APR
17

Speak the Speech

Incorporating theatre lingo as you direct 

By Brian D. Taylor, Project Editor, Pioneer Drama Service 

Brian D. Taylor is the project editor for Pioneer Drama Service, a published playwright and a former drama teacher.  Working with K-12, college and community theatre groups, he has a wide theatrical background with experience in directing, acting and technical theatre. 

You definitely walk the walk, directing awesome plays year after year, but do you talk the talk?

What I mean is, are you using proper terminology as you direct and teach?  If you’re not, I encourage you to begin doing so.  The regular use of proper staging terminology will increase your students’ stage vocabularies.  If you’re not using the lingo, why should they, and how can they hope to pick it up?  Theatre lingo must be practiced in real life contexts if you really want to become fluent.  It’s just like any other language. 

The best part is that it’s a fun language to learn!  Here are a few terms to get your started:

• Ingenue - used to refer to a young and innocent female actor or character.  It’s also just a really fun word to say.  (Bonus points if you can get away with calling your young male actors “juveniles,” which is the male equivalent!)
• Lamp - the proper term for the bulb inside a lighting instrument.  “Bulb” will get the meaning across, of course, but “lamp” shows you know your stuff.
• Tableau - means, at its simplest, the picture.  This refers to the stage picture created if the actors were to become motionless onstage. 
• Milk, or Milk It - overplaying or extending a scene to get as much reaction as you can from your audience. 
• Vomitory - a pathway where the actors entered from under the seating area in ancient Greek theaters.  Though these aren’t found in most modern theaters, I suppose the aisles in the audience could be sort of like vomitories, because who wouldn’t want a chance to say this word?!