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Arbor

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Part of the counterweight system in which weights ride on a track

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Backstage

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Any area connected to the acting platform, but never scene by the audience

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Counterweights

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Sandbags and iron weights that are used in the fly system to counter the weight of scenery attached to a fly bar or pipe

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Down Stage

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Any movement made towards the audience

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Drop

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Any soft, 2D flown piece of scenery

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Electric

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Fly bar of pipe with electric outlets attached for lighting purposes

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Fly Bar

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Pipe used to hang scenery and flown in

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Fly Loft

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Are above the stage where scenery is flown

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Grand Drape

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Front curtain

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Grid

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"Ceiling" of the fly loft where the fly system pulleys are attached.

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House

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Where the audience sits

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House Lights

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Lights over the audience

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Legs

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Side curtains, usually black, that mask offstage and backstage areas (or TABS) Section of narrow draperies, at the side of the stage, area, masking the wings from the audience.

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Lip

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The edge of the stage

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Lobby

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Where the audience waits for the house to open

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Offstage

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Any area connected to the acting platform but not seen by the audience; can be created by scenery

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Onstage

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Any area in view of the audience

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Pin Rail

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Where the fly ropes are tied off and controlled

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Proscenium Arch

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The "picture frame" of the stage

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Stage Door

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Where the actors enter the theater

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Teaser

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A curtain, usually black, used in conjunction with legs, that hide lighting fixtures from the audience view Border or draperies, hung in flies downstage, forming (with tormentors) an inner frame for the stage or simply masking fly bars and equipment.

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Traveler

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Any curtain attached to a track that can open and close

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Up Stage

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Any movement away from the audience

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Wings

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The area just offstage of the proscenium arch where actors wait before making an entrance

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Orchestra

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a group of musicians sitting in a 1/2 circle. Used to mean "Dancing Place"

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Action

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The action verbs the actor uses to fulfill the Objective/Driving Question. i.e. to possess. 'If conflict is the driving force of the dramatic situation, then action is the means of resolving the conflict. The choice of action is a consequence of who you are and what you want. The core of a theatre piece; the sense of forward movement created by the sequence of events and physical and psychological motivations of the characters.(Action/Reaction relates to cause and effect). the incidents of a play as expressed through the dialogue and movement of the characters.

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Beat Change

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What initiates one beat to end and the next to begin. Something must happen for the scene to change direction. These are called beat changes, and denote an event. These occur whenever the character changes their objective, or alters his/her tactics sufficiently to create new energy in the scene, or achieves the desired result and a new objective begins.

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Cheating Out

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Angling the body slightly toward the audience, while still presuming to face the character you are in a conversation with. The position of the actor's body to a 3/4th turn-out toward the audience. (e.g., "If you can see the audience, they can see you.")

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Climax

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Dramatic decisive turning point of the action, the highest moment of conflict.

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Cue

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In general, the line preceding your own that "cues" you to speak. A signal, either verbal or physical, that indicates something else, such as a line of dialogue or an entrance, is to happen. : A prearranged sign that indicates to a performer, crew member or stage technician that it is time to proceed to the next line or action. Actors also listen for cues in the text so that they know when it's time to say or do something.

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Dress Rehearsal

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The final rehearsal just prior to opening night in which the show is run with full technical elements. Full costumes and makeup are worn.

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Exposition

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Detailed information at the beginning of a story that reveals the facts of a plot. The part of a play that fills in things that have already happened so you can make sense of who's who and why they're doing whatever. Sometimes playwrights use actual narrators to do this by addressing the audience directly. Other times the exposition is cleverly woven into the opening dialogue.

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Inner Action

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A physical action verb chosen by the actor in the pursuit of an objective. It always begins with the word "to" i.e. to attack, to soothe, to tickle.

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Monologue

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An uninterrupted speech by a character in a performance. The monologue may be to another character or the audience. A sustained speech delivered by an actor without interruption, or a sustained speech delivered by an actor spoken without the physical presence of another actor.

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Justification

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The process of connecting outer (visible or audible) actions to inner needs and processes. The script provides the basis for the the actor to justify. In justifying, the actor puts his or her personal stamp on the performance.

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Objective

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A character's pursuit of a specific goal in a scene. Also referred to as the intention or driving question. The aim or goal

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Pace

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The speed at which you pick up your cue and deliver the next line of your dialogue. rate of performance (not just speed, but also precision, intensity, clarity, and frequency of new emotions, impressions)

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Projection

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actor's technique for making voice, movements, and gestures clear to all parts of the house In the theatre, speaking loudly enough and with enough clarity to be heard and understood throughout the auditorium

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Prop

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Small and usually hand-carried objects used by actors during performance. (Properties) Furnishings, set dressings, and all items large and small which cannot be classified as scenery, electrics or wardrobe. Props handled by actors are known as hand props, props which are kept in an actors costume are known as personal props.

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Relaxation

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Relaxation (Stanislavski Technique) Definition actors must release excess tension ; the performer must achieve a state of physical ; vocal relaxation.

