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Queens theatre - Glossary Category: Arts > theatre Date & country: 11/10/2007, UK Words: 312

First Electric
The first row of lanterns hung on a bar behind the proscenium.

Fixing Iron
Metal plate with a fixed ring (as distinct from a flying iron which has a hinged ring), used for scenery suspension.

Flat
A unit section of flat scenery, usually made of wood or muslin on a wooden frame.

Flipper
Small piece of flat scenery hinged to a larger piece of flat scenery.

Floodlight
A lantern that projects a diffused, un-focused beam of light. Used for general illumination.

Floor Cloth
A heavy piece of muslin used to cover the stage floor.

Flown
Suspended on lines.

Fly
To lift above the level of the stage floor by means of sets of lines from the grid. The term flies is also used as an abbreviation for fly gallery.

Fly Gallery (Flying Gallery)
A gallery extending along a side wall of the stage, some distance above the stage floor, from which ropes used in flying scenery are operated. Also Known as a fly floor. The fly galleries are usually referred to collectively as the flys.

Fly Rail
Heavy rail along the on-stage side of a fly gallery, equipped with cleats to which the ropes can be- made secure. Also called pin rail.

Fly Tower
The space above a stage in which scenery can be flown out of sight of the audience.

Flying Iron
Metal plate with a hinged ring used for scenery suspension.

Flyman
Stage hand employed on Fly gallery.

Focus
To direct and 'lock off' a lantern in its specified stage area.

Follow Spot
A hand operated lantern mounted on a swivel stand that emits a high intensity beam of light used to follow an actor on stage.

Footlights
Normally found on the forestage pointing up stage, can be permanent or mobile.

Forestage
Portion of the stage floor in front of the curtain line.

Fourth Wall
An imaginary wall between the actors and the audience that disallows interaction between the two groups of people. See also proscenium.

Framed Cloth
Scenic cloth battened all around.

French Brace
Triangular frame hinged to the back of a piece of standing scenery and folded flat for storage.

French Flat
Arrangement of several flats battened together and flown as one unit on a set of lines.

French Scene
Scene that begins and ends with an actors entrance or exit.

Fresnel
A type of lantern that emits a soft edged diffused light.

Front Cloth
Sometimes a painted cloth is brought down near to the house curtain for a front scene to be played on the forestage. This front cloth usually masks scene changes behind it.

Front Elevation
A scale drawing that gives a front view of the set.

Front Light
A light coming from downstage of the subject, generally brought in 45 degrees off full front.

Front Of House
Areas of a theatre on the audience side of the proscenium wall or stage area are called FOH.

Fuzz Light
A lamp with a revolving reflector and a red or blue or amber plastic dome. Used for 'emergency' vehicle effect.

Gate
The optical aperture of a profile spot where the shutters are located and an iris or a gobo can be inserted.

Gauze (Gauze Cloth)
Flat curtain of fine mesh mosquito netting or similar fabric, either painted or unpainted, which when lit solely from the front appears to be opaque, but when lit from behind becomes transparent. It is used for transformation scene or other illusions. A fabric known as 'Sharks tooth gauze' is also used for this purpose.

Gel
Transparent plastic sheet placed in front of a lantern to colour the light beam.

Get In (And Out)
The process of delivering and taking scenery and props in and out of a theatre.

Ghost Light
A light left on when the theatre is locked up for the night.

Glow - Fluorescent Tape
Tape that glows in the dark, placed in small pieces around the set so the actors and crew will not bump into anything during a black out.

Glue Size
A preparation used in priming and paint for scenery.

Gobo
A metal cutout used in ellipsoidal reflector spotlights that projects an image on stage. Also called template.

Gobo Holder
A metal plate which holds a gobo of a particular size in a lantern of a particular size.

Gobo Rotator
Gobo holders with variable speed reversible motors which enable dynamic gobo projections.

Grand Master
A fader which masters all the output of a lighting mixer. It controls all preset masters and submasters.

Grave Trap
An oblong trap, usually downstage centre.

Green Room
A back-stage room used by actors and crew as a waiting and meeting area.

Grelco
See splitter.

Grid (Gridiron)
Framework of steel or wooden beams over the stage used to support the sets of lines employed in flying scenery.

Grid Pulley
See loft block.

Ground Plan
Plan of a stage on which is marked the position of the scenery in a setting,(including borders, hanging pieces and sometimes lighting equipment.

Groundrow
Low topped piece of flat scenery, profiled and painted to represent ground foliage, a bank of earth, a distant mountain range, etc., designed to stand up independently on the stage, used to mask cyclorama lighting units.

Grummet
Metal fitting resembling a saddle, for attaching a throw-line to a piece of scenery.

Half-Hour
The 35 minutes warning before the performance starts.

Hand Props
Properties that are handled by actors during the performance.

Hanging
The process of putting a lantern in its designated position according to the lighting plan.

Hanging Iron
Metal fitting, formed into a square hook at one end, used in flying flats and other framed pieces.

Head Block
Device compromising three or more sheaves set together either in line or parallel to each other on a common shaft and attached to the grid directly above the fly rail. The lines from the three or more loftblocks in a set are brought together at the lead block and pass on down to the fly rail cleat in a hemp set or to the weight cradle in a counterweight set.

