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WHOS AFRAID OF
VIRGINIA WOOLF?
STUDYGUIDE
A CLASSROOM GUIDE TO
THE JUNGLE THEATER
PRODUCTION
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WHATS INSIDE
A Closer Look
With a reputation for artistic excellence
both locally and nationally, the Jungle
Theater occupies a unique niche in the cul-
tural landscape of the Twin Cities.
THEATER ETIQUETTE
Thank you for exposing your students to live professional theatre. To assist you in prepar-
ing your students for the experience, we have created some guidelines which we hope
may be of use.
Live theatre is different from the experience of attending a rock concert, where the per-
formers may break the third wall and interact with the audience. At rock concerts, it might
be acceptable for an audience member to get up and go talk to someone else in the audi-
ence, or to leave to bring concessions back into the auditorium. This is not the case in the
theatre.
Live theatre is an intimate experience. Because we are close to the actors, who, if they
are good, are portraying powerfully the deepest human emotions, we are able to feel that
emotional tenor ourselves. Concentrating on what the actors are feeling enhances an audi-
ences enjoyment.
Many of our participating schools have thoughtfully prepared and trained their student
body to be a good live audience, and the following are some suggestions we know other
schools have found effective:
There shall be no late seating. All students and staff should arrive by 9:30 a.m. and be
seated before the program begins.
Instruct your teachers and chaperones to sit throughout the theatre with the students.
The presence of an adult is sometimes enough to remind students to behave.
The opening and closing of doors, for whatever reason, creates distraction and can dis-
rupt the performance. Therefore, once the performance has started no one will be al-
lowed to leave the theatre unless it is an emergency, so be sure to advise your group
use the restroom before the performance begins and then again at intermission.
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Encourage positive audience participation; applause and laughter appropriate to the action
are expected. They are to refrain from catcalls and any response which is likely to distract
others. Remind them of the importance of listening carefully.
Refreshments from our concessions stand are allowed in the theater, but students should
refrain from crinkling soda cans or plastic water bottles: this noise is very disruptive to the
actors on stage and fellow audience members.
The use of cell phones, pagers, i-Pods and the like is strictly prohibited. Students found
using these devices during a performance will be asked to surrender these items to the
usher until the completion of the performance at which time they will be returned.
The taking of photos, with or with out a flash and the use of any recording device is prohib-
ited by law and strongly enforced at our theatre.
If you havent already done so we invite you to use the contents of this study guide to pre-
pare your students in advance. Students who have previous exposure to the subject mat-
ter through in class discussions and exercises are more likely to be an attentive audience.
Finally, the Jungle Theater staff and artists, want to thank you for your participation and look
forward to personally welcoming you to the Jungle. If we can be of help to you, or if you have
ideas regarding how we can make this a better experience for your students, please let us
know by contacting Margo Gisselman at margo@jungletheater.com or by calling (612) 278-
0141.
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WHATS IT ABOUT?
ACT TWO, "Walpurgisnacht," opens as Martha is the kitchen, bumping into the doorbell chimes on the
making coffee in the kitchen. George learns from way. Honey stumbles out to the living room, still half
Nick that he married Honey because she was preg- in her dream, telling George that she heard bells.
nant with what ended up being a hysterical preg- Honey's half-coherent mumblings reveal that she's
nancy. The added bonus is that she is rich, left terrified of having children and has actually been
money by her evangelist father. He half-jokingly secretly preventing getting pregnant. Honey's con-
confides his plan to rise to power at the college by tinued talk of bells gives George an idea of how to
sleeping with wives of important faculty members. get even with Martha - he'll tell her he received a
George shares an anecdote of a boy, whom he says telegram that said that their son is dead.
he knew in prep school, who ordered "bergin" at a
gin joint with his friends. This boy had accidentally
killed his mother with a shotgun, and a year later,
with his learners permit in his pocket, he crashed
into a tree and killed his father.
