Green Room - Theatre Etymology - Part 5

The green room, if a theatre has one, is the room where actors wait in order to go onto the stage and also to relax before and after the performance, and sometimes even during the performance if they are not on stage. This room may be directly connected to the dressing rooms or it may be located somewhere that is both near the dressing rooms and the stage. However, green rooms aren't always green, so why are they called green rooms?

The origin of the term "green room" is not clear. There are many theories as to why green rooms are called green rooms. One theory is that the term comes from medieval theatre. It is thought that the performing area was called "The Green" and thus any room where actors waited might be called "a green room" because it was a room that would lead to "The Green." Then there's the theory that the room is known as a green room because in Shakespeare's day, actors would warm up in a room that contained plants. It was thought that being in a room with plants was good for the actors' voices. Since there were plants in the room, the room was known as a green room.

Another theory that claims to be from around the time of Shakespeare is that the room held unexperienced actors. Although the room was not limited to only unexperienced actors, it was likely that they would spend more time there than on stage like experience actors. These actors were "green" and thus the room was a "green room." There's also the theory that the room was where nervous actors would wait. When an actor was nervous, he might look sick or "green." Thus, the room was called a green room because of nervous actors.

There are also theories about makeup. One states that actors had to apply uncured makeup to their faces and then wait for it to cure. When the makeup was uncured, it looked green. So, actors sitting in a room would literally look green, and the room became known as "the green room." Another theory dealing with makeup is that actors often had to use fake blood when on stage. It is thought that the fake blood would get onto the walls in this back room. Fake blood on most walls looked very odd or concerning, but fake blood on green walls did not look as bad and thus the walls were painted green.

There are more theories that focus on the walls of the room actually being green. Another one is that an inexpensive material that was usually white or tan was dyed green and put over expensive areas of the theatre in order to keep them from getting damaged. This material also supposedly helped keep costumes clean, and thus it covered the walls of the room where costumes were kept, which also ended up being the room where actors waited and relaxed as sometimes it was also the dressing room. Then, there is the theory that the walls were painted green in the room to give relaxation to the actors. It is thought that this was to help relax their eyes from the bright stage lights, but it can also simply be that green is a relaxing color.

There are also the theories that come from language. One is that the term came from Cockney Rhyming Slang. It is thought that the stage was called the greengage, often shortened to green. Thus, the waiting room would be the "greengage room" or "the green room." Another is that the room was the "scene room" where the scenery was kept. For some reason, the word "scene" was misheard and and "green" replaced it and the room was called the green room.

There are probably even more theories. You can pick your favorite one for yourself (although you should teach others that there are many theories) or you can make up your own theory as well.

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