The Theatre

Theatre (UK) or theater (US)

Theatre vocabulary

To put on a play
The set / props
Script
To learn your lines
Stage
Scene – small part of a play (or film/TV programme)
Act (noun) – a group of related consecutive scenes
Eg. I love Act 3, Scene 2 of “Othello”
Soliloquy – monologue when a character says his or her thoughts aloud
Rehearsal / to rehearse
Dress rehearsal – final rehearsal(s) with complete costumes, props, set, etc.
The orchestra pit
Front row seats
A standing ovation
Take a bow
Curtain call
To bring down the house
A good/bad review
Critic
Amdram – amateur dramatics
To break a leg – good luck
Ad lib – spontaneous words not in the script
Backstage
Cast – the actors
Casting – selecting the actors
Centrestage
Off stage – opposite of on stage
Green room – area where actors get ready backstage
Stage directions – script instructions of position and movement for actors
Cue – an indication, spoken or visual, in a particular place
To Prompt/a prompter – person offstage who whispers the forgotten lines
Playwright – person who writes plays (eg. Shakespeare)
Understudy – actor who prepares in case s/he has to substitute another actor
Stage fright – when an actor is nervous about performing
Thespian (old-fashioned) – actor
To upstage someone – to perform more memorably than another famous actor (eg. the unknown actor playing a minor role upstaged Helen Mirren playing The Queen)
Stage hands – those technicians who help set up the stage
Footlights – lights at floor level on the stage
Spotlight – the big main light focused on the most important actors on stage
The wings – the sides just beside the stage. Waiting in the wings – waiting just offstage ready to enter the stage (often used metaphorically)
eg. When Lenin died, Stalin was waiting in the wings, ready to quickly take centre stage.

Craig’s recurring nightmare about not knowing his lines and having to get up on stage.

What’s the difference between reoccur and recur?
Recur – to happen repeatedly or after an interval.
Reoccur – to happen again.

There is a small difference. An event that reoccurs repeats at least one time, but not necessarily more than that. An event that recurs is an event that repeats many times.

‘The sunrise recurs.’
‘I think the ice-age will reoccur eventually.’

Discussion

Have you ever been involved in a theatre production?

Do you enjoy going to the theatre?

Should theatre try to reflect real life?

Can theatre really affect society and the way we look at things?

If someone wrote a play about your life, which famous actor would you choose to play the role?

Do you agree with what Shakespeare wrote in his play As You Like It:
“All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts…”?

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