Theater terms
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This is a glossary of terms commonly used in theatre. Those marked (*) are archaic terms, used by Shakespeare for instance.
| Contents: | Top - 0–9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z |
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A
Ad Libing: acting without having planned what to do or say. Often done to cover up for something having gone wrong or for forgotten lines. Also common in some forms of theatre such as pantomime. Also spelled adlibbing or ad-libbing.
Against type: playing a different sort of character than expected. See Typecasting.
Antagonist: a character that hinders the protagonist from achieving his or her goals.
Anti-naturalist: acting style in which the audience is kept aware that they are watching a performance rather than reality. (See Brechtian Acting.)
Avenue Staging: Staging of a performance with the audience placed on two sides, as though the performance space is a street. Also called "alley" or "tennis-court" staging in regional variations.
Apron: Stage area in front of the proscenium arch.
B
Beat: The smallest division of action in a play. The length of time necessary for a character to play an "Objective" (also called "Intention") from beginning to end. Also a very short pause.
Break a leg: a saying for actors before they go out on stage, meaning "good luck".
Brechtian acting: acting style in which the actors purposely try to alienate the audience from the characters in order to constantly remind them they are watching a play, based on the theories of Bertolt Brecht
Blocking: an actor's movement around a set, or the notations regarding movement in an actor's script. Also for one actor to get between another actor and the audience (see Mask).
C
Cast: the actors in a play; the characters; to choose the actors.
Cold reading: a reading aloud from a script or other text without any rehearsal, usually in the context of an audition or workshop.
Community theatre: a.k.a. "Amateur Theatre" or "Am Dram" is a performance by amateurs (or unpaid actors) as opposed to professional (paid) theatre. Some community theatre groups actually have registration "fees" that must be paid before rehearsals begin. This is usually to cover the cost of rehearsal space if their sponsoring Theatre does not have space.
Corpse: to laugh when on stage, as the actor, not the character, would.
Cover: to make up dialogue and or blocking due to a mistake or accident onstage without breaking character.
Cross: to move from one point on the stage to another, especially to a diametrically opposed point.
Curtain call, walkdown: at the end of a performance, when the actors come to the front of the stage to bow.
D
Dialogue: A reciprocal conversation between two or more persons; the speaking lines of a script.
Distanciation: In Brechtian performance, when actors maintain distance from their character by reminding the audience through often stylized gestures or behavior that they are simply people pretending, instead of trying to identify with their "character".
Downstage: Toward the front of the stage; in the direction of the audience.
Dress circle: In some theatres, a shallow gallery level above the main seating. In UK proscenium houses, a (sometimes large) balcony above the stalls.
Dress rehearsal (or dress): A final practice of the play before performance, with all actors wearing full costumes.
Dramatist: The author of a play.
Director: A person who directs.
E
Emotional memory: In Method acting, when an actor attempts to draw upon memories of prior emotions to match the emotions of their character.
Exeunt *: A stage direction calling for more than one to person exit, from the Latin exire, "to go out."
Exeunt omnes *: A stage direction meaning all the cast exit.
Exit: A stage direction which specifies which person goes off stage.
F
Fourth wall: An imaginary surface at the edge of the stage through with the audience watches a performance.
Full house, Packed house, Sold out: When all of the seats are filled; when the entire audience section is filled to capacity.
G
Gallery, Gods: The highest section of the theatre; a section at the back or sides without seats where people can stand to watch a performance, usually raised.
Ghost: To be used as a singing voice for another actor. (See also, ghost-writer.)
Ghost Light: A light left on the stage overnight and/or when the stage is not in use for safety.
H
The Half, Call Time : The time before a performance by which all actors must be present in the theatre – traditionally half an hour before curtain up.
Ham: A bad actor; usually one who overacts or hogs the spotlight.
House: The theatre, the people in the theatre, the audience.
I
Intention: A single, temporary desire or goal that arises in a character within a scene. (Also called "Objective".)
Intermission, Interval: A break between acts (usually first and second, but some plays have three or more acts).
Improvisation: When an actor who is "in character" makes up action or dialog without prior scripting. (see Ad Libbing and Improvisational theatre.)
Issue: To leave the stage.
L
LX (Electrics): Referring to the lighting department of the crew (lighting designer, head electrician, lighting operator etc).
M
Manet (Manent)*: A stage direction calling for a person (more than one person) to remain on stage as others exit, corresponding to the Latin manent, meaning "they remain."
Mask: To block another actor, or something worn over the face, sometimes expressing emotion. (See Kabuki.)
Masking: Drapery or flats used to frame the stage, and stop the audience from seeing the backstage areas.
Method acting: Acting style in which the ideal of a "true"( or "real") moment or impulse is valued most highly; the actors try to feel the emotions of the character so that the actors' choices and the characters' would be as one---i.e. inevitable. Pioneered by Konstantin Stanislavski, currently taught most formally at The Actor's Studio in Manhattan. Of note, most American Method acting was based on an early, incomplete experiment of Stanislavski's; many if not most modern teachers have moved away from the original (Stanislavskian ) "method" as it is truly difficult to teach well, has been altered by many secondary and tertiary disciples in the '60s and '70s to suit personal agendas, and can produce seemingly uninteresting and almost "masturbatory" results in younger actors. Marlon Brando perhaps the best example of a masterful methodist who uses and discards various parts of many school of thought to achieve success.
