Theatre Terms

Action imperatives

given circumstances and physical events of a play; need to be accommodated by the ground plan

Action

physical pursuit of an objective; a tactic to achieve an objective

Activity

specific physical task that may or may not carry intention
ex: pouring a drink

Aesthetic

qualities or experience derived from or based upon the senses and how they are affected or stimulated

Analysis

process whereby the action of a scene is determined by answering the following three questions:

1. What is the character literally doing?

2. What is the objective (essential action) of what the character is doing in the scene?

3. What is that action like to me? It’s as if….

Apron

area of the stage that extends from the proscenium towards the audience

Arena

theater without a proscenium; stage is at the center of the auditorium surrounded by seats

Artistic Choices

options generated and decisions made regarding how a task might be done; the ways in which a line might be delivered, a character developed, or an environment designed

Batten

long pipe used to hang scenery, drapes, and lighting

Beat change

point during a scene where a new action begins

Beat

unit of text wherein each character has a single action; smallest unit of action

Blocking

position and movement of actors onstage; the process of creating such movement

Booth

where lights, sound, and spotlight are controlled

Business

activity tied to props

Cage

where we store tools, paint, and hardware; for Call Board

Cap

event or condition that indicates that a character has succeeded in doing their action

Central conflict

opposition between the central characters’ major objectives in a scene or an entire play; often stated as x who wants a versus y who wants b; rest of the characters and the themes tend to fall into one camp or the other

Character Types

recognizable or conventionalized “persons” seen in plays across cultures and historical periods; ex: “young lovers,” the “villain,” or the “trickster”

Character

illusion created by the words and given circumstances supplied by the playwright and director combined with the actions and externals of the actor

Climax

moment in a dramatic text or performance in which the outcome of a given conflict is in greatest doubt; the emotional highpoint; a key element in realistic plays; leads to an inevitable resolution

Collaboration

process of working together; joint effort informed by shared goals and supportive behaviors

Comedy

humorous form concerned with love or human failings, usually contains a positive ending highlighting reconciliation

Conflict

forces or characters with competing and opposing needs or wants, an essential element in causal plot structure

Contrived

not genuine; artificial; unlike reality

Conventions (TV, Film)

commonly accepted devices, principle, procedures, and forms that structure the presentation of content and facilitate storytelling; ex: close-up, jump cut

Countering

movement by an actor to rebalance the stage in response to a partner who has moved to their other side downstage and/or upstage of them

Culture

shared ideas, beliefs, customs, and experiences of a given people at a given time and place

Cyclorama (a.k.a. Cyc)

large white/blue screen hung at the back of the stage use for backgrounds/skies

Didactic

drama that intend to teach a moral lesson; often this term is used to criticize drama that is morally overbearing

Dramatic Action

rendering of character intention, motive, and/or volition; element that creates forward movement in a dramatic text; what a character is trying to do or accomplish in a play or scene; could be physical or psychological

Dramatic Literature

written text of a play as constructed by a playwright or team of writers

Dramaturg

specialist in theatre history who assists the director in the preparation of a production and may serve as a critical eye during the rehearsal process

Dry tech

onstage process in which the director and designers set light and sound cues in preparation for full technical rehearsals with the actors

Electric

batten used for lighting

Essential action

specific way in which the character pursues their objective in the French scene

Event

incident that constitutes an entire beat, scene, act, or play

Exposition

information in a dramatic text that provides audiences with character and story background needed to understand the current/given situation; may appear early or late in a text or be offered throughout the text

External

physical adjustment made by the actor that either aids in the storytelling or illustrates an imaginary circumstance of the play

may consist of any of the following:

1. bodily adjustments: posture, voice alterations, physical handicaps

2. ornaments: costumes and make-up

3. physical states: drunkenness, exhaustion, illness, etc.

