Theatre Terms

Question 1

9 Stage Positions/Areas

Answer 1

The areas upstage right, upstage center, upstage left, center right, center stage, center stage left, downstage right, downstage center, and downstage left.

Question 2

ACT

Answer 2

A major division of a play.

Question 3

act

Answer 3

To portray a character on stage.

Question 4

Ad-Lib

Answer 4

To invent additional dialogue not found in the script.

Question 5

Antagonist

Answer 5

The character or force opposing the main character in a play.

Question 6

Apron of the Stage

Answer 6

On the proscenium stage area in front of the main curtain and audience.

Question 7

Beat

Answer 7

A pause.

Question 8

Blackout

Answer 8

Light cue—All lights out.

Question 9

Blocking

Answer 9

When and where you move on stage.

Question 10

Business (Stage)

Answer 10

Activities an actor employs to expand and clarify your character.

Question 11

Call Back

Answer 11

Second part of the audition process where actor returns to continue.

Question 12

Catharsis

Answer 12

The main character’s purging of emotions.

Question 13

Character

Answer 13

The part or role in a play.

Question 14

Cheat Out

Answer 14

Turning the body toward the audience while conversing.

Question 15

Cold Reading

Answer 15

Presenting written material (such as a monologue), that you have never seen for an audition.

Question 16

Convention, Theatrical

Answer 16

The style of a production sometimes contrived by the playwright/director.

Question 17

Counter Weight System

Answer 17

Rigging system used to move scenery, lights, stage equipment; cables and batten.

Question 18

Catwalk

Answer 18

Narrow walkway above the stage/audience to work lights and scenery.

Question 19

Crossover

Answer 19

The upstage space behind the acting area that allows performers to move from one side of the Stage to the other without being seen by the audience.

Question 20

Cue

Answer 20

Dialogue, movement, or stage business signaling a performer or techie to perform the next action.

Question 21

Cross

Answer 21

An actor’s movement from one point to another, denoted with an X in the script.

Question 22

Cyc or Cyclorama

Answer 22

Large thin drape, usually white, hanging from battens on upstage plane.

Question 23

Dimmer

Answer 23

Device that controls the intensity of lights in a circuit.

Question 24

Denouement

Answer 24

Clarification of the plot; resolution.

Question 25

Deus ex Machina

Answer 25

Literally “God of the machine;” a tidy ending or tidy-up loose ends in a story; save the say ending, device.

Question 26

Dionysus

Answer 26

The Greek God of wine and fertility.

Question 27

Dramaturgy

Answer 27

The sociological researched perspective of the play.

Question 28

Emotional Recall

Answer 28

Bringing back to memory an event from your past to trigger certain emotions to use on the stage.

Question 29

Ellipsoidal

Answer 29

Lamp used in spotlights and floodlights has a curved surface like an ellipse.

Question 30

Exposition

Answer 30

The who, what, when, and where information at the beginning of a play.

Question 31

Farce

Answer 31

Type of play with exaggerated actions and ridiculous humorous situations.

Question 32

Floor Plan

Answer 32

A scale drawing of the set.

Question 33

Focus

Answer 33

Concentration, directed attention (can also be a tech theatre term).

Question 34

Fourth Wall

Answer 34

The imaginary wall between the actors and the audience.

Question 35

Frensel

Answer 35

Lamp that casts a short, short-edged beam.