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It also means any theatrical entertainment.

e.g. a. They spent the day sightseeing and in the evening went to a show. b. We sometimes go to a show in the West End.

In such sentences, however, show generally suggests some form of light entertainment, such as a musical or a variety show, rather than a serious play.

A variety show is one consisting of a series of numbers such as songs and other musical item, dances, jokes (анекдоты), conjuring tricks (фокусы), acrobatic turns, and so on. In the case of non-musical items, act may be used instead of number (also at the circus). The show has a compere (конферансье). Compere may also be used as a verb.

e.g. The show was compered by…

Show business is fairly often used by journalists and some other people to mean the theatrical profession, or the entertainment industry.

e.g. He’s in snow business.

EXERCISES

1. Choose an appropriate meaning(s) for the following words.

2.Discuss in mini-groups what member of a company you would like to be. Give your reasons.

3.Imagine that you are a senior drama student dreaming of an actor‟s career. Make your conversation with a friend of the family who is a stage manger of a theatre.

ACTORS AND ACTING

The words actor, actress present no difficulty.

Acting, play

Acting is used in the sense of игра (актеров) in such sentences as:

a.What did you think of the acting?

b.The acting was good/brilliant/amateurish/terrible.

Play naturally cannot be used in this sense. The noun play corresponds to пьеса, as illustrated by the following sentence:

c. I didn’t like the play but I was very interested in the acting.

The verb to play, however, is used in the sense of играть. e.g. Who played Hamlet?

To appear (in) or simply to be (in) are often used in the sense of ―act‖, ―play‖. Appear occurs in formal style.

e.g. a. Laurence Olivier is now appearing in the “ Long Day’s Journey into Night” by Eugene O’Neill.

b. He has appeared in many successful productions.

To be is widely used in non-formal situations. e.g. a. - I saw “Twelfth Night” yesterday.

-Oh yes? Who was in it?

b.(Speaking of an actor) He was in “The Price” (by Arthur Miller), wasn’t he?

c.He’s been in a lot of interesting productions.

Part, role, lines

Part is the usual word in conversation, and is much more common than role. e.g. a. The part of Lady Bracknell was played by Edith Evans.

Note that the part of may be omitted in sentences with play: Lady Bracknell was played by Edith Evans. Edith Evans played Lady Bracknell.

b. Bernard Miles took the part of the furniture dealer.

Note that the part of cannot be omitted with take.

c.Ophelia is her favourite part.

d.My son has been given/has got a part in the school play.

e.I saw Paul Scofield in the part of Macbeth.

I saw Paul Scofield play Macbeth. I saw Paul Scofield as Macbeth.

It is used in the following expressions:

The main part

e.g. Eric Porter plays the main part.

The main part is played by Erick Porter.

The leading part

This is synonym of main part.

e.g. Eric Porter plays the leading part

A supporting part

This is less important part, not the leading one. However, the connotation is often positive, implying that the part makes its contribution to the production as a whole.

A walking-on part

This is a part where the actor simply appears on the stage, but does not speak.

A speaking part

This is a part which involves speaking, not simply appearing, in contrast to a walking-on

part.

A male/female part

e.g. There are several/no good male/female parts in the play.

To learn one‟s part

e.g. The cast only had a week to learn their parts.

To look the part

This means to resemble physically the character one is playing. e.g. His acting wasn’t very good, but he certainly looked the part.

Role is used in the same sense as a part, but less often, and mainly in formal style. e.g. a. Edith Evans plays the role of Lady Bracknell.

The role of Lady Bracknell is played by Edith Evans.

b.Ophelia is her favourite role.

c.Eric porter plays the main/leading role.

It may be used instead of part in the expressions the main/leading role, a supporting role, a male/female role.

Lines denotes the words which the actors have to speak when they are on the stage. e.g. a. He spoke his lines too fast.

b. He forgot his lines in the middle of the second act and had to be prompted.

