Site MapHelpFeedbackGlossary
Glossary
(See related pages)

Afterpiece  In eighteenth- and nineteenth-century theater, an entertainment staged after the main play.
Agon  In Greek Old Comedy, a scene with a debate between the two opposing forces in the play, each representing one side of a social or political issue.
Agonthetes  In Hellenistic Greece, the government official responsible for producing plays for festivals.
Alienation  An aspect of Bertolt Brecht's theory of epic theater: the concept that audiences' emotional involvement should be minimized so that they will instead be involved intellectually with the political or social message.
Allegory  Representation of an abstract theme or themes through symbolic use of character, action, and other concrete elements of a play. In its most direct form—for example, the medieval morality play—allegory uses personification to present characters representing abstract qualities, such as virtues and vices, in action which spells out a moral or intellectual lesson.
Alojero  In corrales, the theaters of the Spanish golden age, a box from which refreshments—food and drinks—were sold.
Amphitheater  (1) Large oval, circular, or semicircular outdoor theater with rising tiers of seats around an open playing area; also, an exceptionally large indoor auditorium. (2) In French neoclassical theater, an undivided gallery at the rear with inexpensive, bleacher-like seating.
Angle perspective  Use of two or more vanishing points, frequently at the sides of a painted design. Ferdinando Bibiena is usually credited with introducing angle perspective early in the eighteenth century.
Angry young men  Group of antiestablishment English playwrights of the 1950s who dealt with the dissolving British empire, class conflict, and political disillusionment.
Antagonist  Character who is the chief opponent of the main character (the protagonist) in a drama. In some cases there may be several antagonists.
Aposentos  In the Spanish golden age, the boxes in a corral.
Apprentice  In Elizabethan England, a young performer in an acting company who was taught the art of acting through actual experience and who received room and board from a key member of the troupe.
Apron  Stage space in front of the curtain line or proscenium; also called the forestage.
Archon  Athenian government official appointed to oversee the staging of drama at the City Dionysia festival.
Arena  Type of stage which is surrounded by the audience on all four sides; also called theater-in-the-round.
Aside  In a play, thoughts spoken aloud by one character without being noticed by others onstage.
Atellan farce  Form of Roman theater: improvised comedic pieces dealing with exaggerated family situations or satirizing historical or mythological figures.
Auleum  In Roman theater, a front curtain which was raised and lowered on telescoping poles.
Autos sacramentales  In the Spanish golden age, religious dramas combining characteristics of mystery and morality plays.
Avant-garde  Term applied to plays of an experimental or unorthodox nature which attempt to go beyond standard usage in form, content, or both.
Backdrop  Large drapery or painted canvas which provides the rear or upstage masking of a set.
Backstage  Stage area behind the front curtain; also, the areas beyond the setting, including wings and dressing rooms.
Ballad opera  Eighteenth-century English form which burlesqued opera: there was no recitative, songs were set to popular tunes, and characters were drawn from the lower classes. John Gay's The Beggar's Opera is the most famous example.
Batten  A length of pipe or a pole suspended from above the stage on which scenery or lighting instruments are hung.
Benefit  Tradition begun in eighteenth-century theater whereby the profits from an evening's performance were given to a performer or group of performers.
Biomechanics  An aspect of Vsevelod Meyerhold's theory of acting: the idea that an actor's body should be machinelike and that emotion can be represented externally.
Blocking  Arrangement of actors' movements onstage with respect to each other and the stage space.
Bookholder  In Elizabethan theater, the prompter who gave actors their lines.
Border  Strip of drapery or painted canvas hung across the top of the stage from a batten to mask the area above the stage; also, a row of lights hung from a batten.
Boulevard theaters  In eighteenth-century France, theaters located on Boulevard du Temple in Paris, catering to popular tastes.
Box  Small, private compartment for a group of spectators, built into the walls of a traditional proscenium-arch theater.
Box set  Interior setting using flats to form the back and side walls and often the ceiling of a room.
Breeches roles  Male roles played by females, particularly popular in Restoration and eighteenth-century English theater.
Bunraku  Japanese puppet theater. The puppets are two-thirds life-size and are manipulated by men in black robes who are conventionally regarded as being invisible to the audience.
Burlesque  Ludicrous imitation of a dramatic form or a specific play. Closely related to satire, but usually lacking the moral or intellectual purposes of reform typical of satire.
Burletta  Eighteenth-century English dramatic form resembling comic opera and defined by the lord chamberlain as a play with no more than three acts, each of which had to include at least five songs.
Business  Obvious and detailed physical movement of actors to reveal character, aid action, or establish mood; e.g., pouring drinks at a bar, opening a gun case.
Canon  Set of literary works believed to be universally accepted as important and historically significant. Today, many critics argue that certain groups are underrepresented in the canon, and that it therefore does not adequately reflect human accomplishments.
Capa y espada  Literally, "cape and sword": full-length Spanish plays which revolved around intrigue and duels over honor.
Carros  In the Spanish golden age, pageant wagons on which autos sacramentales were staged.
Cavea  In Roman theater, the seating area.
Cazuela  In the Spanish golden age, the gallery located above the tavern in the back wall of a theater; the area in which women were segregated.
