Technical Theatre Terms

Director:

the person who makes the final judgments on artistic decisions in the production, subject to the financial approval of the producer

Scenic Designer:

the person who designs the look of the scenery and then paints renderings and drafts floor plans

Prop Master:

the person in charge of collecting and distributing properties

Lighting Designer:

in the theater, the person who decides where the lighting instruments should go, how they should be coloured, and which ones should be on at any particular time

Stage Manager:

the person, who runs rehearsals, calls the cues during the show and, in general, organizes things backstage

Costume Designer:

the person who researchers the costumes, decides which styles and fabrics to use, and then draws or paints the costumes in renderings

Costume Shop Manager:

the person who decides how to construct the costumes and gives individual workers their assignments

Prop:

any items that could be carried by an actor in the course of a show

Prop Designer:

the person who selects, designs, and finds the props

Props Crew:

the people backstage who get the props in the right hands at the right times during the performance

Stage Crew:

the crew that works backstage during the show, shifting scenery

Assistant Stage Manager:

the all-purpose technical assistant; the backstage entry-level position

Scene Shop:

where scenery is constructed

Scenic Artists:

a person who applies paint and other forms of decoration to scenery

Wing Space:

the amount of space on the stage that is not visible to the audience

Prop Tables:

the table backstage where handheld props are put when they are not being used onstage

Loading Dock:

a place where you can unload scenery, costumes, and other items that you are bringing to the theater

Dressing Rooms:

a space for performers to hang costumes, put on makeup, and otherwise prepare for the show

Legs:

drapes that hang to the side of the stage, hiding the backstage area

Grand Drape:

the main curtain, it's used to open the show to start

Front-Of-House:

anything in the audience commonly used to describe staff and lighting positions

Ground plan/Floor plan:

the single most important drawing in the theater, it's how people talk to each other about space, can be understood as a bird's eye view of the stage

Masking:

has the designer created enough walls or drapes so the audience won't be able to see backstage and stuff

Extreme sightline:

this is the worst seat, the seat that is way out to the side and close to the stage that has the best view of the backstage area, one on either side of the auditorium usually marked with a +

Moving scenery:

any piece of rolling scenery should have more than one position marked

Upstage/Downstage:

upstage walking away from the audience, downstage walking towards the audience

Cue:

something that happens at a particular point in the show, such as a change of lighting, scenery, or other technical even, also used to describe the verbal command to do that thing