Martha and Honey return. Martha is even more bla-
tant in her flirtation with Nick. When Honey declares
that she wants to do Interpretive Dance, Martha
takes the opportunity to dance with Nick in a blatant
lascivious manner. George gets fed up when Martha
continues to insult him, suggesting that the boy who
ordered "bergin" and killed his parents was George
and mocking his failed attempt at publishing a novel.
He tries to strangle her, but Nick pulls him off.
George announces it's time for a new game.
They've just finished playing Humiliate the Host, and
there will be time for Hump the Hostess later. Now,
it's time for Get the Guests. George toys with a con-
fused Honey by telling her a story of a girl named
Mousie who puffed up and whose puff went "poof."
Honey again runs off to be sick again.
While Honey is lying on the cool tile of the bathroom
floor, George turns his back to Martha and Nick,
who begin to kiss and grope on the couch. Martha is Arthur Hill as George and Melinda Dillon as Honey in the
annoyed that George is not paying attention and original Broadway production of Whos Afraid of Virginia
getting angry. She and Nick eventually move off to Woolf?
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ACT THREE, "The Exorcism," opens as Martha Martha's overbearing presence. Martha counters
wanders onstage alone. Drunk and exhausted, she with a story of her own describing an idealized child-
launches into a confused monologue which reveals hood. During her story, George begins to chant the
her desperation and loneliness. She says that she Requiem. In the midst of this, Honey suddenly cries
and George cry all the time, then freeze their tears out that she wants a child. Martha begins to blame
into ice cubes for their drinks. Nick comes back on- George for dragging the boy down with him, and
stage, wondering what has happened. George is their argument intensifies. Honey pleads for them to
gone, and Honey is back in the bathroom. Martha stop.
calls him a flop and reveals his impotence, surpris-
Slowly and deliberately, George tells Martha that
ing him when she tells him that George is the only
their son is dead. He was driving on a country road,
one who can satisfy her. She tells Nick not to be-
swerved to avoid a porcupine, and crashed into a
lieve appearances and praises George's ability to
tree, the exact details of the "bergin" boy's story.
learn the games as quickly as she can change the
Martha is furious and yells that George has no right
rules.
to do this. George insists that those were always the
Nick is furious and grows more so when Martha rules of the game, and that once she broke the rules
continually refers to him as a houseboy and a gig- by mentioning their son, he had no other choice.
olo. When the doorbell starts ringing, she tells the Nick finally realizes that the son is imaginary, and
houseboy to get it. It's George, hiding behind a bou- George confirms his suspicions. They couldn't have
quet of flowers, quoting a line from Tennessee Wil- any children. He suggests Nick and Honey go
liams' A Streetcar Named Desire: "Flores para los home.
muertos." George pretends to be a Western Union
The last few minutes of the play are quiet and ten-
man and acts as if he's mistaken Nick for his and
der. George assures Martha that things will be bet-
Martha's son. Nick gets fed up and calls them vi-
ter and says a quiet no to her suggestion that they
cious, and George and Martha join together in derid-
create another child. He begins to sing her "Who's
ing them.
Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" as a sort of lullaby, and
Soon, George and Martha launch into another se- Martha answers, "I am."
ries of arguments over seemingly meaningless top-
ics - whether or not there is a moon that night,
whether or not George has taken a trip to Majorca -
that continually reference truth and illusion. George
starts throwing his bouquet of snapdragons at Mar-
tha, telling her their marriage has gone snap.
George drags Honey back into the room and an-
nounces one last game, Bringing Up Baby, to be
played to the death. Honey, very drunk and holding
a bottle, wants to play Peel the Label instead.
George assures her they have. George begins to tell
Elizabeth Taylor as Martha and Richard Burton as
a rehearsed story about their son, scared away by George in the 1966 film version of Whos Afraid of Vir-
ginia Woolf?
