The document defines various theatre terminology and stage directions. It provides definitions for over 40 terms related to theatre, including ad-lib, amphitheater, apron, arena theater, aside, backdrop, black box theater, blocking, business, cheat, closed audition, cold reading, cross, cue, curtains calls, cut, cyclorama, dress rehearsal, flat, fly, follow spot, fourth wall, gel, gobo, grand drape, greenroom, holding for laughs, improvisation, legs, monologue, motivation, objectives, off book, off stage, open audition, periaktoi, pit, projection, proscenium arch, readers' theatre, scrim, stealing a scene

1. Theatre Terminology
and Stage Directions

2. Ad-Lib
 To improvise stage business or conversation,
especially when an actor has missed or
forgotten lines and other actors must supply
the missing information

3. Amphitheater
 An oval or round
structure with no
roof that has tiers
of seats rising
from the center,
used for public
performances of
plays and other
productions

4. Apron
 The section of the stage in front of the curtain

5. Arena Theater
 A stage without a
proscenium arch and
with seats on three or
four sides, allowing
close association
between actors and
spectators

6. Aside
 A line spoken directly to the audience

7. Backdrop
 A large piece
of cloth, on
which scenery
is painted, that
is fastened to
battens and
hung at the
back of the
stage setting
 Also called a
drop

8. Backstage
 The area behind the set that is not visible to
the audience, including dressing rooms, the
greenroom, etc.

9. Black Box Theater
 A large square room with black walls and a
flat floor
 seating is typically loose chairs on platforms,
which can be easily moved or removed to
allow the entire space to be adapted to the
artistic elements of a production

11. Blackout
 Stage direction to turn off all stage lights
suddenly

12. Blocking
 Movement and groupings on the stage

13. Business
 Any specific action, other than a change of
location, performed on the stage, such as
picking up a book or pouring tea
 Used to establish atmosphere, reveal
character, or explain a situation

14. Cheat
 A stage technique in which an actor who is
facing sideways pivots the torso and turns the
face toward the audience

15. Closed Audition
 A tryout open only to union members

16. Cold Reading
 A tryout during which an actor uses material
never seen before

17. Cross
 To move from one position to another on
stage

18. Cue
 The last words, action, or technical effect that
immediately precedes any line or business
 A stage signal

19. Curtain Calls
 The appearance of a play’s cast in response to an
audience’s applause
 Bows at the end of the play

20. Cut
 To stop action
 To Omit

21. Cyclorama (Cyc)
 A white background
curtain on which lights
or other effects can be
projected

22. Dress Rehearsal
 An uninterrupted rehearsal with costumes and props
 The final rehearsal before the first performance

23. Flat
 A wooden frame
covered with cloth used
as the basic unit of
structure of a box set

24. Fly
 The area above the
stage where scenery
is hung when not in
use
 A system for
hanging drops
 Verb: to raise or
lower scenery

25. Follow Spot
 A long range lighting
instrument capable of
picking up or following a
person moving on the
stage

26. Fourth Wall
 The imaginary wall
through which the
audience watches the
action of the play

27. Gel
 A transparent color medium placed on
lighting instruments to produce different
colors

28. Gobo
 A stencil placed in the gel holder of a spotlight to
project a pattern

29. Grand Drape
 The curtain hung just upstage of the proscenium that
opens and closes at each act or scene
 Also called an act curtain

30. Greenroom
 A waiting area
offstage used by
actors
 We use the
choir room

31. Holding for Laughs
 Waiting for an audience to quiet down after a
humorous line or scene

32. Improvisation
 The impromptu portrayal of a character or a scene
without any rehearsal or preparation

33. Legs
 Narrow
drapes,
usually
hung in
pairs, stage
left and
stage right,
to mask the
backstage
area

34. Monologue
 A speech by a single actor

35. Motivation
 The reason behind a character’s behavior

36. Objectives
 The goal of a character; what the character
wants or is striving for in a scene

37. Off Book
 Rehearsal without scripts

38. Off Stage
 Off the visible stage
 Also called “off”

39. Open Audition
 Tryout open to nonunion actors

40. Periaktoi (Prisms)
 Sets made up of three flats, shaped as
triangles mounted on a wheeled carriage that
can be pivoted

41. Pit
 The front part of the auditorium where the
orchestra might be located – often below
stage level

42. Projection
 The control of the
volume and quality of
the voice so that it can
be heard clearly by
everyone in an
audience

43. Proscenium Arch
 The arch opening between the stage and the
auditorium

44. Readers’ Theatre
 A form of theater in which plays are read to
an audience from a script and brought to life
by the readers’ voices, facial expressions,
and controlled movement

45. Scrim
 A drop made of fabric that seems almost
opaque when lit from the front and
semitransparent when lit from behind

46. Stealing a Scene
 Attracting attention from the person to whom
the center of interest legitimately belongs

47. Strike
 To remove an object or objects from the
stage
 To take down the set

48. Tableau
 A scene presented by silent, unmoving actors
 For more info, see
Pageant of the
Masters

49. Thespian
 An actor

50. Understudy
 A person who learns a role and who can
perform it in the absence of the actor

51. Wings
 The offstage areas to the right and left of the
set

52. Stage Directions
Audience
Center
C
Up Right
UR
Up Center
UC
Up Left
UL
Right Center
RC
Left Center
LC
Down Right
DR
Down Center
DC
Down Left
DL
UP
R
I
G
H
T
L
E
F
T
DOWN