In
British EnglishBritish English, or English , is the broad term used to distinguish the forms of the English language used in the United Kingdom from forms used elsewhere...
and
American EnglishAmerican English is a set of dialects of the English language used mostly in the United States. Approximately two-thirds of the world's native speakers of English live in the United States....
show businessShow business, sometimes shortened to show biz, is a vernacular term for all aspects of entertainment. The word applies to all aspects of the entertainment industry from the business side to the creative element ....
lexicon, the
green room is that space in a
theatreTheatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
, a studio, or a similar venue, which accommodates
performersThe performing arts are those forms art which differ from the plastic arts insofar as the former uses the artist's own body, face, and presence as a medium, and the latter uses materials such as clay, metal or paint which can be molded or transformed to create some physical art object...
or speakers not yet required on
stageIn theatre or performance arts, the stage is a designated space for the performance productions. The stage serves as a space for actors or performers and a focal point for the members of the audience...
. The green room functions as a waiting room, or as a touch-up lounge so that a performer need not return to wardrobe or to the dressing room, while remaining immediately available for a call to the stage. The origin of the term is often attributed to such an area historically being painted green, yet the modern "green room" is often not green at all.
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 TheatreBlackfriars Theatre was the name of a theatre in the Blackfriars district of the City of London during the Renaissance. The theatre began as a venue for child actors associated with the Queen's chapel choirs; in this function, the theatre hosted some of the most innovative drama of Elizabeth and...
(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.
Historical attributions of the term
Some theories have attempted to identify specific historical origins for the term. For example:
- Richard Southern
Sir Richard William Southern , who published under the name R. W. Southern, was a noted English medieval historian, based at the University of Oxford.-Biography:...
, in his studies of Medieval theatre in the roundTheatre-in-the-round or arena theatre is any theatre space in which the audience surrounds the stage area...
, states that in this period the acting area was called The Green. This central space, often grass-covered, was used by the actors, while the surrounding space and circular banks were occupied by the spectators. From this source then The Green has been a traditional actors' term for the stage. Even in proscenium arch theatres there was a tradition that a green stage cloth should be used for a tragedyTragedy is a form of art based on human suffering that offers its audience pleasure. While most cultures have developed forms that provoke this paradoxical response, tragedy refers to a specific tradition of drama that has played a unique and important role historically in the self-definition of...
. The green room could thus be considered the transition room on the way to the green/stage. Technical staff at some West End theatres (such as the London Coliseum) still refer to the stage as the green.
"Tiring house", "scene-room" and "green room"
- In Shakespeare's day, the actors waited in a tiring house. Here it is mentioned by Peter Quince
In William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, Peter Quince is a carpenter who works in ancient Athens. He is one of the six craftsmen that put on a play for Theseus and Hippolyta at their wedding...
as he plans for his acting troupe to rehearse in the woods:
- Samuel Pepys
Samuel Pepys FRS, MP, JP, was an English naval administrator and Member of Parliament who is now most famous for the diary he kept for a decade while still a relatively young man...
mentions these locations at the Drury Lane Theatre Royal in 1667:
- It is possible that "green room" might be a corruption of scene room, the room where scenery was stored which doubled as the actors' waiting and warm-up room.
- In his Life of Samuel Johnson (1791), James Boswell
James Boswell, 9th Laird of Auchinleck was a lawyer, diarist, and author born in Edinburgh, Scotland; he is best known for the biography he wrote of one of his contemporaries, the English literary figure Samuel Johnson....
mentions visits by his subject to the Green Room at the Drury Lane Theatre.
Citations
- Thomas Shadwell
Thomas Shadwell was an English poet and playwright who was appointed poet laureate in 1689.-Life:Shadwell was born at Stanton Hall, Norfolk, and educated at Bury St Edmunds School, and at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, which he entered in 1656. He left the university without a degree, and...
's Restoration comedy, "A True Widow" (1678), mentions in Act Four: Stanmore : "No madam: Selfish, this Evening, in a green Room, behind the Scenes, was before-hand with me..."
- The term "green room" is mentioned in Colley Cibber
Colley Cibber was an English actor-manager, playwright and Poet Laureate. His colourful memoir Apology for the Life of Colley Cibber describes his life in a personal, anecdotal and even rambling style...
's Love Makes a Man (1701). "I do know London pretty well, and the Side-box, Sir, and behind the Scenes; ay, and the Green-Room, and all the Girls and Women~Actresses there.'
