Terms and definitions

Here are some terms and definitions that are connected to theater.

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Act- a major division of a play

Action- the movement in the play from the initial entanglement through the rising action, climx, and falling action to resolution

Actor- one who performs a role or represents a character in a play

Antagonist- the character who provides the obstacle to the protagonist’s objective in the play

Auditorium/House- the part of the theater building that holds the audience

Backstage- the area behind the set or backdrop that is not seen by the audience

Blocking- the basic movements of the actors during a play

Cast- the actors who perform in a play

Character-a person or the personality of a role in a play

Cheat- to turn the body out, partially toward the audience, while appearing to talk to another character on stage

Collaborative Theater- a situation in which actors and directors work together to develop a script for a play

Company- the term used to call all those who are part of the play (actors, technicians, backstage people)

Copyright- a playwright’s legal ownership and control over production of his/her play in public

Costume- clothing worn by the actors in the performance

Dialog- speech between two or more characters

Director- the person responsible for the direction of the actors in a play; provide the play’s “vision”

Dramatic Irony- the form of irony in which the audience knows something that a character in the play doe not

Dress Rehearsal- the last rehearsal before the play; treated as a performance and is done in full costume and full tech effects

Elizabeth Theater- the theatre of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, usually associated with Shakespeare and Marlowe

House Manager- one who oversees the house

In Yer Face Theater- a term coined in the latter part of the twentieth century to group together plays by Marber, Kane and others to define the style and content as extremely challenging for the audience; often in gory detail

Melodrama- a style of performance developed in the latter half of the nineteenth century which had a major influence on the early days of British cinema. Melodramas were known for their ‘stock’ characters of villain, heroine and hero and they were often based on real-life characters

Monolog- a work written to be spoken by just one person

Plot- the events of a play; the story and not the theme

Presentational- a style of performance in which the actor recognizes and addresses the audience, in contrast to representational style in which the actors observe the convention of a fourth wall 

Promenade- A style of theatre in which the audience moves amongst the action that takes place within a defined space with minimal props and that looks back at the medieval performances in town centres and through city streets.

Soliloquy: a speech in which an actor, usually alone on stage, speaks his/her thoughts aloud

Stylization- the shaping of dramatic material, settings, or costumes in a deliberately nonrealistic manner

Theme- what the play means as opposed to what happens

Tragedy- A style of theatre stemming from Ancient Greece and developed through the centuries by playwrights, most famously Shakespeare, in which the protagonist or hero suffers serious misfortune, usually as a result of human and divine actions.

Victorian- The period of theatre associated with the reign of Queen Victoria.