Break a Leg! Trivia Quiz

Answer: the area and the services provided to patrons, e.g. ticket sales, ushering, concessions, seating

Generally speaking, the stage manager is in charge of everything that happens from the curtain to the backstage while the house manager is in charge of everything that happens in the seats, the lobby and, in some cases, even the parking lot. The people who fill the seats are themselves sometimes collectively referred to as "the house."

Answer: an open audition for actors in large numbers for brief tryouts

Mass auditions are sometimes held to cast smaller parts in plays, movies, television programmes and advertisements. Sometimes the actors are seen in groups. People responsible for casting are often able to tell very quickly who is suitable and those few are sometimes called back for a longer, more personal audition.

Answer: an arrangement of opaque flaps around a light

Barn doors are often made of metal painted black. They can be fixed so as to precisely guide and direct the light from a lamp.

Answer: the areas on either side (right and left) of the stage, out of sight of the audience

Wings are technically part of the backstage which includes them and more space behind the backdrop. Actors normally stand in the wings just before they make an entrance. The phrase "waiting in the wings" derives from this theatrical practice.

Answer: turning off all of the lights on the stage

A blackout occurs when all of the lighting directed at the stage is extinguished. This most often happens at the end of a scene or act. It allows sets and properties to be changed and actors to exit or enter the stage unseen. It does not normally include turning off the lights in exit signs nor emergency lighting in the floor of the house.

Answer: deciding where actors stand and move in a scene

Blocking decisions are normally made by the director and recorded by the stage manager on a copy of the script. In another sense, an actor who gets between the audience and another actor is said to be blocking that actor.

Answer: the time or moment at which a play begins or ends

Not all plays begin with a rising curtain nor do all plays end with a curtain's descent. The slang expression "curtains" (meaning the end or death of something) probably derives from the earlier theatrical use of "curtain" to mean conclusion.

Answer: to laugh or cause another actor to laugh onstage out of character

Used both transitively and intransitively, corpsing involves a character break in which the actor either laughs uncontrollably or causes another actor to laugh uncontrollably out of character. The origins of this bit of theatre slang are lost but are certainly British. Laurence Olivier was notorious for corpsing; the cast of "The Carol Burnett Show" made it a trademark.

Answer: a short appearance in a small role, often by a prominent actor

The original meaning of cameo was a short appearance in which the well-known actor appeared as himself. Many cameos are contained by a single scene. Modernly, a cameo is an opportunity for an accomplished actor to demonstrate how much can be done with a small part.

Answer: a single-bulb electric lamp left burning on-stage when the theatre is otherwise totally dark

The ghost light has a practical purpose: it allows a person who arrives in the dark or who leaves after the lights are extinguished to walk safely. It is sometimes called an "equity lamp" on the theory that it was required by the Actors' Equity Association. It also serves a supernatural purpose: theatre folk can be superstitious and some hold that the ghost light mollifies ghosts who might otherwise engage in mischief.

Answer: the space between the audience and the actors through which the action is viewed

A classic theatre stage has three physical walls -- back, left and right -- and is open to the front so that the audience can see what is happening in the enclosed space. An imaginary physical boundary separates the audience from the actors. This creates, in the mind of the theatregoer, a metaphysical separation of the audience from the actors and the action in the play.

This effect is called "the fourth wall." When an actor does anything to violate this imaginary wall (e.g. walks from the stage into the audience or speaks directly to the audience), the damage to the illusion can be called "breaking the fourth wall."

Answer: a low area in front of the stage occupied by musicians

This area is also sometimes called the orchestra pit. It is often so constructed that the musicians are unseen and only the conductor's head and hands are visible from the seats. Because it is a potential hazard to the audience, the pit is often fenced on the house side by some sort of railing.

Some pits are designed so that they can be covered with flooring when not in use, which extends the apron of the stage closer to the audience.

Answer: There is no production of the play on that evening.

An evening when there is no performance may be called dark, or the theatre itself called dark, or the day of the week called dark. These are usually regularly scheduled days off for cast and crew. It is common for a play with a matinee on Sunday (in addition to a Sunday-evening performance) to be dark on Monday night.

Answer: to disassemble the set and remove the furnishings, leaving the stage empty

"Strike the show" and "strike the set" both mean to take it all down. Sometimes the term is used more narrowly, as in deciding to remove a piece of furniture from a set when it is found to be in the way. Strike may also refer to the event (sometimes a sort of work party in community theatre) in which the set is taken down.

Answer: a person who finances a theatrical production as an investor or patron

Investing in a theatrical production is highly risky. Only a small percentage of angels recoup their original investment. If a production is successful, however, angels stand to share in the profits for as long as the show runs.