Terms

• Acoustics

  • The science of how sound is applied to theaters, relating to how sound travels and reverberates.
• Audition

  • The opportunity for an actor to display his/her talents when seeking a role in an upcoming production of a play.
• Backstage

  • The entire area behind the stage of a theater, including dressing rooms.
• Blocking

  • Stage movements by actors, including entrances, exits, and any steps taken in any direction across the stage.
• Body Language

  • Bodily movements by actors, large or small, which indicate what a person is thinking or feeling.
• Breaking up

  • Out of place laughter by an actor on stage
• Callback

  • A request that an actor return for an additional audition.
• Cattle Call

  • An audition open to anyone, regardless of experience.
• Character Role

  • A supporting role with pronounced or eccentric characteristics
• Chemistry

  • A mysterious element that creates excitement when two actors appear together
• Cold Reading

  • Delivering a speech or acting a scene at an audition without having read it beforehand.
• Cue

  • A line of dialogue, action, or sound, onstage or off that tells an actor it is time to enter, exit, move across stage.
• Curtain up

  • The start of a performance, whether or not an actual curtain exists in front of a stage
• Double Take

  • An exaggerated facial response to another actor’s words or action, usually used for comic effect.
• Diction

  • Clear, sharp pronunciation of words, especially of consonants
• Director

  • The person charged with staging a play or musical, who coordinates all onstage aspects of the production, including the performance of the actors.
• Downstage

  • The area of the stage closest to the audience.
• Finding your light

  • An actor’s ability to sense when he/she is properly placed with respect to stage lighting
• Flop

  • A theatrical production that fails to draw an audience.
• Ham

  • An actor who gives a very broad or exaggerated performance.
• Mannerisms

  • Gestures, facial expressions, and vocal tricks that an actor uses again and again in different roles
• Method Acting

  • An internalized form of acting that uses experiences from an actor’s personal life to help produce onstage emotion
• Mimicry

  • An actor’s ability to sound and/or look like someone else, usually a famous person.
• Monologue

  • A speech used by an actor to demonstrate his/her abilities at an audition.
• Notes

  • Instructions, usually regarding changes in an actor or blockings or performance.
• Off-book

  • When an actor knows his/her lines and no longer needs to carry the script
• Off-stage

  • The area immediately behind or to the sides of the stage
• Pace

  • The speed at which a scene is played
• Pan

  • A very bad review from a critic
• Pausing for effect

  • A deliberate pause between lines
• Presense

  • An actor’s ability to command attention on stage
• Projection

  • An actor’s ability to use his/her voice so that it can be clearly heard in the back rows of a theater.
• Props

  • Any moveable object used by an actor during a performance.
• Range

  • The vocal extent of a singer’s voice
• Rave

  • An extremely good review from a critic
• Rehearsals

  • The time during which the actor’s performance are developed and hopefully perfected by repetition
• Set

  • The physical design of a stage
• Sheet Music

  • the pages containing the music and lyrics to a single song
• Stage Left

  • The side of the stage that is to the actor’s left he/she faces the objects
• Stage Right

  • The side of the stage that is to the actor’s right he/she faces the objects