Hemps
The term is usually employed to signify lines used for flying scenery which are made from vegetable fibre as distinct from the steel wire ropes used in the counterweight system. Hemp lines are hauled up manually and tied off on a cleat on the fly rail. A hemp house is a stage equipped with these hand operated 'hemp sets' and no counterweights.

Hook Clamp
A hook shaped clamp for hanging a lantern on a lighting bar.

Hook-Up Sheet
List of all lanterns with their relative circuit and patch numbers.

Hot Spot
The area of the greatest illumination projected by a lantern.

House
The part of the theatre where the audience sits.

House Lights
Lights used to illuminate the area where the audience sits.

House Tabs (Curtain)
The main curtains between stage and audience, normally placed immediately behind the proscenium.

Iris
An adjustable circular diaphragm with in a lantern with an arrangement of thin plates which are moved by a handle out side the lantern to adjust the size of the iris aperture.

Ladder
A side-lighting position shaped like a ladder and installed in the wings above head height. Used for hanging lanterns.

Lamp
The part of the lantern that emits the light. Also called a bubble.

Lantern
A stage-light.

Legs
Narrow curtains or cloth that hang vertically on the sides of the stage to mask the backstage area. Also called tormentors.

Leko
See Ellipsoidal Reflector Spotlight.

Level
The intensity of a lighting level.

Lift
Section of stage floor that can be raised or lowered or tilted to provide differing levels of acting area, or to enable changes of setting to be made in the stage basement. Also Known as a bridge.

Light Curtain
A batten of low voltage narrow angle lamps, usually 8 to 10, wired in series, used to create a narrow strip of intense light.

Lighting Board
The console that controls all the lanterns. Also called the Dimmer Board and Switchboard.

Lighting Plan
A drawn-up plan that designates the placement of lighting equipment, (both lanterns and practicals) relative to the set. Plan includes gel, circuit and patch number for each lantern.

Lighting Stencil
A drawing template which contains graphic lighting symbols or representations of various lanterns to scales of I:25, and 1:50.

Limes
Name derived from an early form of lighting hence 'Limelight'. Now occasionally used to describe front-of-house positions for follow spots.

Load
The lamp or lighting instruments placed on a circuit.

Loading Gallery
Narrow gallery above the fly gallery, used for storing the weights and loading them on the cradles when balancing scenery in the counterweight system.

Locking Rail
In a counter weight system the handling rope passes through a rope lock attached to a locking rail which runs the length of the counterweight wall frame.

Loft Block (Grid Pulley)
Sheaf in a metal frame bolted to the grid and used to pass a suspension line; there is one block for each line in a set. See also Set of lines.

Louvered Ceiling
Arrangement of ceiling pieces, each hung on two sets of lines with the downstage edge higher than the upstage edge, so as to form a ceiling with gaps through which light may be projected.

Mask
To hide any equipment or offstage area through the use of curtains, flats, etc.

Masking (Masking Piece)
A piece of scenery, not necessarily painted, used to cut off from the view of the audience any part of the stage space which should not be scene. See also backing and permanent masking.

Mirror Ball
A rotating sphere covered with small plane mirrors. When a spotlight is focused at the ball multiple moving spots of light sweep across surrounding surfaces.

Moon Box
A moon effect created by a shallow box with lamps in it. With on face generally painted white, with a circle cut out of the centre, and covered with diffusing material. This is then fixed to the back of a cloth or translucent scenery to shine through.

Muslin
Material used in the construction of flats.

Offstage
Any position on the stage floor out of sight of the audience.

On The Book
When either the deputy stage manager or an assistant is following the script in order to help actors when they stumble over lines.

Onstage
Any position on the stage within the acting area.

Op (Opposite Prompt)
The side of the stage opposite the prompt side

Overhanging
Rigging a spotlight standing above a lighting bar rather than suspending it below the bar.

Pace
The tempo of the performance.

Pack
All the pieces required for a particular scene when stacked together in the correct order for setting.

Packing Rail (Stacking Rail)
A rail, usually of steel tube, usually of steel tube, projecting from a stage or store wall against which flats are stacked.

Paint Bridge
A platform or wide cradle the width of the paint frame which can be hauled up and down, usually mechanically, so that all parts of a cloth can be reached.

Paint Frame
The frame to which backcloths, flats etc. are fixed for painting in a vertical position.

Paper Tech
A meeting between director, designers, and stage management to define and record the series of technical events required to operate the production.

Paper The House
To give away free tickets to a performance in order to fill the house.

Par Lamp
Sealed beam lamp, consisting of a filament, a parabolic reflector, and a glass front. The glass can be clear, diffused, or patterned, which affects beam spread. The light transmitted is parallel with a large amount of spill.

Parcan
The body in which a PAR lamp is inserted. The PAR lamp can be rotated so that the oval shaped beam is aimed either length or width-ways.

Pass Door
A door connecting the front of house with the backstage area.

Patch
To connect a circuit to a dimmer.

Patch Panel
The board on which lighting circuits are connected to dimmers.

Pc Lantern
A focusable lantern with a pebble convex lens. The PC lantern has clearly defined edges.