downstage
Toward the footlights
Downstage is the part of a theater stage closest to the audience.
As an adverb or adjective, it describes movement or position toward the front: She moved downstage for her monologue.
The term comes from the historical raking of stages, which sloped down toward the audience for better sightlines.
Waist-tied protective garment
- footlightsLamps at stage edge
- prosceniumTheater's architectural frame
- blockingImpeding forward progress
- markVisible impression or sign
spike · crossing · entrance · exit · wings · orchestra pit · prompter · fourth wall
Concentrated illumination source
- footlightsLamps at stage edge
- floodsOverflowing onto dry land
- gelsSets or coagulates
- apronWaist-tied protective garment
trap · prompter · pit · orchestra · flies · batten · scrim · flat
Impeding forward progress
counter · cue · mark · direction · approach · advance · traverse · pivot
Theater's architectural frame
- auditoriumRoom for spectators
- curtainFabric hung for privacy
- sceneryVisible natural surroundings
- backdropRear stage scenery
set · props · costume · makeup · playbill · rehearsal · blocking · dramaturgy
Concentrated illumination source
- highlightMost notable part
- focal pointCenter of interest
- prominenceNotable status or visibility
- exposureState of being unprotected
showcase · reveal · presentation · sightlines · clear · unobstructed · centerstage · audience
Uninterrupted solo address
- soliloquyDramatic speech to oneself
- asideBrief theatrical digression
- addressSpeak to formally
- deliveryConveyance of goods
projection · presence · connection · rapport · vulnerability · intimacy · direct address · audience engagement
apron
Waist-tied protective garment
- footlightsLamps at stage edge
- prosceniumTheater's architectural frame
- blockingImpeding forward progress
mark · spike · crossing · entrance · exit · wings · orchestra pit · prompter · fourth wall · thrust
spotlight
Concentrated illumination source
- footlightsLamps at stage edge
- floodsOverflowing onto dry land
- gelsSets or coagulates
apron · trap · prompter · pit · orchestra · flies · batten · scrim · flat · masking
blocking
Impeding forward progress
open up · counter · cue · mark · direction · approach · advance · traverse · pivot · turn in
proscenium
Theater's architectural frame
- auditoriumRoom for spectators
- curtainFabric hung for privacy
- sceneryVisible natural surroundings
backdrop · set · props · costume · makeup · playbill · rehearsal · blocking · dramaturgy · stagecraft
spotlight
Concentrated illumination source
- highlightMost notable part
- focal pointCenter of interest
- prominenceNotable status or visibility
exposure · showcase · reveal · presentation · sightlines · clear · unobstructed · centerstage · audience · vantage
monologue
Uninterrupted solo address
delivery · projection · presence · connection · rapport · vulnerability · intimacy · direct address · audience engagement · confiding
- theater termsplay, actors, limelight, directing, drama
- Downdownward, downhill, downstream, downwind, downfall
- stagecraftwings, wing, proscenium, forestage, thrust
- theater jargoncurtain call, dress rehearsal, greenroom, opening night, places
- stage movementmovement, gesture, walk, turn, entrance
- Elizabethan theaterBlackfriars, Globe Theatre, groundlings, heavens, trap door