Guaranteed to put you in the know!

A

ASM – Assistant Stage Manager

Act – Well, that's what actors do on stage. But the term is also used to denote a division in the performance of a play, a concept that began in the Elizabethan era. Today, most plays are in one, two or three acts.

Ad lib – Short for the Latin " ad libitum" meaning "freely." In theatre it means improvising lines, though the audience generally shouldn't know unless an actor is deliberately responding "ad lib" to a comment picked up from the audience. Of course, actors may simply ad lib because they've forgotten their lines. Ah, the joys of live performance!

Antagonist – Antagonists are present in almost every play. They oppose what the main hero, or protagonist of the play is trying to accomplish.

B

Book (or Prompt Script) – The master copy of the script used by the stage manager which has all sound, lighting, flying and entrance cues marked, as well as detailed plot of moves by the actors on stage. The book is also used for prompting the actors.

Backdrop – A large drapery of painted canvas that provides the rear or upstage masking of a set.

Backstage – The area behind and around what you see on stage. "Backstage" may include the wings, dressing rooms and other out–of–sight places. Some plays, such as Michael Frayn's farce, Noises Off, and Ronald Harwood's poignant drama, The Dresser, actually portray life backstage. It can be pretty intense.

Blackout – A sudden, rapid darkening of the stage. A slow darkening is described as "fade to black."

Blocking – The movements and positions that the director works out with the actors in rehearsal for dramatic effect–and so they won't bump into each on stage. The stage manager makes a careful note of blocking directions for later reference.

"Break a leg" – A friendly encouragement to performers prior to a show. The expression may derive from the idea of a performer, having left the stage, being called called back from behind the legs for an encore.

Box set – A scenic design that includes three walls and sometimes even a ceiling, usually to give a very realistic visual effect. It tends to emphasize the notion of a fourth invisible wall, the one through which the audience observes the action.

C

Call – either the time an actor or member of staff is required for work e.g. rehearsal call, wardrobe call, voice call etc. during a show a cue from the stage manager for an actor to come to the stage or a member of the production team to get in position.

Cans/Comms – Headsets used by the production team to communicate

Cast – The complement of actors in a play.

Channel – A lighting/sound control circuit

Cloth – A large piece of scenic canvas that can be painted on. A backcloth hangs at the back of the stage and frontcloth at the front.

Comedy – This term describes a play that is light in tone and designed to provoke laughter. The ancient Greeks are credited with inventing comedies as a way to comments satirically on domestic situations.

Costume – What an actor wears to evoke the appearance of a particular character. Costumes may be realistic or stylized. They may be "period"–appropriate to the historical setting of the play–or deliberately modern in look, even when the play is set in a past era.

Counterweights – Used for flying scenery. Weights are placed in a cradle to counterbalance the weight of the scenery (or person) to be flown.

Crew – The backstage team assisting in mounting a production.

Cue – 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.

Critic – Well everyone's a critic, as they say, and some get paid for it. A critic's job is not necessarily to declare a production a hit or miss but to discuss it thoughtfully, with the advantage of broad theatrical knowledge and experience, in a way that may help elucidate it for readers.

Curtain call – What happens at the end of the play–even if there isn't an actual curtain to signal the end–when the actors acknowledge the audience's applause. Actors at the Fortune are really, really good at curtain calls!

Cyclorama or 'cyc' – A large piece of plain cloth covering the back wall of the stage and the surrounding areas to create a feeling of infinite space.

D

Dark – We say the theatre is dark when it's closed to the public, as between productions or on non–performance days. Of course, there's lots still happening.

Denouement – The concluding scene of a play where the drama of the action gets resolved and brought to some sort of conclusion, happy or otherwise. Some playwrights deliberately avoid a traditional denouement, leaving the drama effectively open–ended.

Dialogue – Conversation in a play.

Director – The person responsible for interpreting and bringing the script to life on stage, as well as the overall artistic unity of the production.

Downstage – The front of the stage closest to the audience.

Drop – A large piece of fabric hung down onto the stage floor.

Dry Ice – Is frozen carbon dioxide. It's so cold that when a lump of the stuff is lowered into boiling water it produces clouds of heavy steam that can be pumped on stage to produce a low–lying mist.

E

Exposition – 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. Other times it's cleverly woven into the opening dialogue without you really noticing.

F

Flashback – A playwrighting device that enables the audience to capture scenes from the past through the recollection of an actor.

Flat – A flat piece of painted scenery consisting of a wooden frame covered with stretched fabric, usually canvas.

Flown – Means that a piece of scenery is suspended so that it can be lowered into view or raised out of sight as required.

Fly Tower – The space above the stage into which scenery can be flown.

Flyman – The person who operates the fly system, which is a counterweighted pulley mechanism.

Focus – The process of adjusting the lighting during production week

Follow spots – Spotlights moved physically by the operator to follow the actors around the stage

Footlights – Once a common feature in theatres, this row of lights across the front edge of the stage is rarely employed today. Even so, you may still hear someone say of an actor: "He really projects across the footlights."

Forestage – The part of the proscenium stage in front of the house curtain

Front of House – Usually refers to the public areas of the theatre but strictly includes everything in front of the proscenium.

G

Gauze – A piece of fabric with lots of tiny holes which can be made to look transparent or solid with the use of different lighting techniques

Gels – Coloured filters put over lights to give a colouring lighting effect. They used to be made out of gelatine.

Gobo – Is an etched plate, usually metal, put in front of a spotlight so that it casts a pattern on stage. Gobos can be used in all kinds of neat ways, for example, to imitate the effect of light filtered through foliage or to create the effect of a neon sign.

