In a theatre, a row of lights along the front edge of the stage, down by the actors' feet, shining up at their faces. Before modern lights from above, this was how you lit a performer. People still say in the footlights or before the footlights to mean on stage, in front of an audience — though actually the physical row of lights is less central now than it used to be. The word can also stand for that old theatre world itself: greasepaint, curtains, and being seen.