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." 

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.   

Script. One is said to be "off book" when a script is no longer permitted onstage during rehearsal. 

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.

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.

The Company is the entire cast and crew of a show. 

"Company call" means everyone is called to rehearsal.

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.

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.  

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 or area, right (audience's left) and downstage. Sometimes abbreviated as D.R. or DR. 

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).

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. 

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).

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?") 

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. 

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.

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!") 

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

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.  

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. 

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.  

Table in convenient offstage area on which properties are prepared prior to a performance and to which they should be returned after use.   

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." 

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." 

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.

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.  

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**

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.

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

Form of stage that projects into the auditorium so that the audience are seated on at least two sides of the extended piece. 

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).