Technical Words Used In Drama And Theater

Question 1

Area where actors perform

Answer 1

Stage

Question 2

Non-acting area behind the stage

Answer 2

Backstage

Question 3

The back wall of the stage which can be painted or lit

Answer 3

Cyclorama

Question 4

Area above the stage from where scenery/actors are flown in on pulleys

Answer 4

Flies

Question 5

Left-hand side of the stage where prompter and stage manager shoots during a performance

Answer 5

Prompt side

Question 6

Short for properties—objects used by an actor

Answer 6

Props

Question 7

Audience follows the action on foot, moving from one location to another

Answer 7

Promenade

Question 8

To come on stage

Answer 8

Enter

Question 9

A remark to the audience only

Answer 9

Aside

Question 10

Blocks or platforms used to create levels

Answer 10

Rostrum

Question 11

An item placed on set, usually part of it e.g., a lamp, clock, picture.

Answer 11

Set prop

Question 12

What the audience sees of the stage from where they are sitting

Answer 12

Sight lines

Question 13

A single lengthy speech, made when no other characters are on stage

Answer 13

Soliloquy

Question 14

Attitude or position of the body

Answer 14

Stance

Question 15

A stage picture, held without movement

Answer 15

Tableau

Question 16

Speaking, moving, or pausing at exactly the right moment

Answer 16

Timing

Question 17

Door in a floor

Answer 17

Trapdoor

Question 18

Stairs

Answer 18

Treads

Question 19

Recorded speech played during a drama

Answer 19

Voiceover

Question 20

People watching a drama

Answer 20

Audience

Question 21

The area for the audience, generally filled with seats

Answer 21

Auditorium

Question 22

The height of an actor’s head actor as determined by his/her body position (e.g., sitting, lying, standing, or elevated by an artificial means)

Answer 22

Level

Question 23

Cosmetics and sometimes hairstyles that an actor wears on stage to emphasize facial features, historical periods, characterizations, and so forth

Answer 23

Makeup

Question 24

Coverings worn over face or part of the face of an actor to emphasize or neutralize facial characteristics

Answer 24

Masks

Question 25

An incident art form based on pantomime in which conventionalized gestures are used to express ideas rather than represent actions.

Answer 25

Mime

Question 26

A long speech by a single character

Answer 26

Monologue

Question 27

The tempo of an entire theatrical performance

Answer 27

Pacing

Question 28

Acting without words through facial expression, gesture, and movement

Answer 28

Pantomime

Question 29

Highness or lowness of voice

Answer 29

Pitch

Question 30

The orientation of the actor to the audience (e.g., full front, right profile, left profile)

Answer 30

Position

Question 31

The placement and delivery of volume, clarity, and distinctiveness of voice for communicating to an audience

Answer 31

Projection

Question 32

The view of the stage for the audience; is in sense the frame for stage as defined by the boundaries of the stage beyond which a viewer cannot see

Answer 32

Proscenium

Question 33

Almost anything brought to life by human hands to create a performance. Types include rod, hand, and marionette

Answer 33

Puppetry

Question 34

A rehearsal moving from start to finish without stopping for corrections or notes

Answer 34

Run-through

Question 35

The written text of the play

Answer 35

Script

Question 36

The backstage technical crew responsible for running the show. In small theater companies the same persons build the set and handle the load-in. Then during performances, they change the scenery and handle the curtain.

Answer 36

Stage crew

Question 37

The director's liaison backstage during rehearsal and performance, is responsible for the running of each performance

Answer 37

Stage manager

Question 38

Established characters, such as young lovers, neighborhood busybodies, sneak villains, and overprotected fathers, who are immediately recognizable by an audience

Answer 38

Stock characters

Question 39

Audience seated on two sides of the acting area

Answer 39

Avenue

Question 40

Canvas cloth which covers the back of the stage, can be painted

Answer 40

Backcloth

Question 41

The acting area is not lit

Answer 41

Blackout

Question 42

Deciding where and when actors will move on stage

Answer 42

Blocking

Question 43

Specific person in a drama

Answer 43

Character

Question 44

Clothes worn by actors for their character

Answer 44

Costume

Question 45

To change from one lighthing/sound cue to another with no blackout/silence in between

Answer 45

Crossfade

Question 46

Conversation between two or more characters

Answer 46

Dialogue

Question 47

Actions or remarks whose significance is not realized by all the characters

Answer 47

Dramatic irony

Question 48

Final rehearsal of a drama with all the theater arts

Answer 48

Dress rehearsal

Question 49

The stress on a word or phrase

Answer 49

Emphasis

Question 50

Audience seated at one end, acting area at the other

Answer 50

End on

Question 51

To leave the acting area

Answer 51

Exit

Question 52

Acting out an event in the past

Answer 52

Flashback

Question 53

Acting out a future or imagined event

Answer 53

Flashforward

Question 54

Wooden frames, joined together and covered with canvas, which can be painted

Answer 54

Flats

Question 55

Frames into which a door is built

Answer 55

Door flat

Question 56

Reading of a script done by actors who have not previously reviewed the play

Answer 56

Cold reading

Question 57

A signal, either verbal or physical, that indicates something else, such as a line of dialogue or an entrance, is to happen

Answer 57

Cue

Question 58

The creative process of developing and executing aesthetic of functional designs in a production, such as costumes, lighthing, sets, and makeup

Answer 58

Design

Question 59

The art and technique of bringing the elements of theater together to make a play

Answer 59

Directing

Question 60

The particular literary structure and style in which plays are written.

Answer 60

Dramatic structure

Question 61

Specific in depth-knowledge and literary resources to a director, producer, in theater company, or even the audience

Answer 61

Dramaturgy

Question 62

A group of theatrical artists working together to create a theatrical production

Answer 62

Ensemble

Question 63

A comedy with exaggerated characterizations, abundant physical or visual humor, and often, an improbable plot

Answer 63

Farce

Question 64

A spontaneous style of theater through which sense are created without advance rehearsal or a script

Answer 64

Improvisation