| Term | Definition |
|---|
| Gesture | the physical movement of characters in a play including both body and facial expression; used to reveal character; indicated by the playwright in stage directions |
| Sound | the particular auditory effect |
| Image | a concrete representation of a sense impression, feeling or idea |
| Scenery | painted scenes and accessories used to depict the setting of a play |
| Lighting | the aritficial illumination created on stage |
| Actor | a theatrical performer |
| Script | the written version of the play used in preparing for a performance |
| Dialogue | conversation; spoken word between two or more people |
| Monologue | a speech by a single character revealing feelings and emotions |
| Dramatic Irony | when the audience is aware of something that the characters do not know |
| Set | artificial setting for a scene in a play, including furniture, scenery, and other itmes to create an illusion of time and place |
| Farce | light humerous play designed to provoke laughter through ridicule of situations and exagerated caricatures of people |
| Comedy | drama characterised by a "happily ever after" ending |
| Tragedy | a type of drama in which characters experience a revearsal of fortunes for the worse |
| Audience | the gathering of spectators and listeners for whom drama is enacted |
| Make-up | cosmetics, wigs, hair colourings, or other items applied to the actors and actresses to change or enhance their appearance |
| Playwright | person who writes a play |
| Props | properties; objects or articles used in a play to add to the characters' portrayals (other than costume and the set) |
| Costume | clothing, jewelry and other paraphernalia used to help the actor protray the character |
| Scene | a subdivision of a play, where action takes place in one stage setting |
| Acoustics | qualities that evaluate the ability of a theater to clearly transmit sounds from the stage to the audience |
| Act | perform in a play; major portion or segment of a play |
| Cast | group of characters in a play; to assign parts to the actors |
| Character | person being portrayed by actors on stage, may be dynamic, static |
| Antagonist | character or force against which another character struggles |
| Catastrophe | the action at the end of a tragedy which initiates the denouement or falling action of a play |
| Catharsis | the purging of emotions that occurs at the end of a tragedy |
| Manner | the way in which a character behaves |
| Action | the series of events that form the plot |
| Speech | the actor's characteristic style or manner of expressing himself orally |
| Climax | the turning point of the plot |
| Comic Relief | the use of a comic scene to interrupt a succession of intensely tragic dramatic moments |
| Complication | the intensification of a conflict or problem; builds up, accumulates and develops the primary or central conflict |
| Exposition | the first stage of a plot which provides the necessary insight and background information |
| Fable | brief plot with moral |
| Falling Action | occurs after the climax, leading to the denouement |
| Flashback | interruption of the work's chronology to describe or present action that occured before the main time frame of the plot; conveys the richness of human experience |
| Foreshadowing | hinting of what is to come in the action of the play |
| Fourth Wall | an imaginary fourth wall of a box theater, supposedly removed to allow the audience to see the action |
| Parody | a humerous representation of a literary work or person |
| Pathos | a quality of a play that stimulates the audience to feel pity for the character |
| Protagonist | the main character |
| Recognition | the point at which the character recognises his situation for what it really is |
| Reversal | the point at which the plot turns in an unexpected direction for the protagonist |
| Satire | a literary work which criticises human vices and follies |
| Setting | the time and place of a work that establish its context |
| Soliloquy | a speech that is meant to be heard only by the audience |
| Staging | the spectacle the play presents in performance, the set and actors |
| Subplot | a subsidiary plot within a play which develops parallel to the main plot |
| Symbol | an object or action that represents more than itself |
| Tone | the way in which actors convey the characters attitudes in speech |
| Tragic Flaw | a weakness or limitation in the character, usually causes his downfall |
| Tragic Hero | a priviliged, exalted character who, by virtue of a tragic flaw and fate, falls from glory into suffering |
| Atmosphere | the mood created by the lighting, sound and action |
| Composition | the position of characters in relation to one another and the set |
| Role | the function of the character assigned to the actor |
| Stance | the position assumed physically, psychologically or metaphorically |
| Voice | develops the character through loudness, clarity, pace, pitch, rhythm and tone |
| Box Set | a stage set composed of connected walls enclosing three sides of the stage leaving the fourth wall invisible |
| Flat Character | a character which represents a stereotype rather than a fully developed character (also "stock character") |
| Hubris | excessive pride which leads to the downfall of the tragic Greek hero (Willy) |
| Realism | a movement in literature to represent life as it really is |
| Tragicomedy | a play that combines elements of tragedy and comedy |
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