The Glossary
ESP / ENG
The Illustrated Glossary of the Performing Arts, the result of 15 years of work, addresses a clear gap in the challenging field of theatrical terminology, thanks to a multidisciplinary and technological understanding of the theatrical phenomenon.
Its two volumes, comprising 2111 pages, more than 12,700 entries, and 1650 illustrations, cover various fields of the performing arts (theater, ballet and dance, music, opera, circus, puppetry), theater (the history of theater, dramatic literature, theatrical theories, theater organization, cultural trends and movements, actors and performance, production and staging), theatrical architecture (the history of the theater building, types of theaters, stage types, theater buildings, visual design, acoustics, universal design, heritage, restoration), and theatrical systems (rigging, theater machinery, scenography, professional lighting, sound, audiovisual and video, electroacoustics, special effects, as well as costumes and textiles, makeup, and hairstyling).
A remarkable aspect of the work is the coordinated cross-referencing of American, Ibero-American, and British terminology (each entry includes translations of the different meanings into English), as well as the sustained effort to define concepts commonly used in English-speaking countries but rarely included in theatrical glossaries published in Spanish. This use of Anglo-Saxon sources, many of which are highly valuable and little-known in the Spanish-speaking world, is reflected in the noteworthy depth of the bibliography, which in itself serves as a valuable documentary resource, including an extensive annotated bibliography of the sources used in the creation of the work.
Also deserving special mention is the abundance of illustrations, which make the text of many entries much more accessible and will undoubtedly make this work highly useful for educational and reference purposes.
Additionally, the annexes in the work are of great value, some of them bilingual, such as the list of different environments in a theater building or that of knots and ropes, along with others like the one referring to the different types of stages based on their use, the production diagram, and the different types of theater organizations.
