Theatre Terms
As a service to the theatre community, AACT provides over 1000 definitions of theatrical terms. Fully searchable, our glossary is helpful for technical staff, directors, actors, producers, or anyone wanting to better understand the inner workings of theatre.
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Click on a letter (A-Z) below to find terms beginning with the specified letter, OR enter a word in "Search for Term" OR search by entering a word in "Words in Definition." For example, entering the word "curtain" would display all words whose definition includes that word. (Note: If the A-Z or word search has been activated, it must be reset before using "Search for Term" or "Words in Definition." To reset the A-Z search: Click Here)
| Term | Definition | Link |
|---|---|---|
| GOBO ROTATOR | Motorized device inserted into the gate of a profile lamp that can be remotely controlled to rotate a gobo, usually with variable speed and direction. | |
| GRAND CIRCLE | ||
| GRAND FINALE | A finale on a grand spectacular scale, in which the principals and ensemble participate. Usually refers only to musical productions. | |
| GRAND GUIGNOL | (grahn ghee-nyoll) A French term, derived from the name of a Paris theater where were performed short, sensational horror plays, often with bloody effects. | |
| GRAND MASTER | ||
| GRANDE DAME | An actress who plays the role of an imperious elderly woman; also an actress who specializes in such roles. | |
| GRAPHIC EQUALIZER | ||
| GREASEPAINT | Name refers to make up supplied in stick form, for application to the face or body. Needs special removing (cold) cream. | |
| GREEN ROOM | Room close to the stage for the actors to meet and relax. According to the 1894 edition of Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable the common waiting room for performers is so called "because at one time the walls were colored green to relieve the eyes affected by the glare of the stage lights." However, the Oxford English Dictionary cites the earliest usage of the term as 1701, a period when stages were lighted by candles and oil lamps (the English did not develop limelight until the late 1830s), so Brewer's supposition seems misplaced. The term was also used to denote a room where undried pottery was stored before being fired. It's possible that by extension this meaning was applied to the backstage room for actors waiting to go onstage. | |
| GRID | 1) The support structure close to the top of the fly tower on which the pulleys of the flying system are supported. Constructed from metal or wooden beams. 2) Arrangement of scaffolding from which lamps are hung in a performance space with no flying facilities. | |
| GRIDDED | Any flying piece raised as high as possible into the flies, i.e. to the limit of travel of the flying lines, is said to have been gridded. | |
| GROUND PLAN | Scaled plan showing the exact position (seen from above) of all items standing on the stage floor and indicating the position of items suspended above. Typical scales are 1:24 (.5" to 1 foot) or, metrically 1:25 (1cm to .25m). Venues have a base plan showing proscenium, walls, seating etc on which individual set and lighting plans can be drawn. | Plan |
| GROUNDING | Electrical safety requirement that metal parts of electrical equipment are connected to a common ground point so that in the event of a fault, excess current can be carried away, causing the fuse to blow. | |
| GROUNDROW | 1) A long piece of scenery positioned at the base of a backcloth usually to mask the very bottom of a cloth or lamps lighting a cloth. 2) Compartmentalized floodlight battens at floor level used to light the bottom of sky drapes, etc. | |
| GUN MIC | A highly directional condenser microphone. | Microphone |
| GYPSY | A dancer/singer in musical theatre, typically in the chorus, who moves from show to show to show. The reference is to gypsies, the wandering people of Europe, who never settled down. | |
| HALF | Call given to the actors half an hour before they will be called to the stage for the beginning of a performance. Given 35 minutes before the advertised time of commencement. Subsequent calls given are the "quarter" at 20 minutes, "the five" at 10 minutes and "beginners to the stage" at 5 minutes before curtain up. | Call |
| HALOGEN | A halogen lamp is an incandescent lamp in which a tungsten filament is sealed into a compact transparent envelope filled with an inert gas and a small amount of halogen such as iodine or bromine. The halogen cycle increases the lifetime of the bulb and prevents its darkening by redepositing tungsten from the inside of the bulb back onto the filament. The halogen lamp can operate its filament at a higher temperature than a standard gas filled lamp of similar power without loss of operating life. This gives it a higher efficacy (10-30 lm/W). It also gives light of a higher color temperature compared to a non-halogen incandescent lamp. Alternatively, it may be designed to have perhaps twice the life with the same or slightly higher efficacy. Because of their smaller size, halogen lamps can advantageously be used with optical systems that are more efficient. However, the overall bulb temperature is far higher than in conventional incandescent lamps, and so the bulb must be made of fused silica (quartz) or a high melting point glass (such as aluminosilicate glass). | |
| HAM | Someone who overacts or acts badly on stage. From "hamfatter," said to derive from a derisive term for a minstrel performer. Supposedly, the connection was that blackface was a blend of pork fat and burnt cork, and related to the fact that an old minstrel song was "The Ham-Fat Man." | Minstrel Show |
| HAND | Applause, usually in the forms "get a hand" or "give a hand." |
