Theatre Arts I (T)

Theatre Arts I (T) Glossary of Stage Terms

1. Above: Upstage 2. Ad-lib: extemporize dialogue or movement 3. Antagonist: main character who opposes the protagonist 4. Apron: the stage floor between the footlights and the front curtain 5. Arena Theatre: staging in the center of a room with audience sitting around the playing area. 6. Aside: words spoken by a character to the audience rather than to the other characters who supposedly do not hear the speech. 7. Baby spot: small (250-400 watt) plano-convex spotlight 8. Backdrop or Drop: painted curtain without fullness, hung from battens 9. Backing: flats used behind window and door openings to mask audience view of backstage. 10. Backstage: the area behind scenery not visible to the audience. 11. Base: foundation color used for stage makeup. 12. Batten: horizontal pipe suspended over the stage, from which scenery, lights and curtains are hung. 13. Below: downstage 14. Blackout: all stage lights go off simultaneously 15. Blocking: directors planned movement for the characters 16. Borders: short curtains hung over the stage to mask lights 17. Border lights: strips of stage lights used for blending and toning. 18. Build: increase of vocal intensity toward a climactic point 19. Business: detailed bits of action such as knitting, setting the table, etc. as distinguished from broad stage movement. 20. Cable: electrical cord; as special heavy cable; gauge #12 or #14 should be used for stage lighting. 21. Call: posted announcement of rehearsals, etc., placed on the call board near the stage entrance. 22. Cheat: to play toward the audience while seemingly conversing with others on stage 23. Clear Stage: warning for everyone who is not in the next scene to leave the acting area 24. Climax: high point of the action 25. Conflict: dramatic opposition of the protagonist with society, with his fellowman, or with himself. 26. Control Board: switchboard for stagelights. 27. Countercross: a small movement in the opposite direction to the cross made by another actor 28. Cover: to hide an actor, property, or some business from the audience view whether intentionally or not. 29. Crepe Hair: material used for making beards, mustaches, other hair pieces. 30. Critique: evaluation and suggestions 31. Cross: an actor’s move from one part of the stage to another 32. Cue: (1) last words or action of one actor that immediately precede another actor’s speech; (2) signal for light changes, curtains, etc. 33. Cut: (1) Delete; (2) A command to stop action and dialogue 34. Cyc or Cyclorama: Sky drop that surrounds the back of the stage 35. Dimmers: unit to control intensity of lights 36. Dim out: gradually decrease light 37. Dim up: gradually increase light 38. Dock: (1)Area for scenery storage; often under the stage; (2) area of the scene shop just outside the loading door. 39. Downstage: area closest to the audience 40. Drapes: Large curtains hung in folds from battens on sides and back of the acting area. They provide a neutral background. 41. Dress the stage: keep the stage picture balanced 42. Exit: direction for an actor to leave the stage. Opposite “enter” 43. Flat: Canvas covered wooden frame used for scenery 44. Flexible theatre: seats can be arranged for proscenium, arena, or thrust staging. 45. Flies: area above the stage where scenery is hung or stored by lines from the grid (aka - fly loft). 46. Floodlights: lights without lens; used for blending and toning. 47. Floor cloth: canvas used to cover the acting area floor. 48. Floor or Ground plan: flat skeleton diagram of the acting area shape and its corresponding furniture placement. 49. Focus: (1) Center attention on; (2) center light beam on 50. Footlights: row of colored lights usually sunk in the stage floor at front edge of apron and wired for three colors. 51. Fourth wall: imaginary wall between stage and audience 52. Fresnel: spotlight with fresnel lens that throws an efficient and soft beam: hung from the batten to light upstage area. 53. Gelatin: Colored plastic medium used to color lights. 54. Gesture: movement of separate parts of the body such as waving an arm or shrugging a shoulder. 55. Greasepaint: theatrical makeup (older type not used much today). 56. Greenroom: actor’s lounge backstage. 57. Give: throw focus on the important character in a certain scene 58. Greenroom: actor’s lounge backstage. 59. Gridiron or Grid: framework high over stage from which are supported curtain and scenery riggings. 60. Grip: stage crew member who shifts scenery. 61. Ground plan: See “floor plan.” 62. Ground row: low horizontal scenery that stands alone and is placed upstage to look like scenery in the distance. 63. Hand props: properties carried on stage by the actors during the play 64. Holding for laughs: waiting for audience laughter to diminish before continuing dialogue. 