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WHOS WHO
List of Characters
George
George is Marthas husband, a forty-six-year-old
professor of history who married Martha early in his
career but has failed to live up to her overwhelming
expectations. Because of his professional frustra-
tion, George feels threatened by up-and-coming
young faculty members like Nick, and tries to com-
pensate through showy displays of intellectual supe-
riority. George appears to have been responsible
for the deaths of both is parents, and is traumatized
by this fact.
Martha
Martha is a boisterous woman in her fifties, with
loud, coarse ways and a dominating manner toward
her husband, George. Martha had dreams of power
which she feels were defeated by Georges lack of
ambition. Despite her relentless ridicule of George,
Martha is very sensitive to Georges criticismsof
her heavy drinking, her sometimes lascivious behav-
ior, and her braying laugh.
Nick WHATS IN A TITLE?
Nick is blond and good-looking, around thirty-years- In the opening scene of Whos Afraid of Virginia
old. He is a young biology professor who repre- Woolf?, George and Martha argue over Georges
sents a threat to George with his good looks and failure to admire a joke Martha made earlier in the
sexual energy, and his ambition and willingness to evening: she replaced the Big Bad Wolf of the
prostitute himself for professional advancement. In song, Whos Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?, from the
short, Nick seems capable of achieving the promise 1933 Disney cartoon The Three Little Pigs, with the
to which George never lived up. name of the avant-garde British writer, Virginia
Woolf (18821941). The joke conveys the
Honey sophistication of the coupleand their
Honey is a twenty-six-year-old blond girl, rather preoccupation with wordplay and games. Albee first
plain. Like her husband, Nick, Honey is from the encountered the joke inscribed in soap on a mirror
Midwest, striving with her husband to make their behind the bar of a local hangout, long before he
way in new surroundings. Honey is not depicted as wrote the play. He found it funny and remembered it
particularly bright, but she is capable of exerting her years later when he was writing about a couple that
will. She is afraid of bearing a child, and as George haveand do not havea son. When asked, Albee
suspects, she has avoided pregnancy without Nicks explains that the big, bad wolf is a life lived without
knowledge. delusions.
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sophomore year, in 1947, nineteen-year-old Edward Immediately, Albee became perceived as a leader
was dismissed from yet another school. This time, of a new theatrical movement in America. His suc-
Trinity College claimed that he had failed to attend cess was in part predicated on his ability to straddle
Chapel and certain classes. the two divergent traditions of American theatre - the
traditional and the avant garde, combining the real-
Despite his mother's objections, Edward moved to istic with the surreal . Thus, critics of Albee can
New York City's artsy Greenwich Village at the age rightfully see him as a successor to American play-
of twenty. He supported himself by writing music wrights Arthur Miller, Tennessee Williams, and
programming for WNYC radio. In 1953, young Albee Eugene O'Neill while at the same time unmistakably
met playwright Thornton Wilder. Later, he credited influenced by European playwrights like Samuel
Wilder with inspiring him to become a playwright - Beckett and Harold Pinter. Albee has also called
advice he did not follow for a few more years. Over Ring Lardner, James Thurber, and Jean Genet im-
the next decade, Albee lived on the proceeds of his portant influences on his writing.
grandmother's trust fund and held jobs as an office
boy, record salesman, and Western Union messen- Throughout the following years, Albee strengthened
ger. his reputation with a series of one-act plays, includ-
ing The Death of Bessie Smith and The Sandbox,
In 1958, Albee wrote his first major play, a one-act which he dedicated to his beloved grandmother, in
entitled The Zoo Story. When no New York producer 1960. In 1961, The American Dream dealt with
would agree to stage it, Albee sent the play to an old themes that would be drawn upon in Albee's later
friend in New York. The play was first produced in career. That same year, Albee adapted an unsuc-
Berlin. After its success abroad, American theatre cessful production of Melville's short story Bartleby
producer Alan Schneider agreed to produce The with his friend William Flanagan.
