Theater Vocab Flashcards
9 stage positions/areas
Upstage right, Upstage center, Upstage left, Center stage, Center right, Center left, Downstage center, Downstage Right, Downstage Left
ACT
A major division of a play
Act
To portray a character on stage
Ad-Lib
To invent additional dialogue not found in the script
Antagonist
To invent additional dialogue not found in the script
Apron of the stage
On proscenium stage area in front of the main curtain and audience
Beat
A pause
Blackout
Light cue- all lights out
Blocking
When and where you move on stage
Business
Activities an actor employs to expand and clarify your character
Call back
Second part of the audition process where actor returns to continue
Catharsis
The main character’s purging of emotions
Character
The part or role in a play
Cheat out
Turning the body toward the audience while conversing
Cold reading
Presenting written material that you’ve never seen for an audition
Convention, Theatrical
The style of a production sometimes contrived by the playwright/director
Convention, Theatrical
The style of a production sometimes contrived by the playwright/director
Convention, Theatrical
The style of a production sometimes contrived by the playwright/director
Catwalk
Narrow walkway above the stage/ Audience to work lights and scenery
Cue
Dialogue, movement, or stage business signaling a performer or techie to perform the next action
Cross
An actors movement from one point to another, denoted with an X in the script
Cyc
Large thin drape, usually whitem hanging from battens on upstage plane
Dimmer
device that controls the intensity of lights in a circuit
Denoument
Clarification of the plot; resolution
Deus ex machina
Literally “God of the machine:” a tidy ending or tidy-up loose ends in a story: save the day ending, device
Dionysus
The Greek god of wine and fertility
Dramaturgy
The Sociological researched perspective of the play
Emotional recall
Bringing back to memory an event from your past too trigger certain emotions to use on the stage
Ellipsoidal
Lamp that casts a short, soft-edged beam
Farce
Type of play with exaggreted actions and ridiculous humorous situations
Exposition
The who, what, when, and where information at the beginning of a play
Floor plan
a scale drawing of the set
Focus
Concentrationm directed attention (can also be a tech Theatre term)
Fourth wall
The imaginary wall between the actors and audience
Fresnel
Lamp that casts a short, soft edged beam.
