Dramatic conventions are the specific actions and techniques used by the actor, writer or director to create the desired dramatic effect/style. A dramatic convention is a set of rules which both the audience and the actors are familiar with and which act as a useful way to quickly identify the nature of the action or the character.
Brecht’s idea of distancing effects has garnered academic interest from a number of researchers in a variety of non-Brechtian achievements. Although the term distance effect was coined for the first time by Brecht, the concept appeared in a variety of performances, even before Brecht’s use.
Presentational acting and related representational acting are opposing ways of maintaining an actor-audience relationship. The actor acknowledges the audience with the presentational act. With representational acting, the audience is carefully ignored and treated as voyeurs.
In acting, substitution is the understanding of the elements of one’s life by comparing them to the elements of one’s own life. For example, if an actor portrays a person who is being blackmailed, he or she might think back to some embarrassing or private fact about his or her own life, and mentally superimpose it on the character’s secret.
A theater director or stage director is a professional in the field of theater who oversees and orchestrates the production of theater such as plays, operas, dances, dramas and musical theater performances by unifying the various activities and aspects of production.