The paper attempts to define constituting features of theatrical discourse which determine functioning of the latter in theatre communicative space. Communication code moderates the addresser-addressee interrelations thus playing a key role in the realization of theatrical discourse as a ritualized, institutional and conventional semiotic unit. The study also aims at introducing a typology of theatrical discourse participants and at defining the addressing vector direction. Communication code is estimated as a moderator of theatrical communication processes and an indicator of communication success / failure. The audience is viewed as a social addressee – an element obligatory for theatrical discourse to be externalized. The audience’s behavioral pattern is largely attributed to the existing communication code: the audience is conscious of their silent role, the verbal communication being somewhat one-way. Conversely, theatrical discourse implies reaction on behalf of the audience. The communication code significantly affects the temporal and spatial framework of theatre communication alongside the actual theatre space existence. The social cultural institution of theatre is targeted at sustaining the society moral values and forming new cognitive and ethical ones. These functions of theatre are also of primary importance. The research results in the drafted principles of the code of verbal communication applied to theatrical discourse, viz. the principle of temporal and spatial organization; the principle of muteness; the principle of prescript observation and the axiological awareness principle.