Praxis Theatre key terms

The environmental facts a script establishes for a character: time, place, social setting, relationships, and prior events. Actors analyze them to ground choices in the playwright's world rather than invention.

Stanislavski's imaginative prompt in which an actor asks what they would do if the circumstances were real, bridging personal experience and fictional situation without literal belief.

A character's active pursuit within a scene, phrased as a transitive verb with a target. Objectives give dialogue purpose and are played beat by beat toward a larger super-objective.

The single overriding want that organizes a character's objectives across the whole play, sometimes called the spine. It clarifies which tactics serve the character and which contradict them.

The smallest unit of action in a scene, marked by a shift in objective, tactic, or circumstance. Actors divide scripts into beats to track changing intentions during rehearsal.

The specific action a character uses to pursue an objective, such as to charm, threaten, or plead. Changing tactics keeps scenes alive when an obstacle blocks the first attempt.

Whatever stands between a character and an objective, whether another person, physical limitation, or internal resistance. Drama depends on obstacles that force characters to adapt tactics.

An affective-memory technique in which an actor summons a personal past experience to generate feeling parallel to the character's situation. It is used selectively because it can be unreliable and draining.

Recalling sensory details of an experience, such as temperature or smell, to recreate its physical reality onstage. It supports truthful behavior with objects and environments.

The imagined boundary between performers and audience in realistic staging. Actors behave as though unobserved, while the audience watches through it.

Performance that openly acknowledges the audience through direct address, asides, narration, or visible stagecraft. It contrasts with realistic staging that pretends spectators are absent.

A brief speech a character directs to the audience, presumed unheard by other characters onstage. It reveals private thought and is a staple of presentational comedy and melodrama.

A solo speech in which a character voices inner thought aloud while alone or believing themselves unobserved. It differs from a monologue addressed to listeners.

An extended speech delivered by one character to another person or group within the fiction. It advances plot or reveals character without necessarily breaking the fourth wall.

The planned pattern of actor movement and stage positions, set in rehearsal to clarify relationships, focus, and storytelling. It is recorded in the prompt book for consistency.

The visual composition created by actors' positions, levels, and spacing at a given moment. Directors adjust it for balance, emphasis, and readable relationships.

To angle the body or face slightly toward the audience while appearing to address a scene partner, preserving visibility without obviously breaking the stage illusion.

Moving so that another actor must turn away from the audience, or drawing focus improperly through position or business. It undermines the intended focal point of a scene.

Variations in height among performers, achieved by standing, sitting, kneeling, or using platforms. Levels create visual interest and can express status or power shifts.

A picture-frame stage in which the audience faces one side through a structural opening. It supports realistic illusion and emphasizes frontal composition.

A stage projecting into the auditorium with spectators on three sides. It demands staging that reads from multiple angles and encourages intimate audience contact.

Theatre in which the audience surrounds the playing space on all sides, also called theatre-in-the-round. Entrances, sightlines, and actor orientation require careful planning.

Notation in a script describing movement, setting, and business, usually printed in italics. They guide production but may be adapted by directors and designers.

Small physical actions performed with props or costume, such as pouring tea or adjusting a cuff. Well-chosen business can reveal character and punctuate dialogue.

Objects handled or used by actors, or furnishings dressing the set, managed by the props crew. Personal props are tracked for consistency across performances.

Decorative and functional items placed on a set that are not handled by actors, such as rugs, pictures, and furniture. It establishes period, locale, and character.

The constructed physical environment for a production, including flats, platforms, and flown pieces. It defines space, supports blocking, and communicates style.

A scale drawing showing the set as seen from above, including walls, platforms, and furniture positions. It is used for blocking, lighting plots, and technical coordination.

Rigging of lines, pulleys, and counterweights that raises and lowers scenery, drops, and lights above the stage. It enables rapid scene changes and vertical staging effects.

A horizontal pipe suspended above the stage from which lights, drops, or scenery are hung. Battens are identified by position, such as the first electric.

A scale drawing showing the location, type, and channel of every lighting instrument. It is the reference for hanging, focusing, and cueing a production.

A signal for a technical or performance change, such as a light shift, sound effect, or actor entrance. Cues are called by the stage manager from the prompt book.

The stage manager's master copy of the script containing blocking, cues, and production notes. It documents the running of the show for rehearsal and performance.

The study and practice of dramatic structure, script analysis, and contextual research supporting a production. A dramaturg advises on text, adaptation, and audience materials.

The arrangement of a play's action into exposition, inciting incident, rising action, climax, and resolution. Structural analysis reveals how conflict escalates and resolves.

The event that disrupts the initial balance and launches the play's central conflict. It typically occurs early and sets the protagonist's pursuit in motion.

The point of highest tension where the central conflict is decisively engaged or turned. It precedes the falling action and resolution of the plot.

The final unwinding after the climax in which consequences settle and remaining questions are answered. It may confirm a new order or leave deliberate ambiguity.

A gap between what characters know and what the audience knows, creating tension or humor. It depends on shared information withheld from figures onstage.