Monologue: An extended speech by one person directly addressing the audience or another character.
Motivation: A character's individual desires or goals which propel them into action ;the driving force of an inciting event that starts a story's progression.
O
Obstacle: A force opposing a character's "Objective" (or "Intention") which gives rise to dramatic tension and conflict.
Objective: A single, temporary desire or goal that arises in a character within a scene. (Also called "Intention".)
Orchestra pit: where the musicians play, usually directly in front of the stage, often sunken below the seating sections.
The Orchestra, The Stalls: The seats on the lower part of the theatre.
Omnes*: In stage directions, all the cast.
P
Parascenium: in a Greek theatre, the wall on either side of the stage, reaching from the back wall to the orchestra.
Part: A character; the portion of the script intended for one character.
Parterre: The upper part of the main seating. Usually behind a cross aisle, and almost always steeper than the lower Orchestra.
Preferred reading: The interpretation of the script that is stressed by the author or the text itself.
Promenade: A performance of a play in which the actors and audience occupy the same space, with no distinction between acting area and audience area. The audience is given the freedom to explore the space together with the performance, and there is generally an element of audience interaction in the play.
Prompt: To tell an actor his next line when he as forgotten it. Also the person whose job it is to do this (also called the prompter). It used to mean the side of the stage where the prompter sat. The other side of the stage was called 'Opposite Prompt' or OP.
Prop, Property: An object used in the play, from the Middle English proppe, meaning a support, not originally related to property as in ownership; does not include scenery or costumes.
Proscenium, Proscenium arch: The boundary between the stage and the audience in a conventional theatre; it appears to form an arch over the stage from the audience's point of view. In some cases, it does create an arch over the stage.
Protagonist: The main character; the hero or heroine.
Pseudomonologue: When only one half of a dialogue is portrayed, especially either just the questions or the answers, wherein the performer is not directly addressing the audience.
R
Rehearsal: Practice of the play.
S
Script: The text of the dialogue and stage directions of a play; to write a play.
Sense memory: In Method acting, when an actor attempts to recall memories of the physical sensations surrounding prior emotions in order to utilize emotional memory.
Signs of character: The various cues that convey a character's personality, emotion or motivation.
Signs of performance: An actor's movements, expressions and vocal tones and patterns that contribute to signs of character.
Site Specific: A play which is created or specifically modified to use the character of the performance space to the greatest advantage. Site specific spaces are usually locations which are not normally used for showcasing theatre, but have another primary function (warehouse, mansion, abandoned military bunker, etc).
Social actor: People who portray themselves in a performance, usually previously known to the audience.
SRO: See Standing Room Only.
Stage direction: In the script of a play, any instruction for the actors, or setting or character description.
Stage left: The side of the stage on the left when facing the audience.
Stage right: The side of the stage on the right when facing the audience.
Standing ovation: At the end of a performance, when the audience stands and claps, a higher form of praise than normal applause.
Standing room: A space where people can stand to watch a performance, especially if all the seats are filled. (See Gallery.) Most New York houses count standing room tickets in their house counts. The Lion King caused quite a stir when it didn't, and boasted more than 100 percent house counts for months.
Standing room only: Admittance to a performance after all of the seats are filled which requires people to stand to watch.
Super, Supernumerary: Extra, walk-on part, most often speaks no words.
Supporting cast: Actors who are not playing major parts.
T
Tabs: The curtains separating the stage from the audience.
Tech or Techie: A general slang term for a member of the technical crew of a show.
Tech or Technical rehearsal: A rehearsal primarily for the purpose of practicing the technical elements of a play, such as lights and sound.
Theatre: Building where acting takes place (also a cinema); the world of this type of acting, or the world of acting in general.
Theatre in the round: Any theatre where the audience is seated on every side of the stage. (See arena.)
Thrust: A stage that extends out into the audience, so that the audience is seated on three sides of it.
Typecast: When an actor becomes associated with only one type of role or character, often based on physical appearance.
U
Upstage: Towards the back of the stage; the half of the stage that is farthest from the audience; to outshine another's performance, especially when the other has a larger part or is more well-known. (The third meaning derives from the simplest means of "upstaging" another actor: to walk "upstage" of an actor, thereby forcing the other actor to turn his or her back to the audience while the "upstage" actor can stand full front, facing the audience.)
V
Verisimilitude: The trait of seeming truthful or appearing to be real, from the Latin veri similis, "like the truth."
W
Wardrobe: Costumes, or the people responsible for them.
Wardrobe Mistress/Master: The person in charge of the costume department.
See also
ballet, Chinese opera, comedy, drama, epic play, farce, kabuki, melodrama, mime, musical theatre, opera, operetta, pantomime, paradigmatic structure, syntagmatic structure, suspension of disbelief, tragedy, tragicomedy, vaudevillefr:Lexique théâtral lv:Teātra termini (uzskaitījums)