Backstage
Stage
This is where the performance takes place. Some stages are raked (sloped) so that they are higher at the back, up to a gradient of 1 in 24. This slope helps create a sense of perspective and lets the audience see any activity and performers at the back of the stage. The terms ‘upstage’ (away from the audience) and ‘downstage’ (towards the audience) arise from the rake of the stage. Large theatres often have stages with trapdoors, or ‘traps’ in their floors for spectacular entrances and exits and special effects. When an actor is on stage facing the audience, their left is known as ‘stage-left’, and their right is known as ‘stage-right’. These directions are also applied generally and by members of the production team who are in the auditorium facing the stage.
Wings
These are the areas either side of the stage where the performers wait before going on stage, hence the expression ‘waiting in the wings’. It is also where large props and standing scenery are stored when not used, in a section that can usually be closed off, called a scene dock.
Prompt corner
The prompt corner is located in the wings usually to the downstage-left of the stage. Traditionally this is where a person would sit with the text of the play, prompting actors when they forgot their lines. The stage manager directs the staging of the show from here.
Fly floor
These are working platforms located above the wings on the side walls of the stage where ‘flymen’ operate flying systems for raising and lowering or ‘flying in’ scenery.
Fly tower and grid
This is the large open box above the stage from where scenery for a production is flown or supported. At the top of the fly tower is the grid. Cables and ropes for the flying system run up the side walls of the stage, past the fly floor over some pulleys and then pass through the spaces in the grid. The grid allows ‘riggers’ who set up the flying system to walk above the stage and prepare the system for flymen to use during performances. In Elizabethan times and later the riggers were often sailors who had learned to ‘rig’ ships with ropes and pulleys.
Safety curtain
This curtain is made of iron to act as a fireproof screen should either the auditorium or back stage areas catch fire. The safety curtain will descend rapidly in the event of a fire on the stage, and by law must be lowered at least once during a show to demonstrate to the audience that it is working, much like a fire drill.
Stage door
This is where all staff, cast and crew enter the theatre. It is supervised by a stage door keeper who also takes deliveries and messages and greets visitors.
Dock doors (or get-in doors)
These are large doors in the outside wall of the theatre at the side of the stage. Through them container lorries, or pantechnicons, unload all the sets and equipment for each performance and take them away at the end. The setting up and taking down of the set is known as the ‘get in’ and ‘get out’.
Green room
This is the base for actors and performers, and is used as their social room or lounge. Traditionally it is green as it is a restful colour. But it may have been called after the village green on which travelling players in Tudor times rested after their performances.
Dressing rooms
These are where the performers dress and get ready for the stage. The principal dressing rooms are reserved for the lead performers; the rest share dressing rooms. Most actors apply their own make-up so the mirrors have several light bulbs around them to simulate the lighting conditions of the stage. This helps them see how they would appear in front of an audience. The temperature of the room is the same as the stage. Sudden changes in temperatures or humidity are not good for a performer’s voice or a dancer’s muscles.
Band room
The equivalent of the actors’ green room, musicians use this room as their social room or lounge, when not required in the pit to play their instruments.
Quick change room
This is a temporary area near the stage with lighting, mirrors and a costume rail for the actors to make quick costume changes. This is usually with the aid of a dresser.
Wardrobe
This is the general term for the costume department, including its staff and their roles. The wardrobe also includes other functions such as the wig room and the laundry.
Rehearsal room
This room is usually the same size as the stage so that performers can rehearse on the same floor space as the stage when it is in use. Mirrors around the room enable performers to see themselves in action. The bars around the walls and the sprung floor are for the benefit of dancers.
Scenery
This is the collective term for painted, printed or photographically-produced cloths, flats and backdrops, made from fabric or rigid materials. They can be brought onto stage on trolleys, un-rolled from above the stage or ‘flown’ in from fly towers. These are the large spaces above the stage and can be up to two or three times the height of the opening defined by the proscenium.
Props
This is short for properties, and refers to all portable objects used in performances. They are brought on and off by the stage crew and stored in the wings (areas either side of the stage) until needed.
Workshops
These are where props and scenery are constructed and maintained. Not all theatres will have workshops in the theatre and the size will vary according to the type of theatre.
Crew room
The stage crew and other technicians use this room when they are not required on stage during performances.
