Definitions 3
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
Blocking
The location of actors on the stage and the movements that they make.
The final rehearsal(s) of a show before opening night in front of an audience
Dress Rehearsal
Aside
A speech or short comment that a character delivers directly to an audience
On the right side of a stage from the point of view of a performer facing the audience.
Stage Right
The frame or arch separating the stage from the auditorium, through which the action of a play is viewed, the audience is all seated in front of the stage
Proscenium Stage
Lighting Designer
Responsible for the design, installation, and operation of the lighting and special electrical effects used in the production.
A stage that extends into the auditorium so that the audience is seated around three sides
Thrust Stage
Costume Designer
Plan and supervise the creation of the costumes and outfits worn by characters in a play or opera.
Form of theatrical staging in which the acting area, which may be raised or at floor level, is completely surrounded by the audience.
Theatre in the Round
The activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. Improvisation in the performing arts is a very spontaneous performance without specific or scripted preparation.
Improv
Previews
A set of public performances of a theatrical production that take place before its official opening.
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.
Sightlines
Set
The creation of the physical space in which the action of a performed event takes place.
A convention that imagines a wall existing between actors and their audience. The wall is invisible to the audience, so viewers can see the performance, but opaque to the actors, blocking them from the audience.
Fourth Wall
The evening when something (such as a play) is performed in front of an audience for the first time
Opening Night
Vocal Projection
The ability to use your voice loudly, powerfully, and clearly while acting, singing, or speaking
Any object used in a performance that isn't part of the set or worn by an actor.
Prop
Director
Directors audition and cast actors; assemble and oversee the production team; provide design directives; lead rehearsals; and manage the production schedule of the project, ensuring that all the moving parts connect.
Flexible performance spaces which when stripped to their basics are a single room painted black, the floor of the stage at the same level as the first audience row.
Black Box
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
Call Back
The director would like to see an actor again, perhaps to hear them read from the script or see them next to another actor. Receiving a callback does not guarantee you a part in the show, and not receiving one doesn't necessarily mean you won't be cast.
A "scene" division within a play marked by the entrance or exit of an actor. In American and English drama, directors often break up a long scene for the purposes of blocking, rehearsal or character work.
French Scene
Cue
Something another performer says or does that is a signal for them to begin speaking, playing, or doing something
A cotton cloth tape used to create temporary markings on stages and theatrical sets so the crew knows where to put the set pieces
Spike Tape