Theatrical Terms

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 volcal 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.