1. Act: a major division of a play. Acts may
be further divided
into scenes. May be used to indicate a change in
time or
place.
2. Action: the movement in the play from the
initial
entanglement through the rising action, climax, and
falling
action to resolution
3. Actor: one who performs a role or
represents a character in
a play
4. Angel: the financial broker of a
production. Formerly a
single wealthy person or small group of people. Now
producers look to large corporations for backing
5. Antagonist: the character who provides the
obstacle to the
protagonist’s objective in the play. The antagonist
sets
the conflict in motion
6. Apron: the area of the stage in front of
the curtain line
7. Aristotle’s Six Elements of drama: character,
diction,
music, plot, spectacle, thought
8. Audition: the opportunity to read for a
part in a play
9. Auditorium: the part of the theater
building that holds the
audience, also called the house
10. Backdrop: a flat surface the width of the
stage, usually
made of canvas hanging from the flies at the rear of
the
staging area and painted to represent the desired
setting
11. Backing: flats, screens, and drops used
backstage to mask
the audience’s sight lines through the door and
windows f
the set
12. Backstage: the area behind the set or
backdrop that is not
sees by the audience
13. Bit, bit part: a small role consisting of
very few lines and
a brief stage appearance
14. Blocking: determining the basic movements
of the actors
during a play. Some is provided by the playwright;
some
develops by actors; but a majority is supplied by
director
and includes entrances, exists, and crosses
15. Booked flat: two flats lashed together
and opened at an
angle for form a “V”
16. Boom: also called a boomerang; a vertical
pipe used to mount
a spotlight. Also a pole used to extend a microphone
over a
set
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17. Border: a short drape hung above the
stage to mask flies
when the set does not contain a ceiling
18. Bridge: a mechanical device for lifting
larges pieces of
scenery
19. Business, stage business: all the
actions, excluding
blocking, performed by the actors onstage
(gesturing,
opening windows, writing letters, etc.)
20. Call back: the second stage in the
audition process in which
actors who appeared for the initial reading and who
are now
under serious consideration for the roles
21. Cast: the actors who perform in a given
play
22. Casting: the process of auditions and interviews
by which
the director selects the actors to play the roles in
a play
23. Catwalk: a narrow metal bridge up in the
flies by which
stage crews reach and adjust the hung scenery
24. Centering: an actor’s term for
concentrating and being in
character in the moment of the play
25. Center stage: literally, the space at the
very center of the
acting area
26. Character: a person in a play, or the
personality of that
person
27. Character role: a major role in a play,
but not one of the
romantic leads
28. Cheat: to turn the body out, partially
toward the audience,
while appearing to talk to another character onstage
29. Chiaroscuro: the interplay of light and
shadow as used in
stage lighting and scene painting
30. Choreographer: a person who designs the
dance steps to be
used in a play
31. Cold reading: an audition where the actor
is asked to read
from a script without any preparation
32. Collaborative theater: a situation in
which actors and
directors work together to develop a script for a
play
33. Commedia del ‘arte: 16th-18th century
Italian comedy
34. Comp: a complimentary ticket to a show
35. Company: a group of actors and
technicians who join together
to present plays
36. Constructivism: a concept in stage design
in which the
illusion of scenery is created by juxtaposing
ladders,
scaffolding and platforms to suggest houses, factories,
and
public buildings
37. Copyright: the playwright’s legal
ownership and control over
production of his/her play in public
38. Costume: clothing worn by the actors in a
performance
39. Counterweight system: mechanical systems
of pulleys, ropes,
and weights, such as sandbags used to hang scenery
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40. Create a role: to be the first actor to
play a role in its
premier performance
41. Cross: a stage direction meaning to move
across the stage
from one side to the other. TO cross down means to
cross
while moving downstage
42. Cross fade: to fade or dim the lighting
from one setup of
the lighting control board
43. Cue: a signal from the stage manager to
actor, stage crew,
props manager or lighting technician that some
predetermined action, such as an entrance is
required
44. Curtain: literally, the drape in a
proscenium arch theater
that closes off the stage from the audience’s view
45. Curtain line: the last line of the scene;
serves as a signal
to bring down the curtain
46. Deck: stage floor
47. Dialog: speech between two or more
characters
48. Dimmer: an electrical device to lower or
raise the intensity
of a stage light
49. Director: the person responsible for the
direction of the
actors in a play; provides the play’s “vision”
50. Directorial notes: the comments and
criticisms the director
presents to the cast after a performance or
rehearsal
51. Dramatic irony: the form of irony in
which the audience
knows something that a character in the play does
not
52. Dramatic time: a period of time that
elapses in the action
of the play, as opposed to the actual time it takes
to run
the show
53. Dramatis personae: from the Latin,
meaning the characters in
a play
54. Dramaturg: one who studies a play to
interpret it for a
company of actors
55. Draw line: the operating line of a
traveling curtain rigging
56. Dresser: one who assists an actor by
laying out costumes and
makeup, and assisting with changing and hairdressing
57. Dressing the stage: loosely used to mean
decorating a set
58. Dress parade: a wardrobe check during
which actors wear
their various costume changes that enable the
director and
costumer to check on the effect of the colors under
lighting, the fit, the suitability, etc.
