Lesson 3. Theatre. The aim is nearly the same: you will learn to explain some terms connected with the theatre and to give definitions.

1. Match the words and their definitions. Add whatever is necessary to make the explanation clearer.

a billboard the box-office the stage the stalls the gallery a check a play-bill a rehearsal the cast

a trial performance of a play the highest balcony where the cheapest seats are placed programme a set of actors in a play a raised platform in the theatre where the actors appear an office for booking seats in a theatre a piece of wood or metal with a number of it given to you in a cloakroom a notice giving information about a play the front rows where the seats are expensive

2. Be ready to provide back translation into English of any of the passages the teacher indicates

¨ У вас есть билеты на завтра? – На утренний или вечерний спектакль? – На утренний, пожалуйста. Если у вас есть, два билета в партере. – Да, есть два места в середине ряда “F”. – Спасибо, это то, что нужно. Сколько они стоят? – Они по 13 шиллингов шесть пенсов, то есть вместе 27 шиллингов.

¨ Партер, сэр? Партер направо. Мужская раздевалка по эту сторону, а женская на первой лестничной площадке. Покажите свои билеты билетеру в фойе, и она укажет вам места и даст программку.

¨ Разрешите взглянуть на ваши билеты. Ряд “F”, места 12 и 13. Сюда, пожалуйста. Программку желаете? – Да, пожалуйста. – Принести вам чай, сэр? Пьеса окончится только в половине шестого. – А когда вы разносите чай? – После второго акта, там будет пятнадцатиминутный антракт. – Что ж, пожалуй мы выпьем чаю.

¨ Ну и как тебе понравилась пьеса? – Захватывающее зрелище! – А тебе как понравилось? – По-моему, великолепно. Я уже давно так не смеялся. – И я тоже. Просто здорово. – Да, замечательно. По-моему, актеры играли отлично. – Да, первоклассная постановка с начала до конца.

3. Give definitions to the following terms and notions that have to do with the theatre:

Orchestra, conductor, scenery, attendant (usherette), programme, revue.

4. Read the text and explain the difference between the two kinds of theatre. Give only the most important facts.

There were two kinds of theatre building during the Elizabethan epoch: the public (presented mostly by the Globe) and the private (such as the Blackfriers or the Whitefriers). The public type was roughly circular, enclosing a public yard open to the sky and surrounded by galleries. To one side was the stage, which projected into the audience and seems to have had a curtained alcove above, which could be used for intimate scenes (though the very existence of the recess is open to doubt), and a balcony above, which may possibly have been used as another acting area when required (e. g. the Balcony scene in Romeo and Juliet). Somewhere behind the stage was the “tiring house”, or actors’ dressing-room, and below the stage was a store-room, with a trap through which ghosts and devils could appear. Scenery was kept to a minimum – a conventionalized representation of a wood by a single tree, a throne-room by a throne and so on – though costumes were frequently elaborate. Audiences sat in the galleries, or stood in the yard on the three sides of the actors where they paid less and were called “groundlings”. Performances took place in daylight, usually at 2 p. m.

The private theatres were rather different: they were indoor halls, rectangular and with permanent seats for all the audience, which was smaller than in the public theatre. The exact form of staging is more mysterious than in the public theatre: it seems likely, though, that scenery played a more important part and that the action of the play, scene by scene, was more localized: one scholar suggested that the stage of the Blackfriers was divided into three “mansions”: left, centre, and right, with any scenes required by the play which could not be fitted into this arrangement played unlocalized between the “mansions”.

5. Compare the modern theatre building with those of the Elizabethan epoch. What is gained and what is lost?Remember the film “Shakspeare in Love” or consult an encyclopedia.

6. What is the best definition of the Theatre? Does any of the options below suit you? Explain.

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