- In his Life of Samuel Johnson (1791), James Boswell
James Boswell, 9th Laird of Auchinleck was a lawyer, diarist, and author born in Edinburgh, Scotland; he is best known for the biography he wrote of one of his contemporaries, the English literary figure Samuel Johnson....
mentions visits by his subject to the Green Room at the Drury Lane Theatre.
- Jerome K. Jerome
Jerome Klapka Jerome was an English writer and humorist, best known for the humorous travelogue Three Men in a Boat.Jerome was born in Caldmore, Walsall, England, and was brought up in poverty in London...
's first book comically describes his stint in English theatre during the late 1870s. "There was no green room. There never had been a green room. I never saw a green room, except in a play, though I was always on the lookout for it."
- The green room is mentioned in the Sherlock Holmes short story "The Man with the Twisted Lip
"The Man with the Twisted Lip", one of the 56 short Sherlock Holmes stories written by British author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, is the sixth of the twelve stories in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. The story was first published in the Strand Magazine in December 1891...
" by Sir Arthur Conan DoyleSir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle DL was a Scottish physician and writer, most noted for his stories about the detective Sherlock Holmes, generally considered a milestone in the field of crime fiction, and for the adventures of Professor Challenger...
Folk etymology
In addition to the preceding explanations, the term
green room has also been attributed to numerous alternative folk etymologies, including the following:
- The room was originally painted green to "relieve the eyes from the glare of the stage." On the other hand, early stage lighting was by candlelight, so the "glare" might be apocryphal, a modern reference to electric stage lighting.
- It is sometimes said that the term green room was a response to limelight
Limelight is a type of stage lighting once used in theatres and music halls. An intense illumination is created when an oxyhydrogen flame is directed at a cylinder of quicklime , which can be heated to 2572 °C before melting. The light is produced by a combination of incandescence and...
, though the name is merely a coincidence – "limelight" refers to calcium oxideCalcium oxide , commonly known as quicklime or burnt lime, is a widely used chemical compound. It is a white, caustic, alkaline crystalline solid at room temperature....
, not to the fruitLime is a term referring to a number of different citrus fruits, both species and hybrids, which are typically round, green to yellow in color, 3–6 cm in diameter, and containing sour and acidic pulp. Limes are a good source of vitamin C. Limes are often used to accent the flavors of foods and...
or colour. Furthermore limelight was invented in 1820 and the term "green room" was used many years prior to that.
- Many actors experience nervous anxiety before a performance and one of the symptoms of nervousness is nausea. As a person who feels neauseous is often said to look "green", so the "Green Room" is the place where the nervous actors wait.
- Some studies state that the green room was originally called the retaining room. The ensemble of a production would wait there for their appearance onstage, listening to the performance of the principal actors and critiquing their acting. When made aware of this practice, the leads began to call the retaining room the green room, mocking the (green) envy of these actors.
- In Restoration theatres, the main, seasoned actors waited for their entrances in the wings – or sometimes even at the sides of the stage – while the minor players, usually young, less experienced "green" actors, were banished behind the scenes. Hence, the backstage room was for the "green" players and came to be called the green room.
- According to one theory, long before modern makeup was invented the actors had to apply makeup before a show and allow it to set up or cure before performing. Until the makeup was cured, it was green and people were advised to sit quietly in the green room until such time as the makeup was stable enough for performing. Uncured makeup is gone, but the green room lives on.
- In Shakespearean theatre actors would prepare for their performances in a room filled with plants and shrubs. It was believed that the moisture in the topiary was beneficial to the actors' voices. Thus the green room may refer to the green plants in this stage preparation area.
- The term green room can alternatively be traced back to the East End of London
The East End of London, also known simply as the East End, is the area of London, England, United Kingdom, east of the medieval walled City of London and north of the River Thames. Although not defined by universally accepted formal boundaries, the River Lea can be considered another boundary...
, England. In CockneyThe term Cockney has both geographical and linguistic associations. Geographically and culturally, it often refers to working class Londoners, particularly those in the East End...
rhyming slang, greengage is stage, therefore greengage room is stage room and like most rhyming slang it gets shortened, hence green' room. This information came from the late, great comedian and dancer Max WallMax Wall , was an English comedian and actor, whose performing career covered music hall, theatre, films and television.-Early years:...