59. Dress rehearsal: the last rehearsal
before the play is
performed. Treated as a performance, it is done in
full
costume, full tech effects and played straight
through
without stopping
60. Drop: a large piece of canvas mounted at
the rear of the
stage and long enough to reach the floor painted
with a
scene serving as a backdrop to the action
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61. Effects: onstage and offstage sounds made
by sound effect
technician. Also, patterns and shadowing created by
lighting
62. Empathy: the act of an audience
identifying with the
character in the play
63. Entr’acte: musical interlude between the
acts of a play
64. Entrance: the act of entering onto the
acting area during a
performance
65. ERF: Ellipsoidal reflector floodlight: a
device for throwing
a broad wash of light over a wide area without
having a
sharp edge to the beam
66. Exit: the leaving of the acting area by
the actor
67. Fade: a gradual dimming of the intensity
of the stage
lighting
68. Farce: French, meaning “to stuff”. Farce
is an extreme form
of comedy that depends on quick tempo and flawless
timing
on the part of the actors; stuffed with improbably
events
and farfetched coincidences
69. Fill light: a soft light or wash that
comes from the
opposite direction of the key light and provides a
difference in intensity or color from the accent
light on
the actor’s face
70. Flat: a basic unit of stage scenery.
Usually consists of a
wooden frame with canvas or muslin stretched to fill
it
71. Flies: the area above the stage, hidden
from the audience to
which scenery can be lifted clear of the stage
72. Flipper: a jog, or narrow flat, usually
made of plywood
hinged to a standard flat to help support the flat
as it
stands alone
73. Flood: used as a shortened term for
floodlight. The term
also refers to the widespread focus on a spotlight
having
the effect of flooding the stage with light
74. Fly(ing): to fly scenery is to hoist it
to or from the flies
75. Focus: the adjustment of the size and
shape of a beam from a
stage light
76. Follow cue: a lighting direction that
comes so close to
another lighting direction that it doesn’t need a
separate
number on the cue sheet of the lighting tech
77. Forestage/apron: the space in front of
the curtain line
78. Fresnel: (fr’nel) a spotlight with a
stepped lens of
concentric rings. Casts a pool of light with soft
edges
that blends with other lights
79. Front lighting: lighting that comes from
the house and
shines onto the stage
80. Front of the house: those parts of the
theater used by the
audience
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81. Gel: a very thin sheet of gelatin,
available in a wide range
of colors, set in a frame and mounted in front of a
light
in order to color the beam directed onto the set
82. Gobo: also called a ‘cookie’. A disc of
heat resistant
material into which a pattern (circle, stars, etc)
has been
cut. When the gobo is placed over the lens of an
ellipsoidal spotlight, the pattern is projected onto
a
backdrop
83. Goes up: the time the performance begins
84. Grand drape: a very short curtain hanging
at the top of the
proscenium arch and in front of the main curtain
85. Greasepaint: a type of stage makeup
having a very greasy
texture
86. Green room: a room backstage where actors
wait
87. Grid/gridiron: the framework of wood or
steel above the
stage from which scenery is hung or flown
88. Grip: a member of the stage crew, so
called because he/she
grips the scenery to move or place it
89. Halation: an unwanted leaking of light
from a spotlight
forming a halo around the light beam
90. Hit your mark: a direction for an actor
to go to a certain
place on stage and deliver a line; make an entrance,
or
perform some stage business
91. Hot spot: an area downstage right that
many actors feel is
an especially good focal point
92. House: the seating area of a theatre, but
also the audience
itself
93. House curtain: in a proscenium arch
theater, the main
curtain that closes off the stage from the view of
the
audience
94. House manager: one who oversees or runs
the box office where
reservations are taken and tickets sold
