Drama Project—Grade Eight
Each team of up to four members will construct a stage and label each Item listed below in the drama notes. Each item utilized will count as four points toward the drama quiz grade. Twenty-five Items are needed for a 100 grade and a score of 105 will be awarded to any teams demonstrating thirty of the terms. Anyone found “Slacking” or not participating in the group’s activity will be voted off the team and forced to create the project alone. No projects will leave the room.
ACT
1) Subdivision between sections of a play. A short play is a
"One-Act-er", a play with one interval has two Acts etc. Acts are
subdivided further into Scenes.
APRON
Section of the stage floor which projects towards or into the theatre.
BACKSTAGE
The part of the stage and theatre which is out of the sight of the
audience. The service areas of the theatre.
BEGINNERS
A call given by the SM to bring those actors who appear in the first part
of a play to the stage. e.g. "Act One Beginners to the stage, please".
The actors/actresses are then called by name.
BLACKOUT / BO / B.O.
Complete absence of stage lighting. Blue working lights backstage should
remain on except during a Dead Blackout (DBO), when there is no onstage light.
Exit signs and other emergency lighting must remain on at all times.
BLACKS
1) Black clothing worn by stage management during productions.
2) Any black drapes or tabs, permanently or temporarily rigged. Used for masking
technical areas.
BLOCKING
The process of arranging moves to be made by the actors during the play,
recorded by stage management in the prompt script. (using terms such as
"Gardner X DSL" meaning the Gardener crosses to downstage left.)
BOOK
FLAT
Two-fold piece of scenery. Book flats are free-standing when angled open,
allowing quick setting and compact storage.
BOX
SET
Naturalistic setting of a complete room built from flats with only the
side nearest the audience (the fourth wall) missing.
BREAK
A LEG
A superstitious and widely accepted alternative to "Good Luck"
(which is considered bad luck).
CAST
The members of the acting company.
CASTING
The process of the director choosing actors to perform the characters in
the play.
CATWALK
A narrow platform or bridge running across and above the stage.
It is often used as a lighting platform.
COMPANY
The cast, crew and other staff associated with a show.
CUE
The command given to technical departments to carry out a particular
operation. E.g. Sound Cue. Normally given by stage management, but may be taken
directly from the action (i.e. a Visual Cue).
Or it is a signal that tells tha actor when to speak or move.
CURTAIN
CALL
At the end of a performance, the acknowledgement of applause by actors -
the bows.
DIALOGUE
The spoken text of a play - conversations between characters.
DOWNSTAGE
The area of the stage closest to the audience.
DRESS
REHEARSAL
A full rehearsal, with all technical elements brought together. The
performance as it will be "on the night"
DROP
A cloth forming a background to a set.
FLAT
A rectangular frame of wood, with one or both sides covered in canvas, muslin,
or sometimes plywood.
FRONT
OF HOUSE (FOH)
1) Every part of the theatre in front of the stage. Includes foyer areas
open to the general public. The
backstage areas of the theatre are known as Rear of House (ROH).
GEL
The colored filter materialthat is placed in front of lights to create colors on
stage.
FLYING
The generic term for the process of suspending
anything from above, on a fly bar, or pipe.
FLYING
PIECE
Any piece of scenery that is flown, usually a flat.
FREEZE
To halt all body motion, often in an interesting or off balance position.
A technique used to suggest a stoppage in time or to allow one character
to break away from the others on stage to deliver a speech before the
“frozen” actors resume their activity.
IN
THE ROUND
Theatre in the Round is a form of audience seating layout where the
acting area is enclosed on all sides by seating.
INTERVAL/
INTERMISSION
Break between sections of a performance, normally half way through a
standard length performance (approx 1 hour each half) and is usually 15 or 20
minutes in duration.
LEGS
Black drapes used for masking, so as to block the audience’s view of
something.
LIGHTING BOARD
A device connected to one or more dimmers used to control the output of each
dimmer channel. It may also control
other lighting equipment such as color changes, moving lights, or other stage
equipment.
MATINÉE
Afternoon performance of a show. (From the Latin for "of the
morning", but who does theatre in the morning?)
OFFSTAGE
The are of the stage that is not seen by the audience.
PROPS
(Properties) Furnishings, set dressings, and all items large and small
which cannot be classified as scenery, electrics or wardrobe.
PROSCENIUM
ARCH
A decorative frame that arches around the stage’s acting area.
Both the Knight and the P.A.C. have proscenium arches.
RUN
1) A sequence of performances of the same production. (e.g. "How
long is the run of this show?" or "This show runs for two weeks")
2) A rehearsal of the whole show or a section of it (e.g."This afternoon's
rehearsal will be a run of Act II followed by notes").
SET
1) To prepare the stage for action. (verb) - e.g. "Have you set the
chairs for Act 1?"
2) The complete stage setting for a scene or act. (noun) - e.g."What's the
set for the finale?"
SPIKE
(Noun)A mark, usually tape, that put on the stage to show the placement for set
pieces, furniture, actors. Usually
gaff(Duct) or electrical tape. Sometimes
glow tape is used for practical or safety reasons.
(Verb) To mark the location where set pieces are located on the stage.
STAGE
CREW
People who set up scenery and change it between the scenes of a play.
STAGE LEFT / RIGHT
Left/ Right as seen from the Actor's point of view on stage. (ie Stage
Left is the right side of the stage when looking from the auditorium.)
The
STRIKE
THE SET
The action of clearing the theater after the last performance of a show or the
end of the run.
TRAP
A hole cut into the stage to allow the sudden appearance or
disappearance of ghosts, magicians, etc.
UPSTAGE
1) The part of the stage furthest from the audience.
2) When an actor moves upstage of another and causes the victim to turn away
from the audience he is "upstaging". Also, an actor drawing attention
to himself away from the main action (by moving around, or over-reacting to
onstage events) is upstaging.
WINGS
1) The out of view areas to the sides of the acting area.
2) Scenery standing where the acting area joins these technical areas.