Stage Directions and Space
Character & Action
Tactics and Goals
Speech and Sound
The Actor's Process
100

all from the actor’s orientation
facing the audience

WHAT IS STAGE LEFT, STAGE RIGHT, UPSTAGE, DOWNSTAGE, CENTERSTAGE

100

everything an actor does onstage in physical pursuance of a specific goal

ACTION

100

the character’s quest at any given moment. What the character wants to achieve. Stanislavsky
called it the OBJECTIVE

GOAL
100

 the change in pitch within a spoken line

INFLECTION
100

in general, the line or action that precedes your own

CUE

200

arranging the major movements of the actors onstage

BLOCKING
200

small movements that actors make (often with props) that may or may not be vital to the plot
but that convey lifelike behavior

BUSINESS
200

the means by which a character seeks to achieve their GOAL(S)

TACTICS

200

 the voice’s quality of “re-sounding” through the nasal passages and throat, giving it
strength, tone, timbre, and personality

RESONANCE

200

acting without a fixed text.

IMPROVISATION 
300

to deliberately go _______ of an actor with whom you’re sharing a scene, forcing that actor
to turn upstage to maintain eye contact, and blocking their face from audience view

UPSTAGE/UPSTAGING

300

 a single unit of action

BEAT 

300

the character’s long-range goal for the entire play

SUPEROBJECTIVE

300

a speech given directly to the audience, ordinarily with no one else onstage

SOLILOQUY

300

 reliving situations in your own life while performing, often with the aid of
SUBSTITUTION, in the hope of arousing your own emotions while acting a role.

EMOTIONAL RECALL 

400

audience on three sides of the action

THRUST STAGE

400

reacting impulsively to what the other actor in the scene does, according to the
dictates of your action. Being flexible enough to spontaneously respond as circumstances shift

LIVING IN THE MOMENT

400

any piece of information or activity written into the script or demanded by the
director, which sets up the framework for the action of the scene

GIVEN CIRCUMSTANCES

400

a character’s brief remark, often witty, delivered directly to the audience, and presumed unheard
by the other characters onstage

ASIDE

400

Stanislavsky’s invention. The actor behaves “as if” they were in the character’s situation.
This allows each actor to bring themselves and their imaginations to each role, and make the role unique

THE MAGIC IF

500

a configuration of audience on only one side of the presented action

PROSCENIUM THEATRE

500

the point during a scene where a new action/tactic begins

BEAT CHANGE

500

the intensity of win/lose in a scene

STAKES

500

a quick look at the audience or another actor

TAKE

500

 the hidden meanings of a dramatic text, to be decided by the actor and director based on the
character’s GOALS

SUBTEXT

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