one of the three parts of the ancient Greek theater, the other two being the orchestra and auditorium. At first the skene was a temporary wooden structure where the actors changed costumes and from where they made their entrances. Beginning in the first half of the fifth century B.C., when theatrical action became more complex and second and third actors were introduced, the skene was built behind the orchestra or tangent to its circumference. The modern Russian word stsena is derived from the ancient Greek word skene and the Latin scaena. [23–1498–]