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Theatre & Dance
Stage & Step
Performance traditions and the terms used backstage.
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Shakespeare's company performed at which London theatre?
The Language of Backstage
Every theatre runs on a shared set of terms, most of them older than anyone using them.
About this topic
Theatre vocabulary is a fossil record. Upstage and downstage make no sense until you know that stages were once raked, built to slope up towards the back so that audiences on a flat floor could see. The apron is named for what it looks like. The house is the audience because the auditorium was, in the earliest permanent playhouses, the building itself. The words also mark out who does what. A director's job ends on opening night, at which point the show belongs to the stage manager, who calls every cue for the rest of the run. That handover surprises people outside the business more than anything else about how theatre works, and it is the reason a production can stay recognisably the same for years.
Questions & answers
The Language of Backstage: all 10 questions and answers
Every question in this quiz is listed below with its correct answer and the reasoning behind it. Play first if you would rather not see the answers — or read through as a study sheet.
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1On a stage, which area is described as upstage?
- A The part nearest the audience
- B The area beyond the left-hand curtain
- C The floor space below the stage
- D The part furthest from the audience Correct
Answer: D. The part furthest from the audience
Why: The terms survive from raked stages built to slope upward at the back. An actor who moves there forces others to turn away from the audience, which is where the verb "to upstage" comes from.
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2A blocking rehearsal settles what?
- A The order of the musical numbers
- B The budget for the set
- C Where the performers move and stand Correct
- D Which lines will be cut
Answer: C. Where the performers move and stand
Why: It is fixed early because lighting, sightlines and scene changes all have to be planned around it. Actors record the decisions in their scripts as a shorthand of arrows.
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3In a theatre, what are the wings?
- A The overhead lighting bars
- B The offstage spaces at the sides of the stage Correct
- C The upper balconies of the auditorium
- D The two halves of a split curtain
Answer: B. The offstage spaces at the sides of the stage
Why: They hold waiting performers, scenery and crew. Their depth often decides how large a set can be, since anything moved on has to live somewhere first.
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4What does a dramaturg do?
- A Research and advise on a play's text and context Correct
- B Design and build the set
- C Manage ticket sales
- D Coach the performers' singing
Answer: A. Research and advise on a play's text and context
Why: The role began in eighteenth-century German theatre, where Lessing held the post at Hamburg. It is far more common in continental Europe than in Britain or America.
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5The apron of a stage is which part?
- A The floor covering under the set
- B The strip of lighting along the front edge
- C The backdrop hung at the rear
- D The area projecting in front of the curtain line Correct
Answer: D. The area projecting in front of the curtain line
Why: Elizabethan playhouses were almost entirely apron, with the audience on three sides. That geometry is why so much of the writing addresses the audience directly.
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6In theatre, what does it mean to strike a set?
- A To repaint it between runs
- B To lower it into the stage floor
- C To dismantle and remove it Correct
- D To light it for the first time
Answer: C. To dismantle and remove it
Why: It usually happens immediately after the final performance, often the same night. Venues are booked back to back, so the next production may load in the following morning.
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7A call of "beginners" or "places" instructs performers to do what?
- A Return after the interval
- B Take up their opening positions Correct
- C Come to the stage for notes
- D Begin the warm-up
Answer: B. Take up their opening positions
Why: It is normally given five minutes before curtain up. The half-hour and quarter-hour calls precede it, counting down to the same moment.
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8In theatre usage, what does "the house" mean?
- A The auditorium and the audience in it Correct
- B The company of resident actors
- C The producer's office
- D The building's workshop
Answer: A. The auditorium and the audience in it
Why: House lights are the ones over the audience rather than the stage. A full house is a sold-out one, and going "front of house" means crossing into that side of the building.
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9Once a production has opened, who runs each performance?
- A The director
- B The producer
- C The lighting designer
- D The stage manager Correct
Answer: D. The stage manager
Why: The director's work is finished on opening night. The stage manager calls every lighting, sound and scenery cue for the rest of the run.
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10A thrust stage is one that does what?
- A Tilts towards the audience
- B Rotates to reveal a second set
- C Extends into the audience, who sit on three sides Correct
- D Slides forward on rails during a scene
Answer: C. Extends into the audience, who sit on three sides
Why: It shortens the distance to the furthest seat, which suits intimate work. It also forces performers to keep turning so that no side is ignored for long.
Frequently asked questions about The Language of Backstage
How many questions are in The Language of Backstage?
The Language of Backstage has 10 questions and takes about 6 minutes to finish. It is rated Medium and sits in our Theatre & Dance category.
How is The Language of Backstage scored?
Each of the 10 correct answers adds 10 XP, up to 100 XP for a clean run. Wrong answers cost you nothing, and your full question-by-question review is shown at the end.
Are the answers to The Language of Backstage explained?
Yes. All 10 questions carry a written explanation of why the correct answer is right, so the quiz works as a study sheet as well as a test.
Can I replay The Language of Backstage?
Yes, as often as you like. The questions and the answer options are reshuffled on each run, and you can use Practice Mistakes afterwards to retry only the ones you missed. No account is needed to play.
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