Prompter

A prompter or a prompter ( from the French souffler " whisper, breathe ", ital suggeritore " prompter " ) referred to in the theater a person who is reading the roles whisper during a performance to the actors to signal inserts and them " hanger" ( forgotten text ) hinwegzuhelfen.

Operation

Musical theater versus spectacle

In the musical theater of action and also the responsibility of the prompter is much larger than in the play. The Maestro suggeritore in Italian tradition is even a kind of co- conductor. Good prompters conduct individual passages from the prompter's box with out and give to the singers inserts. In addition, with a different technique than prompting the drama: The respective text beginnings of musical phrases are almost always prompting, namely time-shifted, compared to the spectacle much earlier and louder. That depends on the one related to the fact that the singer needs more time to process the information, together with the learned musical structure, on the other hand so that the prompter with his voice must drown out the orchestra so that it is not possible noticed the audience.

In the drama - especially in smaller theaters - is often omitted today on prompters: The longer probationary periods allow for greater text safety of the actors. In musical theater, however, there are often only three rehearsals, which is also in the play was common until the 19th century.

The job of prompter is related to the standard repertoire in multi -genre theater, in which often no longer series of performances come about, what makes the individual performances relatively unstable ( in contrast to the En -suite game mode). Therefore, efforts are now also in the repertory theater often to performance series. In English and French language areas, where only En -suite game operation is common to the profession of the prompter ( prompt ) often coincides with the stage manager ( stage manager ).

Traditional way of working

The prompter is standing or sitting often in the prompter's box, which is embedded in the center of the stage below the ramp in the stage floor. From the auditorium, he is not seen, and even the actors recognize the prompter only the eyes in an open only towards the stage, about 25 cm tall, narrow and mostly wooden box. Since the prompter only speaks in a low voice, or even whispers that he is not to be understood by the actors from the spectators. In many places, the prompter's box is no longer used. The prompter sits on the side stage times and times in the auditorium. He speaks according to distance from the respective position of quietly towards the stage or prompting by the microphone and speaker in this direction.

In the time of oil and gas lighting in the theater, so in the 18th and 19th centuries, the prompter was also responsible as a gaffer for the limelight, he governed by the brightness and auswechselte filter.

Modern way of working

Today is also prompting by radio. The actors contribute to a small receiver in the ear, the prompter's box is then superfluous and the background noise is reduced. This technique is in many major theaters some time in use, such as the Burgtheater in Vienna.

Role

In the opera Capriccio Richard Strauss leaves the Soffleur Monsieur Taupe tenor occur in the vocal category.

History

The word itself comes from the French and originally meant actually winds, prompter ( to souffler = blow ). This term came into the language of the stage in the 18th century. The prompter served earlier by hand or with his feet the bellows of the organ. In the church choir, this was formerly an office and to the duties and obligations of the prompter was not only a concern for score sheets, utensils, costumes the singer, also to many others, only apparent trivialities as the necessary lighting or even food and accommodation of the choir, but also to the inevitable learning the lyrics.

Other meanings

In general parlance used to prompt for the pros and one Agen, especially in the area of ​​school ( see cheat sheet ).

Anecdotal

From the famous Burgtheater actor Raoul Aslan (1945-1948 also director of the Burgtheater in Vienna ), who often had text hangers and always had to rely on help from the prompter, the following story is narrated: On the question of whether it does not bother him that the audience the hear this all the text, so to speak twice if the prompter should always prompt him, he replied: "What does it interfere with the captain on the bridge, when you hear the sound of the propeller! "