Theatre Terminology

Question 1

Apron

Answer 1

The part of the stage deck that is downstage of the proscenium

Question 2

Apron strip lights

Answer 2

This is a band of lights - usually blue - that goes from one side of the stage to the other, just upstage of the stage deck that covers the pit, so that when the pit is open they warn a performer (who can be blinded by the production lights) where the edge of the stage is. Some apron strip lights have a small red light in the middle, which dancers can use for spotting, and to let all performers know where the centre stage is.

Question 3

Arbor

Answer 3

The framework that holds up the pig irons that counter balance the weight of anything hung on the battens in the counterweight system

Question 4

Arm

Answer 4

The strip of stage deck that protrudes out along the wall of the house alongside the front part of the seating

Question 5

Backstage

Answer 5

The area of the stage deck that is hidden from the audience view, either by drapes or set pieces

Question 6

Battens or pipes

Answer 6

The pipes that hang above the stage and hold lights, mics and scenery. The pipes that hold the lights are called electrics and the pipes available for scenery hanging are called GPs. Another common pipe is the cloud truss.

Question 7

Beams or catwalks

Answer 7

The beams or catwalks are the area above the house where lighting instruments are hung, and sometimes followspots are located. The term “beam” actually refers to a closed space built above the ceiling of the house, while the term “catwalk” actually refers to a metal walkway structure that hangs below the ceiling of the house. However, in the industry, the terms are loosely interchanged.

Question 8

Black Box

Answer 8

Short for “black box theatre”, which is a small theatre that is usually just one large windowless room. The walls are painted black and the drapes are black. The audience is usually set up on risers, which allows for different configurations for the stage space - proscenium, thrust or theatre in the round. The backstage space is created with drapes or flats.

Question 9

Black masking

Answer 9

When the “black masking” is referred to it is specifically indicating the black masking that hangs upstage and covers the length of the stage. It usually hangs just in front of or just behind the cyc.

Question 10

Blackout

Answer 10

This is the term for when all the stage lights are turned out at one time. It usually depicts the end of a scene or a dance.

Question 11

Blacks

Answer 11

Technicians working backstage must wear dark or black clothing, so that is they happen to move within sight of the audience they will be less noticeable than a flash of white or light coloured clothing.

Question 12

Blocking

Answer 12

Blocking is the term used for where the actors move. Setting the blocking is like choreographing a dance. Actors have to learn their blocking as well as their lines.

Question 13

Booms or box lights

Answer 13

This is a lighting position, typically recessed into the side walls of the house near the stage, which typically run vertical. The booms can either be accessed from the front from a ladder set in the house, or from behind via a walkway.

Question 14

Booth

Answer 14

The term “Booth”, when used alone, refers to the small room at the back of the house where some technicians sit during a rehearsal or a show. It usually consists of a light board, sometimes the follow spot can be in there, a projector, and a place for the stage manager to sit. The sound board is typically in the house.

Question 15

Cable

Answer 15

A cable is a conduit that houses sound or lighting wiring. In the theatre they are almost always black.

Question 16

Cast

Answer 16

A collective term for the people who are performing

Question 17

Clear!

Answer 17

A word that is called out when someone on stage is responding to a warning that a pipe or batten is about to fly in or out. Clear should not be called until the person on stage has ascertained that the area is actually clear.

Question 18

Clouds

Answer 18

Clouds are hard shells that are usually permanently hung from a batten. They hang vertically, but once flown in to the appropriate height they open up to hang horizontally. They create a “ceiling” above a band or orchestra that bounces the sound into the audience. Some clouds have lights installed in them and some hang between light battens, in both cases to provide down light for musicians to see their music.

Question 19

Cloud truss

Answer 19

This is the batten on which clouds are hung. This batten is different in that it usually consists of three pipes hung in a triangular formation, which can better carry the heavy weight of the clouds.

Question 20

Counterweight system or fly system or rigging

Answer 20

This is the system of ropes that you typically see backstage in a theatre. The term counterweight comes from the fact that the scenery or lighting instruments are in some way counter weighted so that the weights on one end of the ropes weigh as much as the scenery or lighting instrument on the pipes, so that they are easy for one person to move in and out. These days it’s most common to find pig irons providing the counterweights. However some theatres still use sand bags. Some rigging systems use winches, which can adjust to the weight of the scenery or lighting instruments, and do not require physical re-weighting by technicians.