95. House right/left: directions viewed from
the perspective of
the audience, as distinguished from the perspective
of the
actors, which would be stage left/right
96. Implicit directions: stage directions
implied in the lines
of the play
97. Incident light: light falling on a
surface, actor,
furniture, or set directly above
98. Iris: a reducing mat used over the face
of a spotlight in
order to narrow the beam of light
99. Jack: a wooden triangular brace hinged to
the back of a flat
to provide support
100. Jackknife: a rolling cart used to change
scenery, attached
to the stage floor at one place and pivoted so that
it can
be moved on and off stage
101. Jog: see flipper
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102. Jump lines: when an actor speaks one or
more lines ahead
103. Key light: a light on an actor’s face
that appears to be
coming from a source—lantern, lamp, fireplace,
onstage, but
which, in fact, is coming from conventional stage
lighting
instruments
104. Klieg light: a type of spotlight sold by
the Klieg
brothers, but their term is used loosely for any
bright
stage light
105. Ladder: a hanging ladder-like framework
on which spotlights
are mounted
106. Lamp: the proper name for a light bulb;
also, the term for
any lighting instrument; part of a spotlight
107. Lash lines: number 8 sash cords used
with staggered lash
cleats to fasten on flat to another
108. Lighting plot: detailed plan by the
lighting designer that
includes a floor plan of the set with a longitudinal
section—called an elevation—showing the height of
the set,
a lighting instrument schedule, and a control board
cue
sheet. The floor plan and longitudinal section shows
the
location of each lighting instrument and the area
lit. The
longitudinal section also shows the vertical angles
of the
beams of light. The instrument schedules shows the
type,
wattage, outlet, dimmer, and color of each instrument—a
range from 100% for full; up to 10% for very dim.
The
lighting tech uses the plot when running the lights
for the
show
109. Light leak: an unwanted spill of light
through a crack in
the scenery or an open door on the set
110. Linear plot: one that follows a strict
chronological order
from start to finish with no flashbacks or flash
forwards
111. Line reading: the manner in which an
actor delivers a line:
the inflections, tone, volume, and pace
112. Lines: the dialogue for a play; the
words the actors say in
a performance
113. Load in: to place the set on the stage
where the play is to
be performed
114. Makeup: the cosmetics that actors use
onstage
115. Manager: British term for the producer
of a show
116. Mark: the mark, literally on the floor
or established
during rehearsal from which actors deliver their
lines
117. Mat: shutter or matting material that is
used on the face
of a spotlight lens to change the size or shape of
the beam
cast onto the set
118. Matinee: a theatrical performance given
in the afternoon
119. Method acting: an introspective approach
to acting based on
the system developed by Constantine Stanislavsky in
the 20th
century
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120. Monolog: a work written to be spoken by
just one person
121. Motif: a recurrent character, incident,
or concept in
literature
122. Motivation: the reason a character does
something
123. Movement: stage blocking, or the
movements of the actors
onstage as the play progresses
124. Noises off: any sound effects needed for
a dramatic
production, from the thunder sheet to tape-recorded
rainfall
125. Obligatory scene: a scene the playwright
hassled the
audience to expect, one that answers questions
raised
earlier in the play
126. On/off book: when an actor has the lines
of his/her part
completely memorized, the actor is off book. To “sit
on
book” is to prompt the actors in rehearsal
127. Off/on stage: when off, an actor is out
of sight of the
audience; when on, an actor is in sight of the
audience
128. Olivette: a box floodlight that can be
mounted on a stand
or hung by a chain from a pipe batten
129. Opening: the first public performance of
a play
130. Overture: the music played before a
musical play begins;
