Specifications

“Lighting Systems Made Easy” Page 21
Theatrical Vocabulary and Stage Layout
Location Terms:
House – Audience seating area.
Apron – Area that surrounds front of stage.
Proscenium – Arch over stage.
Plaster Line – Imaginary line under proscenium.
Upstage – Back of stage away from audience.
Downstage – Front of stage towards audience.
Stage Left and Right – Sides of stage from performer’s view. Note: Opposite audience view.
On and Off Stage – In sight of audience and out of sight of audience (i.e., behind curtain).
Front of House – Front seats in audience seating area.
Electrics – Distribution of electricity.
Batten – Pipe flown above stage.
Line Set – Location of ropes that fly battens.
Cyc Setting – Location of cyclorama.
Booms – Pipes with instruments mounted on them, located on sides of stage.
Balcony Rail – Front edge of balcony where instruments can be mounted.
Wings – Extended areas on the left and right sides of a stage, in front on proscenium.
Grid – Ceiling of stage area.
Deck – Floor of stage.
Flying Out and In – Flying out is raising batten and flying in is lowering batten.
Equipment Terms:
Dimmers and Control – Dimmers allow user to vary the intensity of lighting instruments.
Control refers to a lighting console that outputs a signal to control a bank of dimmers. This
allows an operator to individually control the intensity of each lighting instrument within an
entire system.
Fixtures – Lighting instruments. i.e., ellipsoidal, fresnel and PAR cans.
Lamps – Light bulbs for lighting instruments.
Grid Iron Junction Boxes – A/C junction boxes on battens, fed by conduit from dimmers.
Connector Strips – Power distribution from junction boxes, fed by multi-pair cables.
Plug-in Boxes – Housing with connectors for several circuits from dimmers.
Floor Boxes – Floor mounted housing with connectors for several circuits from dimmers.
Main Rag or Curtain – Primary curtain.
Valance – Small curtains flown to hide electrics.
Legs – Curtains on the sides of a stage that are hinged on vertical pipes in center of fabric.
Scrim – Curtain that can be seen through, if objects behind it are backlit.
Cyclorama – Upstage backdrop.
Drop (two types) – Electric Drop – Where A/C power is dropped.
Soft Goods Drop – Where scenery is dropped.
Borders – Valances (small curtains that hide electrics).