Chiaroscuro  In painting, emphasis of contrasts between light and shadow, associated with Giambattista Piranesi and others.
Choral odes  In classical Greek drama, songs chanted by the chorus between the episodes.
Choregus  In ancient Greece, a wealthy person who underwrote most of the expenses for the production of an individual playwright's works at a dramatic festival.
Chorodidaskalos  In ancient Greek theater, the person who trained and rehearsed the chorus.
Chorus  (1) In ancient Greek drama, a group of performers who sang and danced, sometimes participating in the action but usually simply commenting on it. (2) Performers in a musical play who sing and dance as a group rather than individually.
City Dionysia  The most important Greek festival in honor of the god Dionysus; it was staged in Athens in the spring and was the first to include dramatic activities.
Claque  People in the audience who are hired to applaud; the tradition of the claque began in Roman theater.
Comédie larmoyante  "Tearful comedy": in eighteenth- century France, a form of drama meant to evoke sentimental tears.
Combination company  In the nineteenth century, a complete touring production, including supporting players, scenery, and costumes.
Comedia  In the Spanish golden age, a three-act full-length nonreligious play.
Comedy  Category of drama that is generally light in tone; it is concerned with issues that are not serious, has a happy ending, and is designed to amuse and provoke laughter. (See also Old Comedy, New Comedy, Comedy of humours, Comedy of manners, Farce, Satire, Slapstick.)
Comedy of humours  Form of comedy developed by Ben Jonson in the early seventeenth century. It is based on Roman comedy and stresses ridicule directed at characters who are dominated by a single trait (or "humour") to the point of obsession.
Comedy of manners  Form of comic drama that became popular in the latter half of the seventeenth century in France and among English playwrights during the Restoration. It emphasizes a cultivated or sophisticated atmosphere, witty dialogue, and characters whose concern with social polish is charming, ridiculous, or both.
Comic opera (opéra comique)  In eighteenth-century France, an entertainment in which action was mimed by the performers and dialogue was often sung by the audience. Later, French comic opera became more like ballad opera.
Commedia dell'arte  Form of comic theater, originating in Italy in the sixteenth century, in which dialogue was improvised around a loose scenario involving a set of stock characters, each with a distinctive costume and a traditional name.
Compañias de partes  In the Spanish golden age, acting troupes organized according to the sharing system.
Complication  The introduction in a play of a new force, which creates a new balance of power and makes reaching a resolution more difficult and more complicated.
Confidant (confidante)  Minor character in whom the protagonist confides.
Conflict  Tension between two or more characters, leading to a crisis or a climax. The basic conflict is the fundamental struggle or imbalance underlying the play as a whole. May also be a conflict of ideologies, actions, and the like.
Constructivism  Following World War I, a movement in scene design in which sets were created to provide greater opportunities for physical action. The sets, which were frequently composed of ramps, platforms, and levels, were nonrealistic. The Russian director Vsevelod Meyerhold used many constructivist settings.
Continental seating  Auditorium arrangement in which audience members enter and exit at the ends of rows; there is no center aisle.
Contract system  System under which performers are hired for a specific period of time and paid a set salary.
Corral  In the Spanish golden age, a theater usually located in the courtyard of a series of adjoining buildings.
Crisis drama  Dramatic structure, developed in classical Greece and popular with modern realists, in which the dramatic action begins near the climax, with the characters in the midst of their struggles. Usually, crisis drama has few characters, few locales, much exposition, and only one main action, and covers a short span of time.
Curtain-raiser  In nineteenth-century theater, a short play staged before a full-length drama.
Cycle plays  See Mystery plays.
Cyclorama  Large curved drop used to mask the rear and sides of the stage; painted a neutral color or blue to represent sky or open space. It may also be a permanent stage fixture made of plaster or a similar durable material.
Dada  Movement in twentieth-century art between World War I and World War II which was based on deliberate presentation of the irrational and on attacks against traditional artistic values.
Deconstructionism  In theater history, an approach based on the concept that a text has no stable reference. It questions historical assumptions about the ability of language to represent reality.
Decorum  Neoclassical rule, developed in the Italian Renaissance, that dramatic characters must behave in set ways based on their social class and background.
Denouement  The moment when suspense is finally satisfied and the "knot is untied." The term is from the French and was used to refer to the working out of the resolution in a well-made play.
Desvanes  "Attics": in the Spanish golden age, cramped, low-ceilinged boxes located on the fourth floor of a corral.
Deus ex machina  Literally, "god from a machine." In ancient Greek theater, the convention of bringing in gods on a mechane—that is, a crane or lever suspended from the top of the scene house. The term now applies to any unjustified or arbitrary dramatic device used to resolve a plot, usually in the final moments.
Director  In American usage, the person who is responsible for the overall unity of a production, coordinating the efforts of the contributing artists. The director is in charge of rehearsals and supervises the actors in the preparation of their parts. The American director is the equivalent of the French metteur en scène. For many years in Britain, the director was known as the producer.
Dithyramb  In ancient Greece, a choral song describing the adventures of a god or heroic figure.
