Theatre Glossary
Whether you're stepping on stage for the first time or picking up a script to read, here's a guide to the terms you'll encounter in the world of theatre.
299 terms
Cue Sheet
A detailed document listing every technical cue in a production—lighting changes, sound effects, set movements, special effects—in sequential order with their cue numbers, page references, and descriptions. The stage manager uses the cue sheet (in conjunction with the prompt book) to call the show during performances. Sound operators, lighting operators, and fly crew each have their own cue sheets for their specific departments.
Stagecraft & TechnicalCue to Cue
A technical rehearsal method where the company skips between cue points rather than running the entire show, allowing the technical team to practise each lighting change, sound effect, and set transition without sitting through long stretches of uninterrupted dialogue. Cue-to-cues are efficient but can be tedious for actors, who spend much of the time waiting and jumping between disconnected moments.
Directing & ProductionCurtain Call
The appearance of the cast on stage after a performance to acknowledge the audience's applause. Curtain calls are carefully choreographed—typically the ensemble bows first, followed by supporting players, and finally the leads. The tradition evolved from literally raising and lowering the curtain repeatedly in response to applause.
Directing & ProductionCurtain Speech
A brief address to the audience delivered before the performance begins, typically by the artistic director, a board member, or a company representative. Curtain speeches may welcome the audience, acknowledge sponsors, make announcements (silence phones, no photography), or dedicate the performance. Some productions incorporate a curtain speech into the show itself as a dramatic device.
Industry & BusinessCurtain Up
The moment when the main curtain rises (or parts) to reveal the stage at the beginning of a performance, and by extension, a general term for the start of a show. "What time is curtain up?" means "What time does the show start?" The phrase captures the anticipation of that moment—house lights dimming, audience hushing, and the world of the play being revealed.
Industry & BusinessCurtain Warmer
Stage lighting focused on the front curtain before a performance begins, giving the audience something visually warm to look at as they take their seats. Curtain warmers set mood and anticipation—warm amber tones suggest a classic feel, while cooler or more dramatic lighting hints at what's to come. They're turned off when the house lights dim for the start of the show.
Stagecraft & TechnicalCyclorama
A large, smooth, curved backdrop—usually white or light grey—stretched across the back of the stage, used to represent sky, open space, or abstract distance. Abbreviated as "cyc" (pronounced "sike"), it can be lit in any colour to create sunsets, night skies, storms, or vast empty spaces. A well-lit cyclorama is one of the most versatile and cost-effective tools in stage design.
Stagecraft & TechnicalDark
When a theatre is "dark," it means no performance is scheduled that day or evening. Dark nights are common in weekly schedules (traditionally Monday) and allow the company to rest. A theatre that is "going dark" for an extended period has no productions scheduled, which can happen between shows or during financial difficulties.
Venues & SpacesDenouement
The final part of a play following the climax, where the consequences of the main action play out and loose ends are resolved. From the French word meaning "unknotting," the denouement brings the story to its conclusion and restores a sense of order (or reveals a new reality) after the dramatic tension has peaked.
Dramatic StructureDeus Ex Machina
A plot device where a seemingly unsolvable problem is suddenly resolved by an unexpected intervention—a new character, event, or revelation that hasn't been set up earlier in the story. The term literally means "god from the machine," referring to the crane (mechane) used in ancient Greek theatre to lower actors playing gods onto the stage to resolve the plot.
Dramatic StructureDevised Theatre
Theatre created collaboratively by the ensemble rather than from a pre-existing script. The company develops material through improvisation, research, discussion, and experimentation during the rehearsal process. Companies like Complicité, Forced Entertainment, and Frantic Assembly are known for devised work. The resulting piece may include text, movement, multimedia, and audience interaction.
Genres & StylesDialogue
The spoken words exchanged between two or more characters in a play. Dialogue is the primary vehicle for storytelling in most dramatic works, revealing character, advancing plot, and creating conflict. Great dramatic dialogue sounds natural while being carefully crafted—every line serves a purpose. The study of how to write effective dialogue is central to the craft of playwriting.
