| A | B |
|---|
| Rising inflection | The voice modulation used when one is surprised, shocked, or asking questions. |
| Falling inflection | The voice modulation that signals the end of a statement. |
| Sustained inflection | The voice modulation that suggests calmness, decisiveness, or steadiness of purpose. |
| circumflex inflection | The voice modulation in which a vowel is stressed to sound like two vowels to change the meaning of a word or to stress a particular meaning. |
| Whole-part memorization | The method for learning lines in which the actor begins by reading through the whole play several times. |
| Part-whole memorization | The method for learning lines in which the actor learns each line separately unti lthe actor's entire part is learned. |
| Subtext | The hidden meaning that lies "between the lines". |
| "Forgetting what you know" | Purposefully appearing to be ignorant of any information from later in the play. |
| Fade-off lines | Lines that actors trail off rather than finishing. |
| Cut-off lines | Lines interrupted by another speaker. |
| Key lines | Extremely important lines that everyone in the audience must hear. |
| Milk | To extract the maximum response from the audience. |
| Paraphrasing | Stating the meaning of a line in your own words. |
| Topping | Delivering a line that surpasses the hilarity of the line just spoken. |
| Laugh curve | The swellin and fading of the audiences's laughter. |
| Dialect | Cockney is an example of this. Regional speech patterns. |
| Arena stage | The type of stage completely surrounded by the audience. |
| Clock reference | For example, Melissa should stand at four o'clock and cross to nine o'clock when Randy is at twelve o'clock. |
| Quadrants | For example, NE, NW, SE, SW; or 1, 2, 3, 4; or A, B, C, D. |
| Thrust stage | The type of stage that is surrounded on three sides by the audience and has a back wall. |
| "Pitch up" character | The type of character that lacks confidence and tends to be fearful, intimidated, or confused. |
| "Pitch-down character | The type of character that is self-assured, dominating, authoritative, and overbearing. |
| Substitution | A technique in which an actor recalls a personal experience in order to capture the emotional response called for in a scene. |
| Improvisation | The impromptu portrayal of a character without any preparation. |
| "Cut-in" line | The line stated in order to silence the audience's laughter. |
