Personal Readiness

            Before one begins any form of stage work it is important to understand one's limitations, both mentally and physically. If you have a good grasp on your mental and physical limitations it can make the job you are doing a whole lot easier and safer.

            Mental limitations have to do with what you know and what you do not know. In theater if you do not know how to do something it is important to ask. Do not be afraid to ask either. Theater people love it when people ask how something works or how it is done. Not only does it give us a chance to look smart, it is also a whole lot easier to explain it to you and have you do it right the first time or ask questions the whole way through than for you to guess at how its done, and do it improperly, we having to undo all your work and start over. It is also a lot safer and eliminates the possibility for accidents.

            While in theater there is nothing to be terrified of there are many ways to get seriously injured. This fact comes with any form of manual labor. Many times in theater work must be done up high or with heavy equipment. For example, many times lighting fixtures are required to be hung above the audience seating. This can be a mental and physical hazard. Mentally if you do not know how to hang it properly it could fall off and come down on someone below. Physically if you are not strong enough to carry the fixture up the ladder and you try to, you run the risk of over straining your self and possibly dropping the fixture, breaking it and potentially hurting someone below. This is where knowing your physical limitations is important. If you can only lift about 30 pounds of weight, do not try and lift something that weighs 45 pounds, because you are only increasing a chance of injury.



A Rigger hanging light

            Another example of mental and physical danger is with the counter weight system. In the counter weight system 25 pound bricks are loaded on to one end of the scale in order to equalize it with the weight on the other end. (I will talk about counter weight/fly systems on my blog post on lighting) The problem is that these bricks must be loaded and unloaded about 30-40 feet above ground. So if you are assigned to go up and load the bricks and your mental and physical limitations do not pass the needs of the counter weight system then you run the risk of dropping on of the bricks. And you do not want to be around when a 25 pound brick is falling 30 feet to the ground. So know your limitations and ask for help.



A old Fly System

            Theater can be a fun and a dangerous place. However the danger can be eliminated by asking for help and helping others. Not only does helping others reduce the danger but it also adds to the fun through the people that you get to meet and interact with. Half of the fun of doing theater in the first place is the people that you meet and interact with on a day to day basis. Understanding your mental and physical limitations and enhance that experience of the people and make it safe and fun and interesting for everyone.

The Empty Stage

            There are hundreds of thousands of theaters out in the world. In this vast number of buildings and spaces that offer live performance no two are exactly the same. For starters there are four main types of theater: Proscenium, Thrust, Flexible/Black Box, and Arena Stage. All of these types of theaters have advantages and dis advantages. For example a Black Box theater is completely customizable with where the stage can go in the space, the size and shape of the stage, and where the seats will go. It also allows for the possibility for a more intimate experience with the audience. However a disadvantage is that while the ideas and concepts around a Black Box are truly creative and interesting it can be hard to figure out scene entrances, lighting fixture location and other technical data.


Black Box Theater © Tom Rossiter

            Another example is the vastly popular Proscenium Theater. This theater is what most people will think of when theaters are mentioned. This theater has the ability to produce huge productions unlike the Black Box. However in a Proscenium there is a definite line between audience and stage so it can be a little more difficult to create a sense of intimacy with the audience.

           In order to navigate these stages it is important to understand stage direction. The stage itself (sometimes referred to as the deck) is divided into a grid of 9 sections. These sections are named using of the two words from each list of Up Center Down and Right Center Left. These terms are used in stage direction along with In and Out and On and Off. Some important things to know are that the direction of stage left and right are taken from the on stage point if view. If you are in the audience to your left is Stage Right and to your right is Stage Left. This makes it easy for actors and tech crews who are working in stage to receive direction.
           As for Up and Down stage, Down stage is near the audience and Up is away. This is because from ancient Roman times up until the 1900s the audience was set in flat ground and the stage was tilted at the audience so that the people in the back could still see the stage. This creates a literal up and down stage. In modern day this has been flipped so that the audience is now built on an up ward slope.
           The In and Out directions refer to objects being flown in from above the stage by the fly system. "In" is to bring something in to view and "Out" is to bring something out of view. On and Off refer to set pieces being brought On stage or Off stage by either actors or the tech crew.
            This also refers to curtains on stage.



Austrian Drape

             When people think about theater many times they will begin to think about that red curtain (referred to as house or front curtain) which many Proscenium theaters have. However there are 4 different types of common house curtains. The most common is the Traveler which opens and closes horizontally to and from the sides of the theater. The other three types open vertically from top to bottom. The Austrian curtain is raised in sections along the stage. The Venetian is a single piece that can be lifted to different heights in different places similar to the Austrian. And The Tableau is two pieces one on top of the other where the centers are pulled to the upper corners of the stage.

            This is the basic knowledge that a crew member should understand and know when beginning stage work. It is important to understand stage directions and the unique elements of an empty theater, square one.