Here are some of the most common terms that you will hear/we will be using. If you are new to Theatre, both students and adults, please take a few minutes to familiarize yourself with these terms.
1) One of the principal structural divisions of a dramatic work, usually, in a play, from one to five in number.
2) To perform, to represent a character in a dramatic production. Hence acting.
3) A solo performance created and/or presented by the performer, as in "a Las Vegas act."
The part of the stage you move around in for any given scene. The acting area might include the entire stage for a large musical set-piece, or a small corner of the stage for a 2-person scene.
Collectively, the parts of the theatre that lie behind the proscenium arch (or behind the back wall of the stage setting), including the stage, the workshops, the dressing rooms, and the areas and spaces beside, above, or under the stage. Sometimes used only to refer to the dressing rooms and green rooms, or even just the off-stage areas.
The director's work of positioning actors onstage and setting their entrances, exits, and other movement, as in "to block a scene." The director usually does this by making notations in a working script, then uses these notes to work with the actors early in the rehearsal period. The actor's job is to write their blocking down so they remember it for the next rehearsal - and to MOTIVATE the movement with a character-driven "reason".
Script. One is said to be "off book" when a script is no longer permitted onstage during rehearsal.
In acting, saying or doing something that is not in keeping with the character one is portraying. Most often this is accidental, as when an actor forgets a line or bit of business, or when distracted by an occurrence in the audience or offstage. Sometimes it happens when an actor makes another actor laugh - this is known as "corpsing". Watch Tim Conway and Harvey Korman in the old Carol Burnett Show skits for classic corpsing!
1) A notification of a working session, such as a rehearsal call.
2) The period of time to which the above call refers--for example, "Your call for tomorrow night's show is 7:00 p.m."
3) The STAGE MANAGER gives the actors "CALLS TO PLACES" which reflects the amount of time before PLACES is called. Actors respond "THANK YOU _____". (Example: SM: "Fifteen minutes"; actors respond: "Thank you fifteen" to let the SM know that the call was heard.
Imaginary line running down the stage through the exact center of the proscenium opening. Often marked as CL on stage plans. Normally marked on the stage floor and used as a reference when marking out or assembling a set.
Actors CHEAT OUT so that their faces and bodies are OPEN to the audience; so that the audience can see the actor's face. The most important time to CHEAT OUT is during an actor's line or during a time of important physical movement. This is the reason that actors who are talking to each other on a stage do not directly face each other (which would hide all but their profile from the audience). Instead, they stand at 45o angles toward each other, so that the audience can see their faces and bodies, but they are still "angled" toward each other. We will do a lot of work on CHEATING OUT in our scene work.
1) To conclude or end a production. A show closes at the end of its last performance.
2) To perform in the last number on a program, as in "She closed the show with a salute to the Armed Forces."
The Company is the entire cast and crew of a show.
"Company call" means everyone is called to rehearsal.
Every play is a group effort, and we all have lives. Actors list their CONFLICTS on a form so that we can cast the show and schedule rehearsals. The more you are available to rehearse, the bigger a role we can offer you. We go through everyone's conflicts with a fine-tooth comb and try to schedule rehearsals around everyone's CONFLICTS when possible.
CONFLICTS can make or break a show like ours, which is a long and complicated comic show with hundreds of lines and dozens of scenes.
NOTE: Any absence from rehearsals other than the listed CONFLICTS (or sickness, emergency) is an UNEXCUSED ABSENCE.
A COSTUME is anything an actor wears onstage during the course of a show. Our costumes are a mixture of pieces we have in our workshop and pieces we might want an actor to provide.
We always ask actors to provide their own BASE LAYER (neutral undergarments that adequately cover the actor's body so that they can feel comfortable changing in our group girls' or boys' dressing room.
Typically we also ask actors to provide their own shoes. Other costumes are case by case.
Cast members appear in costume, on stage and under state lighting, so that the costume designer and costume assistants can see how they look. At the same time, the director and lighting designer usually are present for their input as well.
The appearance of the actors at the end of a performance, to accept the applause of the audience. On-stage actors are the only members of the COMPANY to take a CURTAIN CALL.
The time when a performance is scheduled to begin. Often shortened to "curtain," as in "What time is curtain?"
A stage position or area, center and downstage. Also a stage direction, as "Mary, move down center." Sometimes abbreviated as D.C. or DC.
A stage position, left (audience's right) and downstage. Also a stage direction, as in "Mary, move down left." Sometimes abbreviated as DSL.
A stage position or area, right (audience's left) and downstage. Sometimes abbreviated as D.R. or DR.
Downstage is the area of the stage nearest the audience (in our theater). If you stand on the stage facing the audience, DOWNSTAGE is in front of you. Abbreviated DS in script directions.
1) The entire front half of the stage. Thus, 'downstage wall,' 'downstage entrance.'
2) The part of the stage nearest to the audience (so-named from the lowest part of a raked stage).
3) A movement towards the audience (in a proscenium theatre).
4) Any part of the stage considered as a position in relation to something or someone farther back, as in "Mark moves right, downstage of Mary."
