The theatre
Focus Vocabulary
ballet
opera
comedy
musical comedy
musical tragicomedy historical play miniature
drama tragedy satire
farce выпендрёж performance/show pantomime/mime/dumb showпантомима
play vaudeville любовная интрига puppet show
variety showкабаре
What is Theatre?
What's Theatre? Why has it lasted so long? What does it mean to us? We know that it offers amusement and pleasure, but then so do iots of other things, is there something special to itself that it offers us?Clearly there is, otherwise the Theatre would not have gone on so long and in so many different places. Already many people tell us that with their television sets at home and an occasional visit to the movies, they no longer need the Theatre and do not care whether it lives or dies.
Who is Who in theatre?
1. actor/actress 6 a) the person who writes reviews of new plays, musicals, etc.
2. audience 1 b) all the people who act in a play or a musical
3. cast 13 c) learns another actor's part in order to be able to take his place if he or she
is ill or unable to perform
4. company 9 d) reminds the actors of their next line in a speech if they forget it
5. choreographer
балетмейстер 14 e) shows people coming to watch the play or musical to their seats
6. critic 5 f) makes up or arranges the steps for the dancers who perform on stage
7. director g) designs the scenery, etc. on stage
8. playwright драматург 3 h) a group of actors, singers or dancers who work together, e.g. The Royal Shakespeare .
9. prompter суфлёр 2 i) the people who come to watch a play or a musical
10. set designer
художник по декорациям 12 j) helps behind the scenes during a production, e.g. by moving scenery, etc.
11. stage hand
рабочий сцены 8 k) a person who writes plays
12. stage manager
помошник режисёра
11 l) is responsible for everything that happens on stage during a performance
13. understudy дублёр m) a person whose job is acting
14. usher, usherette 7 n) decides how a play is performed; tells the actors what to do
Швейцар , билетёрша
Ex. 2. Match each part of a theatre on the right with a definition on the left.
where actors put on their costumes and make-up a) stalls киоски
the area on which the performance takes place 4 b) aisle проход
3. а line of seats 6 c) circle
a way down from back to front between the seats 1 d) dressing room гримёрка, раздевалка
the area of downstairs seats 2 e) stage
the area of upstairs seats 8 f) box office театр.касса
the theatre entrance hall where people meet before going in 3 g) row ряд
the place where you go or phone to buy tickets 9 h) backstage закулисье
the whole area out of sight of the audience 5 i) box
a little private balcony with 3-5 seats only 7 j) foyer
Ex. 3 Write the missing words in the sentences below. Choose from the following:
|
Aisle проход |
curtain |
interval |
rehearse (verb)репет |
|
Applause
|
dress rehearsalген.р ген.реп |
Matinee дн.спек |
Row ряд |
|
auditorium |
dressing-room |
(orchestra) pit |
Stage |
|
box office т.кас. |
first night |
performance |
Stalls киоски |
|
circle (or balcony) |
Foyer |
programme |
Wings |
1. We picked up the tickets we had ordered at the theatre.
2. The foyer is the large area just inside the main doors of a theatre where people meet
and wait, while the is the part of a theatre where the audience sit.
3. He was given the Evening Standard Actor of the Year award for his _________ in Macbeth.
4. We walked down the aisle behind an usher as he showed us to our seats in ________ С
5. The was terrible. Several of the actors forgot their lines, one or two dancers
fell over and there was a problem with the lighting. Let's hope the play's a lot better when it opens
on Saturday.
6. When you buy tickets you can choose to sit downstairs in the ________ or upstairs in the _______ .
7. If you can't get to see the play in the evening, you can always go to the __________ or
afternoon performance.
8. The audience really loved the new musical, as they showed by their loud __________ at the end.
9. The _________ is the area where the actors stand and perform.
I never go to see a play on its . I prefer to wait a few weeks. It's usually better then.
In front of the stage is an area where the musicians sit. This is called the ___________
If you want to know more about the play or the actors in it, you can always buy a ___________ before the performance.
The audience became silent as the _________ went up and the play began.
Before going on stage, the actors often wait in the__________, that is, the area to the side of the stage,
hidden from the audience.
15. There is usually a short of about 15-20 minutes between the acts of a play.
They normally for at least two months before they perform in public.
The actors put on their costumes and make-up in the__________.
Ex. 4 Answer the questions.
Which do you think are the most expensive seats, and which are the least expensive? Why is that?
Where do the orchestra sit in the theatre?
Where do the actors come from and go to when they make entrances and exits?
Why do you think footlights are called that, and what are they for?
When you go to the theatre, what do you do during the interval between the acts of the play?
Ex. 5 Read the text and explain the meaning of the words in bold type.