Stuart's Daily Word Spot: Tableau

Tableau: noun - a picture; used figuratively - a presentationor description in picturesque form; a table, schedule or official list; groupof people and things grouped to form a picturesque scene; used theatrically – astatic representation of the action at a critical stage in a play; also, thestage direction for this; sudden striking of a dramatic situation; in cards - thearrangement of the cards when laid out for a game of patience.
'The players stopped theiraction and abruptly struck a tableau in which their individual postures andexpressions interacted with their group positions to express the shock, horrorand disbelief at the sudden, and apparently inexplicable, killing of the leadcharacter.'
Pic: Valerie at the foot of the steps leading to the northern beach at Bridlington, East Yorkshire.