Zoo Story off-Broadway in a double bill with Samuel
Beckett's Krapp's Last Tape. This early association Despite the success of his original work, Albee's
with Beckett served to cement Albee's connection to adaptations - Carson McCuller's The Ballad of the
the Theatre of the Absurd. In fact, The Zoo Story Sad Cafe in 1963 and James Purdy's Malcolm in
was at the time of its production hailed as the birth 1965 - have not been critically or popularly success-
of American absurdist drama. ful. Critics described them as being static represen-
tations of literary works, simply transplanting exist-
ing scenes from the books to the stage.
Albee's real successes have always come from his
original and absurdist dramas. His first three-act
drama and the play for which he is best known,
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, was produced in
New York in 1962. Immediately it became popular
and controversial. When its nomination for a Pulitzer
was not accepted unanimously by the prize commit-
tee, two members of the Pulitzer Prize committee
resigned. Nonetheless, the play received the Tony
Award and New York Drama Critics Circle Award.
Edward Albee, seen here in 1962
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AN AMERICAN CLASSIC
Edward Albee was already hugely cele-
bratedand criticizedas the leader of a
revolution in American playwriting when REFERENCES IN POPULAR CULTURE:
his first full-length play, Whos Afraid of
Virginia Woolf?, opened on October 13, Mad Magazine published a spoof of the movie, entitled
Who in Heck is Virginia Woolf?! At one point, it is re-
1962. marked "This is an art film, so the censors have to let us
talk dirty!" Their son turns out to be real, and to George
Virginia Woolf was more than a huge theatrical and Martha's dismay, a clean-cut non-dysfunctional
success; it was a cultural watershed. The play bore, in keeping with Mad's tradition of altering the end-
fulfilled the hopes of those eager for a rebirth of ings of the movies that they parody.
American drama, but also outraged many who The film was spoofed on The Benny Hill Show, with Hill
found the play obscene, morbid and decadent. playing both Burton's and Taylor's parts.
The conservative Pulitzer Prize Committee over-
ruled the recommendation of its own judges and In an episode of The Simpsons, Marge and Homer go on
refused to award the Drama prize to Albee, on a marriage counseling session with other couples, one
such couple acts and sounds similar to George and Mar-
the grounds that his play did not present a tha. However, just by looking into each other's eyes, the
wholesome view of American life. Familiar to two fall in love again and walk off into the sunset within
tens of thousands who have never seen or read seconds.
it, influencing countless plays, movies, novels
In an episode of American Dad!, Roger the Alien and
and short stories, Virginia Woolf is one of the
Francine adopt a role playing game to escape the bore-
very few American dramas to fully permeate dom of their daily lives. Roger adapts the persona of
American life. Professor Jordan Edilstein, while Francine chooses the
character of Amanda Lane. The two meet a new couple
in town, Rick and Candy, and invite them for a dinner
party in which Jordan and Amanda get drunk and ver-
bally and physically fight, while Rick and Candy sit there.
Abomination: A thing that causes disgust or hatred. (Act Cochon: French; pig (Act II)
I) Contemptuous: The feeling that a person or thing is
Abstruse: To understand (Act I) worthless or beneath consideration. (Act II)
Aegean: The Aegean Sea is located between the Greek Convoluted: Folded or twisted in a complex way (Act II)
peninsula on the west and Turkey to the east, with Crete Crazy Billy: In an interview, Albee said the name was a
forming a geographical division. The Aegean Sea region private joke; his lover at the time was named Bill,
was the home of two of the world's earliest civilizations and Albee said they both worked at Western Union. (Act
- the Minoan Civilization of Crete and the intellectual III)
and military empire of Greece. It was also of the scene Crete: Home to the Minoans, one of the earliest civiliza-
tions. (Act II)
for much of the earliest growth of Christianity. (Act III)
Cretins Someone with a congenital mental deficiency.
