| A | B |
|---|
| Play | A story of a problem or struggle told by actors to an audience |
| Act | A major division of a long play. Each act may have several scenes |
| Actor | Person who plays the part of a character |
| Character | Person in the story of the play. |
| Playwright | The writer of the play. |
| Script | The written form of the play. |
| Dialogue | Words spoken by the characters in the play. |
| Stage directions | Instructions to the actors written in the script, usually in parentheses or italics. |
| Director | Person in charge of the entire play production. |
| Cast | Complete list of actors who will play the parts, plus the people who work backstage. |
| Props | moveable objects used onstage by the actors. |
| Lighting technician | Person who adjusts the lights according to the wishes of the director to fit the action of the play. |
| Scenery/Set | The way the stage is decorated |
| Setting | The time and place of the story of the play. |
| Mine/Pantomime | Expressing emotions and/or telling a story using only body movement, no words. |
| Sound effects | Sounds produced offstage to fit with the action onstage. |
| Downstage | Near the front of the stage, close to the audience. |
| Scene | Every change in time or place in the story of the play. |
| Blocking a Scene | The director and actors go through the whole scene slowly, deciding where each person will stand, how they will move, etc. |
| Stage business | Actions performed by the actors which may not be in the script, but which serve to make the actors seem like real people. |
| Upstage | near the back of the stage, away from the audience. |
| Actor's concentration | The actor's ability to stay "in character", no matter what happens during the play. |
| Cue | A line or action that comes just before what an actor must remember to do or say, and which serves as a reminder to the actor. |
| Prompter | Person who stands backstage with a script, who is ready to whisper lines to the actors if they forget what to say. |
