THE 15 MOST IMPORTANT CHARACTERISTICS OF THE THEATER - ART - 2025

The most important characteristics of the theater are closely related to the elements common to any play or performance. The term theater has its origins in the Greek word theatron, which means a "place to watch."

Therefore, originally, the theater referred to both a place and a particular form of perception. Today, the concept of theater can refer to: a building, an activity ('going to' or 'doing' theater), an institution and an art form.

Theater is the branch of scenic art related to acting and the representation of stories in front of a live audience, using a combination of speeches, gestures, scenery, music, sounds and spectacle that seek to stimulate and excite the viewer.

The mind also plays an important role in theater, since this artistic expression is deciphered according to the perception and imagination of the spectator.

All plays have common elements that characterize this art. Below, you will be able to see the most prominent features in more detail.

15 characteristic elements of the theater

1- Plot

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It is what happens in the work. It refers to action. The organization of events or the selection and order of scenes in a play. According to Aristotle, it is an abstract concept that refers to the disposition of the incidents that constitute the raw material and components of the story.

The plot is the way these incidents are structured into a coherent whole. If the arrangement of the original order is altered, a new frame will be generated. Two types of plot predominate in the theater. Next, its main characteristics and differentiating elements:

Resolution frame

• The plot begins late in the story, closer to the end or climax.
• Covers a short period of time.
• It contains a few solid and expanded scenes.
• It occurs in a restricted location, a room, or a house.
• The number of characters is severely limited.
• Few subplots are raised.
• The line of action proceeds in a chain of cause and effect. Characters and events are closely linked in an almost inevitable sequence of logical development.

Reveal plot

• The plot begins relatively early in the story and moves through a series of acts.
• Covers long periods of time.
• Many short and fragmented scenes or the alternation between short and long scenes.
• It can cover an entire city or even multiple countries.
• Abundance of characters.
• Frequently marked by several threads of action, several parallel stories.
• The scenes are associated with each other. An event can result from several causes, or no apparent cause, but it arises in a network of circumstances.

2- Topic

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While the plot refers to the action of the play, the theme refers to the meaning of the play. Sometimes it is clearly stated in the title.

Other times it can be stated through dialogue by a character who acts as the voice of the playwright. Sometimes the topic is less obvious and arises only after analyzing the content of the work.

3- Characters

They are the people, animals or ideas that are represented by the actors in the play. In structural terms, the characters are the agents of action, those who provide the motivations for the events in the plot to occur.

Each character should have their own personality, age, appearance, beliefs, socioeconomic background, and language. According to their functions in the work, some types of characters can be described:

• Protagonist: The main character.
• Antagonic: The main opponent of the main character.
• Counterparts: They reveal some aspects of the main character by having similar or different circumstances or behaviors.

4- Script or text

This is the starting point of the theatrical performance. It is the text by which the play is created. It consists of dialogue, stage instructions, character descriptions, and the like in a play. It refers to the words written by the playwright and interpreted by the characters.

5- Gender

Distinctive class of the work. Gender comes from a French word that means "category" or "type." The choice of genre reflects the writer's point of view towards the subject.

The following types of plays are usually performed in the theater: tragedy, comedy, melodrama, and tragicomedy. Each of these genres can be further subdivided by style and content into:

Tragedy

It is an imitation of an action that is serious, complex and relevant. Tragedy is by nature serious in its subject matter and deals with deep problems. These deep issues are universal and arouse compassion and fear in the audience as they witness the action.

Comedy

She has the vision to make the audience laugh, she is usually physical and energetic. The behavior of the characters presented is ridiculous and sometimes absurd. It stimulates the audience to correct the behavior of society.

Melodrama

It is the drama of the disaster, circumstances beyond the control of the protagonist cause the significant events of the plot. The guilt and responsibility aspects of the protagonist are removed.

The protagonist is a victim of circumstances. The melodrama has a sense of strict moral judgment. All the issues presented are resolved in a well-defined manner. Good characters are rewarded and bad characters are punished.

Tragicomedy

It is a reflection of life itself, it contains all the previous genres. It does not pretend to judge, nor make absolute judgments. It focuses on relationships of character and shows society in a state of continuous flux.

6- Costumes and makeup

They are elements that serve to characterize the actors when recreating a character.

Locker room

Refers to clothing and accessories worn on stage by an actor or performer. The ancient Greeks were the pioneers in developing specific costumes for each character, this art served to revive medieval times and represent great marquis of the court.

Makeup

It is the use of cosmetics in the alteration of the physical appearance of an actor in order to adapt his appearance to a certain role or to compensate for the effects of stage lighting.

The art of makeup was revolutionized by the introduction of electric and gas lighting and has now become a highly technical practice.

7- Lighting and sound effects

The placement, intensity and color of the lights, as well as the sound effects help the director to communicate the ambience, mood or feeling in a scene.

Lighting was recognized as an important feature of theatrical production when indoor performances were first given during the Renaissance, involving the use of candles and flammable liquids.

Crucial innovations in lighting technology included the introduction of floor lamps, the use of reflectors to increase the intensity of light beams, and the dimming of lights in the auditorium in 1876.

The development of gas lighting in the early 19th century represented a major advance despite the dangers involved. The use of electric lighting began at the California Theater in San Francisco in 1879.

Today's lighting systems in modern theaters are controlled by highly sophisticated computerized dashboards, which can coordinate the lighting of an entire system. Other recent innovations have included experiments with ultraviolet light, lasers, and holography.

Sound effects are the noises that are generated to accompany a scene in a play, which can be produced by computers or by actors on and off the stage.

8- Director

He is the person responsible for the total unit of production and for coordinating the efforts of the artists. The director's job is central to the production of a play, as it is the director who sets the vision for the production for everyone involved.