Documentary drama  Term encompassing different types of twentieth-century drama that present material in the fashion of journalism or reporting. Living newspaper drama of the 1930s used signs and slide projections to deal with broad social problems; other documentary dramas use a more realistic approach.
Domestic drama  Also known as bourgeois drama. Domestic drama deals with problems of the middle and lower classes, particularly problems of the family and home.
Dominus  Leader of a Roman acting troupe.
Double-entendre  Word or phrase in comedy that has a double meaning, the second meaning often being sexual.
Doubling  Having an actor play more than one role in a play. Doubling was common in Greek and Elizabethan theater.
Downstage  Front of the stage toward the audience.
Doyen  In the Comédie Franáaise, the head of the company and the actor with the longest service.
Drame  Eighteenth-century French term usually denoting a serious drama that dealt with middle-class characters. Some critics suggest that drame included such eighteenth-century forms as domestic tragedy, middle-class tragedy, and tearful comedy (comédie larmoyante).
Drolls  In seventeenth-century England, short dramas that were either excerpts from or condensations of longer plays. Drolls were presented during the commonwealth and at the beginning of the Restoration.
Drop  Large piece of fabric, generally painted canvas, hung from a batten to the stage floor, usually to serve as backing.
Eclectic  Theater artist who works in a variety of modes and does not identify with one particular artistic movement.
Ekkyklema  In ancient Greek theater, a wagon used to bring characters onstage—often to reveal the results of offstage violence.
Elevator stage  Stage which allows the entire floor or sections of the floor to be raised and lowered auto matically.
Emotional recall  Stanislavski's exercise to assist the actor in presenting realistic emotions. The performer thinks of the circumstances surrounding an event in his or her own life which led to an emotion similar to that which the character is supposed to feel in the play. By mentally re-creating these circumstances, the performer will feel the emotion.
Ensemble playing  Acting which stresses the total artistic unity of a performance rather than the individual performances of specific actors.
Entremeses  In the Spanish golden age, interludes during the intermissions of comedias; these could be comic sketches, songs, and dances.
Environmental theater  A type of theater production in which the total theater environment—the stage space and the audience arrangement—is emphasized. A form of environmental theater came to the forefront in experimental theater of the 1960s. Among its aims are elimination of the distinction between audience space and acting space, a more flexible approach to interactions between performers and audience, and substitution of a multiple focus for the traditional single focus.
Epic theater  Twentieth-century form of presentation associated with the German dramatist Bertolt Brecht, its chief advocate and theorist. Epic theater is aimed at the intellect rather than the emotions, seeking to present evidence regarding social questions in such a way that they may be considered objectively and an intelligent conclusion may be reached.
Epilogue  Speech addressed to the audience after the conclusion of a play and spoken by one of the actors.
Episkenion  In Hellenistic Greece, the second story of the skene or scene house.
Episodic drama  Dramatic structure—extremely popular in the English Renaissance and the Spanish golden age—in which the dramatic action begins early in the story. Episodic drama has little exposition, many characters, frequent changes of time and place, and subplots.
Existentialism  Set of philosophical ideas whose principal modern advocate was Jean-Paul Sartre. The term existentialist is applied to plays by Sartre and others which illustrate these views. Sartre's central thesis was that there are no fixed standards or values by which one can live, and that each individual must create his or her own code of conduct regardless of conventions imposed by society.
Exodos  In classical Greek drama, the final scene, in which all the characters exit from the stage.
Exposition  Imparting of information that is necessary for an understanding of the story but will not be covered by the action onstage: events or knowledge from the past, or occurring outside the play, which must be introduced if the audience is to understand the characters or the plot. Exposition is almost always a challenge in drama because relating or conveying information is static; the dramatist must find ways to make expository scenes dynamic.
Expressionism  Movement which developed and flourished in Germany during the period immediately preceding and following World War I. Expressionism in drama was characterized by an attempt to depict subjective states through distortion; striking, often grotesque, images; and lyric, unrealistic dialogue.
Farce  One of the major genres of drama, sometimes regarded as a subclass of comedy. It aims to entertain and to provoke laughter, and its humor is a result primarily of physical activity and visual effects.
Feminism  In theater history, an approach based on the belief that woman's place in theater has not been sufficiently explored.
Flat  Single piece of scenery, usually of standard size, combined with similar units to create a set. Formerly made of canvas stretched over a wooden frame, but now frequently made of a hard substance such as luan; a hard flat is sometimes called a Hollywood or movie flat.
Fly loft or flies  Space above the stage where scenery may be lifted out of sight by means of ropes and pulleys when it is not needed.
Footlights  Row of lights in the floor along the edge of the stage or apron; once a principal source of stage light but now rarely used.
Forestage  See Apron.
Found space  Space not originally intended for theater which is converted for productions. Avant-garde artists often produce theater events in found spaces.
Fourth-wall convention  Pretense that in a proscenium-arch theater the audience is looking into a room through an invisible fourth wall. The term is often attributed to the eighteenth-century French philosopher Denis Diderot.
Futurism  Art movement begun in Italy about 1905 which idealized mechanization and machinery.