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Beat

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The section of the script during which a single objective is played. A parenthetically noted pause interrupting dialogue, denoted by (beat), for the purpose of indicating a significant shift in the direction of a scene, much in the way that a hinge connects a series of doors.

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Blocking

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The physical ingredients of storytelling onstage—movement, gestures, ; business The placement and movement of actors in a dramatic presentation.. Movement on stage; it is developed during rehearsal by the director and the actors. Everyone knows where every actor, prop, and set piece is placed during the play. Blocking is very similar to a dance routine or a football play. UP STAGE - the actor moves to the back of the stage and away from the audience DOWN STAGE - the actor moves toward the audience STAGE LEFT - the actor's left when facing the audience STAGE RIGHT - the actor's right when facing the audience OPEN TO THE AUDIENCE - keeping the actor's face and body visible to the audience CHEATING OUT - turning the body and face in an open position to the audience

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Choice

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When pursuing a need, your character may consider several alternative courses of action and then make a strategic choice that app tion about them.

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Cross

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movement of an actor from one position on the stage to another movement of an actor from one position on the stage to another

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Downstage

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The front of the stage or the part closest to the audience.

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Emotional Memory

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The use of personal memory to create an emotion that can be applied to an acting situation. An age-old technique, made prominent by Stanislavski in his early writing, but later discarded by him. Stanislavsky's term, describing an actor's "work on himself" in acting. The actor tries to connect the character's situation with important events in his own life. This emotional connection can make the character's display of emotion on stage seem realistic and immediate. (see Identification).

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Focus

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Concentrate on immediate action or activity. Whatever you are concentrating on at any given moment, usually your objective.

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Tactics

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How a character gets what they want plan of action

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Intention

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Intention, perhaps the most important job an actor has, is the meaning of the line or what's going on in the actor's mind—the subtext

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Magic "if"

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Created by Stanislavsky, the actor tries to answer the question, "If this were real, how would I react?"

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Off Book

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unable (or able) to perform a scene without looking at a script; the stage manager following along in the script during rehearsal is also said to be "on book"

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Personalization

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An important part of your job as an actor is to experience the needs of the character as if they were your own

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Stage Right

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The right side of the stage from the perspective of an actor facing the audience.

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Stage Left

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The left side of the stage from the perspective of an actor facing the audience. These directions are from the actors' perspective looking out towards the audience. So, if the stage direction calls for an actor to "exit stage left" it will be the opposite of the way the audience sees it.

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Reacting

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Allowing yourself to respond to the immediate stimulus in the scene and allowing that stimulus to make you do what your character wants and your partner provides it, rather then playing what you have previously played in your head.

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Running lines

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practicing lines

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Given Circumstances

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The background and current circumstances of a character, ranging from who you are, where you are, and why you are doing it. The costumes, sets and lighting—all the circumstances that are given to the actor to take into account as they create their role.

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Stanislavsky, Constantin (1863-1938)

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Russian theatre director, actor, and teacher most responsible for the manner and technique in which the craft of acting is taught. Co-founder/director of the Moscow Art Theatre in 1897 with Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko. He developed a "system" or "method" by which actors could consistently produce superior work by tapping into themselves and their real feelings, to create naturalistic acting as opposed to the representational acting style popular at the time.

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Substitution

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The recasting of people, objects, and events in the script that the character must react act to, with real people, objects and events that the actor has known or experienced in their own life.

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Super Objective

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Stanislavsky developed the concept of the super- objective (referred to here as The Happiness) that would carry the 'through line of action,' mapped out for the character through the entire play.

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Upstage

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Increasing and upping the importance on a scene or moment to heighten the dramatic tension of the character or scene. area on the stage area farthest away from the audience. The term dates back to the days when the stage was raked away from the audience so that actors had to literally walk upstage.

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Units of Action

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Units of action, or units (sometimes also called beats), were first suggested by Konstantin Stanislavski as a means of helping actors determine the through line or super objective of a role. A unit is a discrete piece of action in a play-text, marked by a significant change in action. This could be a change in what the characters already on stage are doing or trying to do, i.e. a change in their objective, a new character entering the scene or those already on stage exiting.

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Answering the questions Who, When, Where, Why, etc. help the actor make up the character's world and situation. these are called the

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Given Circumstances

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Actions are best defined as

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Using a simple verb phrase

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SIP is a memory tool to remember what words as they relate to your characters objective

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singular immediate personal

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The shape of a good drama that is interesting, entertaining, and makes sense to an audience takes the following order

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Crisis-Climax-Denouement

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Most plays and films have characters that create and participate in some kind of plot or story. Which of the statements listed below is most interesting and dramatic to an audience

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The conflict between characters and how that is resolved

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This word refers to the "hidden agenda" of what a character says or does. It is not what is directly said but is the difference between the surface activity and real hidden agenda

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Subtext

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This word defines something your "character wants to get from your scene parter" or "change your character wants to bring about in your scene partner."