Albatross: An obstacle to success (Act I)
(Act II)
Allegory: A story that contains a hidden meaning. (Act
Daguerreotype: An early kind of photograph produced
II)
using silver-coated copper plate and mercury vapor.
Bandied: Frequently used in casual conversation. (Act I)
(Act II)
Bte: French; beast (Act II)
Declension: The changes in the form of a noun, pronoun
Blue games: Not for children, a blue act was an
or adjective that identify its grammatical case,
obscene skit from a nightclub. (Act I)
number or gender. (Act I)
Blue circles around her: Pagan women would often
Derisively: Expressing contempt or ridicule. (Act II)
paint blue circles on them for use in rituals. (Act I)
Derision: Scornful ridicule or mockery. (Act III)
Bucolic a description of an idealized rural life; also a
Dies Irae: Latin, from the Mass for the Dead; day of
literary form, usually a short descriptive poem, which
wrath. "through all the sensible sounds of men build-
depicts rural or pastoral life, manners, and occupations ing, attempting, comes the Dies Irae." (Act II)
(remember that Nick and Honey are from Kansas, farm Fen: A low and marshy or frequently flooded area. (Act
country). (Act II) I)
Bravura: Great enthusiasm (Act II) Flagellation: To whip someone, originally as a form of
Canaille: French; scum, scoundrel (Act II) religious punishment.
Carthage: North African city which fell prey to internal Flores: Flores para los muertos. Flores.
conflicts and eventually was sacked by the Romans Spanish; Flowers; flowers for the dead. Flowers.
during the Punic Wars (c. 150 B.C.); in Virgils The Ae-
neid, the ancient, tragic love story of Dido and Aeneas Quoted from Tennessee Williams A Streetcar Named
is played out in Carthage. "You think youre going to be Desire. (Act III)
happy here in New Carthage, eh?" (Act I)
Frau: German for Mrs., sometimes meant as an insult to
Chippie: Slang; promiscuous woman. "Ohhhh! Ill bet!
describe someone as dowdy and unappealing
Chippie-chippie-chippie, hunh?" (Act III)
Gelding: A castrated animal, especially a male horse.
Cipher: An unimportant person or thing
(Act III)
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Gird: Encircle or secure with a belt or band. (Act III) baptizes the islands inhabitants without realizing that
Gomorrah: Biblical city which was destroyed by fire they are all penguins. (Act I)
Peritonitis: A serious inflammation of the abdomens
from God for its wickedness .
Harridan: A bossy or aggressive old woman. (Act III) lining (Act I)
Ibid: In the same source. (Act I) Pyrrhic victory: Won at too great a cost to have been
worthwhile. (Act I)
Illyria: City on the coast of the Adriatic Sea; home of a
Poe-bells: Reference to Edgar Allen Poes poem "The
contentious people, the city was destroyed by Rome
Bells" (1849), which through rhythm and onomatopoeia
during the Punic Wars; the setting for Shakespeares
evokes the sound of ringing bells. "I was asleep, and the
Twelfth Night. "And this this is your hearts content
bells started they BOOMED! Poe-bells they were
Illyria Penguin Island Gomorrah" (Act I)
Incredulity: Being unwilling or unable to believe some- Poe-bells." (Act II)
thing. (Act I) The Poker Night: A scene from Tennessee Williams'
Ineffectual: Ineffective (Act II) play, A Streetcar Named Desire. "Up the spout: THE
Insinuate: Gradually move oneself into a favorable posi- POKER NIGHT. Up the spout" and the original name of
tion. (Act II) the play. (Act III)
Lady Chatterley: Character in Lady Chatterley's Lover Punic wars: A series of wars during which Rome
(1928) by D.H. Lawrence. She is an aristocrat who attacked and conquered the powerful city-state of
elopes with her groundskeeper. "A kind of junior Lady Carthage. The effort transformed Rome from a regional
Chatterley arrangementthe marriage." (Act I) power into an empire. (First Punic War 264, 241 B.C.,
Majorca: Island of the Mediterranean coast of Spain; second 218-202, Third 149-146 B.C.)