Question 21

Crew

Answer 21

A collective term for the people who work backstage and run the equipment needed for a show.

Question 22

Cue

Answer 22

This is the term for the action a technician takes when executing their job and usually denotes a change of some sort.

Question 23

CYC

Answer 23

The cyc is the large piece of white material that is hung towards the back of the stage (upstage). The full term is “cyclorama”, and it so named because the single piece of material used to circle the sides and back of the stage - you still sometimes see this in film. It’s one seamless piece of material which can have a dimension as long as 40’ or more. The cyc is used to project coloured and/or patterned lights on, in order to create mood, or to depict time of day, or location.

Question 24

Deck

Answer 24

This is the common term for the floor surface of the stage.

Question 25

Downstage

Answer 25

Towards the audience

Question 26

Upstage

Answer 26

Away from the audience

Question 27

Stage left

Answer 27

Left from the performers perspective

Question 28

Stage right

Answer 28

Right from the performers perspective

Question 29

Drapes

Answer 29

Any permanently hung pieces of material, such as legs, the mid-traveller, the masking and the cyc

Question 30

Drop

Answer 30

A drop or backdrop is a painted piece of material that is hung across the stage. It usually depicts the location of the whole play or a specific scene.

Question 31

Edison or stage pin or three prong twist

Answer 31

These are the most common types of lighting instrument plugs or outlets that you will find in the theatre. Edison refers to your standard household plug. Stage pin also has three pins or prongs, but they are in alignment. Three prong twist has three pins or prongs that form a circle, one prong has a tab and once the plug is inserted into the outlet it is twisted to secure it.

Question 32

Electric

Answer 32

The electric is a term that collectively refers to the pipe on which the lighting instrument are hung along with the raceway into which the lighting instrument are plugged.

Question 33

Flat

Answer 33

This refers to the wall of a set. It is made of a wooden framework in the back, and is either covered with muslin(“a broadway flat”) or Luaun plywood (a “Hollywood flat”)

Question 34

Floor pocket

Answer 34

This is a square hole in the stage deck that is covered by a trap door. The floor pockets can be backstage - these usually contain outlets for lighting instruments - or on the stage - these usually contain outlets for sound equipment. Both typically also contain an Edison outlet.

Question 35

Flown vs travelled

Answer 35

The terms travelling and flying usually pertain to a drape that goes across the full stage, such as the main or mid-traveller. Most of these drapes hang from a pipe, and also have curtains pulls like a curtain in your home. So, when the pipe is lifted vertically this is called flying, or that the drape or set piece is flown. When the curtain is flown in such that the bottom is touching the stage deck then when you pull the curtain ropes to open the curtain horizontally, half to the left, half to the right, then this is known as travelling.

Question 36

Flying

Answer 36

In the case of technical theatre “flying” is what the flyman does. It refers to moving the hung scenery and lighting instruments in and out of the stage space. A crew member may be told to “fly in the flat”.

Question 37

Flyman

Answer 37

This term refers to the person who operates the fly system/counterweight system/rigging during a show

Question 38

Fly rail or locking rail or rail

Answer 38

The fly rail/locking rail/rail is generally referred to as the area where the ropes of a fly system/counterweight system/rigging are located.

Question 39

Fly tower

Answer 39

This is the tallest part of the theatre building. It houses the counterweight system and allows lighting insturments and scenery to be pulled up out of sight of the audience.

Question 40

Focus

Answer 40

Focusing the lights is the process whereby the lighting technicians aim the lighting instruments in the correct position and in the correct format as decided by the lighting designer, in order for them to fulfil the purpose for which they were intended.

Question 41

Followspot

Answer 41

The followspot, or spotlight as some people call it, is a large lighting instrument usually mounted on a pole at chest height, that can be moved around by an operator. The purpose of the followspot is to highlight a specific performer, usually a main character. Because the performer moves around the stage the followspot operator can follow the movement and spot the performer with the light.

