Drama terms

Question 1

What is the science of sound as applied to theaters, relating to how sound travels and reverberates?

Answer 1

acoustics

Question 2

What is the opportunity for an actor to display his/her talents when seeking a role in an upcoming production of a play?

Answer 2

audition

Question 3

What is the entire area behind the stage of a theater, including dressing rooms?

Answer 3

backstage

Question 4

What are stage movements by actors, including entrances, exits, and any steps taken in any direction across the stage?

Answer 4

blocking

Question 5

What are bodily movements, large or small, which indicate what a person is thinking or feeling?

Answer 5

body language

Question 6

What is out-of-place laughter by an actor on stage?

Answer 6

breaking-up

Question 7

What is a request that an actor return for an additional audition?

Answer 7

callback

Question 8

What is an audition open to anyone, regardless of experience?

Answer 8

cattle call

Question 9

What is a supporting role with pronounced or eccentric characteristics?

Answer 9

character role

Question 10

What is a mysterious element that creates excitement when two actors appear together?

Answer 10

chemistry

Question 11

What is delivering a speech or acting a scene at an audition without having read it beforehand?

Answer 11

cold reading

Question 12

What is a line of dialogue, action, or sound, onstage or off, that tells an actor it is time to enter, exit, move across stage, or-most commonly-begin speaking?

Answer 12

cue

Question 13

What is the start of a performance, whether or not an actual curtain exists in front of the stage?

Answer 13

curtain up

Question 14

What is the lower part of the lungs, filling the abdominal space, that supports the voice when actors and singers breathe correctly on stage?

Answer 14

diaphragm

Question 15

What is the clear, sharp pronunciation of words, especially of consonants?

Answer 15

diction

Question 16

Who is the person charged with staging a play or musical who coordinates all onstage aspects of the production including the performances of the actors?

Answer 16

director

Question 17

What is an exaggerated facial response to another actor’s words or actions, usually used for comic effect?

Answer 17

double take

Question 18

The area of the stage closest to the audience

Answer 18

downstage

Question 19

the actor’s ability to sense when they are properly placed in the stage

Answer 19

finding your light

Question 20

flop

Answer 20

A theatrical production that fails to draw an audience regardless of whether the critics liked it or not

Question 21

An actor who gives a very broad or exaggerated performance

Answer 21

Ham

Question 22

Gestures, facial expressions, and vocal tricks that a particular actor uses again and again in different roles

Answer 22

Mannerisms

Question 23

An internalized form of acting that uses experiences from an actor’s personal life to help produce onstage emotion

Answer 23

Method Acting

Question 24

An actor’s ability to sound and/or look like someone else, usually a famous person

Answer 24

Mimicry

Question 25

A speech used by an actor to demonstrate his/her ability at an audition

Answer 25

Monologue

Question 26

Instructions, usually regarding changes in an actor's blocking or performance, given after a rehearsal by the director, music director, choreographer, or stage manager

Answer 26

Notes

Question 27

When an actor knows his/her lines and no longer needs to carry the script

Answer 27

Off-book

Question 28

The area immediately behind or to the sides of the stage area; also used more generally to talk about an actor's everyday life

Answer 28

Offstage

Question 29

The speed at which a scene is played

Answer 29

Pace

Question 30

A very bad review from a critic

Answer 30

Pan

Question 31

A deliberate pause within or between lines, used by an actor to call special attention to a moment

Answer 31

Pausing for effect

Question 32

An actor's ability to command attention onstage, even when surrounded by other actors

Answer 32

Presence

Question 33

An actor's ability to use his/her voice so that it can be clearly heard in the back rows of a theater, also used to reference the emotions an actor wishes to convey

Answer 33

Projection

Question 34

Any movable object, from a letter to a sword, used by an actor during a performance

Answer 34

Props

Question 35

The vocal extent of a singer's voice, from its lowest note to its highest

Answer 35

Range

Question 36

An extremely good review from a critic

Answer 36

Rave

Question 37

The period during which the actors' performances are developed and hopefully perfected by repetition.

Answer 37

Rehearsals

Question 38

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.

Answer 38

Set

Question 39

The pages containing the music and lyrics to a single song, as opposed to a score containing all the music for a show.

Answer 39

Sheet music

Question 40

The side of the stage that is to the actor's left as he/she faces the audience.

Answer 40

Stage left

Question 41

The side of the stage that is to the actor's right as he/she faces the audience.

Answer 41

Stage Right

Question 42

Assigning a role to an actor on the basis of his/her surface appearance or personality.

Answer 42

Typecasting

Question 43

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.

Answer 43

understudy

Question 44

The rear 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.

Answer 44

Upstage

Question 45

To perform a role at less-than-usual intensity, such as during a technical rehearsal; also used critically, as "he walked it," for a lazy performance at a matinee.

Answer 45

Walk through