,
mystery plays, morality
plays, mummers plays,
liturgical plays, farces and
masques.
Vocabulary
Farce
Mummers
Mystery
Masques
Morality
Genre
Mansion
Plateau
Hellsmouth
Mystery Plays - The plot and characters were
drawn from the books of the Bible. It was
the major form of Medieval drama.
Miracle Plays - Built its plot around the lives
and the works of the saints.
Morality Plays - These dramas were based on
the spiritual trials of the average man.
Mummers Plays - The central incident is the
killing and restoring to life of one of the
characters. The principal characters are a
Hero, his chief opponent, the Fool, and a
quack Doctor; the defining feature of
mumming plays is the Doctor, and the main
purpose of the fight is to provide him with a
patient to cure. The hero sometimes kills and
sometimes is killed by his opponent; in either
case, the Doctor comes to restore the dead
man to life
History of Theatre
Elizabethan Theatre
1562 -1642
Vocabulary
Soliloquy
Antagonist
Protagonist
Tragedy
Conflict
The theatre was most popular in London, and although City leaders
disliked public performances, the Queen loved the theatre, allowing it to
gain success
The Queen commissioned plays to be performed at Court – the same
plays which were performed at public playhouses.
The upper classes would see plays at Court, while the common people
would pay to see them at the playhouse
The theatres were all three stories high and were built around an open
space in the middle. Most of them were rounded. The audience
would stand.
Initially they had an open roof, with thatching around the edge – this
made them vulnerable to fire, and the Globe burned down in 1613.
The plays had very few props or scenery and relied on colourful
costumes to give some visual appeal
Because costumes were expensive, the actors would wear Elizabethan
clothes regardless of what period the play was set in
Soliloquy
A prominent feature
of Elizabethan theatre
was soliloquy. This
was a lengthy speech
spoken by a character
to himself; usually to
debate a decision and
explore important,
philosophical themes
in depth. An example
of this is ‘To be or not
to be’ in Hamlet, by
Shakespeare, where
he considers suicide.
History of
Theatre
Stanislavski
1863- 1938
Russian Theatre Director and
Practitioner
Co-founded the Moscow Art Theatre
Pioneer of Naturalism, the style of
theatre he created as a reaction
against Melodrama.
Developed the System a training
programme for actors.
Viewed the Theatre as a great tool for
education and making social comments
Worked with many famous writers
particularly Chekov
Units and Objectives – breaking scripts down into small
sections in which an actor can determine his/her
character’s objective or purpose in the scene. E.g. “I
want to show him I’m sorry”
Given Circumstances – who, where, when, what, why
of a scene
Magic If – supposing ‘if’ character was in this situation
how would he behave?
Subtext – what is not being said
Emotion Memory – applying our own emotional
memories to the role we are playing
Faith and a sense of truth – all action must be real and
driven by objective
“If you speak any lines, or do anything, mechanically, without
fully realising who you are, where you are going, and what
you will do when you get there, you will be acting without
imagination”
History of
Theatre
Brecht
1889 - 1952
Brecht was a German
playwright and theatre
practitioner, heavily
influenced by the politics of
his era, and the rise of
fascism. He was determined
to change traditions of
performance so that theatre
and the arts could be used
to educate audiences and
challenge politics.
His theatre deliberately
turned the conventions of
naturalism upside down!
He couldn’t stand the
bourgeois (rich), classist
nature of the theatre,
which he perceived as self-
indulgent and trivial.
Verfremmdungseffekt/Alienation Devices
Strange songs, projections, actors changing
character on stage, machinations of the
theatre (set lighting costume) all visible to
audience, placards and signs, talking in third
person, direct address, an episodic or ‘Epic’
structure, spanning many years, narration
telling audience what would happen before it
happened so they concentrated on why rather
than what next. Gestic acting (exaggerated a
bit like an impersonation)
Alienation
To turn theatre upside
down Brecht used
techniques of ‘alienation’
or Verfremmdungseffekt
This was to make ‘the
strange familiar and the
familiar strange, thus
waking up his audience
and getting them to think!