65. Hood spot: plano convex spotlight 66. Horizon strip: border lights usually mounted on a wagon and placed of the floor downstage of the sky drop for the purpose of lighting it. 67. House: Auditorium 68. House lights: auditorium lights used before and after the play and during intermission. 69. Ingenue: young female actor 70. Juvenile: young male actor 71. Kill: eliminate: for example, “kill the noise;” means to be quiet. 72. Left: stage area to the actor’s left as he/she faces the audience. 73. Leko: spotlight with an ellipsoidal reflector; hung from the auditorium ceiling (catwalks) to light the downstage areas. 74. Levels: Platforms (or playing areas) of various heights 75. Mask: to cover something from audience view 76. Mood: emotional state 77. Motivate: to have a specific reason for saying or doing something; to show character’s desires through movement and voice 78. Notices: reviews by critics; dramatic criticism. 79. Open up: to play toward the audience 80. Out front: audience area 81. Pantomime: bodily movement and expression without dialogue 82. Pick up cues: to quickly begin a speech with out allowing a pause between the first words of the speech and the cue. 83. Pin rail: bar to which rigging ropes are tied. 84. Pit or Orchestra pit: area between stage and first row of seats 85. Places: warning for actors to assume their positions on the stage for the beginning of the scene 86. Plant: to call attention to an idea or item that will be important later in the play 87. Plot: (1) sequence of events in a play; (2) production plan of backstage items such as a light plot or costume plot 88. Pointing: emphasizing or stressing action or words 89. Practical: usable, such as a door that an actor can open. 90. Project: increase voice or actions so they will carry to the audience 91. Prompt book: contains the script, blocking notations, warnings, crew charts, and other information necessary for producing the play. 92. Properties: set furnishings including furniture, pictures, ornaments, drapes, etc. 93. Proscenium: permanent framed opening through which the audience sees the play 94. Protagonist: main character with whom audience empathy lies. 95. Quick Study: one who can memorize a part rapidly 96. Raked House: slanted floor. Allowing each row of audience to see over the heads of those in front. 97. Ramp: sloping platform 98. Right: stage area to the actor’s right as he/she faces the audience 99. Ring Down: command to lower curtain. 100. Roundels: colored glass discs used in footlights and border lights 101. Royalty: money paid to an author for permission to stage his/her play 102. Run: length of stage engagement 103. Run through: rehearse a scene without interruption 104. Scoop: a flood light with an ellipsoidal reflector; can be hung from battens. 105. Scrim: loose weave curtain on battens used for “visions,” “flashbacks,” etc. opaque when lighted from the front; transparent when lighted from the back. 106. Script: printed or typewritten copy of the play 107. Set: (1) scenery; (2) establish definite movements and lines 108. Set pieces: three dimensional scenery piece which stands by itself, such as a practical rock. 109. Share: to assume a position of equal dramatic importance with an other actor. 110. Shift: to move or change scenery. 111. Soliloquy: long speech given by a character when he is alone on stage to show his thoughts or to explain the plot; used frequently by Shakespeare 112. Spill: light leakage from stage lights. 113. Spotlight: lights with beams that can be focused and that are used for specific illumination. 114. Stealing the scene: taking audience attention away from the proper focal point 115. Strike: take down set and props after last performance 116. Tag Line: final line of the play 117. Take stage: to capture audience attention legitimately, as opposed to “give” and “share.” 118. Teaser: overhead curtain used to adjust the proscenium height 119. Theme: basic idea of the play that gives unity to all elements 120. The Method: refers to the Stanislavski approach to acting 121. Throw away: under emphasize a line or action 122. Timing: to give lines and movement at the exact, effective moment 123. Tormentors or legs: side curtains used to adjust the acting area 124. Topping: to exceed the tempo and pitch of a previous speech 125. Trap: An opening in the stage floor for exits and entrances 126. Tryouts: auditions for parts in a play 127. Understudy: actor who is able to play a given role in an emergency 128. Upstage: area farthest away from audience, toward the backstage wall 129. Wagon: rolling platform on which scenery or lights are places for quick changes 130. Walk on: A part where the actors walks on and off the stage without having any lines to say 131. Warn: to notify that a cue is approaching 132. Wings: off stage to the right or left of the acting area 133. Work lights: white lights used solely for rehearsal. In some theatres the strip lights are used in place of work lights. 134. X-ray borders: compartmental lamps that hang on the first border to help blend acting area spots; usually wired for three colors.