Green Room?

What is the Green Room?

• Defined: a room close to the stage 
• Purpose: place for actors to relax before or after going on stage
• Odd fact: usually are not green

All that's Agreed upon

• First reference in 1678 in Thomas Shadwell's A True Widow
• "No madam: Selfish, this Evening, in a green Room, behind the scenes."
• Probably in common use by the 1690s.

Theories

• Green is a soothing color
• But . . . this idea comes from 20th century psychology

Theories

• The color is a response to early electrical stage lighting. 
• But . . . green rooms were around when candles were used as stage lighting.

Theories

• Before modern makeup was invented, the curing solution was green.
• Actors had to wait in the "Green Room" until their makeup was set.

Theories

• An actor who is nauseous may appear green.
• The "Green Room" is a place to house these nervous actors.

Theories

• Shakespearean Theatre: actors prepared in a room with plants and shrubs.
• The moisture from plants and shrubs was beneficial to actors' voices.

Theories

• Medieval Theatre: acting area called "The Green."
• Thus the green room was the room on the way to "The Green."

Works Consulted

• www.cyranchtheatre.org
• www.theatrecrafts.com
• www.wikipedia.org