The following

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is provided as an overview of and topical guide to stagecraft:

Stagecraft Stagecraft is a technical aspect of theatrical, film, and video production. It includes constructing and rigging scenery; hanging and focusing of lighting; design and procurement of costumes; make-up; stage management; audio engineering; and p ...

– technical aspect of theatrical, film, and video production. Stagecraft is distinct from the wider scope of scenography. Considered a technical rather than an artistic field, it relates primarily to the practical implementation of a designer's artistic vision.

Essence of stagecraft

* Cue (theatrical) * Curtain Call * Rehearsal * Stage *

Theatrical constraints Theatrical constraints are various rules, either of taste or of law, that govern the production, staging, and content of stage plays in the theater. Whether imposed externally, by virtue of monopoly franchises or censorship laws, or whether im ...

Theatrical superstitions Theatrical superstitions are superstitions particular to actors or the theatre. Macbeth William Shakespeare's play '' Macbeth'' is said to be cursed, so actors avoid saying its name when in the theatre (the euphemism " The Scottish Play" is ...

* Technical rehearsal *

Technical week Technical week (also called tech week, tech, techweek, production week or Hell Week) is the week prior to the opening night of a play, musical or similar production in which all of the technical elements (such as costumes, lights, sound, set and m ...

Performance A performance is an act of staging or presenting a play, concert, or other form of entertainment. It is also defined as the action or process of carrying out or accomplishing an action, task, or function. Management science In the work place ...

Branches of stagecraft

Lighting

Lighting design Lighting involves the process of determining the size, intensity, shape, and color of light for a given scene. Typical work includes hanging, focusing, procurement and maintenance of fixtures as well as some aspects of show control. *

Electrician (theatre) In theatre, an electrician is a person who works with the various aspects of lighting. Some of the positions among electricians include the lighting supervisor, master electrician, deck electrician, light board operator, moving light programmer, ...

* Color temperature * Intelligent lighting - LED stage lighting - Light plot -

Stage lighting Stage lighting is the craft of lighting as it applies to the production of theater, dance, opera, and other performance arts.

Stage lighting instrument Stage lighting instruments (lanterns, or luminaires in Europe) are used in stage lighting to illuminate theatrical productions, concerts, and other performances taking place in live performance venues. They are also used to light television st ...

Stage lighting accessories Stage lighting accessories are components manufactured for conventional (non-automated) stage lighting instruments. Most conventional fixtures are designed to accept a number of different accessories designed to assist in the modification of the out ...

Audio

Sound design Sound, which can include musical underscoring, vocal and instrument mixing as well as theatrical sound effects. *

Audio engineering Audio most commonly refers to sound, as it is transmitted in signal form. It may also refer to: Sound * Audio signal, an electrical representation of sound *Audio frequency, a frequency in the audio spectrum * Digital audio, representation of sou ...

* Microphone - Sound -

Smiley face curve A smiley face curve or mid scoop in audio signal processing is a target frequency response curve characterized by boosted low and high frequencies coupled with reduced midrange frequency power. This curve is often attained by users employing a gr ...

Carpentry

set construction Carpentry is the process of building scenery, which can include

scenic painting Scenic may refer to: * Scenic design * Scenic painting * Scenic overlook * Scenic railroad (disambiguation) * Scenic route * Scenic, South Dakota, United States * Scenic (horse), a Thoroughbred racehorse Aviation *Airwave Scenic, an Austrian ...

and soft goods (drapes and stage curtains). Scenic carpentry also covers ''mechanics'': the design, engineering and operation of Fly system scenery or flying of performers and mechanised scenic elements. *

Carpenter (theatre) In theatre, a carpenter is a stagehand who builds sets and stage elements. They usually are hired by the production manager, crew chief or technical director. In some less common cases, they may be hired by the director, or producer. They are ...

Counterweight fly system A fly system, or theatrical rigging system, is a system of rope lines, blocks (pulleys), counterweights and related devices within a theater (structure), theater that enables a stage crew to fly (hoist) quickly, quietly and safely components suc ...

Rail (theater) In theaters, a batten (also known as a ''bar'' or ''pipe'') is a long metal pipe suspended above the stage or audience from which lighting fixtures, theatrical scenery, and theater drapes and stage curtains may be hung. Battens that are located ...

- Rigging (theatre) -

Scene shop A scenery shop or scene shop is a specialized workshop found in many medium or large theaters, as well as many educational theatre settings. The primary function of a scene shop is to fabricate and assemble the flats, platforms, scenery wagons, a ...

