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
Dramatists Guild
The professional association for playwrights, composers, and lyricists in the United States. Founded in 1919, the Guild advocates for the rights of dramatic writers, provides standard contracts, and offers resources and community. Unlike actors' unions, the Dramatists Guild is a voluntary trade association rather than a labour union, but it wields significant influence over industry standards.
Industry & BusinessDramaturg
A theatre practitioner who serves as a production's literary and research advisor. Dramaturgs may research the historical context of a play, provide script analysis, assist with new play development, write programme notes, or help the director and cast understand the text more deeply. The role originated in 18th-century German theatre and is now common in professional companies worldwide.
Directing & ProductionDramaturgy
The art and craft of dramatic composition and theatrical storytelling—both the playwright's work of structuring a play and the analytical practice of understanding how plays function. In a broader sense, dramaturgy encompasses everything that contributes to how a story is told on stage: structure, rhythm, visual composition, and the relationship between text and performance.
Dramatic StructureDress Circle
The first tier of seating above the stalls in a British theatre, equivalent to the American mezzanine. The name derives from the historical convention that patrons in these prominent, expensive seats were expected to dress formally. Dress circle seats combine elevation with proximity, offering an excellent view of both the stage and the orchestra pit.
Venues & SpacesDressing Room
A backstage room where performers change into costumes, apply makeup, and prepare before going on stage. Dressing rooms range from shared communal spaces to private rooms for lead actors. Theatre tradition and etiquette govern dressing room culture—knocking before entering, keeping noise down during the show, and not touching others' belongings. The dressing room mirror surrounded by lightbulbs is an iconic image of theatre life.
DesignDress Rehearsal
A final rehearsal conducted under performance conditions, with full costumes, makeup, lighting, sound, and set. Dress rehearsals (or "dress") simulate the actual show as closely as possible, allowing the company to work through any remaining issues. The tradition of a bad dress rehearsal predicting a good opening night is one of theatre's most persistent superstitions.
Directing & ProductionDry Tech
A technical rehearsal conducted without actors, allowing the lighting, sound, and stage crew to walk through all their cues and transitions independently. Dry techs let technicians practise the mechanics of the show—triggering cues, executing set changes, testing effects—before the complexity of actors moving through the space is added. This is followed by the "wet tech" with full company.
Stagecraft & TechnicalDuologue
A scene or short play performed by exactly two actors. Duologues are the fundamental building block of dramatic interaction—two characters in direct conversation or conflict. They're commonly used in actor training, audition scenarios, and drama examinations because they test an actor's ability to listen, respond, and build a relationship with a scene partner.
Dramatic StructureEnd On
A staging configuration where the audience faces the stage from one end only—the most common arrangement, essentially a proscenium layout without necessarily having a proscenium arch. End-on staging provides a clear, cinematic framing of the action and is the default assumption for most scripts. The audience has a shared, unified perspective, which makes end-on staging ideal for realistic, picture-frame storytelling.
Venues & SpacesEnsemble
A group of performers working together as a unified company, or the chorus/supporting cast members of a musical or play. "Ensemble work" emphasises collaboration over individual stardom. An "ensemble piece" is a play with multiple roles of roughly equal importance rather than a single protagonist. Many acclaimed theatre companies are built on ensemble principles.
Acting & PerformanceEntr'acte
A musical piece performed between acts of a musical or opera, typically played by the orchestra while the audience returns to their seats after intermission. The entr'acte serves a practical purpose (covering the noise of the audience settling) and an artistic one (re-establishing the mood and musical world of the show). Like overtures, entr'actes have become less common in contemporary musical theatre.
Musical TheatreEpic Theatre
A theatrical movement pioneered by Bertolt Brecht in the 1920s and 30s that rejects emotional immersion in favour of intellectual engagement. Epic theatre uses techniques like direct audience address, projected text, visible scene changes, episodic structure, songs that comment on the action, and the alienation effect to remind audiences they are watching a constructed performance, encouraging critical thought about social and political issues.
