IMPORTANT THEATRE TERMS

Improvisation: when an actor has to adapt quickly to a new

situation. A new character and lines are made impromptu, and the
actor has to continue and improvise.
Accepting: when someone else gives you an item, character or
situation, and accepting it and building on it.
Blocking: when someone else gives you an item, character or
situation, and you reject it.
*Note not to be confused with Blocking, when an actor is in such
a physical position on stage that his or another character is not
visible to the audience.
Endowing: when you give someone else an item, character or
situation.
Building: when the character, item or situation has been provided
and the actors build on it and give it more depth.
Important for acting AND still images
Levels: when multiple actors on the stage are at different physical
levels or heights. Someone may be standing straight, while
someone may be sitting, or bent, or on the floor. These different
levels add depth to an image.
Status: defines a character, and where they may be on the stage
as compared to the other characters. A king would sit on a throne
above everyone else, and a common man standing equally with the
other commoners, while a beggar would be near the floor. It helps
understand the character.
Blocking: when one character is not in view, and is blocked by a
prop, or another character while on the stage. This should be
reduced, as the audience should be able to see all the characters
and get the full impact of the image.
Facial expressions: crucial, as they should be appropriate for the
situation, and should mirror the characters thoughts or intentions
so that even without words, the audience could decipher the
characters intent.
Facing the audience: the idea that when the actors come into the
image, the audience should be able to see the actors, their actions,
facial expressions so that they feel involved, and they receive the
full impact of the scene.

Gesture: what the actor does in an image with his hands. It helps
create depth in the scene, making it more realistic and
strengthening the understanding of the relationships between the
characters.

Body Language: how the actor positions himself. It should be

comfortable enough to maintain for a while. It also identifies bonds:
two friends or lovers would be close together, while two enemies
would stand far away from each other turning their backs. It works
hand in hand with spacing, the distance between actors, and
provides insight into the relationships and feelings of the characters
to the audience.
Preparatory theatrical activities
SPLAT: All individuals must stand in a circle. The person in the
middle of the circle has to call out a name of one the individuals,
and in that moment that person has to duck down, while the
adjacent ones have to point at each other and shout Splat!. If the
called individual doesnt duck down fast enough, or a wrong person
ducks, or one of the adjacent ones doesnt shout and point fast
enough, they are eliminated. This activity is good for listening,
paying attention, acting quickly and on our feet.
Filling the room: Each individual has to walk around the room at a
steady pace and as a group, fill the room. There mustnt be any
empty spaces. The instructor would continuously give instructions
on the pace of walking and facial expressions. This exercise is about
learning how to act as an ensemble: each individual must stay true
to their character while being aware of the others movements and
actions.
Stop and start: All the individuals must stand in any position. The
instructor would walk around the room and when he taps an
individual, they must begin speaking. Once double-tapped, the
individual must stop talking at that moment, and if tapped again,
then they must resume talking from the point they stopped at. Often
more than one person would be talking at one point in time. This
activity is about learning to listening to the speaker while he acts as
otherwise it can cause a lot of confusion for the actors.
Types of stages
Proscenium arch: the typical kind of stage used a lot in American
theatre and Broadway. The stage directly faces the audience, but
both are separated distinctly. It creates a grander effect for the
audience, and is easier for the actors as well as they dont have to

walk around to catch the audiences attention. All the focus is

directed on the stage. But the actors wont have much audience
interaction.
Thrust: a stage is projected out into the audience, so that the
actors are surrounded by the audience on all three sides, not unlike
a peninsula. The stage and audience are close together so there is
more interaction and involvement. The show and stage are seen
differently from each side, so each audience member would have a
different perspective of the show. However, its slightly harder for
the actors, as facing one side would mean blocking another.
Traverse: a long, isle-shaped stage. It is a long strip, and the
audience is on either side of the stage, facing it. This type of stage
is rare, since each audience member can see only one side of the
stage and get a limited perspective of the show, making it very
disjointed. Similar to the thrust stage, its hard for the actors to face
two sides at once and act.
In the round: the typical kind of stage used in Greek/Roman
circus, where the stage is a round surrounded by the audience on
all sides. This makes the audience feel included in the performance,
and gives them an unusual panoramic view. The actors may come in
from in between the audience, but ultimately the audience has the
power. This is the hardest stage for an actor, to be able to face all
sides at once.
Important literary terms
Act: A large division of a play; there are usually two in a play. An act
is spread out over various points in time and locations
Scene: Subdivisions of an act. Each scene takes place at one
moment in time and location.
Alliteration: A string of words in a sentence starting with the same
sounds, or a repetition of similar sounding speech sounds.
Allusion: A vague reference to an name/place in a text which is of
historical importance in a different time/place.
Simile: A very explicit comparison using the words asas and
like.
Metaphor: A more implicit comparison between two items/ideas.
Personification: When
inanimate objects.

