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 |
|---|---|---|
| CROSSLIGHT or CROSS-LIGHT | To illuminate the stage with two crossing beams of light. Thus, to cross-light, and crosslighting. | |
| CROSSOVER | 1) A route leading from one side of the stage to the other, out of the audiences view. 2) An electronic filter in a sound system that routes sound of the correct frequency to the correct part of the speaker system. Different speakers handle high frequencies (tweeters) and low frequencies (woofers). Sometimes known as a crossover network. An active crossover splits the signal from the mixing desk into high, mid and low frequencies which are then sent to three separate amplifiers. | |
| CSI | Compact Source Iodide : A high intensity discharge lamp. Most often used in followspots, because it has a color temperature (approx. 4000K) close to that of the tungsten halogen lamps. | |
| CUE | 1) The last words of one actor's spoken dialogue, which the next actor to speak needs as a signal to begin. When actors leave dead space before beginning their lines of dialogue, a director may ask them to "Pick up your cues." 2) The spoken or written command given to technical staff to carry out a particular operation during a performance. A cue may indicate a change in lighting levels, run a sound effect, or close the main drape. Normally given by stage management, but may be taken directly from the action (i.e. a Visual Cue). | |
| CUE LIGHT | System for giving technical staff silent cues by light. Red light means stand-by or warn, green light means go. Ensures greater precision when visibility or audibility of actors is limited. Sometimes used for cueing actors onto the set. For technical cues, lights are normally now used just as a backup to cues given over the headset system. | |
| CUE TO CUE | Cutting out action and dialogue between cues during a technical rehearsal, to save time. | |
| CUEING | A standard sequence for giving verbal cues : "Stand-by Sound Cue 19" (Stand-by first) "Sound Cue 19 Go" (Go last). | |
| CURTAIN | A movable drape or screen of cloth used to conceal all or part of the stage. Sometimes short for the 'main curtain,' which rises or parts at the beginning of a performance, and falls or closes, at the end. In this sense, it is different from the act or scene curtain. By extension, the start of a performance ("What time is curtain on Sunday?") | |
| CURTAIN CALL | The appearance of the actors at the end of a performance, to accept the applause of the audience. | |
| CURTAIN MUSIC | Music played just before the beginning or resumption of an act. | |
| CURTAIN SPEECH | A speech at the beginning or end of a performance, usually a short acknowledgment delivered in front of the closed main drape by the author, manager, or an actor. Prior to curtain, it may be used to welcome the audience, specify emergency exits, rules on photos and electronic devices, and to promote the producing theatre's programs. | |
| CURTAIN TIME | The time when a performance is scheduled to begin. Often shortened to "curtain," as in "What time is curtain?" | |
| CURTAIN WARMER | Soft light projected onto the grand drape or main curtain when the audience is being seated. | |
| CUT | 1) To omit lines or business provided in the script, usually intentionally. Also, such an omission. Thus, "This version of 'The Taming of the Shrew' cut the prologue." And "I checked, and the cuts in the first act were significant." 2) To shut off lights or sound, as in "Cut the spot!" | |
| CUT DROP | A drop, painted and then cut out so that the spectator sees a scene formed not only by the drop, but also by whatever is placed behind it. | |
| CUT VERSION | A script with dialogue deleted. | |
| CYC | ||
| CYC BORDER | A strip of border lights used to illuminate the cyclorama from above. | |
| CYC FLOOD | Floodlight, usually with an asymmetrical reflector, designed to light a cyc or backcloth from the top or bottom. In the US, a flood at the top of the cyc is a CYC OVER, and a flood at the bottom is a CYC UNDER. | |
| CYCLORAMA | Usually just "cyc" (rhymes with 'bike'). A plain cloth or plastered wall filling the rear of the stage. The term is often loosely applied to a blue skydrop, or any flattage at the rear of the stage. May be curved at the ends--and indeed the original sense of the word was a curving or u-shaped curtain. Typical made of canvas or heavyweight cotton duck, suspended from the grid, and reaching to the floor. The term "cyclorama" is also used to refer to the lighting instrument that covers the actual "cyc" with light. Newer models of these instruments include LED styles that require far less energy, and produce far less heat. Some are multifunction devices: dimmer, infinite-shades color changer, light source projector, strobe effect and optics with precision adjustment. |