once occupied by Carthaginians and their conquerors, Putan: French for vulgar, whore (Act II)
the Romans; there are also many remains on the island Sacre du Printemps: French; Rite of Spring; ballet
of a primitive masonry technique referred to today as (1913) by Russian composer Igor Stravinsky, with dra-
Cyclopean (connects to Georges calling Martha a matic, almost violent rhythms the work evokes Russian
Cyclops); Majorca also experienced a decline at one pagan rituals. "Marthas going to pin on some rhythm
point because of fighting among the different groups living she understands Sacre du Printemps, maybe." (Act II)
on the island. (Act III) Salaciously: Having too much interest in sexual matters.
Manchuria: The northeast area of China; Japan and Snapdragons: In Western folklore, snapdragons are
Russia long struggled for control of this rich, believed to ward off evil. (Act III)
strategically important region; at the end of WWII, Sonny-Jim: A term for an all-American guy that was
Chinese Communists were strongly established in initially used genuinely during the 1930s-50s but
Manchuria, and from 1949-1954, it was one of the eventually became more cynical; also a political refer-
staunchest Communist areas in China. (Act II) ence to Republican James Rolph, Jr., who served as the
Monstre: French: monster (Act II) mayor of San Francisco for 19 years and became gover-
nor of California in 1930. (Act III)
Ostensibly: Apparently true, but not necessarily so. (Act
Walpurgisnacht: German; the eve of May Day; witches
I)
Sabbath celebrated in medieval Europe; night of orgiastic
Parnassus: In Greek mythology, a mountain whose twin
celebration on which evil spirits are exorcised from
summits were devoted to Apollo and to the muses.
cities and towns. (Act II).
Considered to be the seat of poetry and music. (Act I)
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RESOURCES
Interested in knowing more about Edward Albee and his plays?
Here are some websites, books and films to check out.
Books:
Edward Albee has written over 30 plays, including
one-acts and adaptations. Most are available in in-
dividual editions and all but the most recent are
collected in the (so far) three volumes of The Col-
lected Plays of Edward Albee:
Websites:
www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/alb1int-1
A June 2005 video/audio interview with and biography of Edward Albee on the Academy of
Achievement site
arts.guardian.co.uk/features/story/0,11710,1119811,00.html
A 2004 interview with the playwright on the Web site for the British newspaper The Guardian
1. Whos Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Was written and set in the United States in
the early 1960s. What political and social circumstances define this time pe-
riod? How does the play reflect and comment upon this social and historical
context? Give examples from the
script. What makes this play rele-
The dramatist is always
vant?
commenting on people, and
the problem is to comment ef-
2. Albee called early drafts of his play fectively and make art out of
The Exorcism. What does this alter-
it. Youre making a critical
nate title suggest about the events of
the story? comment when you create the
life of somebody. You can
only make propaganda out of
3. How do the humor and the serious
edge of the play mix and to what ef-
it if you think somebody is en-
fect? Consider the sense of humor tirely bad, entirely good. You
displayed by George and Martha. must expose both attributes.
What do they seem to find funny? A character totally unworthy
What is meant when their characters of sympathy or love would be
talk about taking a joke? What do totally unworthy of atten-
you find funny in the dialogue, per- tionthe authors attention
sonalities and situations of the play?
of the audiences.
4. Find examples from the script
which illustrate Albees facility with Edward Albee
language in this play. Notice the address at the
rhythms of speech, the patterns of ex-
change, the levels of meaning, the wit, Overseas Press Club 1965
the allusions, the musical structure.
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8. Cite instances when George and Martha say the exact opposite of what they
mean. When do they lie to express the truth? Do they ever tell the truth in or-
der to deceive? What is the impact of this?
9. What happens the next day between George and Martha? Do they start the
games again? Have they evolved in their relationship?