Gallery  In traditional proscenium-arch theaters, the undivided seating area cut into the walls of the building.
Gesamtkunstwerk  Richard Wagner's term for a unified operatic work of art, in which all elements—music, words, story, scenery, costumes, orchestra, etc.—form a total piece.
Glories  In the Italian Renaissance, flying machines used for special effects.
Gradas  In the Spanish golden age, benches placed along the side walls of the patio or pit area in a corral.
Groove system  System in which there were tracks on the stage floor and above the stage which allowed for the smooth movement of flat wings on and off the stage; usually there were a series of grooves at each stage position. The system was developed during the Italian Renaissance and was used through the nineteenth century in England, the United States, and the Netherlands.
Groundlings  In Elizabethan theater, audience members who stood in the yard.
Hamartia  Ancient Greek term usually translated as "tragic flaw." The literal translation, however, is "missing the mark," and this suggests to some scholars that hamartia is not so much a flaw in character as an error in judgment made by the protagonist.
Hanamichi  In kabuki theater, the bridge from behind the audience (toward the left side of the audience) on which actors can enter to the stage. Important scenes are also played on the hanamichi.
Happenings  Form of theatrical event which was developed out of experimentation by certain American abstract artists in the 1960s. Happenings are nonliterary, replacing the script with a scenario which provides for chance occurrences, and are performed (often only once) in such places as parks and street corners.
Hashigakari  In n¯o theater, the bridge on which actors make their entrance from the dressing area to the platform stage.
Heavens  Also called shadows. In the English Renaissance, a roof protecting the stage of a public theater, often painted on the underside to represent the heavens literally. (For French neoclassical usage, see Paradis.)
Hireling  A member of an Elizabethan acting company who was paid a set salary and was not a shareholder.
History play  In the broadest sense, a play set in a historical milieu which deals with historical events and personages; but the term is usually applied only to plays which deal with vital issues of public welfare and are nationalistic in tone.
Householders  In Elizabethan England, star members of an acting company who were given part-ownership of its playhouse; also, people who owned buildings and rented them to acting companies.
Hubris  Ancient Greek term usually translated as "excessive pride"; hubris is a common tragic flaw.
Hypokrite  Greek term for "actor."
Innamorata  In commedia dell'arte, the stock female lover.
Innamorato  In commedia dell'arte, the stock male lover.
Inner stage  Area at the rear of the stage which can be cut off from the rest by means of curtains or scenery and revealed for special scenes.
Interludes  In medieval England, short dramatic pieces, usually presented between courses of a banquet.
Intermezzi  In the Italian Renaissance, entertainments performed between the acts of operas and full-length plays.
Irony  Condition that is the reverse of what we have expected; also, a verbal expression whose intended implication is the opposite of its literal sense. Irony is a device particularly suited to theater and found in virtually all drama.
Joruri  In Japanese puppet theater, chanted texts.
Kabuki  The most eclectic and theatrical of the major forms of Japanese theater. Roles of both sexes are performed by men in a highly theatrical, nonrealistic style. Kabuki combines music, dance, and dramatic scenes with an emphasis on color and movement. The plays are long and episodic, consisting of loosely connected dramatic scenes which are often performed independently.
Kathakali  In southwestern India, a form of dance drama presented by torchlight, dealing with clashes of good and evil.
Katharsis  Greek word, usually translated as "purgation," which Aristotle used in his definition of tragedy. For some, it refers to the vicarious cleansing of certain emotions in the audience through their representation onstage.
Kothornus  In Hellenistic Greek theater, the platform boot worn by actors.
Ky¯ogen  In n¯o theater, farcical interludes presented between plays.
Lazzi  In commedia dell'arte, comic pieces of business repeatedly used by characters.
Lehrstücke  "Learning pieces": short dramas written by Bertolt Brecht in the early 1930s.
Liturgical drama  Any religious drama, usually sung or chanted, that relates to the Bible and is presented in Latin inside a church sanctuary. The form was highly developed in the medieval period.
Living newspapers  The Federal Theater Project's dramatizations of newsworthy events in the 1930s.
Local color  Inclusion in scenery of locations that audience members will recognize from their own community. Use of local color in settings became more common in the eighteenth century.
Loges  In French neoclassical theater, boxes.
Long run  In commercial theater, presentation of a drama for as long a period of time as it remains popular with the public. In nineteenth-century American and English theater, the long run replaced repertory.
Lords' rooms  In English Renaissance theater, boxes frequented by wealthy patrons.
Ludi Romani  Roman festival in honor of Jupiter into which drama was first introduced.
Luñetas  In the Spanish golden age, semicircular benches located in the front of the pit.
Magic if  Stanislavski's acting exercise which requires the actor to ask, "How would I react if I were in this character's position?"
Mansion  Medieval scenic unit, often presented as an individual house or locale.
Masking  Scenery or draperies used to hide or cover.
Masque  Lavish form of private theatrical entertainment which developed in Renaissance Italy and spread rapidly to the courts of France and England. The masque combined poetry, music, elaborate costumes, and spectacular effects of stage machinery.
Mechane  In ancient Greek theater, a crane used for flying characters into the playing area.