Question 42

Gaff tape

Answer 42

The tape is as wide as duct tape and is usually black. It is used in theatre for all sorts of uses, including securing items and cables. This tape lifts off fairly easily and doesn’t leave a sticky mess.

Question 43

Gallery

Answer 43

This is a recessed walkway along the side of the house that allows for lighting instruments to be hung, which are easily accessible. There can be one, two or three levels. It’s also a favourite place for directors to want to place performers.

Question 44

Gel

Answer 44

This is the coloured filter that is put in front of a lighting instrument and held in place with a gale frame.

Question 45

Gel frame

Answer 45

This is the metal frame that holds a square of gel in place in front of the lighting instrument. There is also a slot in front of the lighting instrument where the gel frame slides into.

Question 46

Genie

Answer 46

Genie lifts, which are scissor, or vertical lifts that allow a technician to work high in the air - usually above 20’ in order to work on a set piece or to focus a lighting instrument.

Question 47

Glow tape

Answer 47

When activated by bright light, this tape glows in the dark. It is primarily used backstage (sometimes on stage) at the edge of platforms, stairs, etc, so that actors, crew and techs can see the edge and don’t trip and fall during a black out.

Question 48

Gobo

Answer 48

This refers to a pattern that is inserted into a lighting instrument. It can be made of metal, glass or can be a photographic image much like a slide. Metal gobos can be “break up patterns” which looks like dappled light coming through trees, to more specific shapes such as a window, a castle, snowflakes, and so on. Glass gobos can be used to create fire and water effects.

Question 49

GP

Answer 49

GP stands for general purpose, and is a pipe that is not designed to hold lighting instruments or clouds. GPS are typically used for hanging scenery on.

Question 50

Grand or main

Answer 50

This is the large curtain that hangs just upstage of the proscenium arch. It is the curtain that separates the stage from the house, the actor from the audience. It is commonly referred to as the “main” or the “grand”

Question 51

Handheld

Answer 51

This is a shortened term for a handheld wireless microphone.

Question 52

Hang and focus

Answer 52

This is the term used for the process whereby the technicians hang the lighting instrument in the positions where the lighting designer determines where they need to go, patches where the lights are plugged in into the lighting board and then focuses instruments for the correct function.

Question 53

House

Answer 53

The house is where the audience sits

Question 54

Houselights

Answer 54

These are fixtures that light up the house. In a full theatre they are on dimmers so that they can be adjusted slowly or partially.

Question 55

In, out, on, off

Answer 55

In the theatre you fly pipes “in” (down) and “out” (up), and you can move the scenery or actors “on” (into the view of the audience) and “off” (away from the view of the audience).

Question 56

Instruments

Answer 56

This primarily refers to the lighting instruments. Instruments are moveable - usually installed on a pipe with a C-Clamp. As opposed to fixtures which are the lighting fixtures you would find in your house or office - these are hardwired in or “fixed”.

Question 57

Ladders

Answer 57

The lighting pipes and raceways that hang on either side of the stage in more recently built theatres. These allow for side lighting, especially important in dance ( in order to light the whole body, not just the face). Most theatres that have light ladders have one upstage of each leg, and there are usually 3 or 6 instruments on each ladder.

Question 58

Lamp

Answer 58

Never a “light bulb”. The “bulb” is the glass part. A “lamp” is made of the bulb, a filament, the gas and a base.

Question 59

Legs

Answer 59

These are narrow (usually black) drapes that hang on either side of the stage. They are usually parallel to the front edge of the stage, sometimes they are angled slightly. These serves to hide the view of backstage from the audience, yet allow performers to enter and exit the stage at various places. They also allow set pieces to be moved on and off stage, without the audience seeing them being stored off-stage, and also allow the stage to be lit from the side.

Question 60

Light

Answer 60

The stuff that comes out of a lamp.

Question 61

Mainstage

Answer 61

In a performing arts centre that has more than one theatre, the main stage refers to the largest theatre. The main stage is usually a proscenium theatre, while a second theatre is usually black box theatre.

Question 62

Marley

Answer 62

This is a “rubber” like floor that is laid down over the stage deck for dancers. It usually comes in long strips. The strips are taped together with Marley tape.