Dress Rehearsal - Theatre Etymology - Part 39

Most people know that a dress rehearsal means that everything needed for the production is meant to happen in the rehearsal. That means that all actors are completely off book, all costumes are worn, all sounds are played, all lighting happens, etc.

In some definitions, it says that a dress rehearsal is the last rehearsal before a performance. The last rehearsal before a performance usually is a dress rehearsal. However, sometimes, other types of rehearsals may happen between the last dress rehearsal and a performance.

The exact origin of dress rehearsal is not certain. However, it seems to be from the fact that the actors are fully dressed in their costumes for the play. The word dress comes from the middle Middle English word dressen which comes from the Anglo-French word dresser or dresc(i)er meaning to arrange or to prepare. The Middle English word could also come from the Old French word drecier which comes from the Vulgar Latin word dīrēctiāre which is a derivative of the Latin word dīrēctus meaning direct.

The word rehearsal comes from the Middle English word rehersaille. It is a form of the word rehearse plus the suffix al. The word rehearse comes from the Middle English word rehersen or rehercen which comes from the Middle French word rehercier meaning to repeat. The Middle French word is the equivalent to re- plus hercier meaning to strike or to harrow.

There is a superstition in the theatre that a bad dress rehearsal means a good opening night and a good dress rehearsal means a bad opening night. This is because it is thought that if the actors have a good dress rehearsal, they become too comfortable with their parts and start to slack off for the opening night performance. Of course, this is just a superstition, but it is understandable why it exists.

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