Theater

Flat

A flat piece of painted scenery often consisting of a wooden frame covered with stretched fabric, usually canvas.

Backdrop

A large drapery of painted canvas that provides the rear or upstage masking of a set.

Drop

A large piece of fabric hung down onto the stage floor.

Ghost light

A light left on when a theatre is closed for the night.

Border

A narrow, horizontal masking piece above the stage. Borders serve to hide the lighting rig and scenery—in theatres that can "fly" or raise scenery out of sight. Borders also define the upper limit of the audience's stage view.

Cove

A position in the auditorium where stage lighting can be placed and hidden from the audience.

Green room

A room in the theater—rarely painted green—where the actors and crew can relax or receive instructions.

Batten

A tubular metal bar, sometimes known as a pipe, to or from which overhead lighting instruments can respectively be attached or hung.

Booth

An enclosed, windowed area, usually at the back of the auditorium, used for technical control purposes. Sometimes there is a separate booth for sound and lighting control. The stage manager may also operate from a booth rather than from backstage.

Masking

Basically this is scenery or other visible material designed to hide backstage stuff the audience is not supposed to see, such as the wings or the back wall.

Strike

In the theatre this term is generally used to describe the process of disassembling the set when a production closes.

Catwalk

Narrow bridges above the stage from which scenery and lighting equipment can be handled. Some theatres also have lighting catwalks above the seating area.

Footlights

Once a common feature in theatres, this row of lights across the front edge of the stage is rarely employed today. Even so, you may still hear someone say of an actor: "She really projects across the footlights."

Proscenium

Sometimes known as the "proscenium arch", this is an opening through the wall separating the stage from the auditorium. It is often ornately decorated to frame the stage. Modern theatre design, in order to allow greater flexibility and de¬emphasize the division between stage and audience, tends to avoid including a traditional proscenium.

Auditorium

Strictly it's an enclosed space in which an audience gathers to hear a performance, so it's more commonly applied to concert halls. Generally, in the theater, the auditorium is referred to as the house—thus the expression, much loved by theater managers everywhere—"full house."

Balcony

Strictly speaking, this is the second tier of seating in a theater, elevated and protruding over the back rows of orchestra or main¬ level seating.

Offstage

Technically this refers to all stage areas outside the visible acting area.

Onstage

The acting area of the stage floor.

Backstage

The area behind and around the stage that it is unseen by the audience. Some plays, such as Michael Frayn's farce, Noises Off, and Ronald Harwood's poignant drama, The Dresser, actually portray life backstage.

Wings

The areas to either side of the stage that the audience does not normally see.

Downstage

The front of the stage closest to the audience.

House lights

The lights in the house or auditorium. Dimming of the house lights customarily signals the start of a performance.

House

The place where the audience sits to enjoy the performance on stage.

Set

The scenery for a scene or entire production. In the latter case it is often known as a "unit set" when designed to serve as several different settings with only minor changes between scenes or acts.

Trap Room

The space below the stage used for accessing traps. It is useful as a storage area.

Scenery

The various flats, drops, etc. that are used to create a particular visual setting for a play.

Tormentors

These are narrow, adjustable masking flats on each side of the stage opening. Combined with a teaser they can be used to frame the audience's window onto the stage.

Sight lines

These are the imaginary lines drawn from the farthest seats to the stage. This determines where the action is placed onstage for optimum viewing. A well¬ designed theatre has good sight lines, meaning almost all seats.

Stage Left/Right

These directions are from the actors' perspective looking out towards the audience. So, if the stage direction calls for an actor to "exit stage left" it will be the opposite of the way the audience sees it.

Teaser

This a type of border used in combination with tormentors to frame the audience's window onto the stage.

Scrim

This is a gauzy translucent curtain. The scrim may be plain or painted. When light is thrown on the front of a scrim it becomes opaque but if objects behind it are more brightly lit they will become visible. Balancing lighting levels behind and in front of the scrim is an effective way to create interesting visual effects and transitions.

Stage makeup

This is a makeup used to shape and define actors' facial feature as seen on stage. It can be simple—just a little lipstick and eye shadow—or elaborate, involving such things as false chins and noses.

Stage Manager

This is a very important person who gives instructions or "calls" for just about everything that happens on stage. Because directors usually leave soon after a show has opened, stage managers are also responsible for seeing that a production continues to be performed just the way the director wanted. Stage managers lurk unseen by the audience, either just out of sight in one the wings or in a booth at the back of the house. Depending on the arrangement of a theatre and scale of a production there may also be one or two assistant stage managers.

Trap

This is an opening in the stage floor. In cases where the design and construction of a stage permits it, a trap can be used for all kinds of effects. Generally, however, traps are rarely used in contemporary drama.

Upstage

This is the area toward the back of the stage, away from the front edge. The term is also used to describe what happens when a performer tries to draw an audience's attention away from another performer.

Rake

This is the slope of the floor of an auditorium or, where utilized, a stage.

Orchestra Pit

This is where an orchestra will usually be placed in a musical production. It generally extends across the front of the stage and is called a pit because it's at a lower elevation so that the musicians do not block the audience's view. The floor of most modern orchestra pits can be elevated so that when not being used for live music the area can accommodate more rows of seats.

Tabs

This term comes from "tableaux" curtains, drawn back and up to reveal a scene. Nowadays the term describes various curtains hung on stage. In theatres that routinely have curtains that hide the stage when the performance is not in progress, these are called the "house tabs."

Front of House

This usually refers to the public areas of the theatre but strictly includes everything in front of the proscenium. A front¬-of¬-house manager oversees staff members who work in this area.

Legs

Vertical curtains or flats used to hide the wings from view and frame the audience's view of the stage.

Dark

We say the theatre, or house, is "dark" when it's closed to the public, as between productions or on non¬performance days.