Green room – A room in the theater–rarely painted green–where the actors and crew members can relax or receive instructions. The term may come from ancient Greek theatre where actors would stretch out on the lawn before stepping onstage.

Grid – A floor high above the stage and often made of metal on which hardware is mounted to facilitate the raising and lowering of scenery and other objects.

H

Hamming – Something you'll never see at the Fortune! It means over–acting!

House – The place where the audience sits; thus the much–loved expression here at The Fortune "Full house."

Houselights – The lights in the house or auditorium.

I

Interval – The time between acts when you can get a drink and visit the washrooms. In exceptional cases where there is break in the performance – you will be warned in advance.

L

Lighting board – The main stage lighting control unit

Lines – What actors learn and speak on stage. The word is also used technically to refer to the counter–weighted ropes or wires that are attached to flown scenery.

M

Marking – Discreet marks made on the stage floor to help the production team put scenery and props in the right place during a scene change

Marking out – Marketing out the plan of the stage and scenery with tape on the rehearsal room floor

Masking – Basically scenery or other visible material designed to hide backstage stuff the audience is not supposed to see, such as the wings or the back wall.

MD – Musical Director

Mixer – Desk for controlling the quality, quantity and balance of the sound

Monologue – A lengthy speech by a single character delivered to other characters in a play; not to be confused with a "soliloquy" (see below).

O

Offstage – All areas outside the acting area.

Orchestra – Not just a group of musicians; orchestra can also mean the seating area immediately behind the orchestra pit. And, by the way, if you're buying a ticket in a British theatre, forget about the orchestra seats. Ask for a seat in "the stalls".

Orchestra Pit – This is an enclosed area generally extending across the breadth of the stage and at a lower elevation so that the musicians do not block the audience's view.

P

Pack in – This is what happens when the set and props are moved into the theatre. The reverse is a "pack out" when the sets and props go into storage.

Photocall – When photographs are taken of members of the cast or from the production

Playwright – The person who writes the play. In the case of living playwrights they sometimes direct and even act in their own work.

Plot – A list of preparations and actions required during a performance. Each area of the theatre has its own polt as necesssary (costume, lighting etc)

Producing Theatre – A theatre which programmes, rehearses and creates its own shows for its own theatre with a permanent or transient company of actors which produces shows that run for a set number of days or weeks. At any given time there is usually one show in production and one in rehearsal. The Fortune Theatre is in the main a producing theatre.

Prompt – This is what someone gives to actors when they forget their lines. Some theatres have fulltime prompters standing by in the wings. Actors will also help out other actors. Naturally, no one needs prompting at the Rep!

Props – Objects on the stage, such as furniture, that are not part of the actual scenery. Hand props are objects the actors actually handle such as swords, books and cups.

Proscenium – Sometimes known as the "proscenium arch", this is an opening through the wall separating the stage from the auditorium. It is often ornately decorate to frame the stage. Modern theatre design, in order to allow greater flexibility, has tended to modify this design.

Protagonist – The character that generates the main action of the story.

Pyrotechnics – Effects that produce can produce bangs, smoke and flashes of light

R

Rake – A sloping stage floor or seating to improve sightlines

Repertory – A much–abused term that is now used in a variety of ways. All the plays in a season could be called the repertory. Strictly speaking, when we speak of a "repertory theatre" we mean a company of actors performing different roles across a number of productions running "in rep", that is rotating from show to show. However, most "repertory" theatres today stage one or perhaps two productions for a specific "run", then move on to the next. Just imagine if the sets had to be rotated and changed on a daily basis!

Run – The number of performances of the same show in sequence

Running time – The length of an individual show

Run through – A rehearsal of the entire production from beginning to end.

S

Set – The scenery for a scene or entire production.

Sight lines – The imaginary line drawn from the furthest seat on the side in the house to the stage. This determines where the action is placed onstage for optimum viewing.

Soliloquy – A speech directed to the audience by an actor in which personal thoughts are shared. Shakespeare gave Hamlet a famous one that started: "To be, or not to be ?" And, of course, Hamlet never did quite make up his mind.

Smoke – Is produced on stage by the vaporization of mineral oil. Smoke machines or "foggers" direct this non–toxic material on stage to create various mysterious effects.

Stage Left – The left side of the stage from the actor's perspective, looking out towards the audience. (The right hand side from the audience's perspective)

Stage Right – The right hand side of the stage from the actor's perspective, looking out towards the audience. (The left hand side from the audience's perspective).

Stage makeup – Not what you'd likely want to put on for a party. Stage makeup may be simple or elaborate, involving wigs and prostheses, and generally has to "carry" over a distance.

Stage Manager – A very important person who gives instructions or "calls" for just about everything that happens on stage. Because directors usually leave soon after a show has opened, stage managers are also responsible for seeing that a production continues to be performed just the way the director wanted.

Stage Right – The right side of the stage from the actor's perspective, looking out towards the audience.

Strike – In theatre doesn't mean the actors or crew are walking out. It refers to the act of disassembling the set when a productions closes.

T

Tabs – An expression that comes from "tableaux" curtains, drawn back and up to reveal a scene. Nowadays tabs describe various curtains hung on stage. In theatres that routinely have curtains that hides the stage when the performance is not in progress, these are called the "house tabs."

Trap – An opening in the stage floor. A trap can be used for all kinds of things.

Truck – A platform on castors onto which part of the a scene is built. Enables more elaborate and very quick scene changes

U

Upstage – Toward the back of the stage, away from the front edge.

W

Wings – The hidden areas to either side of the stage.