Dramatic StructureDiction
The clarity and precision with which an actor speaks their lines, encompassing pronunciation, articulation, accent, and the deliberate shaping of each word. Good diction ensures the audience can understand every line, while an actor's diction choices also communicate character—a character's background, education, region, and emotional state can all be conveyed through how they speak.
Acting & PerformanceDidactic Theatre
Theatre created with the primary intention of teaching, instructing, or conveying a moral or political message to the audience. Didactic theatre prioritises its message over entertainment, though the best didactic work achieves both. Bertolt Brecht's lehrstücke (learning plays) are explicitly didactic, and much Theatre in Education work is didactic by design. The term can be used critically when a play's message overwhelms its artistry.
Genres & StylesDiegetic Song
A song that exists within the world of the story—the characters know they are singing, and there's a realistic reason for the music (a nightclub performance, a rehearsal, a character sitting at a piano). This contrasts with non-diegetic songs, where characters burst into song as an expression of emotion without any in-world justification. Cabaret is built almost entirely around diegetic songs performed at the Kit Kat Club.
Musical TheatreDimmer
An electronic device that controls the intensity of stage lighting by regulating the electrical current flowing to a lighting instrument. Modern dimmers are controlled digitally from a lighting console, allowing precise control over hundreds of individual lights. The ability to dim lights—rather than simply switching them on and off—is fundamental to creating atmosphere, focus, and transitions on stage.
Stagecraft & TechnicalDirector
The creative leader of a theatrical production, responsible for interpreting the script and guiding all artistic elements into a unified vision. Directors cast the show, lead rehearsals, make decisions about blocking, pacing, and interpretation, and collaborate with designers on sets, costumes, lighting, and sound. The role as we know it today emerged in the late 19th century.
Directing & ProductionDocumentary Theatre
A broad term for theatre based on factual sources—interviews, trial transcripts, government reports, journalism, and other documents. Documentary theatre includes verbatim theatre, tribunal plays (like the Tricycle Theatre's series recreating public inquiries), and investigative pieces. The form has gained prominence as audiences seek theatrical engagement with real-world events and social justice issues.
Genres & StylesDouble Casting
The practice of assigning one actor to play two or more roles in a single production, or assigning two actors to alternate in the same role across different performances. The first type saves on cast size and can create thematic connections between characters. The second type is common in children's theatre and long-running shows.
Acting & PerformanceDownstage
The area of the stage closest to the audience. The term originates from the era when stages were raked (tilted) toward the audience for better visibility, so actors literally walked "down" the slope when approaching the front. Stage directions use downstage, upstage, stage left, and stage right as standard positional references from the actor's perspective.
Venues & SpacesDramatic Irony
A literary and theatrical device where the audience possesses knowledge that one or more characters on stage do not. This gap between audience awareness and character awareness creates tension, suspense, humour, or pathos. Shakespeare was a master of dramatic irony—in Romeo and Juliet, the audience knows Juliet is alive while Romeo believes she is dead.
Dramatic StructureDramatic Tension
The sense of anticipation, uncertainty, or unease that keeps an audience engaged in the unfolding action of a play. Dramatic tension arises from conflict, unanswered questions, secrets, ticking clocks, and the gap between what the audience knows and what the characters know. Building and releasing tension is the fundamental rhythm of dramatic storytelling—without it, there is no reason to keep watching.
Dramatic StructureDramatis Personae
A Latin term meaning "persons of the drama"—the list of characters in a play, traditionally printed at the beginning of the published text. The dramatis personae typically includes character names, brief descriptions, and sometimes the relationships between characters. It serves as the audience's or reader's first introduction to the world of the play.
Dramatic StructureDramatist
Another term for a playwright—a person who writes plays. The word emphasises the dramatic craft and literary artistry involved in creating works for the stage. The Dramatists Guild of America is the professional association representing playwrights, composers, and lyricists in the United States.
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