Genres & StylesEpilogue
A scene or speech that occurs after the main action of a play has concluded. Epilogues may address the audience directly, reveal the fates of the characters, or offer a moral or thematic summary. In Elizabethan theatre, epilogues were often spoken by a single character asking the audience for applause. Contemporary plays sometimes use epilogues to flash forward in time.
Dramatic StructureEquity
The common name for the professional actors' unions: Actors' Equity Association (AEA) in the United States and Equity (formerly British Actors' Equity Association) in the UK. These unions negotiate minimum pay rates, working conditions, and benefits for professional stage actors and stage managers. "Equity productions" must adhere to union contracts.
Industry & BusinessEquity Waiver
A provision that allows professional union actors to perform in small, non-union theatres under relaxed contractual terms, typically in venues with fewer than 99 seats. Equity waiver productions give union actors access to a wider range of roles and support small theatre companies that couldn't otherwise afford union contracts. The specific terms vary by region and are periodically renegotiated.
Industry & BusinessExposition
Information provided to the audience about events that occurred before the play begins, the relationships between characters, or the circumstances of the story. Skillful playwrights weave exposition naturally into dialogue and action rather than relying on clunky information dumps. The challenge of delivering exposition engagingly is one of the fundamental problems of dramatic writing.
Dramatic StructureExpressionism
An early 20th-century theatrical movement that distorts reality to represent subjective emotional experience. Expressionist plays feature exaggerated acting, distorted sets, fragmented dialogue, and symbolic characters (often unnamed, like "The Man" or "The Woman"). Key works include Georg Kaiser's From Morn to Midnight and Sophie Treadwell's Machinal.
Genres & StylesFade
A gradual increase or decrease in the intensity of stage lighting or volume of sound over a specified duration. A "fade up" brings lights or sound from nothing to the desired level; a "fade out" takes them down to nothing. The speed of a fade is measured in seconds (a "ten-count fade" takes ten seconds). Fades are one of the most fundamental tools for creating atmosphere and marking transitions.
Stagecraft & TechnicalFarce
A comic genre built on exaggerated situations, physical comedy, improbable coincidences, and rapid pacing. Farces typically involve mistaken identities, slamming doors, characters hiding in closets, and escalating chaos. While often dismissed as lowbrow, farce requires precise timing and skilled physical performance. Notable farce writers include Georges Feydeau, Michael Frayn (Noises Off), and Alan Ayckbourn.
Genres & StylesFeminist Theatre
Theatre that foregrounds women's experiences, challenges patriarchal structures, and advocates for gender equality through dramatic storytelling. Feminist theatre emerged as a distinct movement in the 1960s and 70s with companies like Monstrous Regiment and the Women's Theatre Group. Playwrights such as Caryl Churchill, Sarah Kane, and Lynn Nottage have expanded the range of stories told about and by women on stage.
Genres & StylesFight Call
A pre-show rehearsal, typically held before every performance, in which the cast walks through all choreographed fight and physical contact sequences at reduced speed to ensure safety and consistency. Fight calls are mandatory in professional theatre when a production includes stage combat. They refresh muscle memory, check that props are safe, and give performers confidence before performing at full speed.
Directing & ProductionFight Director
A specialist who choreographs all physical violence, combat, and potentially dangerous physical action in a theatrical production—sword fights, punches, falls, struggles, and any moment where performers could be injured. Fight directors (also called fight choreographers) create sequences that look convincing and dramatic while keeping performers completely safe. They use established techniques with standardised safety protocols.
Directing & ProductionFire Curtain
A fire-resistant barrier, usually made of steel or iron, that can be lowered between the stage and the auditorium in case of a fire to protect the audience from flames and smoke. Also called the "iron" or "safety curtain," it is required by fire regulations in most proscenium theatres. In many venues, the fire curtain is lowered visibly before each performance as a safety demonstration.
Stagecraft & TechnicalFlashback
A dramatic device that interrupts the chronological flow of a play to show events from an earlier time. Flashbacks can reveal backstory, explain character motivations, or create dramatic irony by showing the audience something the present-day characters don't fully understand. Lighting and sound transitions often signal the shift between timeframes. Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman uses flashbacks as a central structural device.
Dramatic Structure