Wikipedia:WikiProject Stagecraft/Terminology

Theatrical Terminology

This is a list of stagecraft terms and abbreviations with short definitions. Items having a separate article of their own are marked as a link in the item's title listed in this article.

A

ALD

Assistant Lighting Designer

ASM

Assistant Stage Manager

B

Batten

A horizontal pipe, often suspended from the fly system

Boom

A verical pipe for mounting lighting instruments, scenery, or other items.

Box Boom

A vertical pipe on which lighting instruments are mounted in the house. Name comes from their position near the "box seats"

C

Call

time the Stage Manager asks actors or technicians to be somewhere.

Carp

short for Carpenter

Catwalk

A platform above the stage level to allow access to lighting positions, rigging, or other suspended equipment or scenery

Coffin Lock

A mechanism for mechanically joining two pieces of scenery, this mechanism is mounted within the scenery so as to be invisible to the audience.

Color Frame

metal assembly used to hold and support gels and color media in the color holder of a lighting instrument.

Color Media

any type of device used to color a beam of light. Usually refering to color gels but also dirocloric glass, etc.

Cue

An action taken at a specific time by a technician or actor. Also the event that triggers the action. ex. "He completely missed his cue."

Cue Light

A small light visible to an actor or technician to allow them to know when to take their cue. Usually controlled by the stage manager.

Cyclorama

A large, generally white or pale blue, wall or drop upstage in a theater, used with lighting to represent the sky.

Cyclorama Light

lighting instrument typically made up of multiple cells on seperate electrical circuits. Each light is typically geled a different color, Red, Green, and Blue, so theoretically any color can paint the white cyclorama. Commonly shortened to Cyc lights, and confused with border lights and strip lights.

D

Downstage

towards the audience.

Drop

A piece of scenery, generally flat fabric, suspended from above.

E

Electric

Batten installed with electrical and somtimes data circuits that provide power and information for lighting intruments.

Ellipsoidal Reflector Spotlight

Lighting instrument with a ellipsoidal shaped reflector behind the source and crisp optics used to produce sharp projections, long thin beams, and spotlighting. Commonly refered to as ERS, Ellipsoidal, spotlight, or by popular brands such as Source Four/ S4 and Leko.

F

Fire Curtian

Fireproof curtian that is rigged downstage-most of all other rigging that can be automatically or manually deployed during a fire as a divided between the house and the stage area to prevent fire spread. The curtian's gear system free falls the curtian to aproximately over head hight, then slows it down.

G

Gel

High heat resistant colored plastic celophane that is used to color conventional beams of light.

Gobo

A steel or glass pattern that is placed in the beam of a light to project the image on the pattern. See pattern.

Grid

the structure from which items are suspended in a theater.

Go

command for a cue to happen, also the time that a show actually starts, as apposed to the call, when one is exspected to be be at the theatre.

H

Heads!

Call made when somthing has fallen from above, or when somthing is flying in outside of a performance. All personel onstage should be immediately alert to above and get out of the way as soon as possible.

House

Area of a venue where the audience sits.

House Left / House Right

directions from the perspective of someone in the house facing the stage. Opposite of Stage Left and Stage Right.

House Lights

Architechtural lighting that may be controlled by the main lighting system, or another one, and used to light the auditorium before and after the show and during intermission.

I

IATSE

International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employes

L

LX

Abbreviation for Electrics

M

Mic

shortening for microphone

P

Procenium

The opening at the front of the stage.

Pyro

pyrotechnics or pyrotechnicians

R

R#

indicates the brand, Rosco and color number for identifying colored gel sheets used to color lighting beams. This code is usually written on gels in grease pencil and used in lighting plots.

Rail

the control area for fly systems, also the point at which rigging is secured.

Running crew

the people from the tech crew who are active while a production is actually running.

S

Squint

Slang for an electrician, often disparaging.

Stage Left / Stage Right

Direction from the perspecive of someone standing on stage facing the audience. Opposite of House Left and House Right

Stage Pin

power connector using three pins arraged in a (+)-Ground-(-) fashion. Capable of handeling larger amounts of power than typical, household Edison connectors.

Stand-In

person used to assist in fine tuning of lighting levels, insuring that the "look" is perfect.

T

Technical crew or tech crew

The people who run the off-stage aspects of a production - sets, sound, lightning and so on

U

Upstage

Away from the audience.

V

Venue

The facility in which a production is presented.