Scenery wagon A scenery wagon, also known as a ''stage wagon'', is a mobile platform that is used to support and transport movable, three-dimensional theatrical scenery on a theater stage. In most cases, the scenery is constructed on top of the wagon such that ...

- show control - Theatrical scenery

Props

Theatrical property Props, which includes furnishings, set dressings, and all items large and small which cannot be classified as scenery, electrics or wardrobe. Some crossover may apply. Props handled by actors are known as ''hand props'', and props which are kept in an actor's costume are known as ''personal props''.

Costumes

costume construction Costume is the distinctive style of dress or cosmetic of an individual or group that reflects class, gender, profession, ethnicity, nationality, activity or epoch. In short costume is a cultural visual of the people. The term also was tradition ...

Costuming, known as the Wardrobe department, is responsible for costume design, construction and the procurement and maintenance of costumes. *

Make-up artist A make-up artist, also called a makeup artist, and often shortened to MUA, is an artist whose medium is the human body, applying makeup and prosthetics on others for theatre, television, film, fashion, magazines and other similar productions inc ...

- Wigs

Positions in Stagecraft

Management

Stage management Stage management is a broad field that is generally defined as the practice of organization and coordination of an event or theatrical production. Stage management may encompass a variety of activities including the overseeing of the rehearsal p ...

* Technical director *

Production management (theatre) Production management or production manager may refer to: * Manufacturing process management, technologies and methods used to define how products are to be manufactured * Production manager (music), in charge of the technical crew * Production man ...

* House management *

Company management A company, abbreviated as co., is a legal entity representing an association of people, whether natural, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common purpose and unite to achieve specific, declared go ...

Technical

Fly crew Flies are insects of the Order (biology), order Diptera, the name being derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek δι- ''di-'' "two", and πτερόν ''pteron'' "wing". Insects of this order use only a single pair of wings to fly, the hindwing ...

* Property master *

Pyrotechnician Pyrotechnicians are people who are responsible for the safe storage, handling, and functioning of pyrotechnics and pyrotechnic devices. Although the term is generally used in reference to individuals who operate pyrotechnics in the entertainment i ...

* Running crew *

Spotlight operator The spotlight operator or followspot operator is a theatrical technician who operates a specialized stage lighting instrument known as a followspot. A followspot is any lighting instrument manually controlled by an operator during a performance. ...

* Stagehand *

Theatrical Technician A theatrical technician (also known as a tech, technician, theatre tech, theatre technician, or techie) is a person who operates technical equipment and systems in the performing arts and entertainment industry. In contrast to performers, this b ...

Technical crew The technical crew, often abbreviated to the "tech crew" or simply the "crew" (individually often known as "techies", "techs", or "technicians"), are the people employed behind the scenes ("backstage") to control all the technical aspects of creat ...

Wardrobe supervisor The wardrobe supervisor is responsible for overseeing all wardrobe related activities during the course of a theatrical run or film shoot. The modern title "wardrobe supervisor" has evolved from the more traditional titles of "wardrobe mistress/m ...

Design

* Costume Designer * Lighting designer * Scenic designer * Sound Designer * Video design

Stagecraft organizations

* International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees * PLASA *

United Scenic Artists United Scenic Artists, Local USA 829, formerly known as United Scenic Artists of America (USAA), is an American labor union. It is a nationwide autonomous Local of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees. It organizes designer ...

* United States Institute for Theatre Technology

History of stagecraft

History of stagecraft *

2007 Broadway stagehand strike 2007 Broadway Stagehands Strike was a strike action by stagehands represented by Theatrical Protective Union Number One (Local One) of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) against the Shubert, Jujamcyn, and Nederlander ...

General stagecraft concepts

Parts of a theatre

Terminology

* Bobbinet - McCandless method - Spike (stagecraft) -

Tannoy Tannoy is a British manufacturer of loudspeakers and public address systems. Founded by Guy Fountain in London in 1926 as the Tulsemere Manufacturing Company, today the company is part of the Music Tribe group of brands. History Tannoy Ltd is ...

Theatrical production A theatrical production is any work of theatre, such as a staged play, musical, comedy or drama produced from a written book or script. Theatrical productions also extend to other performance designations such as Dramatic and Nondramatic theatre, a ...

Film production Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, starting with an initial story, idea, or commission. It then continues through screenwriting, casti ...

* Video production

Important technology

* ACN - C-Clamp (stagecraft) -

Color gel Color (American English) or colour (British English) is the visual perceptual property deriving from the spectrum of light interacting with the photoreceptor cells of the eyes. Color categories and physical specifications of color are associ ...

Color scroller A colour scroller or colour changer is an electro-mechanical lighting accessory used in theater, film, dance and concerts to change the colour projected by stage lighting instruments without the need of a person to be in the vicinity of the light. ...