Lead, leading

In addition to leading part/role, mentioned, these words are used in the following expressions:

To play the lead meaning to play the leading part. e.g. Eric Porter plays the lead.

The male/female

e.g. Who plays the male lead?

The leading lady

This is used more often than female lead.

e.g. The leading lady was ill, so the performance had to be postponed. The leading man is not generally used.

Hero, heroine

Hero/heroine are used in such sentences as:

Albert Finney played the hero in “Chips with everything” (by Arnold Wesker).

(Albert Finney is a well-known English actor who appears mainly in modern plays.) Remember, however, that main is not used with hero/heroine.

Star

An actor or actress who plays leading parts and becomes exceptionally popular may be called a star.

e.g. a. She’s a star.

b. She’s the star of/in “Funny Girl”.

Star is also used as a verb, with as and/or in.

e.g. He starred as Jimmy Porter in “Look Back in Anger”.

All-star cast occurs in such sentences as:

It’s an all-star cast tonight.

Note, however, that on the whole star is less widely used in the theatre than in the cinema.

HONOURING ACTORS AND OTHER ARTISTS

There is no special system of honours for actors and other artists in Britain, like that of народный/заслуженный артист in Russia. Actors, musicians, etc. may simply be awarded one of the same honours as those who distinguish themselves in other professions. The main ones are, in ascending order of merit:

M.B.E. Member of the Order of the British Empire.

O.B.E. Officer of the Order of the British Empire. C.B.E. Commander of the Order of the British Empire.

These honours entitle one to put the appropriate letters after one‘s name. e.g. Mr. John Smith, M.B.E./O.B.E./C.B.E.

K.B.E. Knight Commander (of the Order) of the British Empire (for men). D.B.E. Dame Commander (of the Order) of the British Empire (for women). G.B.E. Knight/Dame Grand Cross (of the order) of the Brutish Empire.

Those who have been awarded the K.B.E., D.B.E. or G.B.E. are called Sir or Dame. e.g. Sir John Smith Dame Mary Smith

When addressing such people, the surname is omitted, e.g. Sir John Dame Mary

Knight as a verb and knighthood are often used with reference to the K.B.E. and G.B.E. e.g. a. John Smith was knighted last year.

b. Knighthoods are awarded to outstanding actors.

The name of all the above honours are traditional, the reference to the British Empire having lost its significance.

Life peerage

This is the highest honour, which confers the title of Lord or Lady (e.g. Lord/lady Smith) and gives one the right to sit in the House of Lords. Life here means that the title exists only for the lifetime of the person to whom it is given, and cannot be inherited by the elder son, as in the case of hereditary peerages.

The honour usually conferred on outstanding actors, musicians, etc. is the K.B.E. (or knighthood) for men, and the D.B.E. for women. Some famous people so honoured are:

A life peerage is not usually conferred on actors and other artists, but an exception was made in the case of Laurence Olivier, who was first knighted, and called Sir Laurence Olivier, and then made a life peer, so that he is now called Lord Olivier.

For directors the usual honour is the C.B.E.

e.g. Peter Hall, C.B.E. (Director of The National Theatre).

Народный/заслуженный артист have no English equivalents and are generally translated literally, as Peoples Artist/Honoured Artist.

Readers should always remember that these are merely literal translations and will not be properly understood without explanation by English people who do not know the Russian honours system. The use of People’s in this way is particularly unEnglish, yet there appears to be no alternative. Another obstacle to correct understanding of these translations is the fact that artist in practice generally denotes a painter or sculptor (художник).The expression performing artist is sometimes used as a collective term to denote actors, musicians, dancers, etc., but apart from the fact that it is not common, the combination People’s performing Artist and Honoured Performing Artist sound strange. A possible solution is to specify which of the performing arts is relevant, and say for example, People’s/Honoured Actor, People’s/Honoured Musician, People’s/Honoured Dancer, etc. Such translations introduce distinction not made in the original Russian, but on the other hand they are more readily understandable to English people. They would also solve the problem arising from the fact that, if one adopts the traditional translations

People’s/Honoured Artist, then народный/заслуженный артист and народный/заслуженный художник are both translated in the same way, since there is only one English word artist for the two Russian words артист and художник. People’s/Honoured Artist could then be reserved for народный/заслуженный художник and the distinction would be preserved.

