Stage Terms Part 3 Rev Sp2021

1. VOICE & ARTICULATION-LINES
DIALOGUE-SCENE WORK
Actors must know how
to use their instruments:
• Their body
• Their voice
• Their brain

2. THE ACTOR’S VOICE
Good projection is essential
for actors. If you can’t be
heard or understood you have
lost your sense of full
communication.
Projection – the delivery of
voice and speech to the
audience by using:
• Breath
• Phonation
• Resonance
• Articulation
• Pronunciation
• Phrasing

3. BREATHING
The very essence of
speech . . . and life.
Air is pumped from the
control of the diaphragm
through the expansion of
rib cage up through the
larynx
VOICE & ARTICULATION

4. PHONATION
The vocal chord
oscillations produce
sound as breath passes
through.
It is literally, the
“creation” of sound.
VOICE & ARTICULATION

5. VOICE & ARTICULATION
RESONANCE:
• We love to sing in the shower
because there is such great
resonance. And it really amplifies
our voice.
• The resounding of the voice as it is
amplified in the throat, chest and
head.
• The nasal cavity and the hard &
soft palate are also part of the
resonators.

6. VOICE & ARTICULATION
ARTICULATION:
• The clarity of one’s speech
• The shaping of vocal sounds into
recognizable phonemes (language
sounds).
• There are 40 phonemes in the
English language even though
there are only 26 letters.
• The articulators include:
• The lips
• The teeth
• The tongue

7. VOICE & ARTICULATION
PRONUNCIATION:
• Makes the words both comprehensible &
appropriate to the character and style of
the play.
• The accepted utterance of the sounds of
speech.
• Dialect work is created by “altering” the
pronunciation.

8. VOICE & ARTICULATION
PHRASING:
• Makes words meaningful and
five them sound patterns that
are both rhythmic and logical.
• We use punctuation marks to
assist in phrasing.
"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United
States of America… and to the republic for
which it stands, …one nation under God,
Indivisible… with liberty and justice for all.“
Good phrasing!!!

9. Add these 6 things up & you
have. . .
Breathing – phonation – resonance – articulation – pronunciation -phrasing
GOOD PROJECTION

10. MONOLOGUE
• a dramatic interlude
performed by only one person
• a speech extracted from a play
for auditioning purposes
• An actor must consult the
source of the monologue they
choose to full understand the
content.

11. DIALOGUE
• speaking that occurs
between two or more
characters in a play

12. LINES – DIALOGUE – SCENE WORK
CUE: (sometimes spelled QUE). Written as “Q”
The signal which prompts you to speak or move.
It could be the last word (or words) of a line, or a
physical action, or music, or a lighting change.
Actors must carefully memorize their cues.

13. LINES – DIALOGUE – SCENE WORK
PICKING UP CUES: removing
unnecessary space (or air) between
the lines and actions.

14. LINES – DIALOGUE – SCENE WORK
STEPPING ON LINES: beginning your
line before another actor has finished
thereby interrupting their moment.
Some contemporary playwrights have
begun to write overlapping dialogue
which complicates this concept.

15. LINES – DIALOGUE – SCENE WORK
OPERATIVE WORD: the most
important word in a sentence.
The word that drives the meaning
of the sentence.

16. LINES – DIALOGUE – SCENE WORK
IF YOU CHANGE THE OPERATIVE WORD IT CAN CHANGE THE
ENTIRE MEANING OF THE SENTENCE:
I DIDN’T SAY I WOULD GO WITH YOU.
I DIDN’T SAY I WOULD GO WITH YOU.
I DIDN’T SAY I WOULD GO WITH YOU.
I DIDN’T SAY I WOULD GO WITH YOU.
I DIDN’T SAY I WOULD GO WITH YOU.
I DIDN’T SAY I WOULD GO WITH YOU.
I DIDN’T SAY I WOULD GO WITH YOU.
I DIDN’T SAY I WOULD GO WITH YOU.

17. LINES – DIALOGUE – SCENE WORK
PACING: the rate of speed at
which the actors speak lines,
perform action, and pick up cues.
The “tempo” or “rhythm” of the
scene.

18. LINES – DIALOGUE – SCENE WORK
TOPPING A LINE: creating more intensity
than there was in the previous line. Volume,
rate, and pitch (or any combination of these)
are used to make this happen. Two actors,
topping each previous line create “build” in a
scene which can lead to climax.

19. LINES – DIALOGE – SCENE WORK
BUILD: increase the pace, intensity, or
volume (or any combination of these)
to reach a climax.

20. LINES – DIALOGE – SCENE WORK
“GIVE A LINE READING”: telling the
actor exactly how to say the line. This
is a last resort by directors (they hate
to do this), who prefer that the actor
find meaning on their own.

21. LINES – DIALOGE – SCENE WORK
CALLING FOR A LINE: asking for
assistance from the prompter. The actor
says “line” and waits while the prompter
calls out the next several words. (Don’t
confuse this with “giving a line reading”)

22. LINES – DIALOGE – SCENE WORK
CALLING FOR A LINE: