Theatre Glossary: 70+ Simple Definitions Everyone Should Know

What's the difference between a 'dress rehearsal' and a 'technical rehearsal'? Who is in charge of the 'prompt book'? And where should you go if you're instructed 'downstage'? 

Find out in this comprehensive Theatre Glossary, featuring 70+ theatre terms across five key sections:

1. Parts of the Theatre
2. Technical Theatre
3. Theatre Styles
4. Voice & Movement
5. Performance

Parts of the Theatre

AISLE

The walkway between sections of seats in a theatre.

AMPHITHEATRE

An oval or round building with tiers of seats arranged around a central open area used for performance.

BACKDROP

A cloth or curtain on the stage, often painted to look like a particular scene, such as a landscape or some other background.

BACKSTAGE

The non-performance areas of the stage, including the areas beside, under, or above the stage, the workshops, the dressing rooms, and the green rooms.

CATWALK

A walkway, usually above the stage and audience areas, providing provides access to stage equipment such as lighting.

DOWNSTAGE

The part of the stage nearest to the audience, usually referring to the entire front half of the stage.

DRESSING ROOM

A room backstage where an actor can dress and put on their make-up.

FLIES

The space above the stage (out of view from the audience) used to store scenery and equipment; the flies are part of the 'fly system', which is a rigging system of ropes and pulleys that allow the crew to quickly, quietly, and safely move around equipment.

GRANDE DRAPE

The front stage curtain (also called a house curtain, act curtain, or main drape).

HOUSE

The auditorium where the audience sits (also used to refer to the audience as a whole).

LEGS

The narrow curtains that run stage left to stage right, masking the wings from the audience.

OFFSTAGE

The area out of view from the audience.

ORCHESTRA PITT

A sunken area in front of the stage where the musicians sit and play the music for the performance.

STAGE AREAS

A stage is divided into parts or areas, from the point of view of an actor standing on stage and staring out at the audience in front of them:

• Downstage: The area closest to the audience
• Upstage: The area farthest away from the audience
• Centre: The area in between downstage and upstage

Explore different types of stages in this free e-learning video.

TRAP DOOR

An opening through the stage floor.

UPSTAGE

The area toward the back of the stage (also refers to 'upstaging' or overshadowing another performer).

Technical Theatre

BATTEN

A long metal pipe that hangs above the stage or audience from which things may be hung, including stage curtains, lighting fixtures, and scenery.

BOOTH

The area where the technical aspects of the performance are run, including sound effects and lighting (also called the control booth or control room).

DRESS REHEARSAL

The final rehearsal(s) before a show opens. During the dress rehearsal, the actors are in full costume and make-up, all production elements are in place, and the show runs without stopping.

LIGHT BOARD

The electronic console used to control the lighting for the theatre.

MAKE UP

Cosmetics such as eye shadow, foundation, and lipstick that are used by actors to paint their faces to look like their characters.

PROJECTION (TECHNICAL THEATRE)

To throw an image (projection) on stage by means of light, for an optical or design effect.

PROMPT BOOK

A master copy of the script and/or score, containing all the actor moves and technical cues, used by the stage manager to control the performance.

PROPS

All the furnishings, set dressings, and other onstage items that are used in a performance but are not scenery, electrics, or wardrobe.

SET

There are multiple meanings for the word 'set':

1. The onstage setting for a play, including the backdrops, platforms, doors, furniture, etc.
2. To 'set' the stage is to get it ready for use by the actors.
3. When a section of the script or the blocking in a scene is 'set', no further changes will be made to it.

SOUND BOARD

The electronic console used to control the sound effects for the theatre.

TECHNICAL REHEARSAL

Typically the first time the show is rehearsed in the place where it will be performed while using all the technical elements, such as lighting, scenery, and sound.

Explore Technical Theatre in this 4-hour on-demand professional development course!

Theatre Styles

EPIC THEATRE

A form of theatre developed in the early to mid-20th century in Germany as a response to the political climate. This type of theatre was meant to instruct the audience and to encourage them to consider socio-political issues and is often characterized by actors directly addressing the audience.

This form is associated with the playwright and director Bertolt Brecht.

EXPRESSIONISM

A style of playwriting and stage presentation that stresses the emotional content of the play.

Expressionism is often characterized by:

• Emphasis on the reactions and feelings of the characters
• Heavy symbolism
• Abstract sets and costumes
• Speeding up or slowing down of the action

FORUM THEATRE

A form of theatre that encourages audience interaction and participation as a way to explore different options for dealing with an issue, often related to a form of oppression.

Explore Forum Theatre through DT+ resources on the work of Augusto Boal.

IMMERSIVE THEATRE

A form of theatre where, instead of sitting in traditional seating separating them from the performance, the audience becomes part of the performance.

Immersive Theatre is characterized by:

• Emphasis and interactive space and design
• Tangible environments
• Personal, individual audience experiences

IMPROVISATION

A form of theatre that is spontaneous, where there is no script and performers do not memorize or prepare the performance ahead of time. Instead, they create the performance on the spot, often using suggestions from the audience such as places or emotions.

Get Inspired by Improv in this free professional development experience.

MELODRAMA

A dramatic form that has highly exaggerated and implausible characterization, dialogue, and situations, and focuses on exaggerated emotions.