Заслуженный деятель искусств is very difficult to translate into English because, quite apart from the fact that there is no such honour in Britain, English has no general word corresponding to деятель and no expression corresponding to деятель искусств. Art worker is not used in Britain, and even as a loan translation is unsatisfactory, since art in the singular generally refers to painting, sculpture, etc., and worker to manual work. Искусств could be translated by the plural form arts, but this does not solve the problem of rendering деятель. The only translation I can suggest is Honoured for Services to the Arts, which could be put in brackets after the person‘s name, or used in a sentence.

e.g. He has been honoured for (his) services to the arts.

EXERCISES

1. Fill in the gaps with the words from the box below. Act out the dialogues.

Dialogue I

A.Let‘s go and buy some lemonade or _______, I‘d like to drink something during an

_______.

B.That‘s a good idea. I feel thirsty too.

A.Well, Ann how do you like the _______?

B.The _______is perfect, to my mind. Why, it doesn‘t seem like acting! Each actor

_______so realistically, so _______.

A.No wonder. The _______ of this theatre is really outstanding. Besides, tonight _______ is playing.

B.Yes, indeed. I was completely _______ by their acting.

A.And the _______ is superb.

B.Yes, especially in the first _______ of the first _______.

A.Here is the _______. Let‘s drink some grape juice.

B.O.K.

A.Isn‘t that the third _______? The _______ are going down, and I think I hear the orchestra

_______.

B.Let‘s hurry. That‘s our staircase, to the right. I am not which aisle is ours. Here‘s an

_______, she will show us to our _______.

Juice, true to life, an all-star cast, intermission, scenery, bell, acting, carried away, refreshment room, play, scene, tuning up, company, act, performs his part, seats, usher, curtains

Dialogue II

A.Well, and now that the _______ is over, what‘s your impression _______ it?

B.Everything is just wonderful! The play itself, the _______, the stage effects, the _______

were marvelous _______ words.

A.You are right, especially the acting – that was simply _______.

B.You know, at times I completely forgot myself. And what an _______audience! Did you ever hear such _______ applause from spectators every time the curtain _______?

A.I‘ve never seen an audience _______ so much before. I think there were more than five curtain calls. I clapped so much that my _______ even now.

Applaud, performance, bursts of, for, went down, palms hurt, beyond description, acting, appreciative, staging, of.

Dialogue III

A. How are you planning to spend this evening?

B. We are going to _______―Othello‖ at the National theatre tonight.

A. And who is playing the _______? Laurence Olivier himself, I suppose? He is the artistic

_______ of the company, isn‘t he?

B. Yes, he is. He is also a _______with _______, from tragic or comic. A. What does he play?

B. Well, besides playing tragic heroes, such as _______`s Romeo, Hamlet, Macbeth, Lear,

Othello, he plays equally well comic characters _______ Shakespeare`s ―Twelfth Night‖ and Sheridan‘s _______.

A.Have you got good _______?

B.Oh, very good. We have seats _______the_______ stalls, _______ the stage.

A.Well, have a nice evening!

B.Thank you.

―School for Scandal‖, see, star, seats, facing, in, leading part,

Shakespeare, director, in, a wide range of parts, orchestra.

Dialogue IV

A.Oh, hello! Where have you been?

B.To the theatre. I was lucky enough to get the ticket before the performance.

A.What did they present?

B.They were showing ―School for Scandal‖ by the great English playwright Sheridan.

A.Is it still on? It has been on the _______ for a long time, hasn`t it? I thought it had been

_______.

B.No, it has such a _______ reception that it just can`t be taken of now. People still want to

see it and there is a queue outside the theatre every night in spite of the ―_______‖ sign.

A.Well, how did you like it?

