Stage terminology

Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors, to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music, and dance. It is the oldest form of drama, though live theatre has now been joined by modern recorded forms. Elements of art, such as painted scenery and stagecraft such as lighting are used to enhance the physicality, presence and immediacy of the experience. Places,

comedy style where the performer addresses the audience directly

designated space for the performance of productions of the performing arts

actor with a very minor part, typically non-speaking and in the background

person in theatre or opera who prompts or cues actors or singers when they forget their lines or movements

imaginary vertical plane at the front of a theatrical stage separating performers from the audience

place where tickets are sold to the public for admission to an event

thumb|The proscenium arch of the theatre in the Auditorium Building (Chicago)|Auditorium Building in Chicago. The proscenium arch is the frame decorated with square tiles that forms the vertical rectangle separating the stage (mostly behind the lowered curtain) from the auditorium (the area with seats).|alt=Interior view of a theater.

in a dramatic production, cast in which the leading roles are typically assigned roughly equal amounts of screen time

flat piece of theatrical scenery

thumb|The auditorium of the Vienna State Opera thumb|A typical movie theater auditorium

informal group of actors

thumb|upright=1.35|Vomitorium at the Amphitheatre of Pompeii in [[Pompeii]]

theatre term that refers to the precise movement and positioning of actors on a stage

thumb|18th century illustration of footlight candles being candle snuffer|snuffed A footlight is a theatrical lighting device arranged to illuminate a stage from the front edge of the stage floor in front of the curtain. Originally set in a row of hooded individual enclosures, electric footlights are presently set in troughs across the edge of the stage so that they are not visible to the audience. An indirect footlight uses a light aimed at a reflecting surface to diffuse the illumination.

space in a theatre or similar venue that functions as a waiting room and lounge for performers

thumb|Miniature from the Hours of Catherine of Cleves, Morgan Library & Museum, MS M.945, f. 107r A Hellmouth, or the jaws of Hell, is the entrance to Hell envisaged as the gaping mouth of a huge monster, an image that first appeared in Anglo-Saxon art, and then spread all over Europe. It remained very common in depictions of the Last Judgment and Harrowing of Hell until the end of the Middle Ages, and was still sometimes used during the Renaissance and after. It enjoyed something of a revival in polemical popular prints after the Protestant Reformation, when figures from the opposite side wou

system of rope lines, blocks, counterweights and related devices within a theater

pattern placed in front of a light source

requests or demands by a performer

thumb|Intermission screen frame during a 1912 film. Used in motion picture theaters as announcement An intermission, also known as an interval in British and Indian English, is a break between parts of a performance or production, such as for a theatrical play, opera, concert, or film screening. It should not be confused with an entr'acte (French: "between acts"), which, in the 18th century, was a sung, danced, spoken, or musical performance that occurs between any two acts, that is unrelated to the main performance, and that thus in the world of opera and musical theater became an orchestral

fire safety precaution at theatres

thumb|150px|'s signature disappearing act on the thumb|The at National Theatre of Japan

thumb|right|Early stagecraft master Robert Edmond Jones drawing at a high table (. Stagecraft is a technical aspect of theatrical, film, and video production. It includes constructing and rigging scenery; hanging and focusing of lighting; design and procurement of costumes; make-up; stage management; audio engineering; and procurement of props. Stagecraft is distinct from the wider umbrella term of scenography. Considered a technical rather than an artistic field, it is primarily the practical implementation of a scenic designer's artistic vision.

photograph of the face

acknowledgement of audience praise by a performer

normally unobstructed line between an observer and an object of interest, such as a stage, arena, or monument

thumb|Read-through of sitcom pilot

English idiom used in theatre to wish a performer "good luck"

phrase