Medieval drama  Range of plays that make up the religious and folk drama developed during the Middle Ages. (See Liturgical drama, Mystery plays, Morality play.)
Melodrama  Historically, a distinct form of drama popular throughout the nineteenth century which emphasized action, suspense, and spectacular effects; generally melodrama used music to heighten the dramatic mood. Melodrama had stock characters and clearly defined villains and heroes, and it presented unambiguous confrontations between good and evil.
Mime  In ancient Greece and Rome, a form of theatrical entertainment which consisted of short dramatic sketches characterized by jesting and buffoonery.
Minstrelsy  Type of nineteenth-century production featuring white performers made up in blackface.
Mise-en-scène  Arrangement of all the elements in a stage picture, either at a given moment or dynamically throughout a performance.
Morality play  Medieval drama designed to teach a lesson. The characters were often allegorical and represented virtues or faults, such as good deeds, friendship, or avarice. The most famous example is Everyman.
Mosqueteros  Literally, "mosquitos": in the Spanish golden age, the noisy groundlings in the corrales.
Moving panorama  In the nineteenth century, a setting painted on a cloth which was unrolled by spools to create an illusion of movement and changing locales.
Multiculturalism  In theater history, an approach focusing on diverse cultural, social, and ethnic groups that have traditionally been underrepresented.
Multimedia  Use of electronic media, such as slides, film, and videotape, in live theater.
Multiple setting  Form of stage setting, common in the Middle Ages, in which several locations are represented at the same time; also called simultaneous setting. Used also in various forms of contemporary theater.
Musical theater  Broad category which includes opera, operetta, musical comedy, and other musical plays (the term lyric theater is sometimes used to distinguish it from pure dance). It includes any dramatic entertainment in which music and lyrics (and sometimes dance) are integral and necessary.
Musicians' gallery  In English Renaissance theater, the third level of the tiring house, where the accompanying musicians were located.
Mystery plays  Also called cycle plays. Short medieval dramas presented in western Europe and England, based on events of the Old and New Testaments. Many such plays were organized into historical cycles which told the story of human history from the creation to doomsday.
N¯o  Also spelled noh. Rigidly traditional Japanese drama which in its present form dates back to the fourteenth century. N¯o plays are short dramas combining music, dance, and lyrics with a highly stylized and ritualistic presentation. Virtually every aspect of a production—including costumes, masks, and a highly symbolic setting—is prescribed by tradition.
National theater  A theater which is dedicated to the drama of a specific country and usually is subsidized by the government.
Naturalism  Special form of realism. The theory of naturalism came to prominence in France and elsewhere in Europe in the latter half of the nineteenth century. The French playwright Émile Zola advocated theater that would follow the scientific principles of the age: drama should look for the causes of "disease" in society the way a doctor looks at disease in an individual, and theater should expose social "infection" in all its ugliness. Naturalism attempts to achieve the verisimilitude of a documentary film, conveying the impression that everything about the play—the setting and the way the characters dress, speak, and act—is exactly like everyday life.
Naumachia  In ancient Rome, sea battles staged in a flooded amphitheater or on a lake.
Neutral platform stage  Unlocalized stage which allows for easy shifts of locale through the use of properties, entrances, and exits. It was used first in the Middle Ages and later in the English Renaissance.
New Comedy  Hellenistic Greek and Roman comedies which deal with romantic and domestic situations.
Objective  Stanislavski's term for that which is urgently desired and sought by a character, the desired goal which propels a character to action.
Obstacle  That which delays or prevents the achieving of a goal by a character. An obstacle creates complication and conflict.
Off-Broadway  Movement developed in the late 1940s as a reaction to Broadway commercialism; its primary goal was to provide an outlet for experimental and innovative works, unhindered by commercial considerations. Off-Broadway theater spaces are small (usually holding about 200 spectators), and many have thrust or arena stages. Many American actors and directors began their careers off-Broadway.
Off-off-Broadway  Center for experimentation in New York theater that developed when off-Broadway became commercialized in the 1960s. Off-off-Broadway is dedicated to introducing and showcasing new talent, experimenting with new styles of production, and avoiding the limitations of commercial theater.
Offstage  Areas of the stage, usually in the wings, which are not in view of the audience.
Old Comedy  Classical Greek comedy which pokes fun at social, political, or cultural conditions and at individuals. The only surviving examples are by Aristophanes.
Onkos  In Hellenistic Greece, the high headdress of a mask.
Onnagata  In Japanese kabuki, women's roles played by male actors.
Orchestra  (1) Ground-floor seating in an auditorium. (2) In ancient Greek theater, the circular playing space.
Pageant master  In the Middle Ages, a professional stage manager who oversaw the production of a cycle of mystery plays.
Pantomime  Originally, a Roman entertainment in which a narrative was sung by a chorus while the story was acted out by dancers. Now used loosely to cover any form of presentation which relies on dance, gesture, and physical movement without speech.
Parabasis  In Greek Old Comedy, a scene in which the chorus directly addressed the audience members and made fun of them.
Paradis  "Heavens": in French neoclassical theater, the third tier of galleries along the side walls.