Vocabulary
Verfremmdungseffekt
Bourgeois
Alienation
Placard
Epic
Episodic
Fascism
Theatre History
1950’s-60’s
Kitchen Sink
Realism
The 50’s and 60’s brought about a shocking change in the styles
of plays being performed in theatres. Instead of the well made
plays of before that centred on the lives of the middle and upper
classes, these plays were about the struggles of the working
class. They were typically set in Northern towns and exposed the
gritty reality of living in poverty in the UK. Audiences were
shocked and fascinated by the subject content and a new
generation of playwrights and plays were born. The plays were
naturalistic but also truthful, thus the description ‘realism’
Famous Plays
Josh Osborne – Look Back in Anger
John Arden – Live Like Pigs
A Taste of Honey - Shelagh Delaney
History of
Theatre
Artaud
1896 - 1948
Vocabulary
Surreal
Visceral
Cathartic
Sensory
Symbol
Symbolic
The term Theatre of Cruelty, expresses Artaud
wanting his actors to be cruel to themselves :
I. Stretching the imagination until near breaking
point, challenging the body to complete extreme
moves
II. Pushing the physical boundaries to extremes
III. the body must go beyond exhaustion into a trance-
like state where it no longer feels exhaustion or its
pain & can thus achieve extraordinary things.
By showing work that explored the dark side of humanity
he hoped the audience would purge themselves of their
own dark desires and stop them from acting upon them.
Everything the actor does on an Artaudian stage must be
larger than life. All must be in harmony – a huge acting
space, large & extensive lighting, sound, costume, acting
style, masks, giant puppets
The audience should experience a total assault on their
senses – Total Theatre.
Theatre
History
Berkoff
1968 - present
Berkoff is a British practitioner whose career has
spanned from 1965 to today.
He created In yer face drama that shocks the audience
He wanted to push the boundaries & allow the audience
to interpret the meaning. Perception is Key.
His physical, exaggerated style of theatre is both
popular & controversial, defying the norms of
naturalistic theatre
Berkoff aimed to convert what he saw as the bourgeois
theatre of realism into a dynamic, presentational "total-
theatre".
His performances are very physical actors are expected
to total immerse themselves in the process of
production & create a tight ensemble.
Features of Berkoff’s
Style
Highly exaggerated,
grotesque
characterisation
Mime
Synchronisation
Movement sequences
Gestic acting
Choral Sequences
Robotic movement
Physical theatre
Stylised use of voice
Glide- Direct, Slow, Light
Dab- Direct, Fast, Light
Flick- Indirect, Fast, Light
Float- Indirect, Slow, Light
Famous Physical
Theatre
Pioneers
Frantic Assembly
DV8
Complicite
Lecoq
Laban
Bausch
History of
Theatre
Physical Theatre
Lecoq’s 7 States
of Tension
1. Exhausted
2. Laid Back
3. Neutral
4. Interested
5. Suspense
6. Passionate
7. Tragic
Thrusting - Direct, Fast,
Strong
Press - Direct, Slow, Strong
Slash - Indirect, Fast, Strong
Wring - Indirect, Slow, Strong
Features of Physical Theatre
Lifts
Highly disciplined movement
Stylised movements
Mime
Moving to a count
Ensemble work
Synchronised/ unsynchronised movements
Masks
Exaggerated emotions expressed in non-naturalistic
ways
Actors becoming objects
Actor as dramaturg
Physical theatre is where the story
is created physically through the
body rather than solely through
text.
It is modern, exciting and provides a
visceral experience for the
audience.
It is a unique and alternative form
of performance, allowing subjects
and themes to be explored without
limitation, and when done well can
be unforgettable.
Complicite, DV8, Frantic Assembly,
Le Coq, Laban and Pina Bausch are
all pioneers of this genre!
History of
Theatre
Contemporary
Theatre
Kneehigh
1980s OnwardsIn the1980s companies began to experiment with a more physical type of theatre. These companies reacted against realistic and naturalistic drama and wanted to create a different kind of theatre. They explored a more energetic and visual style, which combined strong design, multimedia and film with choreography and physical imagery.
KNEEHIGH THEATRE
Kneehigh is a UK based theatre company with a local, national and international
profile. For over 30 years they have created vigorous, popular and challenging
theatre and perform with the joyful anarchy that audiences have come to expect
from this ground-breaking company. Kneehigh tell stories. Based in Cornwall in
breath-taking barns on the south coast they create theatre of humanity on an epic
and tiny scale. Kneehigh work with an ever-changing ensemble of performers,
artists, technicians, administrators, makers and musicians and are passionate
about their multi-disciplined creative process.