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Stagecraft Terms
Anyone new to the theatre is bound to be confused by the jargon that proliferates there. Backstage is a whole new world, complete with its whole new language. This intel will attempt to define some common and misleading "theatre terms" that a layman might have trouble with. HOUSE: The House is the part of the theatre where the audience sits, or rather, the part of the theatre that is not the lobby or the stage. CYC: The cyc, or cyclorama, is the big white bedsheet-looking thing on the back wall of the stage. It's used for lights and projections, and it's unique because the cloth is all one piece of fabric. It's very expenisve to replace the cyc, because you can't just patch it--you have to buy a whole new backdrop. STAGE DIRECTIONS: Stage directions can be a bit confusing. Downstage means towards the House; upstage means towards the cyc, or away from the audience. This is because in the old days, stage's were sloped down towards the audience so everyone could see what was going on. "Upstage" was literally higher than "downstage." Stage left is the ACTOR'S left, and stage right is the ACTOR'S right. I don't know why, that's just the way it is. PROSCENIUM: What most people think of as a "theatre stage" is generally a proscenium stage. This is the traditional rectangular stage with audience seating on the one open side, pretty red curtains, and a big archway over the stage itself. TABS: This is the British term for curtains. You have two types in a theatre; travelling and stationary. Stationary curtains are called legs and they are used to mask backstage. There are usually three sets of travelling curtains, called the up-, down-, and mid-stage travellors. WINGS: The wings are the side stage places where actors wait to go on and techies run the show. They are hidden, or masked, by the legs. FLIES: Flies are any kind of set or props that are flown in from above the stage. These can be backdrops, scenery, or even people (think Mary Martin in Peter Pan). FLY GALLERY: The fly gallery is the pulley system where the techies work the flies. There are, of course, many more terms in stagecraft, but these are the basic ones you'll hear if you go backstage sometime before a show. |
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May, 2012
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