English Vocabulary in Use Upper-intermediate » Unit 20: Theatre and cinema

Word List
  • appear in
  • audience
  • ballet
  • capture
  • cast
  • cinema
  • comedian
  • costume
  • dance
  • dialogue
  • direction
  • director
  • entertainer
  • modern ballet
  • opera
  • performance
  • production
  • promote
  • rave
  • review
  • scene
  • score
  • screenplay
  • script
  • set
  • show
  • stage
  • theatre
  • viewer
  • what’s on (at)
  • venue
Exercises

20.1 ‣ Fill the gaps with the correct form of the word in brackets.

  1. I thought all the cast gave an excellent in the play last night. (perform)
  2. I don't find that _____ particularly funny. (comedy)
  3. It's unusual for a film to have two _____ but this one did. (direct)
  4. Paolo Tomassi is one of the best _____ I've seen for a long time. (entertain)
  5. It was one of the best _____ of a Shakespeare play I've ever seen. (produce)
  6. My favourite actor makes only a brief _____ in the film. (appear)

20.2 ‣ Definite article or not? Fill the gap with the if necessary.

  1. he government doesn't give enough money to ballet.
  2. She's got a diploma in _____ dance from the Performing Arts Academy.
  3. I've got some tickets for _____ opera. Interested?
  4. Shall we go to _____ cinema this evening? There are several good things on.
  5. I much prefer _____ theatre to _____ ballet, don't you?

20.3 ‣ Choose the correct word from the box to fill each gap in this online review. There are some extra words in the box which you do not need.

  1. audience
  2. reviews
  3. cast
  4. scenes
  5. costumes
  6. screenplay
  7. critics
  8. script
  9. entertainers
  10. sets
  11. stage
  12. performances
  13. productions
  14. venue
  15. words

Theatre Review

Last night actors at the Central Theatre put on a new play by Martha Collins. I spoke to several other members of the 1 and they all loved it. They commented afterwards on the quality of her 2_____. They were impressed by the 3_____ the actors wore. They also found the 4_____ original and visually interesting. Most importantly of all, the 5_____ was felt to be first class, with particularly strong 6_____ from the two leading actors. There were also positive comments on the 7_____, which has been recently refurbished and has a large revolving 8_____. The people I spoke to all hope that the 9_____ in the national press will write rave 10_____ about the show.

20.4 ‣ Ask questions for which these remarks would be suitable answers.

  1. Yes, it got rave reviews.
  2. No, I'm not really a concert-goer, but thanks anyway.
    _____
  3. Oh, romantic comedies, I think.
    _____
  4. The cast were all good, but the direction was weak.
    _____
  5. A new Hungarian film; fancy going to see it?
    _____

20.5 ‣

Over to you

Choose a film and answer these questions about it.

  1. Who do you think gives the best performance in it?
  2. Who’s the director?
  3. Where was it set?
  4. What is your favourite scene in it?
  5. What’s the score like?
  6. Are there any particularly memorable lines in the dialogue?
Answer Key
A ‣ At the theatre

We went to see a new production of Hamlet last night. The sets1 were incredibly realistic and the costumes2 were wonderful. It was a good cast3 and I thought the direction4 was excellent. Toby Cartwright gave a marvellous performance5. It got rave reviews6 in the papers today.

1 scenery, buildings, furniture on the stage or in a studio
2clothes the actors wear on stage
3 all the actors in the performance
4 the way the director had organised the performance
5 + 6 note these typical collocations
6 got very enthusiastic comments

Dance usually refers to modern artistic dance forms; ballet /ˈbæleɪ/ usually has a more traditional feel, unless we say modern ballet.

A comedian is a person who entertains people by telling jokes. They may have a show of their own or they may feature in a show with lots of different entertainers. [people whose job it is to entertain others]

The people who watch a show are the audience. Viewer is only used about someone watching a TV programme.

Language help

When we refer to a performing art in general, we can leave out the definite article, e.g. Are you interested in (the) cinema/ballet/opera/theatre? But: Would you like to come to the cinema/ballet/opera/theatre with us next week? [particular performance]

B ‣ At the cinema

ANNA: Our local cinema's showing Spectre again next week. Do you fancy going to see it?

BETH: Yes, that'd be great. I love the opening scene1 at the carnival in Mexico City. The James Bond films are always set2 in great locations.

ANNA: Yes, and I think the film really captures3 the human side of James Bond.

BETH: That's right. A lot of work went into the script4 for this, and the dialogue5's particularly good, I think.

ANNA: Do you know who the director6 was?

BETH: Sam Mendes, I think. He didn't write the screenplay7, though. I’m not sure who wrote that. The score8 is by Thomas Newman. He also wrote the music for Skyfall.

1 part of a play or film where the action happens in one place
2 take place in
3 represents very accurately
4 the words of a play or film
5 conversation written for a book, play or film
6 person in charge of making a play or film
7 text for a film including instructions for actors and camera operators
8 music for a film

C ‣ Other words connected with events in the arts

The Opera Society are doing a performance of Don Giovanni.

The National Theatre has a very large and versatile stage. [area above ground level where actors perform]

What's on at the cinema/theatre, etc. next week? (note the two prepositions)

Sometimes they use our school hall as a venue for concerts - it's a little small but is otherwise quite good.

There was an actor on TV last night promoting an interesting new play he's appearing in at The Globe. [providing publicity for; noun= promotion][acting; noun= appearance]

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