From Mchs Theater

Revision as of 22:15, 27 December 2007

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. This list is representative of some of terms used in the industry. There are a lot of local variants. Slang is supposed to be fun!

A

ALD

Assistant Lighting Designer

ASM

Assistant Stage Manager

B

Batten

A horizontal pipe, often suspended from the fly system and used to hold instruments (lights), curtains, or other scenic elements.

Boom

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

C

Call

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

Catwalk

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

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 referring to color gels but also dichroic glass, etc.

Cue

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 separate 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.

Dutchman

a technique for concealing the seams between flats, typically with strips of muslin

E

Electric

Batten installed with electrical and sometimes data circuits that provide power and information for lighting instruments.

Ellipsoidal reflector spotlight

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

F

Fresnel

A type of lighting instrument equipped with a Fresnel lens. Often used for general areas of color wash or to produce soft edged pools of light on stage as a top or back light.

Flyspace

the area above the stage available for the storage of scenery to be lowered into the playing area "flown in"

G

Gel

High heat resistant colored plastic or polyester 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.

Go

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

H

Heads!

Call made when something has fallen from above, or when something is flying in outside of a performance. All personnel onstage should be immediately alert to above and get out of the way as soon as possible. This does not mean to look up so you get hit in the face.

Hell Week

The week before the show opens when 50% of the work is accomplished in 20% of the time

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

Architectural 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

J

K

L

LX

Abbreviation for Electrics

M

Mic

short for microphone

N

O

P

Procenium

The opening at the front of the stage.

Q

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.

Rack

(slang) When a frame or platform is not within specifications, usually out of square.

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

Stage Left / Stage Right

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

Stage Pin

power connector using three pins arranged 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.

W

X

Y

Z