Glossary of Drama Terms

Movement

Naturalistic Movement

These are the most common movement skills because they are believable and used by everyone. Naturalistic movement reflects real-life people, from their status, to age, personality and emotions. The vocabulary below is all to do with this style of movement.

Body Language	Messages given by the position or movement of the body. “I used closed body language by turning away from them, folding my arms and putting my head down to show that I didn’t like them”.
Facial Expression	Look on the face which shows emotion. “I used facial expression by smiling to show I was happy and pleased by the decision.”
Gesture	The use of hands or arms which communicates a meaning or emotion. “I used gesture to point in his face to show I was angry.”
Eye Contact	If, and how much, you look at someone. (You should always say who the eye contact was with/ avoided with) “I used eye contact by staring at the latecomer as he walked into my classroom to show I was annoyed”.
Posture	Position of the body, how it is held. “I used poor posture to slouch down in my seat to show how bored I was”
Use of Space/ Proxemics	The amount of space used to show personality / mood. How close or far you are from your co-performers can be a source of very powerful impact. “To show we were a scary group we stood closely together, taking up most of the space”. “To show I was scared of the bully I used proxemics to stand downstage left whilst they were standing upstage right.”
Use of Levels	Use of space between the floor and ceiling. Often used to make the status of characters clear. “As the King I was seated on my throne, using a high level as the thief was crouched at a low level on the ground.”

Stylised Movement

This is a style of movement which shows that you don’t have to use words to express ideas. You can use techniques such as movement, mime, gesture and dance to explore complex social and cultural issues, symbolic movement or even narrative movement.

Balance	Keeping an even distribution of weight
Speed	Pace of movement
Timing	Moving on an exact cue
Positioning	Place and way in which an actor stands in the acting space
Proxemics	Use of space and positioning to have meaning
Use of Levels	Use of space between the floor and ceiling
Rhythms	Movement that follow a pattern or beat
Stance	Attitude or position of the body
Use of Direction	Use of space e.g. diagonals, forwards, backwards
Motif	This is repeated use of a movement pattern which has meaning and reminds us of the central theme of the work
Mannerisms	Movements developed for a specific character

Voice
Language is what we say and/or write. Voice is how we communicate verbally. The use of language and voice can also reflect the status of characters.

Language	The words spoken “To show my high status as the Queen I used very formal language as I spoke to my subjects.” “To show I was a teenager I used informal language like ‘aye’ and ‘no bother’”
Accent	“I used an American accent to make my character more realistic.” “I used a well spoken Scottish accent to show that the character is well educated.” The drama is set in Scotland during WWII.”
Dialect	Way of speaking used in a local area. “I used a Glaswegian dialect to show I lived locally”
Pace	Speed of speech. “When I played the part of a tired person, I used a slow pace to speak slowly”.
Volume	Loudness or quietness of the voice. “As the mother, I whispered to my sleepy baby to try to get her to sleep.”
Clarity	Clearness of the voice. “I will use good clarity to ensure the audience can hear me”.
Emphasis	The stress on a word or phrase “I emphasised the word “won’t” to make it clear I wouldn’t do my homework”
Pause	A break in speaking, period of silence. “To create suspense, I used a long pause before announcing the winner”.
Pitch	How high or low the voice is. “When I played a child, I made my pitch higher to show I was young”.
Tone	Change of voice to express emotion. “I used a cheeky tone towards the actor playing the teacher to show I didn’t care”
Articulation	Clear pronunciation of words. “To play a teacher giving instructions, I articulated all my words perfectly.”
Fluency	Natural, flowing speech. “When I commented on the football game I spoke fluently and didn’t say em… or er…”
Register	Appropriate speech for the person being spoken to, or for the situation. “I used a formal register when I spoke to my commanding officer to show respect towards his authority over me.”
Projection	Speaking loudly enough to be heard by the audience “I projected my voice towards the audience even though I was using a stage whisper, allowing the audience to hear the dialogue.”
Rhythm	Observing the rhythm of the dialogue. “The speech was written in verse so in rehearsal we tapped out the rhythm so that the entire chorus could speak together in the same rhythm.”
Intonation	Rise and fall of the voice “I used a varied intonation to express how happy and excited the character is at this point.”

