Stagecraft
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Stagecraft is a technical aspect of
In its most basic form, stagecraft may be executed by a single person (often the
History
Ancient Greece
Greek theatre made extensive use of stagecraft, and Greek vocabulary and practice continue to influence contemporary Western stagecraft. The defining element of a Greek theatre's stage was the skene, a structure at the back of the stage, often featuring three doors. The usual setting for a classical Greek tragedy was a palace, and skenes were decorated to support that setting.[1]
On the audience-side of the skene, what are now known as flats could be hung. Flats evolved from one-sided to two-sided painted flats, which would be mounted and centered on a rotating pin. Rope would run around each consecutive pin, allowing the flats to be turned for scene changes. The double-sided-flat eventually evolved into the periaktos.
Greek stagecraft was essential to the storytelling of its works. An ekkyklema, similar to a contemporary wagon, was used to present the death of a character by rolling out their dead body, instead of showing their death onstage.[2] The mechane, a crane for lifting actors over the skene, supported the conclusions of plays, whose storylines were often suddenly resolved by the introduction of a god. The mechane is the literal source for the contemporary phrase deus ex machina.[3] Performances were lit by sunlight, often taking advantage of the particular time of day to support the story.[4]
Europe
Plays of
More modern stagecraft was developed in England between 1576 and 1642. There were three different types of theaters in London – public, private and court. The size and shape varied but many were suggested to be round theaters. Public playhouses such as the Globe Theatre used rigging housed in a room on the roof to lower and raise scenery or actors, and used the raised stage by developing the practice of using trap-doors in theatrical productions. Most of the theaters had circular-design, with an open area above the pit to allow sunlight to enter and light the stage.[6]
Stagecraft during the Victorian era in England developed rapidly with the emergence of the West End. Prompted by and influx of urbanites in the greater London area, Parliament was forced to do away with previous licensing laws and allowed all theaters to perform straight plays in 1843. Electric lighting and hydraulics were introduced to draw large audiences to see on-stage storms, explosions, and miraculous transformations. Technologies developed during the latter part of the 19th-century paved the way for the development of special effects to be used in film.[7]
Lighting continued to develop. In England, a form lamp using a blowpipe to heat lime to incandescence was developed, for navigation purposes – it was soon adapted to theatrical performances and the limelight became a widespread form of artificial light for theaters. To control the focus of the light, a Fresnel lens was used.
After candles, came gas lighting, using pipes with small openings which were lit before every performance, and could be dimmed by controlling the flow of gas, so long as the flame never went out. With the turn of the 20th century, many theater companies making the transition from gas to electricity would install the new system right next to the old one, resulting in many explosions and fires due to the electricity igniting the gas lines.
Modern theatrical lighting is electrically-based. Many lamps and lighting instruments are in use today, and the field is rapidly becoming one of the most diverse and complex in the industry.[8]
Sub-disciplines
Stagecraft comprises many disciplines, typically divided into a number of main disciplines:
- Lighting: Lighting design, which involves the process of determining the angle, size, intensity, shape, and color of light for a given scene as well as hanging, focusing, procurement and maintenance of lighting and special effects equipment, and aspects of show control.
- Make-up/Wigs: The application of makeup and wigs to accentuate an actor's features.
- Mechanics: Design, engineering and operation of Flown scenery or flying of performers and mechanized scenic elements and special effects.
- Production, comprising company management
- scenic painting, theater drapes and stage curtains, and special effects.
- mixing as well as theatrical sound effects. The sound designer is also responsible for the system design and build.
- Theatrical property, or props, which includes furnishings, set dressings, and all items large and small which cannot be classified as scenery, electrics, or wardrobe. Some crossover may apply. Props handled by actors are known as hand props, and props which are kept in an actor's costume are known as personal props.
- construction, procurement, and maintenance.
- Scenerydisciplines.
- Stage automation: is the use and control of moving electronics that have the ability to move set pieces, set dressings and stage floor among many other stage elements. Stage automation may also include rigging when a motor is used to control lines or objects.
See also
- Association of British Theatre Technicians
- International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, a labor union serving the interests of professional stagehands
- Professional Lighting and Sound Association (PLASA), UK
- Running crew
- Samuel James Hume, organizer of the first exhibition of stagecraft in the US
- Sound stage
- Stage
- Technical rehearsal
- Technical week
- United Scenic Artists, a labor union that represents professional designers in the entertainment industry
- United States Institute for Theatre Technology
References
- ISBN 978-0-07-338220-3.
- JSTOR 26347107. Retrieved 1 April 2023.
- ^ Wilson & Goldfarb 2012, p. 47.
- ^ Wilson & Goldfarb 2012, p. 44.
- ISBN 978-0130884411
- ISBN 0521094356[page needed]
- The British Library. Archived from the originalon 10 July 2022. Retrieved 1 April 2023.
- ISBN 978-0812246629.[page needed]