Parados  In classical Greek drama, the scene in which the chorus enters. Also, the entranceway for the chorus in Greek theater.
Parasite  In Roman New Comedy, a stock character who is motivated purely by sensual needs, e.g., gluttony.
Paraskenia  In ancient Greek theater, the wings of the skene.
Parterre  In French neoclassical theater, the pit where audience members stood.
Pastoral  Idealized dramatization of rural life, often including mythological creatures, popular during the Italian Renaissance.
Patio  In the Spanish golden age, the pit area for the audience.
Peking opera  Popular theater of China which developed in the nineteenth century.
Pensionnaire  Hireling in a French acting troupe.
Performance art  Alternative form of theater. Performance art often uses elements of the visual arts, dance, and popular entertainment in unique configurations. Also, personal, individual, autobiographical, presentations.
Periaktoi  In ancient Greek theater, a three-sided scenic piece which could be revolved to show the audience three different scenes.
Perspective  Illusion of depth in painting; introduced into scene design during the Italian Renaissance.
Pinakes  In ancient Greek theater, painted flats.
Pit  Floor of the house in a traditional proscenium-arch theater. The pit was originally a standing area; later, backless benches were added.
Platea  In medieval theater, an unlocalized playing area.
Plot  (1) As distinct from story, a patterned arrangement of events and characters for a drama. The incidents are selected and arranged for maximum dramatic impact. A plot may begin long after the beginning of the story and may refer to information regarding the past in flashbacks or exposition. (2) In Elizabethan theater, an outline of the dramatic action which was posted backstage so that actors could refresh their memory during a performance.
Point of attack  The moment in a story when a play actually begins. The dramatist chooses a point in time along the continuum of events which he or she judges will best start the action and propel it forward.
Pole-and-chariot system  Giacomo Torelli's mechanized means of changing sets made up of flat wings.
Poor theater  Term coined by Jerzy Grotowski to describe his ideal of theater stripped to its barest essentials. According to Grotowski, the lavish sets, lights, and costumes usually associated with theater reflect only base, materialistic values and must be eliminated.
Positivism  In theater history, the idea that history can be chronicled objectively and explained logically.
Postmodernism  Theory that division of artworks into modernist categories, such as realism and departures from realism, is artificial. Postmodernist works mix realistic and nonrealistic elements as well as techniques from both "high" and "low" art.
Preparation  (1) Previous arranging of circumstances, pointing of character, and placing of properties in a production so that the ensuing actions will seem reasonable. (2) Actions taken by a performer getting ready for a performance.
Private theaters  In Elizabethan England, indoor theaters.
Proagon  In classical Greece, an initial event of a festival; performers and playwrights appeared in presentations intended to announce and advertise the coming plays.
Processional staging  In the Middle Ages, a form of staging popular in England and Spain. Though there is much debate about how it actually worked, apparently each mystery play was set up on a wagon which moved from locale to locale within a town, so that the play would be presented separately at each stop—each audience area—along its route.
Producer  In American usage, the person responsible for the business side of a production, including raising money. In British usage, a producer was the equivalent of an American director.
Proedria  In ancient Greek theaters, front-row seats reserved for political and religious dignitaries.
Prologos  In classical Greek drama, the opening scene which sets the action and provides the necessary background information.
Prologue  Introductory speech delivered to the audience by one of the actors or actresses before a play begins.
Props  Properties; objects that are used by performers onstage or are necessary to complete a set.
Proscenium  Arch or frame surrounding the stage opening, like a picture frame; developed during the Italian Renaissance.
Proskenion  In Hellenistic Greece, the bottom level of the skene, or stage house.
Protagonist  Principal character in a play; the one whom the drama is chiefly about.
Psychological gesture  According to the twentieth-century Russian acting theorist Mikhail Chekhov, a characteristic movement or activity which would sum up a character's motives and preoccupations.
Public theaters  In Elizabethan England, outdoor theaters.
Pulpitum  In Roman theater, a raised platform stage.
Régisseur  Continental term for theater director; it often denotes a dictatorial director.
Rake  To position scenery on a slant or angle other than parallel or perpendicular to the curtain line; also, an upward slope of the stage floor away from the audience.
Raked stage  Stage which slopes upward away from the audience toward the back of the stage.
Realism  Broadly speaking, the attempt to present onstage people and events corresponding to those observable in everyday life.
Regional theater  (1) Theater whose subject matter is specific to a particular geographic region. (2) Theaters situated outside major theatrical centers.
Rejas  In the Spanish golden age, windows, protected by grills and overlooking a corral, from which the play could be seen.
Repertory or repertoire  Acting company which at any given time has a number of plays it can perform alternately; also, the plays themselves.
Restoration drama  English drama after the restoration of the monarchy, from 1660 to 1700. Presented for an audience primarily of aristocrats who gathered about the court of Charles II, Restoration drama consisted largely of heroic tragedies in neoclassical style and comedies of manners which took a cynical view of human nature.
Reversal  Sudden switch or turnaround of circumstances or knowledge which leads to a result contrary to expectations. Called peripeteia or peripety in Greek drama.
