How Does Theatre Happen?
This is a unique and collaborative form of art that means "seeing place". This form of art is also about humans and their condition.
What is Theatre?
This is the part of the theater where the audience sits.
The House
This is the stage direction that is directly in the middle of the stage.
Center Stage
Grand Drape
This is the type of stage where the audience is on all four sides of the stage.
Arena Stage
What is necessary for theatre to happen?
A place to perform, an audience, actors that want to perform, and a story for people to watch and listen to.
This is the place where the actors get dressed for the performance.
Dressing Room
This is the stage direction closest to the audience.
Downstage
This is the space in front of the proscenium line, where the stage extends.
Apron
This is a light that is kept in center stage when no one else is in the theater.
Ghostlight
This is typically right outside the theater and is the place where the audience buys tickets.
The Box Office
This is the part of the theater where the orchestra plays, and can raise up and down.
Orchestra Pit
This is the stage direction closest to the back of the stage.
Upstage
These are the short curtains that hang horizontally upstage. They are used to mask the lights.
Boarders
This is the most common type of stage, where the audience is on one side of the stage. (This is the type of stage at Mercy McAuley)
Proscenium Stage
This is the part of the theatre where the lights and sound is operated. It is typically in the back of the theater.
Light and Sound Board
This part of the theater is where the actors wait directly offstage for the time that they will go on.
This is the right side of the stage from the actors' point of view.
Stage Right
These are the vertical hanging curtains. They are used to mask backstage activity and create depth on the stage.
Legs
Willing Suspension of Disbelief
This is where the painting and building of the sets happen. This can be attached to the theater or in a separate space.
Scene Shop
This is the part of the theater where the actors get ready (hair and makeup) and warm up for the show. (At Mercy McAuley, this is under the stage.)
Green Room
This is the left side of the stage from the actors' point of view.
Stage Left
This is the furthest upstage curtain. It is solid white and used to project color.
Cyclorama
This is an imaginary wall between the actor and the audience. In Representational Theatre, this wall is kept, and the audience is not addressed. In Presentational Theatre, this is broken and the audience is addressed.
Fourth Wall