| A | B |
|---|
| act curtain | the curtain that opens or closes to signify the beginning or end of an act |
| aesthetic values | those elements of a production that are likely to appeal to an audience's sense of beauty, such as the style of the play, sets, costumes or lighting |
| area stage theater | places the stage at the center of the a square of circle with seats for the spectators around the circle or on the four sides / often called theater in the round / this stage breaks away from the formality of the proscenium theater |
| backing | a flat used to mask the area behind the door, window or other opening |
| barn doors | four seperately hinged door on a pivoted frame at the front of the fresnels / these can be used to shape the beam and prevent spill light |
| batten | a bar from which lighting equipment can hang |
| black box theater | a large rectangular room, painting flat black to avoid glare from the overhead lighting, with a complex overhead lighting grid and moveable seats / the moveable seating (90 to 200 seats) permits experimentation with the shape and size of the performance space / this theater, developed in the 1960's, is ideal for experimental work or new plays |
| black out | the instantaneous killing of all stage lights |
| blocking | a plan of the movement of performers on stage |
| border | a curtain of flat that prevents the audience from seeing up into the flies |
| bump-up | sudden movement of lights to a higher insensity |
| c clamp | a clamp used to attach a lighting instrument to a pipe batten |
| cross fade | to fade or dim from lighting set-up to another without going through a dim-out or black-out |
| cue | the word or action at which an actor is expected to say a line, or at which a crew member is expected to perform some task, such as changing the lighting |
| curtain call | the reappearance of the cast on stage after the final curtain to receive the audience's applause |
| cyclorama or "cyc" | a large white curved or straight backcloth hung at the rear of the stage / it can be lit by strips to change color |
| dimmer | apparatus for altering the flow of electric current to cause a light to be more or less bright |
| downstage | the area nearest to the audience and act curtain |
| drop | a large piece of canvas or muslin hung from a batten and painted as scenery |
| ellipsoidal spot or "leko" | a spot with an ellipsoidal reflector, useful for illuminating the downstage areas from an overhead beam or from the front of the balcony / throws a strong beam or light that can be focused by a series of shutters |
| flat | a flat piece of scenery consisting of a wooden frame covered with canvas, muslin or thin plywood |
| flood | widespread focus on a spotlight to cover a large area of the stage |
| fly | suspends scenery or lighting instruments by lines from the gridiron above the stage |
| fly loft or flies | the area above the stage where flat scenery is flown and stored between performances |
| focus | the direction in which a lighting instrument is aimed / adjustment of the size and shape of its beam |
| follow spot | a high wattage, variable-focus spotlight usually used in musicals and usually located at the back of the theater to illuminate performers as they move on stage |
| found space theater | when an acting company finds a suitable space and performs in it without altering it very much / they might decide to perform in the market place or on a hillside or in any space where they might attract an audience |
| fresnel | a lens recognized by its concentric rings / it is a soft focus light that is used either as downlight or area light |
| front lighting | illumination on the stage from instruments placed in the auditorium or front of the house |
| gel | a thin sheet of colored plastic used in a colored fram attached to a lighting instrument to color the light from that source |
| gobo | a metal cutout placed in the gate of an ellipsoidal spotlight to project a patter or image |
| green room | a waiting room near the stage used by actors, dancers and crew before they go on stage |
| grid or gridiron | the steel framework above the stage that supports the lines used to fly scenery or lighting equipment |
| ground plan | scale drawing of a set, including the furniture, as seen from above |
| house | the entire theater beyond the front of the stage / also refers to the audience |
| house lights | the lights that illuminate the auditorium |
| house manager | the person responsible for activities taking place in the house and related to the audience, such as ushering, lobby displays and sales and cleanliness of the auditorium |
| in-one | foremost downstage acting position, traditionally done in front of an act curtain while scenery is being changed behind |
| jack | framed brace to hold scenery, usually flats, upright |
| lamps | the high power electric light bulbs used in theatrical lighting equipment |
| legs | unframed scenery, canvas wings, or curtains which are hung vertically to mask the sides of the stage |
| lighting plan or plot | a scale drawing detailing the exact location of each lighting instrument used in a production and any other pertinent info |
| lighting rehearsal | a rehearsal of the lighting effects and cues on stage, usually without any actors, during which any necessary adjustments can be made to the luminaries (lighting instruments) |
| luminaries | the instruments, lanterns or units used to light the stage / lighting fixtures |
| mask | to conceal from the audience, usually by scenic pieces or neutral hangings, any portion of the backstage area or equipment |
| off book | the point during rehearsals when actors have memorized their lines and are no longer reading from a script |