Dimmer A dimmer is a device connected to a light fixture and used to lower the brightness of the lighting, light. By changing the voltage waveform applied to the lamp, it is possible to lower the luminous intensity, intensity of the light output. Alt ...

- DMX512 * Fog machine - Followspot -

Footlight A footlight is a theatrical lighting device arranged to illuminate a stage Stage or stages may refer to: Acting * Stage (theatre), a space for the performance of theatrical productions * Theatre, a branch of the performing arts, often referr ...

- Gobo (lighting) -

Haze machine Haze machines, or haze generators (commonly referred to as hazers), are effects machines similar to fog machines, designed to produce an unobtrusive, homogeneous clouds suspended in the air intended primarily to make light beams visible or create ...

Parabolic aluminized reflector light A parabolic aluminized reflector lamp (PAR lamp or simply PAR) is a type of electric lamp that is widely used in commercial, residential, and transportation illumination. It produces a highly directional beam. Usage includes theatrical lightin ...

- Safety curtain - XLR connector

Venues

* Broadway theatre -

Regional theatre in the United States A regional theater or resident theater in the United States is a professional or semi-professional theater company that produces its own seasons. The term ''regional theater'' most often refers to a professional theater outside New York City. A reg ...

- community theatre

Persons influential in the field of stagecraft

* Dale Ferguson - Designer *

Neil Peter Jampolis Neil Peter Jampolis was a light designer, set designer, and stage director. He was best known for the light designing he did for the Royal Shakespeare Theatre’s 1975 production of '' Sherlock Holmes'' for which he won a Tony Award and a Drama ...

- Lighting and Set *

Samuel James Hume Samuel James Hume (June 14, 1885 – September 1, 1962) was an American dramatic director, producer, art museum director, and book dealer. Samuel Hume was born in San Francisco, California in 1885, the son of James B. Hume, a famous Wells Fargo ...

- Organizer of the first exhibition of stagecraft in the United States.

Costume Designers

* Jane Greenwood - Paul Tazewell

Lighting Designers

List of lighting designers * Andrew Bridge - Howell Binkley - Luc Lafortune - Mark Henderson -

Nigel Levings Nigel Levings is an Australian stage lighting designer. He has designed lights for over 500 productions. He works extensively on operas, and has designed a large portion of Opera Australia's repertoire. Some of his most significant works include ...

Paul Gallo Paul Gallo (born February 24, 1953) is an American people, American theatrical lighting designer. In a career that spans over 4 decades, Gallo has designed over 52 Broadway theatre, Broadway productions, an achievement matched by only 8 other l ...

Richard Riddell Richard V. Riddell is an American lighting designer. He graduated from Knox College with a B.A. with honors in 1972. In 1978, he received his doctorate from Stanford University. He has had extensive teaching experience, working at such schools ...

Tharon Musser Tharon Myrene Musser (January 8, 1925 – April 19, 2009)Allen Moyer Allen Moyer (born 1958) is an American set designer particularly known for his work in operas and Broadway musicals. Moyer grew up in Schuylkill Haven, Pennsylvania. After two years at Albright College in Reading, Pennsylvania, he transferred ...

Carl Toms Carl Toms Order of the British Empire, OBE (29 May 1927 – 4 August 1999) was a British Scenic design, set and costume designer who was known for his work in theatre, opera, ballet, and film. Education Carl Toms was born in 1927 at Kirkby-in ...

- Donald Oenslager -

John Conklin John Conklin (born June 22, 1937) is an international theater designer, dramaturg and teaches in the Department of Design for Stage and Film at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. Life and career John Conklin was born in Hartford Co ...

- John Napier

Sound Designers

Paul Arditti Paul Arditti is a British sound designer, working mainly in the UK and the US. He specialises in designing sound systems and sound scores for theatre. He has won awards for his work on both musicals and plays, including a Tony Award, an Olivier Aw ...

Technical Directors

* Wayne Nakasone

Awards

Dora Mavor Moore Award The Dora Mavor Moore Award (also known as the Dora Award) is an award presented annually by the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts which honours theatre, dance and opera productions in Toronto. Named after Dora Mavor Moore, who helped estab ...

* TEC Awards *

Tony Award for Best Stage Technician The Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League ...

Laurence Olivier Award for Best Set Designer The Laurence Olivier Award for Best Set Designer was an annual award presented by the Society of London Theatre in recognition of achievements in commercial London theatre. The awards were established as the Society of West End Theatre Awards in 1 ...

Stagecraft lists

* List of theatre personnel * Running crew

References

External links

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Stage terminology