Revisionism  In theater history, an approach based on the belief that history is usually told from the viewpoint of a social, political, or cultural elite; that it is therefore usually distorted; and that in consequence it needs to be rewritten.
Revolving stage  Large turntable on which scenery is placed so that as it moves, one set turns out of sight while a new one is brought into view.
Ritual  Specifically ordered, ceremonial religious, personal, or social event.
Romanticism  Nineteenth-century literary and dramatic movement which developed as a reaction to the strictures of neoclassicism. Imitating the loose, episodic structure of Shakespeare's plays, the romantics sought to free the writer from all rules and considered the unfettered inspiration of artistic genius the source of all creativity. They laid more stress on mood and atmosphere than on content, but one of their favorite themes was the gulf between human beings' spiritual aspirations and physical limitations.
Sacra rappresentazioni  "Sacred representations": in the late Middle Ages and early Renaissance, Italian religious dramas in medieval style, based on biblical stories and lives of saints.
Satire  In theater, drama that uses techniques of comedy—such as wit, irony, and exaggeration—to expose and attack folly and vice.
Satyr play  One of the three types of classical Greek drama. A satyr play was usually a ribald takeoff on Greek mythology and history and included a chorus of satyrs, mythological creatures who were half-man and half-goat.
Scaena  In Roman theater, the stage house.
Scaena frons  In Roman theater, the ornate three-dimensional facade of the stage house.
Scene  (1) Stage setting. (2) One of the structural units into which a play or an act of a play is divided. (3) Location of a play's action.
School drama  In the English Renaissance, plays written at the universities and presented at schools rather than to the general public.
Script  Written or printed text of a play or some other theatrical representation; a script consists of dialogue, stage directions, descriptions of characters, and the like.
Secrets  In medieval theater, special effects.
Semiotics  In theater history, an approach based on the argument that historians need to focus on audiences' responses to elements of a production in which function and signs and have a specific meaning for viewers.
Sentimental comedy  In eighteenth-century England, comedy that reaffirmed middle-class morality: the virtuous characters were rewarded and the wicked punished.
Set  Scenery, taken as a whole, for a scene or an entire production.
Set piece  Piece of scenery which stands independently in a scene.
Shadow play  Play in which the audience sees shadows of puppets or actors on a screen; developed most fully in southeast Asia.
Shareholders  In Elizabethan acting troupes, members who received part of the profits as payment.
Shite  In n¯o theater, the leading actor.
Shutters  Two large flat wings that close off a perspective setting in back.
Sides  A single actor's own lines and cues. Elizabethan actors learned their roles from sides.
Simultaneous setting  Medieval convention of presenting more than one locale onstage at the same time; also called multiple setting.
Siparium  In Roman theater, a backdrop curtain at the rear of the stage.
Skene  In ancient Greek theater, the scene house behind the orchestra.
Slapstick  Type of comedy or comic business which relies on ridiculous—often violent—physical activity for its humor.
Sociétaire  Shareholder in a French acting troupe.
Soliloquy  Speech in which a character who is alone onstage utters inner thoughts.
Sottie  In the Middle Ages, a short, satirical French farce.
Spine  In the Stanislavski method, the dominant desire or motivation of a character; usually thought of as an action and expressed as a verb.
Stage convention  An understanding, established through custom or usage, that certain devices will be accepted or assigned specific meaning or significance arbitrarily—that is, without requiring that they be natural or realistic.
Stanislavski method  Set of techniques for and theories about acting which promotes a realistic style stressing psychological gestures and emotional truth as opposed to conventional theatricality.
Stationary staging  In the Middle Ages, a form of staging popular on the European continent. A series of small scenic mansions were set up side by side, usually in conjunction with a large platform stage, so that all the plays of a cycle could be presented in one location.
Stock characters  Stereotypical characters, usually not fully developed as unique individuals. In the Italian Renaissance, commedia dell'arte had many popular stock characters, including servants, masters, and young lovers. Modern melodrama has stock characters such as heroes and villains.
Stock set  Standard setting for a locale used in every play which requires that environment.
Storm and stress  An antineoclassical movement in eighteenth-century Germany which was a forerunner of romanticism.
Street theater  Generic term for groups that perform in the open and attempt to relate to the needs of a specific community or neighborhood; also, their presentations.
Subtext  Meaning and movement of a play below its surface; that which is implied but never stated. Sometimes more important than surface activity.
Surrealism  Movement attacking formalism in the arts which developed in Europe after World War I. Seeking a deeper and more profound reality than the rational or the conscious, the surrealists replaced realistic action with the strange logic of dreams and cultivated such techniques as automatic writing and free association of ideas.
Symbolism  In drama, a movement of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century which sought to replace realistic representation of life with the expression of inner truth. Symbolist drama used myths, legends, and symbols in an attempt to reach beyond everyday reality; it was closely linked to symbolist poetry.
Taburetes  In the Spanish golden age, a row of stools or a few benches at the front of the patio (pit) of a corral, near the stage.
Tan  In Peking opera, a female role.
Tetralogy  In classical Greek theater, four plays—three tragedies and one satyr play—written by a single author for a festival.