B.Oh, it was _______. Too marvelous for words. Really, I was so deeply impressed by the play that I can hardly put into words what I think of it. It‘s one of the best productions I‘ve ever seen.

A.What about the _______?

B.Sergeev and Petrova in the leading roles were superb. Their acting is so natural and true- to-life that you simply forget that you are watching a play. I was completely _______ by their performance. Not only the main roles, but even some of the _______ ones were performed by People‘s Actors of the USSR and Honoured Actors of the Republic. The

audiences brought the house down after every scene. I‘ve never seen such an enthusiastic audience. The actors got many _______ and were presented with large bouquets of flowers.

A.So you‘re not sorry to have gone?

B.No, I‘ve never enjoyed a show more. Now I‘m looking forward to the first night performance of ―Macbeth‖. Would you like to join me next Saturday?

A.Most _______!

B.Then I‘ll book two seats over the phone.

A.All right. I think I must be going now. See you later.

B.Cheerio!

Curtain calls, taken off, splendid, willingly, billboards, cast, Sold out, supporting, carried away, favourable.

2.Dramatize the following situations.

You are an actor. You have just returned home from the first night of a play in which you have played a part. Share your impression with the members of the family.

Assure your director that it is Mrs. Brown who should play the leading lady.

Assure the authorities why Mr. Gordon Brown should be honoured for his services to the arts.

TYPES OF PLAY

Plays can be put into the following categories:

Tragedy

Comedy Tragic-comedy Farce

The distinction between farce and comedy is not clear-cut.

THE DICTIONARY OF THE THEATRE says that farce is ―usually distinguished from comedy by its tendency to extract amusement from the ingenious manipulation of a series of intricate situations in which stereotyped human figures are involved, rather than from the reactions of more complex, credible characters to one another and to their situation‖.

Drama

This is a serious play, generally dealing with a difficult real-life situation to be resolved, conflict of interests and emotions, etc. Most serious modern plays are classified as dramas.

Straight play

This expression is often used in non-formal style in the sense of ―drama‖. It means a play with a serious aim, in contrast to a comedy, farce or the other play intended solely to entertain.

e.g. Straight plays do not usually run as long as farces and musicals.

Historical play/drama

This is a play dealing with historical events. Note, however, that Shakespeare‘s plays on historical subjects are generally called history plays or histories.

e.g. The RSC are doing three of the history plays/histories this reason.

Thriller детектив

Musical, musical comedy

The musical is the successor of the musical comedy, which flourished up to the Second World War, and is now more or less extinct in Britain. It is also influenced by the old operetta form.

The DICTIONARY OF THE THEATRE defines musical comedy as: ―a form of play interpolated songs and dances (not necessarily comical, though usually tending to the lighthearted) which evolved from the light opera and operetta in thee 1890s and 1900s‖.

It goes on to say that the line between operetta and musical comedy has never been clearly drawn, but that musical comedy is in general lighter. A musical, according to the

DICTIONARY, is distinguished by its.― desire to integrate singing, dancing and the spoken word into one continuous texture.‖

Since musicals are often filmed, we may need to distinguish between: the stage version and: the film (version).

These, and on the stage, are used as follows:

-Have you seen “My Fair Lady”?

-You mean the stage version?

-No, the film. I didn’t think you were old enough to have seen it on the stage.

Dramatist, playwright, author

Playwright is the usual word for the author of a play. Dramatist is less common, and

used mainly in formal style, especially with reference to the classics. Author is not generally used with reference to plays.

EXERCISES

Translate the following text into English.

ВИДЫ И ЖАНРЫ ТЕАТРАЛЬНОГО ИСКУССТВА

ВОДЕВИЛЬ — вид комедии положении с песнями-куплетами и танцами. Возник во Франции; с начала XIX в. получил общеевропейское распространение. Лучшим произведениям присуши задорное веселье, злободневное отображение действительности.