Rehearsal & Characterisation Techniques

You can use some or all of these techniques to help develop a character. The more believable a character is, the more the audience will connect with your performance.

Character Card	A guide to help you imagine and describe your character e.g. name, age, occupation, appearance, personality etc.
Improvisation	Trying out how the same characters would behave/ react at different times or in different situations.
Role-Play	Exploring other people’s attitudes and beliefs. These attitudes and beliefs need not be your own.
Hot Seating	Questioning a character in role e.g. “Why did you eat the porridge?”
Voices in the Head	Recalling words said by others about a character or situation e.g. “She’s making a big mistake”.
Writing in Role	Writing as a character e.g. a diary, a letter.
Thought Tracking	A character speaks their thoughts out loud e.g. “Should I keep the money, or hand it in?”

Purpose

The purpose, or purposes, of a drama are the reasons the drama was created – not to be confused with the purpose of a character. A target audience is an identifiable group of people at whom a drama is aimed. This could be a direct result of the purpose of the drama. For example, a pantomime aimed at primary one pupils.

A drama can be used for the following purposes, singly or in combination to:

communicate a message
entertain
tell a story
educate
explore and experience (e.g. through audience participation)
explore a theme or issue

Genre

Genre is the style/ type of drama being presented. There is some similarity here with film or book genre.

Comedy	A funny play with a happy ending
Tragedy	A play about unhappy events, with an unhappy ending
Docudrama	A documentary-style staged play that features dramatised re-enactments of actual historical events.

Structure

Structure is the way in which the action unfolds. Structure can be linear, non-linear or episodic.

Linear	Events unfold in chronological order e.g. morning, afternoon and night.
Non-linear	There are changes in time between the present, past and sometimes future.
Episodic	The play does not have one plot line but is a series of connected scenes to communicate a theme or issue.

Form
The form of a drama is how the story is told, the way the characters play their parts and/or the way the themes are explored. Forms can include the following.

Play: scripted	The playwright has written down what each character will say. Actors learn and deliver these lines.
Play: a rehearsed improvisation	The actors make certain planning decisions about what the story will be about and what characters will be involved. Then they make up the words as they go along then they rehearse it until it’s ready to perform
Dance drama	A drama told through dance moves. The movement tends to be symbolic, not realistic.
Mime	A stylised form of movement which creates an illusion of reality. In other words, actions and objects can be mimed and made to look believably real. The story is told without props, everything is mimed, and there is no speech.
Forum Theatre	When audience suggest changes to a drama to affect outcomes. The audience watch a play, and then suggest changes which alter the original plot. The audience can be invited to take the place of the actors to act out the ideas they have suggested for changes in the plot.

Conventions
Conventions are alternative ways of presenting part(s) of a drama, and usually enhance an element of the drama to make it better/ clearer or more enjoyable for an audience. However, too many conventions can be confusing for an audience and the drama can end up looking false, so this is to be avoided if possible. The following are examples of conventions.

Flashback	Acting out an event in the past
Flash-forward	Acting out of a future, or imagined, event.
Freeze frame	The action is frozen in time e.g. a reaction. Or an event difficult to act out is frozen before it happens.
Slow Motion	Movement performed at a slowed down speed. This can be used to highlight a point in the drama to build tension and give more visual impact.
Narration	Part(s) of the drama are told as a story by a narrator. A narrator can be a character in the play, or someone playing only the narrator.
Voice-over	Recorded speech played during a drama. A voice is heard, but the character(s) on stage do not speak the lines.
Aside	A remark to the audience only.
Tableau/ Frozen Picture	A stage picture, held without movement. Can replace dramatising part of the story e.g. a birthday party, prize award.