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"It's a test of your will, reading all those scripts. You hope you find something that's good to do before they stop sending you stuff."
George Clooney
"For an actress to be a success, she must have the face of a Venus, the brains of a Minerva, the grace of Terpsichore, the memory of a MaCaulay, the figure of Juno, and the hide of a rhinoceros."
Ethel Barrymore
“It is not whether you really cry. It's whether the audience thinks you are crying.”
Ingrid Bergman
"I think I'm more bonded, emotionally and in a craft sense, to films that tell extraordinary stories about extraordinary destinies."
Ben Kingsley
Hello, I am Joy , this week's drama editor. Since actors interpret the play and screen scripts, they are important to writers. Some playwrights write their plays with certain actors in mind; therefore, in this issue, we'll look at the vocabulary that defines actors.
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Welcome to the Drama newsletter
On stage and screen, most real life characters and the written ones merge in those professionals we call actors. In Shakespeare's comedy As You Like It, the character of Jaques says: "All the world is a stage, / And all the men and women are merely actors; / They have their exits and their entrances, / And one man in his time plays many parts, / His acts being seven ages.” This is the view of the side of humanity that sees people as characters in life’s play. Whether we consider ourselves actors or not, over the ages, the art of acting has evolved to gain a special vocabulary with a list of terms for actors. Let’s take a brief look at that list.
Dramatis Personae is the general term for the cast of characters in a dramatic work, mostly on stage. In the movies, it is simply called Cast.
A Company or Ensemble or Troupe refers to a group of actors in a production, and a Stock Company is the group of actors in a theater that presents a different play each night from the earlier prepared productions. The actors in such a stock company are specialized in specific types of characters such as the leading man, leading lady, the heavy lead meaning those who play antagonists, the juvenile lead playing young lovers, tragedian, comedian, and the female second lead called a soubrette, the French word meaning one who exceeds limits since this role portrays a saucy, frivolous young woman who is usually a chambermaid. In the operas, soubrettes are usually sopranos.
Individual stage and screen performers are the actors, players, histrions, or Thespians. Thespian is the name given to a stage actor, and it comes from Thespis. Thespis, according to Aristotle, was the first actor to play a single character on stage, in addition to the chorus in the ancient Greek plays. Histrion comes from the classical Latin word histrio, meaning a performer in pantomime or an actor. Actress has been the term for a female actor, but since the name edged on chauvinism and therefore a probable discrimination, most female actors nowadays prefer to be called actors.
A Character Actor is a performer who specializes in roles depicting strong, memorable characters. A Heavy is a villain; an Ingénue is an innocent, young woman, and the Lead or Protagonist or Hero or Heroine is the principal character in a drama.
A Shakespearean Actor is an actor who is an expert in interpreting the roles in William Shakespeare’s plays. During the 1920s, new trends in arts and drama focused on the glamor and skill of the earlier eras. John Barrymore was such an actor who brought dynamic portrayals to Richard III and Hamlet, first seen in New York during the 1919-20 and 1922-23 seasons.
A Song and Dance Man is an entertainer-actor who specializes in musicals. Gene Kelly, as such an actor, starred in a 1952 musical comedy, Singin' in the Rain.
A Stand-by is an actor prepared to substitute for the regular performer if and when needed, although he is not part of the cast. An Understudy is an actor versed in another’s part, ready to step in, and is usually a member of the cast.
Ham Actor is the term for an inferior actor who uses numerous and more than necessary gesticulations, thus leading the way to the phrase hamming up. The origin of Ham Actor is from the nineteenth century when make-up was removed with ham fat, which inspired a popular minstrel song about an inept actor called The Hamfat Man. Ham Actor may also be referring to actors who played Hamlet or to the name of the leader of a touring known as Ham's Actors, during the mid 1800s.
