Act: A segment of a Play.
Ad Lib: Making Up lines as you go along.
Apron: Down stage strip, in front of closed curtains.
B
Backstage: Any off stage area not to the sides.
Batten: Pipes lights are hung from. Sometimes referred to as Electrics and Beams.
Beams: Battens over the House.
Bit Part: Small role with fewer than five lines.
Blank: To forget your lines.
Blocking: Where the actor moves on stage.
Business: Anything the actor does with props.
Break Character: Actor falls out of character.
C
Callboard: Bulletin board backstage where important notices for the Actors are posted.
Catwalk:Walk way for techies to access lights.
Character Part: A different or unusual type of part.
Cue: Signal for something to happen.
Comedy: A play where suspension of natural laws, contrast between individuals and social order are used to make fun of life.
Cover: To cover a mistake.
D
Director: The person who makes all the artistic decisions.
Domestic Drama: A play that deals with problems of society, or struggles within a family.
E
Equity: Actors Union.
Electrics: On stage Battens.
F
Flats: Walls made of wood that form the set.
Flies: Area above the stage, sometimes used for storage of seanary.
Follow Spots (Lights): Large lights that follow the actors around on stage to highlight them.
G
Grease Paint: Makeup for actors, thicker than normal makeup. Traditional grease paint was made of oil.
Green Room: Actors lounge/ waiting room. Not always painted green, but the term comes from the fact that the color green is supposed to be especially calming.
H
Hand Props: Any prop small enough to hold.
House: Where the audience sits.
I
Improvisation (Improv): Taking an idea and making up a scene to go along with the idea.
Ingenue: Young female lead.
J
Juvinile: Young male Lead
K
Lead: The star of the show. Just like in movies there can be more than one.
Legs/Tormentors: Thin, as in not wide, curtains to cover the wings.
Levels: Different heights used on stage.
Lines: Dialogue the actor says.
M
Main Drape: Main curtain in the theatre.
Melodrama: A play with the premium on the surface effects, often use music and stereotypical characters.
(Panto)mime: Movement without words.
Monologue: A one person speech.
N
Pace:How fast the action moves.
Pit: Orchestra Pit
Procinium: Separates the actor from the audience. A border around the top and sides of the stage.
Properties (Props): Anything the actor uses that is small enough to hold.
Q
Royalties: The fee a theatre must pay to the owner of a play.
Runing Lines: Practicing just the lines of the play without the blocking.
Run: The length of time the play is performed. Also used to mean performing the play as in a rehearsal or performance.
S
Secne: Division of an act; Short (3-5 min.) segment of a play.
Set: What ever is on the stage that shows location, i.e. backdrop, scenery, props, etc.
Script: Play book where all the lines are recorded.
Sides: Script with only your lines.
Sightline: How much of the stage an audience can see.
Stage Direction: Instructions in the script for actors to follow.
Stage Whisper: Whisper said loud enough for an audience.
Strike: To clear the set from the stage.
T
Tableau: Actors in a frozen position, often just before the lights go out.
Teaser: Curtain that hides lights and equipment on battens.
Tragedy: A play that is cruel and malevolent, emotionally moving.
Tragiccomedy: A play that has comic elements in a serious drama, fusion of both elements of tragedy and comedy.
Trap: A trap door.
Traveller: Curtain that "travels" across the stage.
U
Understudy: A person who learns a part they may never perform.
Upstaging: To take away the focus from another actor.
V
Wardrobe: Anything to do with costumes.
Wings: Area to the sides of the stage.
X
