Theatre Terms
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| Theatre Terms (A-Z) Sort descending | Definition |
|---|---|
| UPSTAGE or UPSTAGING | An actor's attempt to command the attention of the audience when the actor has no right to do so. Typically, this involves moving upstage center, forcing the other actors to turn their backs to the audience. Upstaging is not only bad manners, but detrimental to the necessary harmony of an acting ensemble. Accordingly, most directors will not tolerate such behavior. |
| USITT | United States Institute for Theatre Technology |
| VERTICAL SIGHT LINES | Imaginary lines drawn from the highest seats of the audience area, often in a balcony, and from the seats in the front row, to the lowest hanging obstructions over the stage, to determine what portions of the performing area will be visible to all of the audience. |
| VISUAL CUE | A cue taken by a technician from the action on stage rather than being cued by the stage manager. |
| VOLTAGE | The "pressure" at which electric current is available. The American standard is 110 Volts. The UK standard voltage is 240 Volts. |
| VOM or VOMITORIUM | A passageway, originally for spectators, used to clear the seating area in quick fashion. Also used to describe a ramped passage that allows actors to run onstage from below (and run back). |
| VU METER | VU - Volume Unit). Pointer and scale meter which indicates the average level of a signal. Misses any transients and spikes that lead to a clipped signal. |
| WAGON | Wheeled platform on which a scene or part of a scene is built to facilitate scene changing. |
| WAGON SET | Wheeled platform on which a complete set is built to facilitate scene changing. |
| WAGON STAGE | Mechanized stage where the scenery is moved into position on large sliding wagons as wide as the proscenium opening, from storage in large areas to the side and rear of the main stage. This system enables incredibly complex and otherwise time-consuming scene changes to occur almost instantly. |
| Wandelprobe | In opera and musical theatre, a “wandelprobe” is a musical rehearsal in which the actors and singers are free to move around on the stage while the band or orchestra plays. They still have to sing the parts they are assigned while moving. The word "wandelprobe" comes from German and technically means "convertable trial," but in the theatre it translates as a "walking rehearsal." This sets it apart from a seated rehearsal or "sitzprobe," where the focus is on giving the singers an opportunity to hear the full orchestra, and adjust their performance accordingly. It's sometimes referred to in the U.S. as a "wanderprobe," mostly due to a misunderstanding (or mispronunciation) of "wandel." The movement in a “wandelprobe” isn't free-range wandering. The performers have to move to the approximate blocking for the production, if not the exact blocking, with the music’s tempo in mind. There may be stops in order to work with the orchestra or band and the actors or singers in order to figure out how movements go together with the music. A wandelprobe is usually held before tech starts and there usually are no lighting cues. However, everything is up to the decisions of the director and conductor. A wandelprobe (or even more than one wandelprobe) takes place before the first full dress rehearsal. |
| WARDROBE | The general name for the costume department, its staff and the accommodation they occupy. |
| WARDROBE MISTRESS, WARDROBE MASTER, HEAD OF WARDROBE | Person who supervises the dressers, and wardrobe maintenance. |
| WARDROBE PLOT | Actor-by-actor, scene-by-scene inventory of all the costumes in a production, with a detailed breakdown into every separate item in each costume. |
| WARM COLOR | Generally, a color that is in the yellow/orange/red range, as opposed to a cool (blue/green/purple) or neutral. |
| WASH | An even, overall illumination over a large area of the stage. Also, to create such an illumination. |
| WATTS | Unit of electrical power derived from the current (or "quantity" of electricity) multiplied by the voltage (or "pressure" at which the current is delivered). Stage lighting equipment is rated in Watts (or Kilowatts - 1kW being equal to 1000W). This refers to the amount of power required to light the lamp. A higher wattage lamp requires more power and gives a brighter light output. |
| WAVELENGTH | The distance from one point on a vibrating wave to the same point on the next wave. The lengths of the sound waves (wavelengths) we can hear range from one inch to 40 feet. High frequency sounds have short wavelengths (and are more directional), low frequency sounds have long wavelengths (and are less directional). In lighting terms, blue light is short wavelength, green is medium and red is long wavelength. Beyond visible light are the short wavelength Ultra Violet light and the long wavelength Infra Red light. |
| WEDGE | A speaker/sound monitor that is angled so that it can sit on the stage floor and point up at musicians/cast. |
| WHITE NOISE | A type of noise that is produced by combining sounds of all different frequencies together. If you took all of the imaginable tones that a human can hear and combined them together, you would have white noise. Because white noise contains all frequencies, it is frequently used to mask other sounds. If you are in a hotel and voices from the room next-door are leaking into your room, you might turn on a fan to drown out the voices. The fan produces a good approximation of white noise. |