Theatre Terminology and Stage Directions

Theatre Terminologyand Stage Directions

Ad-Lib • To improvise stage business or conversation, especially when an actor has missed or forgotten lines and other actors must supply the missing information

Amphitheater • An oval or round structure with no roof that has tiers of seats rising from the center, used for public performances of plays and other productions

Apron • The section of the stage in front of the curtain

Arena Theater • A stage without a proscenium arch and with seats on three or four sides, allowing close association between actors and spectators

Aside • A line spoken directly to the audience

Backdrop • A large piece of cloth, on which scenery is painted, that is fastened to battens and hung at the back of the stage setting • Also called a drop

Backstage • The area behind the set that is not visible to the audience, including dressing rooms, the greenroom, etc.

Black Box Theater • A large square room with black walls and a flat floor • seating is typically loose chairs on platforms, which can be easily moved or removed to allow the entire space to be adapted to the artistic elements of a production

Blackout • Stage direction to turn off all stage lights suddenly

Blocking • Movement and groupings on the stage

Business • Any specific action, other than a change of location, performed on the stage, such as picking up a book or pouring tea • Used to establish atmosphere, reveal character, or explain a situation

Cheat • A stage technique in which an actor who is facing sideways pivots the torso and turns the face toward the audience

Closed Audition • A tryout open only to union members

Cold Reading • A tryout during which an actor uses material never seen before

Cross • To move from one position to another on stage

Cue • The last words, action, or technical effect that immediately precedes any line or business • A stage signal

Curtain Calls • The appearance of a play’s cast in response to an audience’s applause • Bows at the end of the play

Cut • To stop action • To Omit

Cyclorama (Cyc) • A white background curtain on which lights or other effects can be projected

Dress Rehearsal • An uninterrupted rehearsal with costumes and props • The final rehearsal before the first performance

Flat • A wooden frame covered with cloth used as the basic unit of structure of a box set

Fly • The area above the stage where scenery is hung when not in use • A system for hanging drops • Verb: to raise or lower scenery

Follow Spot • A long range lighting instrument capable of picking up or following a person moving on the stage

Fourth Wall • The imaginary wall through which the audience watches the action of the play

Gel • A transparent color medium placed on lighting instruments to produce different colors

Gobo • A stencil placed in the gel holder of a spotlight to project a pattern

Grand Drape • The curtain hung just upstage of the proscenium that opens and closes at each act or scene • Also called an act curtain

Greenroom • A waiting area offstage used by actors • We use the locker rooms and area just below the steps

Holding for Laughs • Waiting for an audience to quiet down after a humorous line or scene

Improvisation • The impromptu portrayal of a character or a scene without any rehearsal or preparation

Legs • Narrow drapes, usually hung in pairs, stage left and stage right, to mask the backstage area

Monologue • A speech by a single actor

Motivation • The reason behind a character’s behavior

Objectives • The goal of a character; what the character wants or is striving for in a scene

Off Book • Rehearsal without scripts

Off Stage • Off the visible stage • Also called “off”

Open Audition • Tryout open to nonunion actors

Periaktoi (Prisms) • Sets made up of three flats, shaped as triangles mounted on a wheeled carriage that can be pivoted

Pit • The front part of the auditorium where the orchestra might be located – often below stage level

Projection • The control of the volume and quality of the voice so that it can be heard clearly by everyone in an audience

Proscenium Arch • The arch opening between the stage and the auditorium

Readers’ Theatre • A form of theater in which plays are read to an audience from a script and brought to life by the readers’ voices, facial expressions, and controlled movement

Scrim • A drop made of fabric that seems almost opaque when lit from the front and semitransparent when lit from behind

Stealing a Scene • Attracting attention from the person to whom the center of interest legitimately belongs

Strike • To remove an object or objects from the stage • To take down the set

Tableau • A scene presented by silent, unmoving actors • For more info, see Pageant of the Masters

Thespian • An actor

Understudy • A person who learns a role and who can perform it in the absence of the actor

Theatre Terminology and Stage Directions