| open stage theater | combines features of the proscenium theater and the arena stage - it usually has 3 quarter seating for the audience / the basic arrangement has the audience sitting on three sides or in a semicircle around a low platform stage / at the back of the stage is some form of proscenium opening providing for entrances and exits as well as scene changes / often called a thrust stage |
| orchestra | the main ground level of audience seating in a modern theater |
| orchestra pit | a sunken area immediately in front of the stage intended to accommodate an orchestra for musicals and operas |
| pin connector | the three pronged connector used to join cables and lighting instruments |
| places | the command to get into position, given to the performer by the stage manager, director or choreographer when the rehearsal or performance is about to begin |
| practical | a term that refers to any prop, scenery or lighting (for example a lamp that the actor will actually turn on during a scence) that will be handled or used by the actors |
| pre-set | pre-position of the scenery, props and lighting just before the performance begins / everything both on stage and backstage is set up ready for the performance |
| producer | the person who puts together the financing and management, publicity and artistic teams to "produce" a show / this person is not usually involved directly in the artistic day to day direction of the production / they hire and fire the artistic personnel and in this way may put a kind of stamp on the overall artistic effect |
| prompt | to give actors their lines or a key word in a line |
| prompt book | the book kept by the stage manager or director in which all stage business and cues are noted |
| properties or props | every physical article on the stage except the scenery |
| proscenium | the rectangular stage opening made from the arch (called the proscenium arch) and the stage floor / in traditional theater the proscenium seperates the actors from the audience - this is often called the "fourth wall" |
| rake | to tilt or angle the stage floor so that it is no longer strictly horizontal / a traditional raked stage has the downstage area lower than the raised upstage area (hence the terms downstage and upstage) |
| rig | to arrange the lighting equipment for a particular performance |
| run-through or run | seeing a performance (or one aspect of it, such as lighting, scene changes or lines) all the way through from beginning to end without stopping |
| scrim | a loosely woven material used for special effects / when a light is shown behind the scrim, it becomes transparent / if the light source is in front of the scrim, it is opaque |
| set | the physical scenery used to express the time, place and atmosphere or mood of a play |
| shutters | part of a lighting instrument which determines the profile of the beam and can be used to prevent lighting spill on the edges of the stage or set / in lekos the shutters are found on the hood of the instrument / in fresnels, barn doors are used as shutters |
| sight lines | the lines of sight from the extreme sides of the auditorium and from the rear of the balcony / they determine how much of the stage is visible to all parts of the audience |
| specials | any light which is used for a special purpose or isolated moment in a production rather than being used for general area lighting |
| spike | to mark on the stage floor the location of the working positions of scenery, furniture or props |
| spike marks | marks put on the stage floor to give the exact position of stage furniture, props or set pieces |
| spill | when light goes onto a place you don't want it to be, such as into the audience or on a set piece not used in the scene / to fix this problem you must shutter or refocus your lighting instrument |
| spotlight | a lighting instrument with a lens that throws an intense light on a defined area |
| stage business | the actor's "business" or activities devised by the actor or director to create a sense of character outside of the dialogue / this can be anything from reading a newspaper to smoking a cigarette while performing the text |
| stage direction | indications in a script of a character's movement |
| stage left / stage right | the left and right side of the stage from the point of view of an actor facing an audience |
| stage manager | the person responsible for running the entire performance from opening curtain to the final curtain call / he or she supervises all technical crews and is responsible for everything that occurs backstage |
| strike | to take down a set and remove it from the stage / to remove props or to put the lighting instruments back to the original pre-production positions |
| strip light | low-wattage lamps set in a metal trough and used to illuminate backing, cyc or sky drop |
| tabs or teasers | top or horizontal stage curtains across the proscenium arch to provide masking of the flies and gridiron |
| theater in the round | places the stage at the center of a square or circle with seats for the spectators around the circle or on the four sides / this stage breaks away from the formality of the proscenium theater / often called the arena theater |
| throw distance | distance between the lighting instrument and the area on the stage that it will light |
| tormentors | vertical curtains or flats set at the edge of the proscenium used to mask the wings |
| trap doors or traps | system of openings through the stage floor |
| upstage | at the back of the stage away from the audience / to do an action upstage of a fellow actor to shift attention away from that actor to yourself |
| wagon | a low platform on castors used to move set pieces on and off stage |
| wings | area offstage right and left usually hidden by tormentors |
