Row 1
On the left side of a stage from the point of view of a performer facing the audience.
The seating area for the audience during a performance
House
The evening when something (such as a play) is performed in front of an audience for the first time
Opening Night
On the right side of a stage from the point of view of a performer facing the audience.
Stage Right
Moving away from the audience towards the back of the stage
Upstage
A speech presented by a single character, most often to express their thoughts aloud, though sometimes also to directly address another character or the audience.
Monologue
A series of lines drawn on plan and section to indicate the limits of the audience vision from extreme seats, including side seats and front and back rows. Often marked in the wings as a guide to the actors and crew, so as not to be seen by members of the audience.
Sight Lines
The person who wrote the play
Playwright
Where tickets of admission are sold
Box Office
The area of a theater, usually behind the set/curtain but still on the stage, where the actors wait until it's time to walk onstage and play their parts.
Backstage
The location of actors on the stage and the movements that they make.
Blocking
Auditions and casts actors; assembles and oversees the production team; provides design directives; leads rehearsals; and manages the production schedule of the project, ensuring that all the moving parts connect.
Director
The final rehearsal(s) of a show before opening night in front of an audience
Dress Rehearsal
Supports and organizes all the different teams involved in the day-to-day running of a theatre production from rehearsals right through to performances and then post-show.
Stage Manager
A speech or short comment that a character delivers directly to an audience
Aside
The space reserved for the musicians playing the music for an opera, musical, or ballet, immediately in front of or below the stage.
Pit
A cotton cloth, usually brightly colored, used to create temporary markings on stages and theatrical sets so the crew knows where to put the set pieces
Spike Tape
Flexible performance spaces which when stripped to their basics are a single room, the floor of the stage at the same level as the first audience row.
Black Box
To turn your face or entire body either out to the audience to be seen better without completely turning (so it still looks natural, but you are not completely in profile)
Cheat Out
Background actors and singers that perform as a group as opposed to the main characters of a play or musical
Chorus
The process of tearing down the set at the conclusion of the show’s run
Strike
A dedicated person on the creative team whose primary task is to support the play's development by asking key questions, starting conversations, researching, providing context, and helping the artists as they work together to tell the intended story.
Dramaturg
A "scene" division within a play marked by the entrance or exit of an actor.
French Scene
The space in a theatre or similar venue that functions as a waiting room and lounge for performers before, during, and after a performance or show when they are not engaged on stage
Green Room
An actor or other performer who learns the parts of others in a play, opera, etc., so that he or she can replace them if necessary.
Understudy