generally it is a medley of tunes from the show to
be
performed
131. Pace: the speed with which a play is
performed
132. Pants part: a male role played by a
female
133. Papering the house: giving out free
tickets to fill the
house for a performance
134. Par: short for parabolic reflector lamp.
It is made of
molded heat-resistant glass that can be used safely
outdoors. Indoors, its build-in reflector makes it
an
economical choice for small to medium-sized theaters
135. Persona: the character an actor assumes
in a play
136. Picture: the general look of the set as
seen from an
average seat in the house
137. Pin spot: a very narrow spotlight beam,
focused on an
actor’s head. Also called the head spot
138. Pit: the area between the stage and the
first tow of the
house, where the orchestra sits
139. Playbill: the program
140. Plot: the events of a play; the story as
opposed to the
theme
141. Practical scenery: scenery that actually
works on stage
142. Premier: the first public performance of
a play
143. Presentational: a style of performance
in which the actor
recognizes and addresses the audience, in contrast
to
representational style in which the actors observe
the
convention of a fourth wall
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144. Preset: an arrangement of the lighting
board controls
prepared in advance of its need
145. Principals: the leading characters in a
play
146. Producer: the person who puts together a
theatrical
production: obtains financial backing; leasing the
rights
to the play; rents the theater, hires the director,
designer, house and stage crews, supervises the
advertising
and budget, and, sometimes, hires the cast
147. Prompt book: the stage manager’s copy of
the script in
which are noted all the blocking and technical cues
148. Prompt corner: the area just behind the
proscenium arch at
stage left where the prompter sits with the prompt
book
149. Properties manager: the person
responsible for acquiring
all the props needed for a play, placing them where
they
belong on the set, handling them to the actors as
needed,
getting them back after a performance and creating
offstage
effects as called for by the script
150. Props: short for stage properties. These
are usually
divided into four categories: hand props; set or
scene
props; dress props; and effects not produced in the
lighting booth (doorbells, knocking, crashes, etc.)
151. Proscenium arch: the picture frame
through which an
audience watches the play in a proscenium arch
theater
152. Purchase line: the rope held by a member
of the stage crew
to fly the scenery in a counterweight system
153. Reader’s theater: a performance at which
a play is red
aloud for an audience rather than memorized and
presented
off book
154. Reflector: a hood of polished metal,
shaped into a sphere,
a parabola, or an ellipsoid, with a light source at
its
center
155. Rehearsal: a session in which the
director and actors
prepare a play for performance
156. Relation to characters: an establishment
of relationships
in a play so that actors who play characters
connected by
blood, marriage, friendship or conflict will act as
though
they have been involved in actual relationships and
will
not give the impression they just met in rehearsal
157. Relation to objects: an establishment of
relationships in a
play so that actors using certain objects or wearing
certain clothes will act as if these items are
really
theirs
158. Repertoire: all parts an actor has
played, or all the plays
he/she is familiar with
159. Repertory company: a theater group that
performs the plays
in the season’s repertoire, with members taking
large parts
in some plays and small parts in others
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160. Return: two flats hinged together to
fold outward, back-toback.
Because they open away from the audience, they may
serve to make offstage areas.
161. Review: the announcement in print or
broadcast media of a
production with some description of the cast, plot,
and
technical aspects
162. Revival: a play performed sometime after
its original
production
163. Revolve: a revolving stage
164. Revue: a production featuring a
collection of songs,
dances, or sketches
165. Rigging: the process of hanging scenery
or lights; the
handling of the stage curtain or drops. Also the
complete
system of ropes, block, and pins for manipulating
scenery
166. Role: a part in a play; the character
played by an actor
167. Run lines: to recite the lines of a play
without the
accompanying blocking or stage business
168. Run of the play: the length of time a
play is presented in
a series of consecutive performances
169. Run-through: a rehearsal at which an
entire scene, act, or
play is done without stopping for changes or
corrections
170. Safety curtain: a fireproof sheet of
heavy fabric that can
be lowered in front of the house curtain in a
proscenium
arch
171. Sandbag: a canvas bag filled with sand
and used as a
counterweight or a scenery flying system
172. Scenario: a film or TV script
173. Scene: a division of an act or of the
play itself
174. Scenery: the background forms—walls,
archways, sky, trees,
skyline, stairs—that provide the setting for the
play
175. Scene shop, bay, dock: the shop is the
area where scenery
is built and painted, where materials are stored,
and where
a setting can be assembled on a trial basis
176. Scrim: a dark-blue theatrical gauze
sturdier than
commercial gauze. One or more thicknesses of it are
hung as
a drop in front of a scene
177. Serlian wing: permanent set pieces used
in pairs to create
perspective
178. Set designer: the person responsible for
designing and
overseeing the construction of the stage setting
179. Set piece: a scene from a play that can
be performed out of
context and still makes sense
180. Set(ting): the surroundings in which the
action of the play
develops
181. Sharp focus: the narrowest beam of light
from a stage light
182. Shutters: See gobo/mat
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183. Sides:
portions of a script containing one actor’s line and
cues
184. Sight lines: imaginary lines from the
audience to the stage
185. Sizing: a preparation used to fill in
the pores of a
surface. Sizing on flats and drops is used to
prevent
excess paint absorption
186. Small work: subtle facial expressions
and gestures used to
illuminate character. Called “eyelash and fingernail
acting”
187. Soliloquy: a speech in which an actor,
usually alone on
stage, speaks his/her thoughts aloud
188. Special: an arrangement of stage
lighting to define or
emphasize a specific position on stage
189. Speeches: the lines said by an actor
each time he/she
speaks
190. Spotlight: a light with a lens that
throws an intense on a
defined area. Plano-Convex, Fresnel, ellipsoidal
spot.