Decorate a stage with pictures, drapes, pillows, etc., in order to provide a pleasing arrangement of color, form, and texture.
We often ask families to borrow smaller items to fill out the set and make it look more authentic. These physical objects are not props and often the actors do not interact with them - they are there to convey mood, period, location, and other information such as status (a crystal vase; a camp stove).
A full run of the show, adding in elements such as costumes, props, makeup, sound, lights, and pit orchestra.
A dress rehearsal with a small audience is called an INVITED DRESS, and gives the actors a chance to be 'in public'. This helps shake out nervousness, and helps comic scenes find timing with audience laughter.
NOT EVERY DRESS REHEARSAL INVOLVES COSTUMES (for example, orchestras use the term, but do not wear their concert clothes), so watch your rehearsal schedule for information about what each "dress" will entail.
1) Areas of the theater or performing venue that are open to the general public
2) Usually referring to staff such as house manager, box office, etc.
Announcements made by stage management or FRONT-OF-HOUSE staff calling the audience into the auditorium, or informing them when the performance begins. Calls are normally made at the Half (35 min. before curtain up), the Quarter (20 min before), the Five (10 min), and calls normally accompanied by bar bells at 3, 2 and 1 minutes before the performance begins.
Actors GIVE THE SCENE to the character who should be the main focus at any given time. Any actor saying or singing a line, automatically should be the audience's focus.
We GIVE THE SCENE in many ways, but one example would be to turn your body/face away from the audience and toward your SCENE PARTNER during their line (and they do the same for you).
Acting term that acknowledges everything known about the setting of a particular scene. This includes the WHERE, the WHEN, and other facts/conditions established before the action of the scene even starts.
EXAMPLE using Willy Wonka, first scene in the Bucket home
WHERE: Charlie Bucket's house. A poor part of town near enough to the Wonka factory to hear the factory whistle when it blows
WHEN: The present
OTHER: We know that the Bucket family is very poor; Charlie has indicated this in a previous scene, and the setting of the house reflects this poverty as do their ragged clothes. Four grandparents share a bed; dinner is cabbage soup, etc. We also know what the Wonka factory is but do not yet know that Grandpa Joe used to work there, or that the Golden Ticket contest has started.
However, an actor decides many more GIVEN CIRCUMSTANCES for themselves. Those might include - What did I have for breakfast? What hobbies do I have (or did I used to have)? What is my favorite food? etc.
1) The auditorium (e.g. "The house is now open, please do not cross the stage")
2) The audience (e.g. "How big is the house tonight?")
Also known as "LEAD" - the principal characters within a story.
A show may be LEAD-DRIVEN (example: Hello Dolly) or ENSEMBLE-DRIVEN (example: Hadestown, Hamilton).
Leads in musical theater always have vocal solos; leads in non-musical plays have more lines or are in more scenes.
LEADS have to rehearse more often and have more material to memorize.
Drape set as masking piece at the side of the acting area. Usually set up in pairs across the stage and used in conjunction with borders to frame the audiences' view.
A portion of dialogue, usually a sentence, but also a single row in the script (thus the origin of the word). Lines can be as short as one word or as long as a Shakespearean soliloquy. To be up on one's lines, or to ask, "What's my next line?" or simply "Line?"
Actors MOTIVATE their lines and, particularly, their movement, by adding their own creative choices. The script gives the lines and the director gives the blocking, but it's up to the actor to MOTIVATE.
Example: The director asks George Washington to come out from behind his desk in Hamilton. Why would the General do this? Supplying the answer to that question is the actor's job. When the director gives you an action, think of why your character would be doing that action, even if it is not "organic" to the scene (sometimes the director's blocking is based on practical considerations like making sure you can still be seen or are still in the lighted area.
An actor or cast who has memorized their lines is said to be "off book."
There will be OFF BOOK deadlines throughout the process, for scenes, Acts, and the entire show. Memorizing lines is homework!
1) Towards the nearest side of the stage from the center. (e.g. "Focus that spot offstage a bit, please")
2) The area out of sight of the audience (e.g. "Get that couch offstage!")
The stage area visible from the audience. Thus, an onstage chair. If the chair can't be seen by the audience, even if it is technically on our stage, it is not ONSTAGE but OFFSTAGE (in this case, in the wings).
Clearance given to Front of House staff by stage management that the stage is set and the audience can begin to take their seats.
When this clearance is given, the Stage Manager calls "HOUSE OPEN" to inform the actors that they are restricted to the backstage area until their time to be seen by the audience
The first performance of a production with tickets sold to an audience.
PACING is how fast the show is moving along. Actors are asked to say their lines with no "drag" between the lines - to keep up the PACING.
A call to the actors to take their positions on, or just off the stage, as needed for the opening curtain.
Collectively, the staging of a play or musical in general, including financing, management, direction, acting, costuming, lighting, makeup, scenic design and construction. In essence, the produced work, presented to an audience. Thus, "the play" can mean the printed work, whereas "the production" always means the work as presented to the public.
Responsible for technical preparations, including budgeting and scheduling of productions.
