set design

• act drop: cloth flown in at the end of an act
• back projection: a method of projecting images onto a screen from behind. often used for projected scenery or special effects.
• book flat: a hinged flat
• box set: a set with three walls and a ceiling, leaving the fourth wall open, representing a real room with doors and windows that work.
• breaking down: artistic process of aging costume, props or scenery
• cloth: a piece of scenic canvas, painted or plain, which is flown or fixed to hand in a vertical position

  • backcloth
  • floorcloth
  • frontcloth
• backcloth: [or backdrop] hangs at the rear of a scene
• floorcloth: painted canvas sheet placed on the stage floor to mark out the acting area, or to achieve a particular effect.
• frontcloth: hangs downstage, often to mask a scene change.
• colour: can be used symbolically to suggest mood, emotion, theme or to create a sense of location.
• curtains: at front of stage - called stge
• curtains up/down: curtains drop at the beginning or are raised at the end of the performance.
• cyclorama: a fabric drop hung from a curved or segmented batten, or a curved wall at the back of the stage, upon which light can be cast the create effects.
• EMU: electrical multiple unit, used to describe stage machinery composed from multiple moving parts
• flat: wooden frame, usually covered with a painted cloth, used to create walls or separations on stage
• gauze: a drop made of fabric that seems almost opaque when lit from the front but semi-transparent when lit from behind.
• flies: area above stage where flown scenery is kept.
• ground-plan: technical drawing of stage
• jack-knife stage: set consisting of one or more wheeled rostra, which are fixed at one corner point, enabling the platform to pivot to reveal a difference set/scene to appear on stage or move offstage.
• light set: a term used to describe a situation where no physical set is used on stage. the 'set' is created entirely by means of lighting.
• lose: to remove from set
• materials: the set items are [or appear to be] composed from other materials for health and safety conditions. e.g. window panes made from perspex instead of glass.
• mask: to hide from audience's sight
• masking: flats/cloths used to mask parts of the set/stage from the audience.
• platform [rostrum]: stationary, flat walking surface for performers, used to provide varying levels, to make a show more visually interesting, to separate areas on stage, and as seating.
• practical: a working object onstage, such as a door.
• pre-set: positions of scenery / stage furniture at the start of a performace/scene.
• platform stage: acting area raised from the floor in a non-theatre space or in an unusual part of the theatre space.
• revolve: turntable built into the stage floor on which scenery can be set and then driven into view. a partial revolve with a stationary centre section is known as a doughnut revolve.
• rostrum: portable platform, usually in the form of a collapsible hunged framework with a seperate top [lid].
• scenery: the theatrical equipment, such as curtains, flats, backdrops or platforms, used in a production to create location / environment.
• scenic artists: people who paint scenery
• set: the physical surroundings, visible to audience, in which the action of the play takes place.
• stage crew: employed to move/operate scenery
• strike: to remove object or scenery from stage.
• swag: curtains fashioned so they do not hang straight.
• tabs: curtains
• trucks: platforms with wheels on which a piece of scenery is built to facilitate scene changing - also known as a wagon.
• wagon stage: mechanised stage where the scenery is moved into positions on large sliding trucks [wagons] as wide as the proscenium opening, from the side/rear of the main stage, allowing complex scene changes to occur almost instantly.