technical terms

1. Management, Technical
Theatre, and Unions
The unseen
theatre
workers

2. Stage Manager
• Organizes rehearsals
• Creates prompt book
• Runs production meetings with
designers and director
• Runs technical rehearsals
• Calls shows
• Rehearses replacements, understudies
• Member Actors Equity

3. Technical Director
• Executes working drawings from designer
• Coordinates special effects
• Supervises load in and strike
• Knows specifications of theatre:
• Fly system
• Electrical systems
• Traps
• Sightlines
• Sound system

4. Other technical theatre positions
• Master Electrician
• Stage Carpenter
• Set Painter
• Costume Shop Foreperson
• Costumes: Drapers, Cutters, Stitchers
• Under them are construction crews

5. Running Crews
• Refers to the “run” of a show, begin
during technical rehearsals
• Set, props, fly crews
• Light and sound board operators
• Follow spot operators
• Makeup and wardrobe crews

6. Front of House
• Box office manager and staff
• House manager
• Ushers
• Business side: Artistic Director, Board
of Directors, Public Relations (might be
hired out), Education Director,
Fundraising (for profit vs. not-for-profit)

7. Entering the Professional Theatre
• BA or BFA in Theatre
• Practical plus academic experience
• Internships
• Graduate degrees: MA or MBA in arts
administration, MFA in design, acting,
technical areas, directing, playwriting
• Experience in professional settings
• Union membership

8. Theatrical Unions
• Actor’s Equity Association (also stage managers):
www.actorsequity.com
• Screen Actors Guild: www.sag.com
• Also AFTRA, AGVA for performers
• United Scenic Artists: www.usa829.com
• International Alliance of Theatrical Stage
Employees: www.iatse.com
• Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers:
www.ssdc.org
• Dramatists’ Guild: www.dramatistsguild.org
• Screenwriters’ Federation of America:
www.screenwritersfederation.org