Actors PROJECT their voices so that they can be heard throughout the entire theater. Another way of thinking about this is to use your outside voice. Our directors would prefer you to over-project because it is much easier to ask an actor to "dial it back" than to ask a quiet actor to be louder.
Short for "property." Furnishings, set dressings, and all items large and small which cannot be classified as scenery, electrics or wardrobe. Props handled by actors are known as hand props, props which are kept in an actors costume are known as personal props.
There is a strict rule in theatre: If it is not your prop, don't touch it, even to be helpful.
Table in convenient offstage area on which properties are prepared prior to a performance and to which they should be returned after use.
The backstage areas of the theatre, but sometimes also used to indicate any control room area behind the audience.
1) A scene is a mini-chapter within the larger ACT of a play. Scenes in non-musical plays typically involve a small group of 2-7 cast members or so. The actors you interact with in any given scene are your SCENE PARTNERS.
2) Scenery, a stage setting.
3) The location in which a dramatic action is supposed to occur.
4) Location or situation, as in "to set the scene."
The actors you interact with in any given scene are your SCENE PARTNERS. Together, you are a small team working hard to make that scene sparkle. You are courteous to each other by showing up to all of the scene rehearsals, writing down your blocking, and learning your lines.
1) To prepare the stage for action. (verb)
2) The complete stage setting for a scene or act, usually referring to the combination of flats, platforms, doors, windows, furniture and accessories. (noun)
3) To fix, through rehearsal, the general pattern of lines and movements to be followed by the actors, as in "This section is set, but we need to work on the final moments of act two."
A piece of scenery used in a set that is not flown, but stands independent within a stage setting, such as a tree, rock, or gate.
The WHERE of a scene or play. Our play this year comprises many settings that move in a fast pace from one to another. SHREK had several settings (forest, Duloc, Fiona's tower, Dragon's lair). The ADDAMS FAMILY, on the other hand, takes place in one day/evening, in one place (the Addams' mansion).
The designing and staging of the locale and background of a play. Sometimes referred to as the stage setting.
Refers to areas on the LEFT or RIGHT of actors as they face the audience. So stage left is YOUR LEFT, not the audience's left.
Known as "the most important job in theatre", the Stage Manager reports to the Director and manages the entire operation of the show once performance run-throughs start. The SM keeps track of all of the Director's creative instructions including blocking and other aspects of a scene.
Actor's right when facing the audience.
To take down a set after a production has closed. It is usual to strike a set directly after the final performance, and there is good reason for doing so--a full complement of workers, both cast and crew.
**For our productions, we require all cast members to participate in Strike and as many parent/guardians as possible, as our cast party follows and cannot begin until EVERYTHING for Strike is finished**
A role of medium size that may have a vocal solo or be in several scenes with dialogue.
Sometimes SUPPORTING and FEATURED are used interchangeably.
A CAMEO is a role designed to be in one scene only (but to star in that one scene/moment).
An actor with a SUPPORTING PRINCIPAL role will be required to attend many rehearsals and memorize a good amount of dialogue.
SUPPORTING cast members are either less central to the story as a whole, or have a featured role but only in one or two scenes. In musicals these roles are known as ENSEMBLE or CHORUS roles.
Examples: Lt. Schrank in West Side Story, Puss In Boots in Shrek, Eugene in Grease. Musical actors in these roles may no spoken lines (or only 1-2) and do not have a full vocal solo of their own (but may have a solo passage in a group song). Non-musical supporting roles from fairy tales would include the Dwarves in Snow White, the mice in Cinderella, or the townspeople in Beauty & the Beast.
A TAB SCENE takes place in front of a curtain (either main curtain or mid-stage curtain), allowing scenery to be moved into position behind the curtain to set the following scene (typically a larger scene is being set behind the curtain). TAB SCENES usually involve one or two actors. Vocal solos or small 1-2 person scenes are often staged this way to keep the show pacing.
An actor brings their own creative choices to their work, but often the director, who is in charge of putting the "bigger picture" together, wants to tweak or change something an actor is doing so that it gels more with the story arc as a whole. These changes are communicated on the fly during rehearsal, so the actor needs to be flexible and try things a different way on the spot. That is TAKING DIRECTION
The week leading up to OPENING NIGHT, consisting of DRESS REHEARSALS and TECHNICAL REHEARSALS. Fast-paced and longer hours for everyone, it is the time when a show is put together for the first time with costumes, makeup, lights, sound, pit orchestra, all within a few days. Extra focus and stamina is always required of the entire COMPANY during "tech" to bring it all together.
TECHNICAL REHEARSALS are all about lighting, sound effects, stunts, and sometimes mics/sound. Our TECH DAYS will be noted on your calendar. Actors may or not be called.
**TECH REHEARSALS ARE MANDATORY**
Form of stage that projects into the auditorium so that the audience are seated on at least two sides of the extended piece.
The part of the stage furthest from the audience. When you stand on a stage facing the audience, UP STAGE is to your BACK. \
The out of view areas to the sides of the acting area, typically behind the proscenium. Actors have some rules about the wings: 1) If you can see the audience, then can see you!; 2) Wing area is for immediately before your entrance; and 3) no talking in the wings, ever (the audience WILL hear you).