A Barnstormer is a traveling actor who acts in road productions. It also means stunt pilot, but this is out of our range here. Actors who play on Broadway, NY, and theaters in other big cities usually go on tour during the summer months to entertain those who live in the countryside. This has led to the founding of summer theaters in several sites. America’s oldest summer theater originated in 1931, in New Hampshire, and is known as the Barnstormers Theater. http://www.barnstormerstheatre.org/
A Bit Player is an actor performing a small role with only a few lines of dialogue. In British television, bit parts are referred to as Under Sixes, meaning, fewer than six spoken lines. Bit players are usually listed in the credits. When a well-known actor or celebrity appears as a bit player, he or she is said to have a Cameo Appearance. Cameo appearances may or may not be credited. Alfred Hitchcock is well known for his cameo appearances in the horror movies he produced.
An Upstager is a selfish actor who upstages the other actors. A Scene-Stealer, on the other hand, is an actor who draws more attention than other actors in the same scene with or without wanting to, such as a baby, a child, an animal or a bit player.
A Plant is an actor situated in the audience whose acting is rehearsed but seems spontaneous to the audience.
An Extra is an actor in a minor, non-speaking role. Extras are not included in credits. A Supernumerary or Spear Carrier or Walk-on also has a small, non-speaking part in crowd scenes.
Contrary to a popular belief, acting is a profession and an art and one of the toughest jobs to excel in. An actor's standing out in the crowd is only possible if an actor can get the role and can find people to sit, watch, and approve what he does.
If you’d like to take a further look at the vocabulary of theater, here are a couple of sites:
http://www.kyshakes.org/Resources/Vocab.htm
http://www.kqed.org/assets/pdf/arts/programs/spark/theatervocab.pdf?trackurl=tru...
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Brad Steele was a great actor - maybe too great. 3rd Pl: Tales of Terror Contest - Feb '10
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Your Drama Newsletter Editors: esprit  Adriana Noir Joy
Thank you for reading our newsletters and for supplying the editors with feedback and encouragement.
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 This Issue’s Tip:
The difference between pacing and progression:
Progression is the development of the story toward a conclusion.
Pacing refers to the speed at which the story unfolds or progresses.
Plus, something I came across and wanted to share:
According to Brian A. Klems from Writer's Digest , “Both male and female pro-nouns are acceptable to use when the sex isn’t specified. Therefore it’s OK to write “he/she,” “he or she” or declare one gender to use throughout an article. Many writers will stick with their own biological genes—men tend to use the pronoun “he” while women generally use “she.” Both ways are perfectly fine. The preference lies in the hands of the writer.”
For more on the subject check: http://blog.writersdigest.com/qq/
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Adriana Noir
Oj, Joy! I loved this edition on revenge! It's a keeper for the files for sure!
Thank you very much, Adriana.
Although I am not too keen on revenge itself, it helps write a strong plot.
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northernwrites
"anger often drives the vengeful feelings of people in individualistic cultures, while shame powers revenge in collectivist ones."
That's something so basic as to be easily overlooked. Good to know the difference. Thanks for another useful newsletter, and for featuring my article.
Northernwrites
Thanks for the feedback, NW,
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renee-ann
I joined writing.com last month and really enjoy the different newsletters, specially, drama.
I challenged myself to "March NaNoWriMo", and attempted to write 50K words in 30 days to see if I could do it. I finished with 50,363 on March 30th.
ALEXIS is my first story, quickly written and not edited yet, but my first nonetheless. I had fun writing it and hope to do it again in May. However, I would like feedback on this story, good and bad, as I need to know what I’m doing wrong before I write another story.
The 50K words are posted in my portfolio in 5 parts.
Blessings,
Renee-Ann
Welcome to Writing.com, Renee-Ann, and thank you for reading our newsletters.
Your story is in the editor's pick section of this newsletter and I hope you receive some constructive reviews for it.
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honolulu
I would like a dramatic poem or, or short or long prose item. Please give me an oppurtunity. I am always writing on the papers and would like to reach people online. Thanks, dream.rithyms-
Thank you for writing to the Drama Newsletter, Dream.rithyms.
So nice that you are always writing. That alone will make you improve.
Writing.com is a site offering many opportunities to writers regardless of their degree of experience. Just look around, read, review, and write. You'll reach your goals very quickly.
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Drama: May 05, 2010 Issue [#3678]
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