Green room

In show business, the green room is the space in a theatre or similar venue that functions as a waiting room and lounge for performers before and after a performance, and during the show when they are not engaged on stage.

The origin of the term is often ascribed to such rooms historically being painted green. The modern "green room" is usually 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 Theatre (1599) included a room behind the scenes, which happened to be painted green; here the actors waited to go on stage. 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:

Patrick Stewart

Sir Patrick Stewart OBE (born 13 July 1940) is an English actor whose career has included roles on stage, television, and film. Beginning his career with a long run with the Royal Shakespeare Company, his first major screen roles were in BBC-broadcast television and film during the mid-late 1970s, including Hedda and the miniseries I, Claudius. In the 1980s, he began working in American television and film, with roles as Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation and its successor films; as Professor Charles Xavier in the X-Men series of superhero movies; and voice roles including CIA deputy director Avery Bullock in American Dad! and narrating the film Ted and its sequel. He currently stars in the Starz TV series Blunt Talk. In 1993, TV Guide named him the best dramatic television actor of the 1980s.

Early life

Patrick Stewart was born on 13 July 1940 in Mirfield, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England, to Gladys (née Barrowclough), a weaver and textile worker, and Alfred Stewart, a Regimental Sergeant Major in the British Army. He has two older brothers, Geoffrey (b. 28 January 1925, Mirfield) and Trevor (b. 10 August 1935, Mirfield).

Mark Kermode

Mark James Patrick Kermode (né Fairey; 2 July 1963) is an English film critic, presenter, writer, and musician. He is a member of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. He is the chief film critic for The Observer, and a contributor to Kermode and Mayo's Film Review and Sight and Sound magazine. He also co-presents the BBC Two arts programme The Culture Show and discusses other branches of the arts for the BBC Two programme Newsnight Review. Kermode also writes and presents a film-related video blog for the BBC. Kermode is also a co-founder of the skiffle band The Dodge Brothers.

Early life

Kermode was born in Barnet, London. He was educated at The Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School, an independent boys' school in Elstree, Hertfordshire, a few years ahead of comedians Sacha Baron Cohen and David Baddiel and in the same year as actor Jason Isaacs.

He was raised as a Methodist, and later became a member of the Church of England. His parents divorced when he was in his early 20s and he subsequently changed his surname to his mother's maiden name by deed poll. He earned his PhD in English at the University of Manchester in 1991, writing a thesis on horror fiction.