ДРАМА — один из ведущих жанров драматургии, начиная с эпохи Просвещения, в котором изображается мир реального человека в его остроконфликтных, но не безысходных отношениях с обществом или собой. В XX в. драма отличалась серьезным содержанием, отражала различные аспекты жизни человека и общества, исследовала человеческую психологию.

КОМЕДИЯ — вид драмы, в котором действие и характеры трактованы в формах комического. Как и трагедия, родилась в Древней Греции из обрядов, сопровождавших шествия в честь бога Диониса. Комедия, трезво исследуя человеческую природу, высмеивала пороки и заблуждения людей. Лучшие образцы этого жанра отличаются бескомпромиссность» анализа, остротой и смелостью в высмеивании пороков общества. В разных странах возникали свои варианты комедии. Известны «ученая» комедия

итальянских гуманистов и испанская комедия Лопе де Вега и Кальдерона, английская комедия эпохи Возрождения, французская классицистская комедия эпохи Просвещения, русская реалистическая комедия. По принципу организации действия различают комедию характеров, положений, идей. По типу Сюжетов комедии могут быть бытовыми и лирическими, по характеру комического — юмористическими, сатирическими.

МЕЛОДРАМА — пьеса с острой интригой, преувеличенной эмоциональностью, резким противопоставлением добра и зла, морально-поучительной тенденцией. Возникла в конце XVII в. во Франции, в России — в 20-е гг. XIX в.

МИМ — комедийный жанр в античном народном театре, короткие импровизационные сценки сатирического и развлекательного характера.

МИСТЕРИЯ — жанр средневекового западноевропейского религиозного театра. Мистерии представлялись на площадях городов. Религиозные сцены в них чередовались с интермедиями.

МОНОДРАМА — драматическое произведение, исполняемое одним актером.

МОРАЛИТЕ — жанр западно-европейского театра XV—XVI вв., назидательная аллегорическая драма, персонажи которой олицетворяли различные добродетели и пороки.

МЮЗИКЛ — музыкально-сценическое произведение, главным образом комедийного характера, в котором используются средства эстрадной и бытовой музыки, драматического, хореографического и оперного искусств, жанр сформировался в США в конце XIX в.

ПАРОДИЯ — 1) жанр в театре, на эстраде, сознательная имитация в сатирических, иронических и юмористических целях индивидуальной манеры, стиля, стереотипов речи и поведения; 2) искаженное подобие чего-либо.

ПАСТОРАЛЬ — опера, пантомима или балет, сюжет которых связан с идеализированным изображением пастушеской жизни.

СОТИ — комедийно-сатирический жанр французского театра XV—XVII вв., разновидность фарса.

ТРАГЕДИЯ (в переводе с греческого — «песнь козлов») — вид драмы, проникнутый пафосом трагического. В античности отображал непосредственную жизнь персонажей трагических событий, действие преобладало над рассказом. В эпоху Возрождения в пьесах было отброшено считавшееся обязательным единство действия, трагическое часто соединялось с комическим. В дальнейшем трагедия строго регламентируется: опять преобладает единство действия, места и времени; наблюдается размежевание комического и трагического. В современном театре трагедия в чистом виде встречается редко. Основу трагедии составляют острые общественные конфликты, коренные проблемы бытия, столкновения личности с судьбой и обществом. Трагическая коллизия обычно разрешается гибелью героя.

ТРАГИКОМЕДИЯ — драматическое произведение, обладающее признаками как комедии, так и трагедии. В основе ее лежит ощущение относительности существующих критериев жизни; одно и то же явление драматург видит и в комическом, и в трагическом освещении, характерна для XX в.

ФАРС — 1) вид средневекового западно-европейского народного театра бытового комедий но-сатирического характера, существовавший в XIV—XVI вв. Близок немецкому фастнахтшпилю, итальянской комедии дель арте и др.; 2) в театре XIX—XX вв. комедияводевиль легкого содержания с чисто внешними комическими приемами.

ФЕЕРИЯ — жанр театральных спектаклей, в которых для фантастических сцен применяются постановочные эффекты. Возник в Италии в XVII вв.