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Objective

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Tell me your understanding of the Dramatic Function of an actor

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it is transforming into your character in order to further show the playwrights purpose and entertain the audience

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There are certain things we as an audience think all actors in any media with any material should be able to do. please list three

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1. be able to portray their role well 2. bring emotion 3. have a good voice without a sense of anxiety or nervousness

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What are the three steps of inner thought process?

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External stimulus Choice Objective

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Difference between connotation and denotation

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Denotation is the literal definition of a word or phrase. Connotation is the emotional meaning

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What are two types of actions?

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Deliberated and stimulus

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A unit of action with its own specific conflict and crisis is called a

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beat

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For an actor, the ___ is what his/her character does to try to reach an objective

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Action

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It is the french word for "unraveling": it is that final portion a story in which the loose ends are wrapped up

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Denoument

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Father of American Realism: His acting method became the basis for all other acting techniques

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Stanislavski

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The goal a character pursues is also called their

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objective

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A kind of emotional recall in which you, the actor, take something real or imaginary from your own life and use it for a character in a scene is called

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Substitution

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All good actors, whether on stage or screen, strive to create characters that fulfill the _________ ______, for which they were created.

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Dramatic Function They do this by being Skillful Truthful Engaging

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When you define your character's goals or intentions you often use the acronym SIP to help you be clear. What does this mean?

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Singular Immediate Personal

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Indicating

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is when an actor feels as if they need to over exaggerate their actions in order to get a point across. This is when they show the action instead of just doing it

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The more important the need of the character and the stronger the choices they make results in a more focused and heightened performance. We call this

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raising the stakes

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When an actor has something that gets in the way of achieving their goal, this is called an

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obstacle

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Action produces ____ and not the other way around

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Emotion

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What is your understanding of Dual Consciousness?

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Dual consciousness is whenever an actor is in their own world performing but still aware that they are in public and the audience is watching them

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What is the difference between inner monologue and inner action?

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Inner Action - The inner process of reaction, attitude, need, and choice that results in outer or observable action. A believable performance connecting it to an internal process. Inner Monologue - the "stream of consciousness" of the character.

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Four kinds of recognition traits of character that round them out as individuals.

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Moral Psychological Social Physical

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Characters are given certain traits that make their actions in a play seem "natural". Aristotle called these

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Function Traits

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Scene

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In drama, a scene is a unit of action, often a subdivision of an act.

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Stage Fright

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Acute nervousness associated with performing or speaking before an audience.

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Superobjective

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A super-objective, in contrast, focuses on the entire play/scene as a whole. A super-objective can direct and connect an actor's choice of objectives from scene to scene. The super-objective serves as the final goal that a character wishes to achieve within the script.

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Apron

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The apron is any part of the stage that extends past the proscenium arch and into the audience or seating area. The Elizabethan stage, which was a raised platform with the audience on three sides, is the outstanding example.

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Fourth Wall

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The fourth wall is the imaginary "wall" at the front of the stage in a traditional three-walled box set in a proscenium theatre, through which the audience sees the action in the world of the play. an imagined partition closing to a three-sided set on the downstage side at the proscenium

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Off Stage

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Situated or taking place in the area of a stage that is invisible to the audience.

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Proscenium Line

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Imaginary line where place of the proscenium intersects the stage floor. For accuracy, this is aligned with the stage side of the proscenium columns.

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Direct Cross

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DIRECT cross which could show DETERMINATION and STRENGTH,

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House Right or Left

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stage left/right mirror images are "house right" and "house left," which describe the same directions, but from the opposite side—as if you are looking at the stage. It's the audience's perspective, from where they sit in the house.

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Counter cross

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Counter crossing is moving in the opposite direction of someone else who is crossing. So if you're stage left, and they're stage right, and they cross towards you, you'll cross to stage right. It helps keep the stage picture balanced. as one actor moves, another actor shifts his/her position to balance the composition of scene A movement in the opposite direction in adjustment to the cross of another actor. The instruction usually given is "Counter to left" or "Counter to right." If only a small adjustment is necessary, the actor should make it without being told

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act curtain

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a curtain for closing the proscenium opening between acts or scenes.

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Sense Memory

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The technique involves recalling a sensual experience — sight, sound, smell, taste, or touch — to evoke an emotional reaction appropriate to a moment in the scene.

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Stage directions

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Instructions to describe fairly precise positions on stage.

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Subtext

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the meaning behind what is actually being said

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Back stage

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The part of the stage and theatre which is out of the sight of the audience. The service areas of the theatre, behind, beside or underneath the stage. Also refers to the personnel who work in the technical departments that work to create the performance, alongside the actors and musicians.

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Proscenium

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the part of a theater stage in front of the curtain.

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Sharing the scene

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situation in which two actors stand or sit parallel to eachother

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Indirect cross

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or a CURVED cross which could show THOUGHTFULNESS, EASE, or UNCERTAINTY.

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