Drama Vocabulary
Script = written story structure. Includes dialogue, character motivation, tension, mood,
and plot structure
Acting = pretending to be someone or something else. Includes mental skills
(concentration, relaxation, transformation, visualization, sensory recall, portraying a
character, emotional range), voice skills (diction, volume, expressiveness, varying pitch,
tempo, rhythm), body skills (movement, expressiveness, purposeful movement),
Ensemble = group.
Includes communicating, cooperating, and interacting with others
Props = object used on stage to define or enhance a character or setting
Set = background artwork the show the setting
Sound Effects = sounds used to enhance dramatization
Costumes = characters’ clothing
Lighting Effects = lights used to enhance dramatization
Characters = people in the story
Plot = what happens to the characters (conflict, rising action, climax, falling action,
conclusion)
Setting = where the story takes place
Justification = the character’s motivation for doing something
Downstage = area toward the audience
Upstage = area away from audience
Stage left (actor’s left as he/she faces the audience)
Stage right (actor’s right as he/she faces the audience)
Actor positions = full front, full back, one quarter right or left (also called “cheating
out”), profile right or left, three-quarters right or left
Cue = signal to begin the action or dialogue
Exposition = information given through dialogue that explains things
Monologue = a scene for one actor who speaks his/her thoughts aloud
Improvisation = a scene performed with little or no rehearsal