ФЛИАКИ — народные театральные представления в Древней Греции, особенно распространенные в III—IV вв. до н.э. в греческих колониях: короткие импровизационные шутки-сценки из повседневной жизни о веселых похождениях богов и героев.

INSIDE THE THEATRE

The following terns are widely used, although there is some variation from one theatre to another, depending on the period and design of the theatre, and on individual traditions

Foyer фойе Box office касса

Cloak room гардероб

It should be mentioned that this is much smaller than that of a Russian theatre, since it is not the custom in England to leave one‘s coat in the cloakroom. One of the reasons is that

English people rarely wear heavy clothes and another is that one has to pay to use the cloakroom. Cloakroom may also be used in the sense of туалет, as an alternative to toilet.

Bar/refreshment room буфет

This is the place where light refreshments are sold, that is, drinks, both alcoholic and nonalcoholic, coffee, sandwiches, biscuits, etc.

Auditorium зрительный зал

This is the proper term, but in practice it is confine to formal style, for example official notices such as

NO SMOKING IN THE AUDITORIUM in the conversation and non-formal writing theatre is used,

e.g. The theatre was full. or simply

e.g. Let’s go in.

House

This is sometimes used in the sense of auditorium, especially in the theatrical profession. e.g. a. HOUSE FULL (a notice outside the theatre) This is an alternative to SOLD OUT

or ALL TICKETS SOLD.

b.The house was packed.

c. They played every night to full/packed houses.

d.There was a laugh from the back of the house.

e.The house lights went out/down.

Parts of Auditorium (Seats)

The auditorium is divided into the following parts:

Stalls партер

These may be subdivided into front and back stalls. Although stall is a countable noun, the singular form is generally avoided.

e.g. a. I bought a seat in the stalls. b. I was sitting in the stalls.

Boxes ложи

There are not generally many of these in the English theatre.

Dress circle бельэтаж

This is so called presumably because formal dress had to worn there.

Upper circle 1-й ярус Balcony балкон

This is often called the gallery in conversation, and sometimes in colloquial speech the gods (because the seats are so high up).

e.g. We sat in the gods.

Note that pit (места с креслами) is no longer used in most English theatres although Hornby gives it in the latest edition of his dictionary, defining it as seats on the ground floor of the theatre behind the stalls. This would correspond to амфитеатр.

Orchestra stalls первые ряды партера

Tiers ярусы Gallery галерея

Aisle проход между рядами

The stage and backstage Stage, scene

Since these are both translated by сцена, it is important for Russian speakers to be aware of the distinction between them, and not to use scene instead of stage.

The stage in the platform on which the performance takes place. The actors come on (to the stage) and go off or in the words, they make their entrances and exits.

Scene means either:

1.) part of play or production (сцена, картина), e.g. a. Scene One, Scene Two, etc.

b.In the first scene the family are preparing to welcome the youngest son home.

c.The scene where John says goodbye to Susan is very moving.

2.) where the action takes place (место действия).

e.g. a. The scene is set in the pre-revolutionary Moscow.

b.There was no change of scene during the play. c. Then her husband appear on the scene.

Cf.: …came onto the stage.

The second meaning of scene is not restricted to the theatre.

Other uses of stage

On the stage is used in such sentences as:

a.It’s an interesting play. I’d like to see it on the stage.

b.I saw “west Side story” on the stage.

c.– What happened to…?

–She went on the stage or - She’s on the stage. (Meaning she became/is an actress.) Stage is also used adjectivally in various expressions such as:

Stage design, stage designer Stage hand

Person who moves scenery, etc.

Stage directors

Printed instructions to actors in the text of a play, about position, movements, etc.

Stage manager Stage fright

Extreme nervousness before or when appearing on the stage. e.g. He got stage fright.

Stage door

The door at the back or side of the theatre used by actors and workmen (служебный

вход).

Stage is also used in the adverbial expressions:

On stage

Off-stage за кулисами; в частной жизни