Living Literature
Peralta & Martí
Drama vocabulary
Actor/Actress: A male or female person who performs a role in a play.
Antagonist: A person or a situation that opposes another character’s goals or desires.
Articulation: The clear and precise pronunciation of words.
Block: coordination of actors' movements on stage
Blocking: The planning and working out of the movements of actors on stage.
Cast: The actors in a play.
Catharsis: The purification or purgation of the emotions (such as pity, fear, grief, etc.)
Cheat/Open Out: Angling the body slightly toward the audience while still presuming
to face the character you are in conversation with.
Climax : the point at which the conflict can go no further without bringing about a
resolution.
Cold-Reading: a try-out in the actor is asked to read from a scene without having the
opportunity to fully prepare.
Concentration: The ability of the actor/actress to be “in” character.
Center stage: The center of the area defined as the stage.
Character: A personality or role an actor/actress re-creates.
Characterization: The development and portrayal of a personality.
Climax: The point of greatest dramatic tension.
Costume: Clothing worn by an actor on stage during a performance.
Cue: A signal, either verbal or physical, that indicates something else, such as a line of
a dialogue or an entrance, is to happen.
Cross: to move from one place to another on stage.
Curtain Call: the moment at the conclusion of a performance when the cast bows to
the audience in acknowledgment of the applause
Design: The creative process of developing costumes, lighting, sets, and makeup.
Dialogue: The conversation between actors on stage.
Living Literature
Peralta & Martí
Diction: The pronunciation of words.
Director: The person who oversees the entire process of staging a production.
Downstage: Acting area closest to the audience.
Drama : A serious play.
Dress Rehearsal: The final rehearsal prior to opening night in which the show is run
with full technical elements.
Ensemble: A group of performers who work together as a team to create a total effect
rather than individual performances.
Farce: A comedy with exaggerated characterizations, visual humor and an unreal plot.
Form: The overall structure of a work. It may refer to a literary type (narrative, verse…)
Genre: The main types of literary form, principally tragedy and comedy.
Gesture: An expressive movement of the body or limbs.
Informal theatre: A small performance, such as one taking place in a classroom setting.
Make-up: Cosmetics and hairstyles that an actor wears.
Mime: Conventionalized gestures used to express ideas.
Monologue: A long speech by a single character.
Mood: The overall feeling of the play.
Notes: Director's comments given after a performance or rehearsal discussing what
was good and what still needs work.
Off Book: Rehearsing without a script.
On Book: Rehearsing with a script.
Pacing: The tempo of an entire theatrical performance.
Part: The role each character performs.
Pantomime: Acting without words through facial expression, gesture, and movement.
Pitch: The highness or lowness of voice.
Play: a dramatic composition.
Playwright: A person who writes plays.
Living Literature
Peralta & Martí
Plot: The events of a play; the story as opposed to the theme; what happens rather
than what it means.
Position: The orientation of the actor to the audience (full front, left/right profile).
Projection: the clarity, and distinctness of voice for communicating to an audience.
Prompter: The person who helps the actors to remember their roles when necessary.
Props (properties): Items carried and used on stage by an actor.
Proscenium: The view of the stage for the audience; also called a proscenium arch.
Protagonist: The main character of a play.
Puppetry: Anything brought to life by humans (puppets include rods, hands and
marionettes).
Rehearsal Practice: sessions in which actors and technicians prepare the play.
Run-through: A rehearsal moving from start to finish without stopping for corrections.
Script. The written text of a play.
Stage: The area where actors perform.
Stage Center: Acting area in the center of the stage.
Stage crew: The backstage technical crew responsible for running the play .
Stage direction: Notes in a script of a play indicating stage business and blocking
Stage manager: Responsible for the running of each performance.
Stage left: The left side of the stage from the perspective of an actor facing the
audience.
Stage right: The right side of the stage from the perspective of an actor facing the
audience.
Stock characters: Established characters, such as young lovers, neighborhood
busybodies.
Tempo: speed, pace.
Theatre: To imitate or represent life in performance for other people.
Upstage: Acting area furthest from the audience.