. It should be noted, however, that Rhyming Slang can be traced only as early as the 1840s, whereas the phrase "green room" predates this by several centuries, making such an etymology unlikely.
- Green is also thought to be a calming and soothing colour.
- It has been suggested that the original green room was in a London theatre converted from office buildings. The room behind the stage had previously been used to cut deals and was known as the agreeing room, and the phrase has become corrupted over the years.
- In English theatres, a green floor-cloth was traditionally spread on the stage for tragedies. During the Restoration, when virtually all performances were comedies, the green floor-cloth for tragedies was stored in the actors' waiting room and used to deaden their footsteps so the sound of pacing actors would not disturb the performance. As tragedies were rarely performed, the green floor cloth became a routine fixture of the actors' lounge and the room became known as the green room.
Other meanings
- In sports drafts
A draft is a process used in the United States, Canada, Japan, Australia, Russia and the Philippines to allocate certain players to sports teams. In a draft, teams take turns selecting from a pool of eligible players...
, mostly in North America, the term "green room" is often informally used in its traditional theatrical sense. For example, the NBAThe National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...
and its sister league, the WNBAThe Women's National Basketball Association is a women's professional basketball league in the United States. It currently is composed of twelve teams. The league was founded on April 24, 1996 as the women's counterpart to the National Basketball Association...
, set aside a special room at their draft sites for invited top prospects to await their selection with their families and agentsA sports agent procures and negotiates employment and endorsement contracts for an athlete.In return, the sports agent generally receives between 4 and 10% of the athlete's playing contract, and 10 to 20% of the athlete's endorsement contract, though these figures vary...
.
- In some theatre companies, the term green room also refers to the director's critique session held after a rehearsal or performance, since it is often held in the green room. This session is used for a pep talk, bonding among actors, and/or warmup exercises.
- Green room is also a term for a room where plants are grown as the windows are made of glass, making it a perfect habitat for plants.
- In international trade, and in particular in the context of negotiations within the World Trade Organization (WTO), where decisions can only be reached by consensus, the "Green Room" refers to a process in which heads of delegation seek consensus informally under the chairmanship of the Director-General.Green Room meetings serve a useful purpose in that their informal nature allows negotiators to explore new approaches to settling difficult issues. Ministerial Green Room consultations deal with the most sensitive political issues — including tariff or subsidy cuts, or the degree of flexibility regarding those cuts. Green Room meetings often run until the early hours of the morning and can stretch out for days. They can also be tense and dramatic settings in which nerves are taut and tempers evident. When convergence is reached in the Green Room, co-ordinators report back to their groups (such as the G20, G90, least developed countries, or trade blocks, such as the EU)) to relay their accounts of the meeting. Group members react to these reports and may approve or reject proposals. They could also ask the co-ordinator to go back to the Green Room to seek clarification or more concessions from trading partners. At the end, the Director-General may consult such members in an effort to accommodate their concerns and thereby enable them to join the consensus.
- The green room is sometimes a location where theatre patrons or fans may meet and greet any famous musicians or performers after a concert. A fee is usually paid to gain access to this area.
- In the White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
, the Green RoomThe Green Room is one of three state parlors on the first floor in the White House, the home of the president of the United States. It is used for small receptions and teas. During a state dinner, guests are served cocktails in the three state parlors before the president, first lady, and visiting...
is one of three state parlors located on the state floor, it is traditionally decorated in green.
- In surfing
Surfing' is a surface water sport in which the surfer rides a surfboard on the crest and face of a wave which is carrying the surfer towards the shore...
, the green room is the inside of a barrel that is produced by a wave. This term was coined due to the colour of light reflected into the barrel.
- The Green Room is an Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...
theatre in New YorkNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
- Green Room Club
The Green Room Club was a London gentlemen's club, primarily for actors, but also for lovers of the theatre & the arts. It was established in 1877 and was dissolved in 2000.-History:...
was a long-time London club for actors, now defunct.
Unusual events
- In 1735, actor Charles Macklin
Charles Macklin , originally Cathal MacLochlainn , was an actor and dramatist born in Culdaff, a village on the scenic Inishowen Peninsula in County Donegal, part of the Province of Ulster in the north of Ireland. He was one of the most distinguished actors of his day, equally in tragedy and comedy...
got into a quarrel with another actor over a wig and killed the other actor in the green room at Drury Lane.