Theater terms

Against type: playing a different character than expected

Antagonist: a character that hinders the protagonist from achieving their goals

Anti-naturalist: acting style in which the audience is kept aware that they are watching a performance rather than reality (see Brectian Acting)

Beat: The smallest division of action in a play. (see Scene)

Brechtian acting: acting style in which the actors purposefully try to alienate the audience from the characters in order to constantly remind them they are watching a play, based on the theories of Bertolt Brecht

Blocking: an actor's movement around a set

Cast: the actors in a play; the characters; to choose the actors

Cold reading: a reading aloud from a script or other text without any rehearsal

Community theatre: performance by amateurs, usually unpaid, as opposed to professional theatre

Corpse: to laugh in the wrong place

Cover: to make up dialogue and or blocking due to a mistake or accident onstage without breaking character.

Curtain call, Walkdown: at the end of a performance, when the actors come to the front of the stage to bow while the audience claps

Dialogue: a reciprocal conversation between two or more persons; the speaking lines of a script

Distanciation: in Brectian performance, when actors maintain distance from their character by reminding themselves they are acting instead of trying to identify with their character

Downstage: towards the front of the stage; the half of the stage that is nearest to the audience

Dress Circle: In some theatres, a shallow gallery level above the main seating.

Dramatist: the author of a play

Emotional memory: in Method acting, when an actor attempts to draw upon memories of prior emotions to match the emotions of their character

Exeunt *: a stage direction for more than one to person exit, from the Latin exire, "to go out"

Exeunt omnes *: a stage direction meaning all the cast exit

Exit: a stage direction which specifies which person goes off stage

Fourth wall: an imaginary surface at the edge of the stage through with the audience watches a performance

Full house, Packed house, Sold out: when all of the seats are filled; when the entire audience section is filled to capacity

Gallery, Gods: the highest section of the theatre; a section at the back or sides without seats where people can stand to watch a performance, usually raised

Ghost: to be used as a singing voice for another actor (compare to ghost-writer)

Ghost Light: A light left on the stage overnight and/or when the stage is not in use for safety.

House: the theatre, the people in the theatre, the audience

Improvisation: When an actor who is "in character" makes up action or dialog without prior scripting, often used in rehearsal or to cover other mistakes (see Improvisational theatre)

Issue: to leave the stage

Mask: to block another actor, or something worn over the face, sometimes expressing emotion. (see Kabuki)

Masking: drapery or flats used to frame the stage

Method acting: acting style in which the actors try to feel the emotions of the character, pioneered by Konstantin Stanislavski, currently taught at The Actor's Studio. Of note, most American Method acting was based on an early experiment of Stanislavski's. Most modern teachers of it have moved forward from the original Stanislavski method.

Monologue: a speech by one person directly addressing the audience

Motivation: a character's individual desires or goals which propel them into action ;the driving force that starts a story's progression

Orchestra pit: where the musicians play, usually directly in front of the stage, often sunken below the seating sections

The Orchestra, The Stalls: the seats on the lower part of the theatre

Omnes *: in stage directions, all the cast

Part: a character; the portion of the script intended for one character

Parterre: The upper part of the main seating. Usually behind a cross aisle, and almost always steeper than the lower Orchestra.

Preferred reading: the interpretation of the script that is stressed by the author or the text itself

Prop, Property: an object used in the play, from the Middle English proppe, meaning a support, not originally related to property as in ownership; does not include scenery or costumes

Protagonist: the main character; the hero or heroine

Pseudomonologue: when only one half of a dialogue is portrayed, especially either just the questions or the answers, wherein the performer is not directly addressing the audience

Script: the text of the dialogue and stage directions of a play; to write a play

Sense memory: in Method acting, when an actor attempts to recall memories of the physical sensations surrounding prior emotions in order to utilize emotional memory

Signs of character: the various cues that convey a character's personality, emotion or motivation

Signs of performance: an actor's movements, expressions and vocal tones and patterns that contribute to signs of character

Social actor: people who portray themselves in a performance, usually previously known to the audience

Stage direction: in the script of a play, any instruction for the actors, or setting or character description

Stage left: the side of the stage on the left when facing the audience

Stage right: the side of the stage on the right when facing the audience

Standing ovation: at the end of a performance, when the audience stands and claps, a higher form of praise than normal applause

Standing room: a space where people can stand to watch a performance, especially if all the seats are filled (see Gallery). Most New York houses count standing room tickets in their house counts. The Lion King caused quite a stir when it didn't, and boasted more than 100 percent house counts for months.

Standing room only: admittance to a performance after all of the seats are filled which requires people to stand to watch.

Super, Supernumerary: Extra, walk on part

Supporting cast: actors who are not playing major parts

Typecast: when an actor becomes associated with only one type of role or character, usually based on physical appearance

Theatre: building where acting takes place (also a cinema); the world of this type of acting, or the world of acting in general

Theatre in the round: any theatre where the audience is seated on every side of the stage (see arena)

Upstage: towards the back of the stage; the half of the stage that is farthest from the audience; to outshine another's performance, especially when the other has a larger part or is more well-known

Verisimilitude: the trait of seeming truthful or appearing to be real, from the Latin veri similis, "like the truth"

See also: ballet, Chinese opera, comedy, drama, epic play, farce, kabuki, melodrama, mime, musical theatre, opera, operetta, pantomime, paradigmatic structure, syntagmatic structure, suspension of disbelief, tragedy, tragicomedy, vaudeville