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BE A THEATER CRITIC
A very strong element in the success or failure of a new production is the Theatre Critic.
Use the following outline to write a review of the Jungle Theaters production of Whos Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
CRITIC: a writer who reviews plays. DRAMA: the playscript itself; the art of writing and
CROSS OVER: a hidden passage, often behind the staging plays; a literary art form different from poetry
scenery, through which actors can go from one side or other fiction
of the stage to the other without being seen by the DRAMTIS PERSONAE: cast of characters in a
audience. It is used if actors need to exit on one drama or, more generally, participants in an event.
side and make their next entrance from the opposite DRESSER: a person in charge of assisting actors
side. with their costumes, wigs, and makeup during a pro-
CUE: the last words or actions that come before duction.
another actors speech or entrance; a light, sound or DRESSING ROOM: the place where actors take
curtain signal. their costumes, wigs, and makeup on and off.
CURTAIN: end of a scene; closing of a curtain to EXEUNT: stage direction meaning they exit.
depict the end of an act or scene.
EXIT: stage direction telling an actor to leave the
CURTAIN CALL: the process of actors taking their stage.
bows, receiving applause, and/or being reintroduced
to the audience at the end of a play. EXPOSITION: dialogue which gives the audience
the background information it needs to follow the
DANCE CAPTAIN: member of the cast in charge of action of the play; most will occur early on in the
working with the dancers to maintain the quality of play.
the dance numbers, make sure dancers are properly
warmed up before performance, and teach under- ENTRANCE: the movement of an actor onto the
studies and new cast members existing numbers visible areas of the stage.
DESIGNER: a person who conceives and creates FALLING ACTION: (of a script or play) the accep-
the plans for scenery, costumes, lighting, sound, tance of the situation derived from the climax; the
makeup, hairstyles, props and other visual aspects conflict is worked out or resolved.
of a performance. FIGHT CHOREOGRAPHER: the artist in charge of
DIALECT: a speech pattern which is distinctive, or staging fight scenes, can include swordplay, other
the use of a cultural accent on stage. weapons, or barehanded combat.
DIALOGUE: conversation between two or more ac- FORESHADOWING: a hint of what is to come in the
tors in a play. story. This is often used to keep the audience in a
state of expectancy
DIALOGUE COACH: person responsible for work-
ing with a cast on correct pronunciation and dialect GHOST WRITER: person hired by an author to
usage. write on his or her behalf; receives no public credit.
DIRECTOR: a person responsible for initiating the GREEN ROOM: a small lounge backstage where
actors can relax and get ready to go on.
interpretation of the play, enhancing that interpreta-
tion with the concepts of the designers and making HALF-HOUR: the usual call for actors to be at the
all final decisions on production values; tells the ac- theatre, thirty minutes before curtain.
tors where to move and how best to communicate HOUSE : the audience or the theatrical building.
the interpretation of the play to the audience. HOUSE MANAGER: the employee in charge of the
DOWNSTAGE: front area of the stage, nearest to audience during performance, trains ushers, runs
the audience. the concessions, and solves seating problems.
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IMPROVISATION: to make up as you go along; audience, or where actors can wait for their en-
often used as a rehearsal technique to make actors trances.
more comfortable with their characters; may be a PLAYWRIGHT: author of a play.
part of some performance situations.
PLOT: the story of the play.
INCITING INCIDENT: (of a script or play) the
launching pad of the play; the action or short se- PROP: any moveable item used on the set of a play
quence of actions that constitute the point of attack. or handled by an actor.
