Here are a few theatrical terms that may broaden your understanding of theatre.
From Actor to Walk through.
Actor:
A person who performs on stage, in the movies or on TV
Anti-timing:
A failing of some actors who seem to be too slow or too fast in responding to action or dialogue on stage.
Audition:
As a noun, the opportunity for an actor to display his or her talents when seeking a role in an upcoming production of a play; as a verb, to give a brief performance at such an occasion.
Backstage:
The entire area behind the stage of a theatre, including dressing rooms.
Blocking:
Stage movements by actors, including entrances, exits, and any steps taken in any direction across the stage.
Body Language:
Bodily movements, large or small, which indicate what a person is thinking or feeling.
Breaking-up:
Out-of-place laughter by an actor on stage.
Broadway:
A major thoroughfare in New York City on which many theatres are located; used as a general term to describe productions at large New York theatres in the Times Square area of mid-town Manhattan.
Call-back:
A request that an actor return for an additional audition.
Cattle Call:
An audition open to anyone regardless of experience.
Character Role:
A supporting role with pronounced or eccentric characteristics.
Chemistry:
A mysterious element that creates excitement when 2 actors appear together.
Cold Reading:
Delivering a speech or acting a scene at an audition without having read it beforehand.
Cue:
A line of dialogue, action, or sound, on stage or off, that tells an actor it is time to enter, exit, move across stage or – more commonly – begin speaking.
Curtain Up:
The start of a performance, whether or not an actual curtain exists in front of the stage.
Cuts:
Lines, speeches, songs, or any other element in a printed script left out of a particular production.
Diaphragm:
The lower part of the lungs, filling the abdominal space that supports the voice when actors and singers breathe correctly on stage.
Diction:
Clear, sharp pronunciation of words, especially of consonants.
Director:
The person charged with staging a play or musical, who co-ordinates all on stage aspects of the production, including then performances of the actor.
Double-Take:
An exaggerated facial response to another actor’s words or actions, usually used for comic effect.
Downstage:
The area of the stage closest to the audience.
Flop:
A theatrical production that fails to draw an audience, regardless of whether the critics liked it or not.
Ham:
An actor who gives a very broad or exaggerated performance.
High Note:
The highest note sung in a particular song, which varies according to the musical key of the song.
In-The-Round:
A theatre in which the audience is seated on all four sides of a central stage.
Larynx:
The human voice box, containing the vocal chords.
Make-Up:
Any material, from eye shadow to a false beard, used to heighten or change an actor’s appearance on stage.
Mannerisms:
Gestures, facial expressions, and vocal tricks that a particular actor uses again and again in different roles.
Method Acting:
An internalised form of acting that uses experiences from an actor’s personal life to help produce onstage emotion.
Mimicry:
An actor’s ability to sound and/or look like someone else, usually a famous person.
Monologue:
A speech used by an actor to demonstrate his or her ability at an audition.
Notes:
Instructions, usually regarding changes in an actor’s blocking or performance, given after a rehearsal by then Director, Musical Director, Choreographer, or Stage Manager.
Off-Book:
When an actor knows his or her lines and no longer needs to carry the script.
Offstage:
The area immediately behind or to the sides of the stage area; also used more generally to talk about an actor’s everyday life.
Pace:
The Speed at which a scene is played.
Pan:
A very bad review from a critic.
Pausing:
(For effect). A deliberate pause within or between lines, used by an actor to call special attention to a moment.
Presence:
An actor’s ability to command attention on stage, even when surrounded by other actors.
Projection:
An actor’s ability to use his or her voice so that it can be clearly heard in the back rows of a theatre; also used in reference to the emotions an actor to convey.
Props:
Any movable object from a letter to a sword, used by an actor during a performance.
Proscenium Stage:
The classic theatre arrangement, with a curtained stage facing an audience on one side.
Raked Stage:
A tilted performing area, usually specially constructed, with its upstage space raised higher that the downstage space.
Range:
The vocal extent of a singer’s voice, from its lowest note to its highest.
Rave:
An extremely good review from a critic.
Read-through:
Actors reading the entire play aloud while seated, generally at the first rehearsal.
Rehearsals:
The period during which the actors’ performances are developed and hopefully perfected by repetition.
Set:
As a noun, the physical design of the stage area within which the actors perform; as a verb, to make permanent the way in which a scene is being played.
Sheet music:
The pages containing the music and lyrics to a single song, as opposed to a score containing all the music for a show.
Sides:
Pages containing only the lines and cue lines of one actor, instead of an entire script.
Stage Left:
The side of the stage is to the actor’s left as he or she faces the audience.
Stage Right:
The side of the stage is to the actor’s right as he or she faces the audience.
Thrust Stage:
A stage that projects outward, with the audience seated on three sides.
Typecasting:
Assigning a role to an actor on the basis of his or her surface appearance or personality.
Understudy:
An actor, often playing a small role, who learns another role, so as to be able to perform it if the regular actor is ill.
Upstage:
The area of the stage farthest from the audience; also used to describe an actor’s attempt to distract audience attention from what another actor is doing.
Walk through:
To perform a role at less-than-usual intensity, such as during a technical rehearsal; also used critically, as in “he walked it,” for a lazy performance at a matinee.