Theater of cruelty  Antonin Artaud's visionary concept of theater based on magic and ritual which would liberate deep, violent, erotic impulses. He wanted to reveal the cruelty which he saw as existing beneath all human action—the pervasiveness of evil and violent sexuality.
Theater of the absurd  Term first used by Martin Esslin to describe the works of certain playwrights of the 1950s and 1960s who expressed a similar point of view regarding the absurdity of the human condition. In theater of the absurd, rational language is debased and replaced by clichés and trite or irrelevant remarks. Realistic psychological motivation is replaced by automatic behavior which is often absurdly inappropriate to the situation. Although the subject matter is serious, the tone of these plays is usually comic and ironic.
Theatricalism  Style of production and playwriting which emphasizes theatricality for its own sake. Less a coherent movement than a quality found in the work of many artists rebelling against realism, it frankly admits the artifice of the stage and borrows freely from the circus, the music hall, and similar entertainments.
Theatron  In ancient Greek theater, the seating area, carved into a hillside.
Theme  Central thought of a play; the idea or ideas with which the play deals and which it expounds.
Thespian  Synonym for "actor"; the term is derived from Thespis, who is said to have been the first actor in ancient Greek theater.
Thingspielen  In Nazi Germany, massive propagandistic theatrical spectacles staged outdoors.
Thrust stage  Platform stage surrounded on three sides by the audience.
Thymele  In ancient Greek theater, the altar in the center of the orchestra.
Thyromata  In Hellenistic Greece, large openings into the second story of the skene.
Tiring house  In English Renaissance theater, a three-story stage house behind the raised platform stage.
Total theater  In Asia, a synthesis or complete integration of all elements—acting, mime, music, dance, and text. Some twentieth-century avant-garde theater artists have also called for the creation of total theater.
Tragedy  One of the most fundamental forms of western drama. Tragedy involves a serious action of universal significance and has important moral and philosophical implications. Following Aristotle, most critics agree that a tragic hero or heroine should be an essentially admirable person whose downfall elicits our sympathy while leaving us with a feeling that there has in some way been a triumph of the moral and cosmic order which transcends the fate of any individual. The disastrous outcome of a tragedy should be seen as the inevitable result of the character and his or her situation, including forces beyond the character's control. Traditionally, tragedy was about the lives and fortunes of people of stature—kings, queens, and the nobility—and there has been a great deal of debate about whether or not modern tragedy, tragedy about ordinary people, is possible.
Tragic flaw  The factor which is a character's chief weakness and makes him or her most vulnerable; it often intensifies in time of stress. At times, an abused and incorrectly applied theory from Greek drama.
Tragicomedy  In the Renaissance, plays that had tragic themes and noble characters yet ended happily. Modern tragicomedy combines serious and comic elements. Many plays of this type involve comic or ironic treatment of a serious theme.
Trap  Opening in the stage floor, normally covered, which can be used for special effects, such as having scenery or performers rise from below, or which permits the construction of a staircase that ostensibly leads to a lower floor or cellar.
Trilogy  In classical Greece, three tragedies written by the same playwright and presented on one day; they were usually connected by story or thematic concerns.
Tropes  In the Early Middle Ages, lyrics added to musical passages in religious services; these interpolations were often structured like playlets and evolved into liturgical drama.
Tsure  In n¯o theater, a secondary role.
übermarionette  "Superpuppet": term coined by Edward Gordon Craig in the early twentieth century to describe what he considered the ideal performer—one who would allow the director to control the performance totally.
Unities  Term referring to the rule that a play should occur within one day (unity of time), in one place (unity of place), and with no action irrelevant to the plot (unity of action). Contrary to widespread opinion, Aristotle insisted only on unity of action. Certain neoclassical critics of the Renaissance insisted on all three unities.
Unit setting  Single setting, developed by Edward Gordon Craig, that can be made to represent various locales by moving basic elements and adding properties.
University wits  In the English Renaissance, university graduates and professional dramatists who wrote plays based on Roman models but incorporating some medieval elements.
Vomitoria  In Roman theater, covered exits for the performers.
Waki  "Explainer": in Japanese n¯o, the second most important character.
Well-made play  Type of play popular in the nineteenth and early twentieth century which combined apparent plausibility of incident and surface realism with a tightly constructed and contrived plot.
Wings  (1) Left and right offstage areas. (2) Narrow standing pieces of scenery, or "legs," more or less parallel to the proscenium, which form the sides of a setting.
Yard  In Elizabethan public theaters, the pit, or standing area.
Zanni  In commedia dell'arte, comic male servants.
Zarzuela  In the Spanish golden age, a court entertainment; usually, a short, stylized musical drama based on mythology and with ornate scenic effects, influenced by Italian opera and intermezzi.
Zibaldoni  In the Italian Renaissance, manuscripts compiled by actors in commedia dell'arte, containing jokes, comic business, and repeated scenes and speeches; some of these manuscripts survive today.





To learn more about the book this website supports, please visit its Information Center.
(c)2004 McGraw-Hill Higher Education
Any use is subject to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
McGraw-Hill Higher Education is one of the many fine businesses of The McGraw-Hill Companies.


Theater ExperienceOnline Learning Center

Home > Glossary