Stage Vocabulary 1

Front 1

articulation

Back 1

the clear and precise pronunciation of words

Front 2

gesture

Back 2

an expressive movement of the body or limbs

Front 3

improvise

Back 3

to speak or to act without a scrip

Front 4

inflection

Back 4

variety in speech reflecting changing thoughts and emotions

Front 5

pantomime

Back 5

to act without words through facial expression and gesture

Front 6

project

Back 6

to make your voice fill the performing space; to cast an image or patterned light onto a screen or other surface

Front 7

script

Back 7

the text of a play

Front 8

apron

Back 8

the acting area of the stage that extends beyond the proscenium arch

Front 9

downstage

Back 9

the stage area toward the audience

Front 10

house

Back 10

the auditorium, or the area where the audience sits

Front 11

arena stage

Back 11

a performance stage in which the audience sits all around the stage; sometimes called "in-the-round"

Front 12

proscenium stage

Back 12

a performance stage in which the audience views the action as if through a picture frame

Front 13

thrust stage

Back 13

a combination of the proscenium and the arena stages, with the audience sitting on two or three sides of the acting area

Front 14

scenery

Back 14

onstage decoration to help establish the time and place of a play

Front 15

set

Back 15

the onstage physical space and its structures in which the actors perform

Front 16

stage manager

Back 16

the director's technical liaison backstage during rehearsals and performance

Front 17

cue

Back 17

a signal for something to happen

Front 18

cue line

Back 18

a final line that signals an actor to begin the next speech

Front 19

property or prop

Back 19

anything that an actor handles onstage as well as furniture and other items used to enhance the set

Front 20

beat

Back 20

a smaller section a scene, divided where a shift in emotion or topic occurs

Front 21

cross

Back 21

to move from one place onstage to another

Front 22

subtext

Back 22

information that is implied but not stated by a character; thoughts or actions that do not express the same meaning as the character's spoken words

Front 23

monologue

Back 23

a story, speech, or scene performed by one actor alone

Front 24

blocking

Back 24

coordination of actors' movements onstage

Front 25

fourth wall

Back 25

an imaginary wall between the audience and the actors in a representational play