A person who performs on stage, in the movies or on TV
Anti-timing:
A failing of some actors who seem to be too slow or too fast in responding to action or dialogue on stage.
Audition:
As a noun, the opportunity for an actor to display his or her talents when seeking a role in an upcoming production of a play; as a verb, to give a brief performance at such an occasion.
Backstage:
The entire area behind the stage of a theatre, including dressing rooms.
Blocking:
Stage movements by actors, including entrances, exits, and any steps taken in any direction across the stage.
Body Language:
Bodily movements, large or small, which indicate what a person is thinking or feeling.
Breaking-up:
Out-of-place laughter by an actor on stage.
Broadway:
A major thoroughfare in New York City on which many theatres are located; used as a general term to describe productions at large New York theatres in the Times Square area of mid-town Manhattan.
Call-back:
A request that an actor return for an additional audition.
Cattle Call:
An audition open to anyone regardless of experience.
Character Role:
A supporting role with pronounced or eccentric characteristics.
Chemistry:
A mysterious element that creates excitement when 2 actors appear together.
Cold Reading:
Delivering a speech or acting a scene at an audition without having read it beforehand.
Cue:
A line of dialogue, action, or sound, on stage or off, that tells an actor it is time to enter, exit, move across stage or – more commonly – begin speaking.
Curtain Up:
The start of a performance, whether or not an actual curtain exists in front of the stage.
Cuts:
Lines, speeches, songs, or any other element in a printed script left out of a particular production.
Diaphragm:
The lower part of the lungs, filling the abdominal space that supports the voice when actors and singers breathe correctly on stage.
Diction:
Clear, sharp pronunciation of words, especially of consonants.
Director:
The person charged with staging a play or musical, who co-ordinates all on stage aspects of the production, including then performances of the actor.
Double-Take:
An exaggerated facial response to another actor’s words or actions, usually used for comic effect.
Downstage:
The area of the stage closest to the audience.
Flop:
A theatrical production that fails to draw an audience, regardless of whether the critics liked it or not.
Ham:
An actor who gives a very broad or exaggerated performance.
High Note:
The highest note sung in a particular song, which varies according to the musical key of the song.
In-The-Round:
A theatre in which the audience is seated on all four sides of a central stage.
Larynx:
The human voice box, containing the vocal chords.
Make-Up:
Any material, from eye shadow to a false beard, used to heighten or change an actor’s appearance on stage.
Mannerisms:
Gestures, facial expressions, and vocal tricks that a particular actor uses again and again in different roles.
Method Acting:
An internalised form of acting that uses experiences from an actor’s personal life to help produce onstage emotion.
Mimicry:
An actor’s ability to sound and/or look like someone else, usually a famous person.
Monologue:
A speech used by an actor to demonstrate his or her ability at an audition.
Notes:
Instructions, usually regarding changes in an actor’s blocking or performance, given after a rehearsal by then Director, Musical Director, Choreographer, or Stage Manager.
Off-Book:
When an actor knows his or her lines and no longer needs to carry the script.
Offstage:
The area immediately behind or to the sides of the stage area; also used more generally to talk about an actor’s everyday life.
Pace:
The Speed at which a scene is played.
Pan:
A very bad review from a critic.
Pausing:
(For effect). A deliberate pause within or between lines, used by an actor to call special attention to a moment.
Presence:
An actor’s ability to command attention on stage, even when surrounded by other actors.
Projection:
An actor’s ability to use his or her voice so that it can be clearly heard in the back rows of a theatre; also used in reference to the emotions an actor to convey.
Props:
Any movable object from a letter to a sword, used by an actor during a performance.
Proscenium Stage:
The classic theatre arrangement, with a curtained stage facing an audience on one side.
Raked Stage:
A tilted performing area, usually specially constructed, with its upstage space raised higher that the downstage space.
Range:
The vocal extent of a singer’s voice, from its lowest note to its highest.
Rave:
An extremely good review from a critic.
Read-through:
Actors reading the entire play aloud while seated, generally at the first rehearsal.
Rehearsals:
The period during which the actors’ performances are developed and hopefully perfected by repetition.
Set:
As a noun, the physical design of the stage area within which the actors perform; as a verb, to make permanent the way in which a scene is being played.
Sheet music:
The pages containing the music and lyrics to a single song, as opposed to a score containing all the music for a show.
Sides:
Pages containing only the lines and cue lines of one actor, instead of an entire script.
Stage Left:
The side of the stage is to the actor’s left as he or she faces the audience.
Stage Right:
The side of the stage is to the actor’s right as he or she faces the audience.
Thrust Stage:
A stage that projects outward, with the audience seated on three sides.
Typecasting:
Assigning a role to an actor on the basis of his or her surface appearance or personality.
Understudy:
An actor, often playing a small role, who learns another role, so as to be able to perform it if the regular actor is ill.
Upstage:
The area of the stage farthest from the audience; also used to describe an actor’s attempt to distract audience attention from what another actor is doing.
Walk through:
To perform a role at less-than-usual intensity, such as during a technical rehearsal; also used critically, as in “he walked it,” for a lazy performance at a matinee.
