Protagonist – The leading character or a major character in a drama, movie, novel, or other fictional text

Antagonist – A person who actively opposes or is hostile to someone or something; an adversary

Anticlimax – A disappointing end to an exciting or impressive series of events

Ad lib – This is short for the Latin word ad libitum meaning freely. Essentially, it is the same as improvising lines. Usually used when lines are forgotten

Libretto – The text of an opera or other long vocal work

A very brief summary of the overall arc of a plot.

Whereas a paraphrase restates what you’ve seen in your own words, a précis is a distillation of the plot, with an emphasis on concision: sentences, rather than paragraphs.

1. melodrama: a play, film, etc, characterized by extravagant action and emotion
2. dramatic irony: irony that is inherent in speeches or a situation of a drama and is understood by the audience but not grasped by the characters in the play.
3. Conflict: a state of opposition between ideas, interests, etc; disagreement or controversy
4. Dialogue: conversation between two or more people
5. Monologue: a long speech made by one actor in a play, film, etc, esp when alone

Anticlimax – A disappointing end to an exciting or impressive series of events

Staging – An instance or method of presenting a play or other dramatic performance

Schmaltz – Excessive sentimentality, especially in music or movies

Charismatic – Exercising a compelling charm that inspires devotion in others

Textured – The quality given to a piece of art, literature, or music by the interrelationship of its elements

Monologue – A lengthy speech by a single character given to other characters in the play, this should not be confused with a soliloquy

Soliloquy – This is used as a device to let an audience know what is going on through a character’s mind. The speech given by the character is what the character is thinking. A famous soliloquy would be Hamlet’s “To be or not to be”

Ad lib – This is short for the Latin word ad libitum meaning freely. Essentially, it is the same as improvising lines. Usually used when lines are forgotten.

Exposition – The part of a play that fills in the audience on things that have already happened so they can make sense of who’s who and why they’re doing whatever. This can be done with the use of actual narrators who address the audience directly. Another way is to use the opening dialogue and have the exposition cleverly bound to it.

Deus Ex Machina – The Latin phrase means, literally, “a god from the machine.” It refers to the use of artificial means to resolve the plot of a play.

Cue – An act that a stage manager does to remind an actor of their line or an act that a stage manager does to tell the technical crew to perform a certain action.  May be verbal of with an action.

Hot Spot – An area on the stage that is very bright because lights are pointed at it. It adds a sense of importance to the spot and to whatever actor may be occupying that space. Portrays importance to whatever/whoever is in the “Hot Spot.”

Sightlines – Lines that are imagined by the crew to determine where on the stage is visible to the audience, and where on the stage the view is blocked. Actors must be aware of these imaginary lines at all times or risk having the audience lose sight of an action done on stage.

The Fourth Wall – An imaginary wall put towards the front of the stage that the actors use to pretend as though the audience is not there, allows for no interaction between audience and actors.

Escape Stairs – Stairs that are out of sight from the audience and allows for the actors to move around on different levels of the stage without the audience realizing it. Portrays a lager sense of scene differentiation.

OVERTURE:

The overture is the introductory musical piece played before a musical which contains many of the musical motifs and themes of the score.

MARK:

The mark is the place on stage where an actor is to deliver a particular line or carry out some action.

VAUDEVILLE:

Vaudeville is the form of show consisting of mixed specialty acts, including song, dance, acrobatics, comic skits and dramatic monologues.

INTERLUDE:

From the Latin interludium (between the play), the term refers to a short dramatic sketch in early English drama. The short, light pieces would be performed between the acts of more serious plays.

LIBRETTO:

The narrative dialogue or spoken part of a musical play, as opposed to the lyrics and the music.

Revue: It is a play (of many acts) consisting of musics, skits and jokes, and is a review on a recent event.

Casting: It is an event to select the performers for a live performance on stage before the actual performance.

Director: It is someone who often work with many other artists (playwright, music composer, etc) to make sure the quality and the quantity of a production. He or she would also alter the production during rehearsal time accordingly.

Punch lines: It is usually the last part of a joke, a comedy skit or a statement. After a set up during the whole time, the joke, sketch or statement usually ends with a word, a sentence or a dialogue that is intended to be funny. It can be considered the climax of a joke.

Emotional range: It refers to the change of emotions or feelings within a character or the entire play.

Comic relief
– comic episodes in a dramatic or literary work that offset more serious sections.

Shakespeare often incorporated episodes of comic relief in his plays, even after very serious, heavy scenes. 

Diction – the choice and use of words and phrases in speech or writing.

The actor’s diction, consisting of choppy words, stuttering, and terse phrases, indicated that he was playing a skittish character. 

Pantomime – To act out very physically without using words; a style of acting that is most often utilized in Children’s Theatre.

To help the little students better understand Spanish, she pantomimed “el coche” by pretending she was turning an imaginary steering wheel. 

Fly System:  A system of rigging and ropes that is used to raise and lower scenery within on stage, operated by hand or mechanically from backstage.

“The acting was utterly mediocre compared to the way you handled that fly system,” said the New York Times reporter to me. “how did you manage to lift the curtain at such a perfect speed?” 

Fourth Wall: The imaginary divide that separates the audience from the performance space.

We all gasped as the actor burst through the fourth wall and into the front row, where he boldly embraced a member of the audience. 

BONUS WORD!

Pit: The area, usually below the front part of the stage, where the orchestra is set up to play the music for a live performance.

The loud, clashing sounds produced by the pit orchestra below the stage added to the intensity of the suicide scene. 

1. Aria – a musical structure that expresses emotions as opposed to advancing the plot of a drama

2. Improvisation –the situation in which actors spontaneously invent the dialogue and action of the character he plays

3. Futurism – a movement, originated in Italy in the 20^th century, emphasized the impact of technology on society

4. Drama – a literary work that tells a story, opposite of comedy, through dialogue intended to be performed by actors

5. Interlude – short, light pieces in which are performed in between acts

Climax – The point of greatest dramatic tension or transition in a theatrical work

Denouement – The final resolution of the conflict in a plot

Crisis – A decisive point in the plot of a play on which the outcome of the remaining
action depends

Character Arc – The emotional progress of the characters during the story

Protagonist – The leading character or a major character in a drama, movie, novel, or other fictional text

Blocking: Movement of an actor onstage. It is often identified in relation to the movement and position of other actors in the scene.

Catharsis: Alleviation of own emotional tension after watching a tragic play. The audience experiences this emotion when comparing their lives to the tragic lives of the characters.

Characterization: Creation of a well rounded character through the use of words, actions, and manners. Characterization helps the audience understand the character and his purpose in the story.

Falling action: Part of a story that follows the climax and precedes the resolution. This is the time when the conflict between the two opposing forces is being resolved.

Stock Character: Character who is common in many pieces of literature and is easily identifiable by his/her personality. The character is a social stereotype and the audience knows how he/she will behave.

1. Personification

The ability of giving lifeless objects human attributes.

2. Apex

The highest part or the climax.

3. Epilogue

The closing section of a performance.

4. Anachronism

An invention mentioned before its time.

5. Motif

A repeating theme in a story.