A, B, C, D Terms
The science of sound as applied to theaters, relating to how sound travels and reverberates.
Acoustics
An actor who gives a very broad or exaggerated performance.
Ham
When an actor knows his or her lines and no longer needs to carry the script.
Off-book
Actors reading the entire play aloud while seated, generally at the first rehearsal.
Noun: The opportunity for an actor to display his or her talents when seeking a role in an upcoming production of a play.
Audition
A theatrical production that fails to draw an audience, regardless of whether the critics liked it or not.
Flop
The area immediately behind or to the sides of the stage area.
Offstage
The physical design of the stage area within which the actors perform.
Set
Bodily movements, large or small, which indicate what a person is thinking or feeling.
Body Language
An actor's ability to sound and/or look like someone else, usually a famous person.
Mimicry
Pace
The speed at which a scene is played.
An actor, often playing a small role, who learns another role, so as to be able to perform it if the regular actor is ill.
Understudy
A request that an actor return for an additional audition.
Call-back
Gestures, facial expressions, and vocal tricks that a particular actor uses again and again in different roles.
Mannerisms
Any movable object, from a letter to a sword, used by an actor during a performance.
Props
An actor's attempt to distract audience attention from what another actor is doing.
Upstage
The person charged with staging a play or musical, who coordinates all onstage aspects of the production, including the performances of the actors.
Director
A speech used by an actor to demonstrate his or her ability at an audition.
Monologue
An actor's ability to use his or her so that it can be clearly heard in the back rows of a theater.
Projection