Farce

extreme form of comedy, often physical, containing challenges to authority/the status quo, extreme situations, and highly coincidental plots

Fly System

rigging system used to hang scenery, drapery, and lighting

Framing

crafting an individual moment for the purpose of giving it extra emphasis

French scene

a unit of time in a scene during which the characters are each pursuing a single objective; generally begins with the entrance or exit of a major character and continues until the entrance or exit of a major character

Genre/Form

categories of drama which represent differing views and responses to human experience: tragedy, comedy, melodrama, farce, and mixed forms

Given circumstances

background and present condition of a character; ranging from the setting to the previous action

Grand Drape

traveling drape that goes along the proscenium

Grand Valence

teaser/border made of the same fabric as the grand drape

Happening

change in the status quo of the world of the play that creates the conditions under which the story may now occur; ex: Prince Escalus decrees death for any further violations of the peace in Romeo and Juliet

House

where the audience sits

Illusion of the first time

realistic effect a well-put-together scene has of having never been rehearsed

Improvisational Play

spontaneous inventions of actors used to explore character, plot, and/or language; free-flowing investigation of theatrical ideas and actions

Indicating

acting that illustrates emotion instead of expressing action

Legs

long vertical drapes used to hide the wings

Living in the moment

reacting impulsively to what another actor in the scene does, according to the dictates of your action

Masking

anything used to hide backstage and the fly system

Melodrama

generally refers to plays that present a schematic conflict between good and evil, with good prevailing

Mixed Forms

dramatic texts and productions that mix dramatic forms producing hybrid effects; ex: a tragic comedy or seriocomic work

Objective

character’s central desire or goal

Obstacle

internal and external stumbling blocks to a character’s pursuit of an action or objective

Paper Tech

offstage process in which the director, designers, and stage manager go through the script and determine placement of cues in preparation for a dry tech on stage

Particularization

process by which an actor makes specific and personal all the circumstances, references, and actions in a text

Pit

lowered area in front of the stage

Playwright

author of a theatrical script intended for performance; may reflect the efforts of a single individual or collaborative group

Presentational

style of performance that celebrates the artifice of theatre with little or no attempt to disguise lighting or technical effects

Props/Costume Closets

where props and costumes are stored

Proscenium Arch

archway that separates the stage from the audience

Protagonist

principal character in a dramatic text; leading character whose story, actions, and outcome (triumph of defeat) is of primary concern

Realism

style of theatre; in which characters, dialogue, events, design elements, and performance techniques conform to or reproduce observable reality; appear as everyday life

Representational

style of performance; attempts to hide or reduce the artificial nature of theatre to create a realistic effect

Resolution

follows the climax in causal plot construction: emotional intensity drops, loose ends are tied up, and order is restored

Satire

genre in which human folly and vice are held up to scorn, derision, or ridicule; usually biased and intended to point out absurd aspects of society or culture

Scene Shop

where we build scenery and props

Scrim

screen when lit from behind becomes transparent

Sentimentality

describes drama intended to induce intense feelings; disproportionate to the situation at hand; often involves love affairs, childbirth, and death, and expressed in a contrived, idealized, or simplified way

Skits

short works for performance that may be text or non-text based, improvised, or scripted

Stage

where the main action of the play takes place

Staging Conventions/Theatrical Conventions

elements of theatrical performance and production accepted by a given community that facilitates theatrical presentations; traditions and expectations held by theatre practitioners and audiences of a given historical period

Staging

results of blocking

Stakes

consequences for each character of achieving or failing to achieve their objective

Storytelling Conventions

elements common to storytelling across cultures and historical periods; ex: establishing the who, what, when, where, why, and how or creating a story structure containing a beginning, middle, and end

Subtext

underlying meaning of the dialogue; often a description of the characters’ actual intentions and actions

Teaser/Border

long horizontal drape used to hide the fly system

Technique

knowledge of the tools that may be used and an understanding of how to apply those tools

Theatrical Elements

individual components of theatre; ex: space, movement, language (speech and text), light, sound, properties, and scenery

Themes

addresses a commonality based in human experiences and that show the relationships of individuals to each other and within social groups; ex: subject matter, style, technique, or concepts.)

Through-action (super-objective)

single overriding action that encompasses all the actions an actor pursues from scene to scene, from the beginning of a play to the end

Thrust

theater stage that extends out into the audience’s part of a theater and has seats on three sides

Tools of the craft

various skills and devices an actor has at their disposal

Tragedy

dramatic or literary work depicting a protagonist engaged in a morally significant struggle ending in ruin or utter disappointment

Wings

offstage side areas

World of the Play

physical and psychological reality as suggested by a theatrical script and/or production; cumulative effect of textual and production elements that render or suggest the unique reality of a given play