The director has the challenging task of putting together many complex pieces of a production: the script, the actors, the costumes, the lighting, the sound and the music into a unified whole. To carry out this task, a manager needs:

• Interpret the script.
• Collaborate with designers.
• Plan rehearsals.
• Guide the actors in their work during rehearsals.

The director's work is often based on a detailed study and analysis of the script being edited. Many careful readings of the script help the director to develop an individual view of the playwright's intentions. Your perception will influence any aspect of the production.

Directors also study the characters in the script, gathering as much information as possible about their physical and psychological traits, which is vital for casting selection.

9- Hearing

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Group of people who see the work. Many playwrights and actors consider the audience to be the most important element of the theater, since all the effort put into writing and producing a play is for the enjoyment of the audience.

Because in the theater the interpreters are in direct presence with the public, a circular flow of energy is generated, the actor affects the audience and vice versa. This effect is amplified by the fact that the theater is a communal event.

The group experience is indispensable, since the group reinforces the emotions experienced by the individual and creates a collective consciousness. When a group of individuals respond in a similar way to what is happening on stage, their relationship with others is reaffirmed and strengthened.

The degree of separation between the cast and the audience is what differentiates conventional theater from participatory theater.

In the first, the audience uses their imagination to participate in the play while detaching themselves from the action. In the second, the actors interact with the audience trying to follow an established and improvised script, emphasizing personal development or group therapy.

In the theater, an audience is asked to accept many kinds of imaginary worlds. One way to differentiate these imaginary realms is to divide them into what is called realistic and unrealistic theater.

Realism, which became the dominant form of European theater in the late 19th century, attempts to recreate life so closely that the audience assumes it must be life. Non-realism, on the other hand, attempts to transcend observed reality and present the part of life that exists in the mind.

However, it is a mistake to assume that these two approaches are mutually exclusive. Most stage performances contain a mix of realistic and unrealistic elements.

10- Scenography

It serves to recreate the environment in which the plot takes place, the scenography has the following objectives:

• Set the tone and style of the production.
• Establish the time and place.
• Distinguish realism from non-realism.
• Coordinate the landscape with other elements.
• Deal with the limitations of stage space and offstage area.

All of these goals are addressed in multiple meetings between the director, the set designer, and the design team. Later the ideas are reflected in sketches, which after revisions, analysis and modifications allow to devise the set design that best suits the story and the vision of the creatives.

Once this stage is concluded, the designs are delivered to a technical director, who performs the necessary constructions, adjustments and installations on the stage for the materialization of the planned.

11- Stage

It is the theatrical equipment, such as curtains, floors, backdrops or platforms, that are used in a dramatic production.

12- Props

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There are different categories of props. Much of the handheld props come from the script and are director-required items. The set designer also usually requests set props such as the furniture that appears on stage, sometimes there is a fine dividing line between this type of props and the scenography.

Props are any moving items that appear during a performance, excluding costumes and stage. They are items manipulated by one or more actors. A book, a gun, a glass of wine, among others.

13- Acts

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They represent an important division in the development of the play. Most plays from the Elizabethan period to the 19th century were divided into five acts by playwrights or by later editors.

In the late 19th century, many writers began writing four-act plays. Today, one, two, and three acts are the most common games.

14- Theaters (building)

It is the space in which actors or audiences come together. It is essential to have an area where the artist, performer, communicates with a live audience.

Theatrical buildings evolved from the open-air amphitheaters of the Greeks and Romans, to the incredible variety of forms that we see today. It is a space that supports the emotional exchange between the cast and the audience.

15- Convention

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A theater convention is a practical tool used by the playwright or director to help tell the story of the play in the theater. The most common theatrical convention is that of the characters talking to each other and pretending not to notice the audience.

Often called the fourth wall or fourth screen convention, it simulates the existence of an (invisible) division between the actors and the audience.

Origins and historical evolution of the theater

When exactly the theater began is a mystery. Prehistoric hunters acted out stories about their hunting expeditions. The ancient Egyptians performed sacred songs and danced for their gods in religious ceremonies. But the idea of ​​theater as dramatic entertainment came later.

The English words for tragedy and comedy are known to come from the language of the ancient Greeks. Although the Greeks were not the first to perform plays, they were very interested in the origins of tragedy and comedy.

In their writings, the philosopher Aristotle and other Greek writers proposed theories and created hypotheses about how the art form of theater developed.

Greek plays were performed in open-air theaters. At first, theaters were in open areas located in the center of the city or next to hillsides. The audience was ready to listen and see the choir sing about the adventures of a god or a hero.

Towards the end of the 6th century BC. C., the theatrical structures became more elaborate. As the theater became increasingly popular and competitive among cities, theaters grew larger with structures capable of holding up to 15,000 people at a time.

The theater has been around since people first came together to hear someone else tell a story. Friends and family shared the responsibilities of the audience and the performer, swapping roles as long as someone had a story to share.

Modern theater may be more formal, with actors trained to recreate a story and sophisticated viewers reacting to a staging, but the idea of ​​sharing energies between the cast and a live audience remains unchanged.

References

1. Cameron, K. and Gillespie P. (1999). The Enjoyment of Theater, 5th edition. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
2. Columbus State University: Theater Appreciation Terms by Deb Moore. Recovered from: theater.columbusstate.edu.
3. Di Benedetto, S. (2012). An Introduction to Theater Design. Oxon, Routledge.
4. Northern Virginia Community College: Introduction to Theater by Dr. Eric W. Trumbull. Recovered from: novaonline.nvcc.edu.
5. Wilson, E. (2010). The Theater Experience. New York, McGraw-Hill.
6. Wolf, L. (2012). Introduction to Theater: a Direct Approach. Bloomington, Xlibris Corporation.