human

characteristics

are

given

to

Denotation: The primary, more explicit understanding of a word.

Connotation: The secondary, more implicit understanding of a
word.
Verse: A text written with a rhythm or in meter.
Stanza: A grouping of lines in a poem, usually depicted by a gap in
the text. May be a verse. Types:
Couplet: A pair of rhyming lines that are the same length.
1. Octosyllabic
2. Iambic pentameter
Triplet: Three rhyming lines that may be of the same length
or different lengths.
Terza Rima: Interlocked triplets (ABA, BCB, etc)
Quatraine: Four lines (common measure, heroic)
Rime Royal
Parataxis: The juxtaposition of clauses/phrases without the use of
coordinating/subcoordinating conjunctions.
Hypallage: Transferred epithet (a figure of speech in which the
natural relations of two words in a statement are interchanged)
Stichomythia: An ancient Greek arrangement of dialogue in
drama, poetry and disputation in which single lines/parts of lines of
verse are spoken by alternate speakers.
Caesura: A pause in a line of verse dictated by sense or natural
speech rhythm rather than by metrics.
Anaphora: The deliberate repetition of a word/phrase at the
beginning of each one of a sequence of sentences/paragraphs/lines
of verse/stanza.
Enumeration: To count off one by one/list.
Cataphora: The use of a linguistic unit, such as a pronoun, to refer
ahead to another unit.
Synechdoche: A part of something to signify the whole, or rarely
the whole used to signify a part.
Bicolon, tricolon, tetracolon: A sentence with 2, 3, or 4 clearly
defined parts, usually independent clauses and of increasing power.
Epizeuxis: A word that is repeated with vehemence or emphasis.
Epistrophe: Repetition of a word at the end of successive clauses
or sentences.

Theatrical Styles
Naturalism: Based on natural observation of life. Detailed. Focused
on human conflict, and the natural order of things. Attempts to
create a perfect illusion of reality, through 3D settings, everyday
speech, secular world view, social range of characters portrayal, etc.
Realism: Like heightened naturalism. Often present in films. Closer
attention to detail, even more real. Can be physical or psychological
realism. Depiction of possibly sordid or violent everyday life.
Expressionism: The opposite of naturalism/realism. Presents the
world from mostly a subjective perspective. Is distorted for emotion
effects to evoke moods, ideas. Dramatizes spiritual awakening and
suffering. Representative. Shows conflict of the upper class.
Absurdity: Expresses that human existence has no meaning or
purpose, so all communication breaks down. Rational Irrational
silence. Subject to any occurrence.
Modernism: Broad concept that sees art as detached from life
purely, to reflect on it critically. Rejects realism. Applies reprise,
rewriting recapitulation, revision. Makes old ideas new. 3 rd POV,
omniscient. Pretends to be objective, but cant be.
Post-modernism: Like TOK, is a reaction to modernism. Highlights
fallibility of truth. Asks more questions than answers. Challenges
norms, uses multimedia. Narratives are broken, paradoxical.
Characters are fragmented. The audience is included in the
performance, often present in dialogues. Is based more on shared
meaning, making and improve rather than scripts.
Language of theatre
Style

Naturalistic
Surrealistic
Futuristic
Stylised

Lighting

Cold-cool-warm-hot
Chormatics

Tradition

Stanislavski
Brecht

Props
Costume
Pace fast/slow
Tension marking the moment
Story arc
Spacing

Acting

Face
Gesture
Pace
Body language
Voice
Movement