Green room

A green room in show business lexicon in British and American English is that space in a theatre, studio or similar venue which accommodates performers not yet required on stage. The green room functions as a waiting room and lounge for performers before and after a performance, and during the show when they are not engaged onstage.

The origin of the term is often ascribed to such rooms historically being painted green,[1][2] yet the modern "green room" is usually not green at all.[3][4][5]

Contents

Source of the term

The specific origin of the term is lost to history, which has led to many imaginative theories and claims. One story is that London's Blackfriars Theatre (1599) included a room behind the scenes; this room happened to be painted green; here the actors waited to go on stage; and it was called "the green room." Some English theatres contained several green rooms, each ranked according to the status and the salary of the actor: one could be fined for using a green room above one's station.[6][7]

Historical attributions of the term

Some theories have attempted to identify specific historical origins for the term. For example:

"Tiring house", "scene-room" and "green room"

QUINCE: Pat, pat; and here's a marvellous convenient place for our rehearsal. This green plot shall be our stage, this hawthorn-brake our tiring-house; and we will do it in action as we will do it before the duke.
Midsummer Night's Dream (approx 1595) - Act 3 Scene 1
...she took us up into the Tireing-rooms and to the women's Shift, where Nell was dressing herself and...then below into the Scene-room, and...here I read the Qu's (cues) to Knepp while she answered me, through all her part of Flora's Figarys...

Citations

Folk etymology

In addition to the preceding explanations, the term green room has also been attributed to numerous alternative folk etymologies, including the following:

Other meanings

Unusual events

Notes

  1. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, William Morris editor, 1971
  2. ^ Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase & Fable, Millennium Edition, revised by Adrian Room, 1999
  3. ^ Academy Awards green room decor (not green) Architectural Digest March 2009
  4. ^ Primetime Emmy greenroom Architectural Digest, November 2009
  5. ^ Architectural Digest-June 2008-"A Winning Design for Oscar"
  6. ^ a b c The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre, edited by Phyllis Hartnoll, Oxford University Press, 1972, pg 220
  7. ^ Old theatre days and ways By William John Lawrence via Google Books quoting in turn An Actor's Notebook by George Vandenhoff
  8. ^ Voices from the World of Samuel Pepys By Jonathan Bastable pg 111, David and Charles Limited (2007) via Google Books
  9. ^ a b The life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D. By James Boswell, Mowbray Morris, pg 122, via Google Books Boswell
  10. ^ a b c d theatrecrafts.com
  11. ^ a b World Wide Words website
  12. ^ Oxford English Dictionary as cited at Word origins .org
  13. ^ Word Origins.com website
  14. ^ On the Stage--and Off: the brief career of a would-be-actor, Jerome K. Jerome, pg 74-75, via Internet Archive [1]
  15. ^ Based on Google book search, there is one reference to an actor who mentions his reputation in the "greenroom". Just a passing reference however.
  16. ^ Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase & Fable, Millenium Edition, Revised by Adrian Room
  17. ^ Straight Dope website
  18. ^ De Proverbio.com
  19. ^ Glossary of Technical Theatre Terms at theatrecrafts.com
  20. ^ Ford, Chad (June 18, 2011). "NBA issues 'green room' invitations". ESPN.com. http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/draft2011/news/story?id=6675909&campaign=rss&source=NBAHeadlines. Retrieved June 23, 2011. 
  21. ^ "Top Prospects Invited to Attend WNBA Draft" (Press release). Women's National Basketball Association. April 6, 2011. http://www.wnba.com/draft/2011/invited_players_2011.html. Retrieved June 23, 2011. 
  22. ^ http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/dda_e/meet08_org_e.htm
  23. ^ Surfing glossary
  24. ^ Green Room theatre website
  25. ^ Charles Macklin article at Theatre History.com