A theatrical performance that focuses on small presentations, such as one taking place in a classroom setting. Usually, it is not intended for public view.
informal theatre
Stage position towards the audience
Downstage
Detailed information revealing the facts of a plot.
Exposition
A person, a situation, or the protagonist's own inner conflict in opposition to his or her goals.
Antagonist
The highness or lowness of a voice
Pitch
Theatre that focuses on public performance in front of an audience and in which the final production is most important.
formal theatre
Stage position directly in the middle of the stage
center stage
The point of highest dramatic tension or a major turning point in the action
Climax
A person, male or female, who performs a role in a play or an entertainment.
Actor
A long speech by a single character
Monologue
Theatrical events in honor of the god Dionysus that occurred in Ancient Greece and included play competitions and a chorus of masked actors.
Greek threatre
stage position towards the back
Upstage
The opposition of persons or forces giving rise to dramatic action in a play.
Conflict
The person who oversees the entire process of staging a production
Director
Theatrical movement beginning in the 1950s in which playwrights created works representing the universe as unknowable and humankind's existence as meaningless.
Theatre of the Absurd
The theatre of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I and often extended to the close of the theatres in 1640.
Elizabethan theatre
Stage position to left from the actor's point of view
Stage left
The middle part of a plot consisting of complications and discoveries that create conflict.
The main character of a play and the character with whom the audience identifies most strongly.
Protagonist
The enlarged hole cut through a wall to allow the audience to view the stage. It is also called the proscenium arch. The archway is in a sense the frame for the action on the stage.
Proscenium
One of the traditional forms of Japanese theatre, originating in the 1600s and combining stylized acting, costumes, makeup, and musical accompaniment.
Kabuki
Stage position to the right from the actor's point of view
Stage right
A decisive point in the plot of a play on which the outcome of the remaining actions depends
Crisis
A person who writes plays.
Playwright
A silent and motionless depiction of a scene created by actors, often from a picture.
Tableau