NATURALISM

A dramatic form that attempts to show life and society as they actually are, closely linked to Realism.

Explore Naturalism through the works of Anton Chekhov and Henrik Ibsen, the latter considered to be 'the Father of Naturalism'.

PANTOMIME

There are multiple meanings of the word 'Pantomime':

1. The technique of showing emotions, actions, and feelings by gestures without speech.
2. A play in which the performers express themselves without words, using gestures, often with music.
3. Gestures without speech (and often without objects), i.e. an actor pretends to hold something.
4. In British theatre, this is a theatrical performance held for families around Christmastime, involving popular music, topical jokes, lively dancing, and slapstick humor,

PHYSICAL THEATRE

A type of theatre where physical movement is the primary method of storytelling, as opposed to relying on a text or lyrics.

Access this free webinar on Teaching Physical Theatre, led by author, academic, and director, Stephen Wangh and Double Edge's Carlos Uriona.

REALISM

A form of theatre that focuses on real life, characterized by believable dialogue, common settings, and characters who are everyday people. Closely linked to Naturalism.

Voice & Movement

ARTICULATION

The act of speaking clearly: pronouncing consonants, vowels, syllables, and words distinctly.

BLOCKING

The positions where the actors stand and move to when onstage during the performance, including where they move to when entering and exiting the stage.

CHOREOGRAPHY

Planning and arranging the movements, steps, and patterns of dancers and/or actors.

DICTION

Speaking clearly through the correct use of accent, inflection, intonation, and speech-sound quality.

DUOLOGUE

A dialogue scene between two people (also called a 'duet scene').

INFLECTION

How the actors' voice varies in pitch as they reveal emotion.

MIME

To act out a character, mood, idea, or narration by gestures and bodily movement, and without making any sounds.

MONOLOGUE

A speech by a single performer.

Find practical activities and examples to teach monologues in this blog.

PITCH

The height or depth to which the tone of voice is raised or lowered. Actors use pitch to help them express particular emotions.

PROJECTION (PERFORMANCE)

To make the voice louder so that it may be heard clearly from a distance.

SOLILOQUY

A solo speech often used to convey a character's thoughts to the audience.

TACTIC

The way in which an actor achieves their objective, expressed using action verbs.

VOLUME

How loudly or softly an actor speaks, also called 'dynamics'

VOLUME

A series of physical and vocal exercises designed to prepare an actor for a performance.

Performance

AD-LIB

The process of improvising all or part of a speech.

ASIDE

Lines spoken by the actor that are intended for the audience only. These lines are spoken in the presence of other characters who supposedly do not hear them.

BACKSTORY

A character's history.

BLACKOUT

To darken the stage suddenly, or turn off the lights to leave the stage completely dark.

CHARACTER

One of the roles that an actor plays, or certain behaviors i.e. 'getting into character'.

'Unlock' the character of Macbeth in Shakespeare's tragedy with this free e-learning resource.

CHARACTERISATION

The adoption of behaviors and personality traits specific to a particular character or role that the actor is playing. 

CHORUS

An actor or group of actors who provide commentary on the action taking place during the play (as in Ancient Greek dramas), or the group of dancers and singers in a musical who perform as a unit during the performance, and generally have little to no spoken lines.

CUE

The signal for an actor to perform an action, or the spoken or written command that the technical staff follows during a performance, such as a lighting or sound effect cue.

CURTAIN CALL

When the performers take their bows after a performance.

DRAMATIC IRONY

When the audience is aware of something that the character does not realize.

FOURTH WALL

The imaginary, invisible 'wall' between the audience and the stage.

With a fourth wall, the audience views the character onstage, but the characters in the play are unaware of the audience. 'Breaking the fourth wall' refers to a performer being aware of the audience.

GENRE

A category that tells the style or form of a play, such as tragedy or comedy. 

HOT SEATING

An exercise to deepen understanding of character, where an actor sits in the 'hot seat' to answer questions while still in character.

OBJECTIVE

In acting, this is the thing that a character wants.

PACING

How fast or slow the action in the story moves, or how fast or slow the performance itself moves. Pacing can apply to action within scenes, the overall speed of the play, etc.

PLOT

The events that happen in a story.

PLOT STRUCTURE

The order of events for the story.

Major parts of a plot structure include:

• Exposition: Introduces the audience to the characters, setting, and main conflict.
• Inciting Incident: The event that launches the main action.
• Rising Action: The events that build up to the conflict.
• Climax: The peak of the story, where a major action or event occurs.
• Falling Action: The events and complications of the story start to resolve as the story winds down.
• Denouement (Resolution): The conclusion, which resolves any remaining issues and ends the story

PROTAGONIST

The leading character, hero, or heroine.

SCRIPT

The printed text of a play.

STAGE DIRECTIONS

In a play, the stage directions are the printed directions to the actors and/or directors.

STOCK CHARACTERS

Stereotypical characters that represent a generic, simplified type of personality.

Examples of 'Stock Characters' in theatre include:

• The damsel in distress
• The fool
• The dastardly villain

TABLEAU(X)

A scene in which actors are carefully posed, stationary, and silent, as though they are frozen in a picture.

This glossary has been adapted from A Glossary of Theatrical Terminology, written by Matteson Claus and available to customers on the Digital Theatre+ platform.

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