Theatre Design Vocabulary

Apron - The part of the stage in front of the proscenium arch

Auditorium - The area for the audience, generally filled with seats

Backcloth - Canvas cloth which covers the back of the stage, can be painted

Backstage - Non-acting area behind the stage

Barndoors - Adjustable metal flaps attached to the front of a fresnel spotlight for shaping the beam of light

Blackout - The acting area is not lit, slow fade to the lighting/sound is faded out slowly, fast fade to the lighting/sound is faded out quickly, snap to blackout is achieved instantly

Centre Stage - The centre area of the stage

Centre Stage Left - The left hand centre side of the acting area as the actor faces the audience

Centre Stage Right - The right hand centre side of the acting area as the actor faces the audience

Costume - Clothes worn by the actors for their characters

Cross fade - To change from one lighting cue to another with no blackout in between, or to change from one sound cue to another with no silence in between

Cue - A signal for an actor to do or say something, or for a lighting or sound effect to begin or end

Cyclorama - A cloth or screen stretched tight in an arc around the back of the stage set

Design concept - An over-arching view of how a production will look and sound. It includes all aspects of theatrical design

Down Stage Centre - The middle part of the stage nearest the audience

Down Stage Left - The part of the stage nearest the audience on the left as the actor faces the audience

Down Stage Right - The part of the stage nearest the audience on the right as the actor faces the audience

End on - Audience is seated in front of stage, separated from actors

Flats - Wooden frames, joined together and covered with canvas, which can be painted, door flat frames into which a door is built, window flat frames into which a window is built

Flies - Area above the stage…