191. SRO: standing room only
192. Stage: the area where the action of a play
takes place; to
“stage” a play means to rehearse and then perform it
193. Stage crew: the backstage technical crew
responsible for
running the show
194. Stage directions: notes added to the
script of a play,
generally in italics or parentheses that provide the
line
readings, business, blocking, etc.
195. Stage door: located at the back or side
of the theater, it
opens directly to the backstage area
196. Stage left/right: areas on the stage as
seen from the
actor’s perspective, as opposed to the house left
and right
197. Stage manager: the person responsible
for overseeing all
the backstage elements of a production: scheduling,
rehearsals, keeping the prompt book, rehearsing the
understudies, etc.
198. Stock characters: those who represent
particular
personality types or characteristics of human
behavior
199. Stock company: a resident company of
actors presenting a
series of plays for limited runs
200. Straw hat circuit: summer theaters
around the country that
book equity companies to hit shows to play for a
week or
two
201. Strike the set: to dismantle the setting
of a play and
reduce it to its basic elements at the end of the
run
202. Strong curtain: an act that ends with a
dramatically
powerful line or action
203. Structure: the overall framework or organization
of the
dramatic materials. Plays are structured in scenes
and acts
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204. Style: the distinctive behavior, dress,
and language of the
characters
205. Stylization: the shaping of dramatic
material, settings, or
costumes in a deliberately nonrealistic manner
206. Sunday: a knot used to tie several lines
together to lift
scenery
207. Switchboard: the control panel for
working the stage
lighting
208. Tails: ropes dropped from a batten to
hang scenery several
feet below the batten instead of directly from it
209. Take direction: an actor’s ability to
understand and
duplicate a line reading given by the director, or
an
actor’s ability to respond accurately to suggestions
about
characterizations given by the director
210. Teaser: the horizontal drape at the top
of a stage in a
proscenium arch
211. Tech rehearsal: a rehearsal devoted to
trying out the
technical aspects of a production—scenery changes,
costume
changes, effects, sound cues, etc.
212. Tempo: the pace of a scene or play
213. Tension: the state of anxiety induced in
the audience
214. Tetralogy: a group of four plays by the
same playwright
215. Theater: the total artistic experience
of drama, either by
the presenter or by the audience. Also, a building
where
plays are presented. Also, a movement or a style of
presentation in the evolution of the theater
216. Theater-in-the-round: a form of play
presentation in which
the audience surrounds the acting area
217. Theme: what the play means as opposed to
what happens
218. Thespis: A Greek poet (550-500 b.c.)
usually considered the
founder of drama
219. Thrust stage: a low platform stage
surrounded on three
sides by the audience
220. Timing: this term includes the setting
of cues for effects,
stage business, and lighting for maximum
effectiveness
221. Tone: the playwright’s attitude toward
his/her material
222. Top hat: a short metal cylinder used to
control a light
beam
223. Tormentor: the vertical drape that masks
the wings at each
side of the proscenium arch
224. Type casting: the casting of roles in a
play by choosing
actors who most closely resemble the physical and
personality description of the characters
225. Understudy: one who is prepared to take
over an important
role should the actor playing the role miss a
performance
226. Unities: three principles of dramatic
structure required in
a play: unity of time, action, place
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227. Unit set: an arrangement of scenery in
which some or all of
the pieces can be used in different combinations for
different scenes
228. Upstage: standing upstage of another
actor, forcing him or
her to face away from the audience
229. Utility: in a stock company, the actor
who plays minor
roles in all types of plays for a small salary
230. Voice projection: control of loudness so
that even those in
the last row can hear and understand every word of
dialogue
in the play
231. Wagon: a rolling cart used for moving
scenery
232. Wardrobe mistress: the technical stag
member responsible
for the care of the show costumes
233. Wash: a soft, single-color light that
bathes the set
234. Wing: a canvas-covered flat, painted
black or to match the
set, and mounted at the side of a backdrop to mask
the
sides of the set. Also refers to a single flat
235. Wings: the area immediately offstage
left and right where
actors stand to await their cues
236. Workshop: a place for putting together
and polishing a
production
237. Workshop production: a work in progress.
The playwright and
director, and sometimes the actors as well, continue
to
work on a play as the present it to a paying or
nonpaying
preview audience
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