IRONY: a contrast between what is and what ap- PROSCENIUM: a form of staging in which an arch
pears to be. Two types of irony are--- VERBAL frames the stage; the stage is at one end of a room
IRONY when a character says one thing and means and the audience sits in front of it, watching the play
another; DRAMATIC IRONY when the audience through an arch which frames the action.
knows something that the character does not PROSCENIUM ARCH: opening in the proscenium
LIGHTING DESIGNE R: artist in charge of creating through which the audience views the play.
the lighting effects for a play. PROTAGONIST: the main character; the person
MAKEUP: cosmetics, wigs, hair colorings, or other whose success or failure the audience is most con-
items applied to the actors to change or enhance cerned.
their appearance. PUT-IN REHEARSAL: a special rehearsal called
MELODRAMA: play with exaggerated plot and when an understudy is going to go on, so that the
emotion. rest of the cast has an opportunity to get used to the
presence of a different actor.
MONOLOGUE: long speech spoken by one actor
without interruption. REHEARSAL: the time period before a play opens
MOTIVATION: a characters reason for saying or involving the practice of the dialogue, movement,
doing something; actors search for this in studying rhythms and interpretations of the play.
their role and use voice and movement to relay it to RISING ACTION: (of a script or play) the sequence
the audience. of action and events that leads to the climax of the
MOVEMENT COACH: a person familiar with the play; the conflict becomes clear and tension builds
ways people physically relate to one another in dif- as obstacles are presented.
ferent historical periods, as well as general histori- RUN CREW: people in charge of moving scenery
cally and culturally accurate movements. (How to and props onstage during a performance, and help-
properly use a fan, how women walk while corseted, ing create live audio or visual special effects.
where and how men and women might stand in rela- SCENE : a small unit of a play in which there is no
tion to one another, etc.) shift of locale or time.
NARRATOR: one who tells the story; speaks di- SCENIC ARTIST: a painter or machinist who repro-
rectly to the audience. duces the scene designers drawings in full scale on
OBJECTIVE: what the character wants/needs/ the stage.
desires. SCRIPT: the written words and stage directions cre-
OFFSTAGE: areas on the stage which are not seen ated by a playwright.
by the audience, like the wings or the crossovers, SET: the scenery of the play; depicts time, place
where action can take place and be heard by the and mood.
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SET DESIGNER: the artist in charge of creating the converting it into another.
physical world in which the play will live; usually cre- UNDERSTUDY: an actor who has memorized all
ates in drawings and scale models. the lines and action of an actor in a play, so that if
SOLILOQUY: a speech given by a character alone the original actor falls ill or cannot perform, there is
on the stage where the audience gets to know the someone prepared to take his or her place at a mo-
inner thoughts and feelings of the character. ments notice.
SOUND BOARD OPERATOR: the person who dis- UPSTAGE: the part of the stage farthest from the
charges the correct sounds or music at the appropri- audience. Also, to steal the scene from another ac-
ate moment in the play tor by moving upstage, forcing the downstage actor
SOUND DESIGNER: the artist responsible for the to turn his or her back on the audience.
creation of the sounds heard during a performance, WINGS: the areas offstage right and left, hidden
including music and special effects. from the audience, where actors can enter or exit,
STAGE BUSINESS : small pieces of physical action do quick costume changes, receive or discard
put into a scene to heighten its appeal, suspense or props, or speak lines meant to be heard as if from
sense of reality. another room.
STAGE DIRECTIONS : information written into a
script which tells the actors when and where to
move, or describes the intent or mood of action,
may also describe scenery or props.
STAGE LEFT: side of the stage on the actors left
as they face the audience.
STAGE RIGHT: side of the stage on the actors
right as they face the audience.
STAGE MANAGER: person who coordinates all
aspects of the production during production and per-
formance, runs or calls the show.
SUBTEXT: the thoughts behind the words the actor
speaks.
THEME: the main idea or ethical precept the play
deals with.
THRUST STAGE: a stage set at one end of the
room which extends out into the audience area; au-
dience surrounds the stage on three sides.
TONY: awards given annually by the American
Theatre Wing for outstanding contributions to the
theatre; officially the Antoinette Perry Awards.
TRAGEDY: a story where the protagonist does not
achieve his/her goal.
TRANSLATION: taking a play in one language and