Critical Terms of Theater

Blocking: Movement of an actor onstage. It is often identified in relation to the movement and position of other actors in the scene.

Catharsis: Alleviation of own emotional tension after watching a tragic play. The audience experiences this emotion when comparing their lives to the tragic lives of the characters.

Characterization: Creation of a well rounded character through the use of words, actions, and manners. Characterization helps the audience understand the character and his purpose in the story.

Falling action: Part of a story that follows the climax and precedes the resolution. This is the time when the conflict between the two opposing forces is being resolved.

Stock Character: Character who is common in many pieces of literature and is easily identifiable by his/her personality. The character is a social stereotype and the audience knows how he/she will behave.

This entry was posted in Critical Terms. Bookmark the permalink.

2 Responses to Critical Terms of Theater

  1. Michelle C. Sigalov says:

    I like your choice of words because they are all very key to theatrical performance. I do have several suggestions for improvement, however. It seems as though some of your thoughts are incomplete, which makes it harder for your readers to process the definitions, which you clearly know. Also be weary of your word choice and punctuation (e.g. the semi-colon isn’t necessary in your first definition and the word relation would be better suited than the word relevance). I also wish that you had explained the purpose falling action serves. Your understanding of the terms is clear to me and I look forward to hearing the theatrical review you choose for class!

Leave a Reply