Theater production glossary

Act

A major division of a play or musical, typically separated by an intermission. Most musicals are structured in two acts. Plays may have anywhere from one to five.

Alternate

A performer who shares a role with another performer on a scheduled basis, each appearing at designated performances rather than as emergency coverage. Common in opera and in productions where the vocal or physical demands of a role make a full performance week unsustainable for one performer. Distinct from an understudy, who covers a role only when the primary performer cannot appear. The performance schedule for an alternate is set in advance and published to the company.

Arena

A staging configuration in which the audience surrounds the performance space on all sides, commonly called theater in the round. Actors work without the benefit of a single frontal focus, and blocking, sightlines and set design all have to account for an audience with no shared sightline. Distinguished from proscenium, thrust and black box configurations.

ASM (Assistant Stage Manager)

The stage manager's primary assistant. Responsibilities typically include tracking blocking, managing props, running rehearsal paperwork, and covering the stage manager's duties when needed.

Audition

The tryout process through which performers present material to a director or panel for evaluation. May include singing, dancing, cold reading, or a combination. The format and evaluation criteria should be established before any auditionee is invited to participate.

Blackbox

A flexible performance space with a simple rectangular room, black walls, and no fixed seating or stage configuration, allowing the audience-performer relationship to be reconfigured for each production. Common in university and community programs as a smaller, lower-cost alternative to a proscenium mainstage. Distinguished from proscienium, thrust and arena staging, each of which fixes the audience relationship rather than leaving it adjustable.

Blackout

A lighting state in which all stage lights are extinguished simultaneously, typically used to mark the end of a scene or act. Blackouts require precise cueing and actor coordination to execute cleanly.

Blocking

The planned movement and positioning of actors on stage during a scene. Set by the director and recorded in the prompt book by the stage manager using a notation system that maps positions to stage coordinates.

Blocking Notation

The shorthand system a stage manager uses to record blocking in the prompt book. Positions are mapped to stage areas, movement is recorded against specific lines or measures, and the notation must be legible to someone who was not in the room when it was set. Consistency matters more than elegance, because the notation exists to be reconstructed from: rehearsing a replacement, restoring a cut scene, or remounting the production a season later.

Book

The script of a musical, including all spoken dialogue. Distinct from the score (the music) and the lyrics. Off-book refers to actors having fully memorized their lines without needing the script.

Build

The process of constructing scenic elements, costumes, or props for a production. Going into build typically refers to the technical production period when construction is actively underway.

Cabaret

A performance format staged in an intimate room, typically with audience seating at tables and food or drink service during the show, blurring the line between a traditional theatrical audience and a nightclub one. Distinct from Cabaret, the musical, which is a specific licensed title rather than a staging format; the term predates and is broader than that show.

Callback

A second audition held after the initial audition to gather additional information about specific candidates, typically for principal roles. Callbacks should be designed to answer specific casting questions, not to repeat the initial audition.

Call Sheet

The daily schedule distributed to cast and crew listing who is called, at what time, and for what purpose. A complete call sheet includes location, scene, costume or prop requirements, and any special notes.

Cheat Out

Angling the body slightly toward the audience while appearing to face another performer in a scene, so dialogue and expression stay visible without breaking the illusion of the conversation. A basic staging technique taught early and used constantly.

Company Manager

The person responsible for the business and personnel side of a production or company, including contracts, payroll, travel and housing for visiting artists, and the day-to-day welfare of the company. Distinct from the production manager, who oversees the physical and technical production. In companies operating under union agreements the company manager is typically the first point of contact for contract and payment questions.

Conflict Calendar

A schedule submitted by each auditionee or cast member listing all dates and times when they are unavailable during the production window. Should be collected at audition registration, before casting decisions are made.

Corpsing

Breaking character on stage, typically by laughing, in a way visible to the audience. Chiefly British usage, though increasingly heard in American companies as well.

Crew

All production personnel working backstage or in a technical capacity, including stage crew, wardrobe crew, lighting and sound operators, and running crew. Distinct from cast, who perform in front of the audience.

Cue

A signal indicating that a technical element should execute, such as a lighting change, a sound effect, or a scenic shift. Cues are numbered sequentially in the prompt book and called by the stage manager during performance.

Cue-to-Cue

A technical rehearsal format in which the production is run from one technical cue to the next, skipping the scenes in between, to focus specifically on the execution of lighting, sound, and scenic transitions. Abbreviated as Q-to-Q.

Curtain Call

The sequence of bows taken by the cast at the end of a performance. The order and staging of the curtain call is planned and rehearsed, typically during dress rehearsals.

Curtain Up

The traditional call marking the formal start of a performance, historically the moment the curtain rises. In houses without a curtain the term persists as shorthand for the top of the show, called once the house is closed and the company is ready. Distinct from Curtain Call, which marks the end of the performance.

Dance Captain

A member of the company responsible for maintaining the choreography after the choreographer has left the production. Duties include running dance calls, teaching replacements, cleaning numbers during the run, and holding the record of every dancer's track. The role is frequently held by an ensemble member or swing who also performs in the show.

Deck

The stage floor. Deck crew manage scenic and prop elements on the stage during performances. Distinct from the fly space above and the orchestra pit below.

Deputy Stage Manager (DSM)

In British and Commonwealth practice, the stage manager who runs rehearsals, maintains the prompt book, and calls the show from the prompt corner. The role sits below the company stage manager, who oversees the department, and above the assistant stage manager. The American and British stage management structures do not map onto each other one for one, so the title is best read as a description of function rather than of rank.

Downstage

The area of the stage closest to the audience. The term originates from raked stages in which the downstage area was literally lower. Downstage center is typically the most prominent position on a proscenium stage.

Dramaturg

The person responsible for research and contextual work supporting a production, including historical background, translation and adaptation questions, script development on new work, and program notes. On new plays the dramaturg often works directly with the playwright throughout the rehearsal period. The role is more common in university and professional companies than in community or school productions.

Dress Rehearsal

A full run-through of the production with all technical elements, costumes, makeup, and props in place. Typically the final rehearsals before opening night. The first dress is expected to have stops; the final dress is expected to run as a performance.

Dry Tech

A technical rehearsal run without actors, in which lighting, sound and scenic transitions are executed and refined on their own. Running a dry tech before cue-to-cue means the first technical rehearsal with the company is spent integrating rather than building. Productions that skip it typically spend the difference during cue-to-cue instead, with the full company waiting.

Ensemble

The chorus or group performers in a musical, as distinct from the principal cast. Ensemble members often perform in multiple scenes and numbers and are essential to the production's scale and energy.

Equity

Short for Actors' Equity Association (AEA), the union representing professional stage actors and stage managers in the United States. Equity productions operate under specific contractual requirements governing pay, working conditions, and rehearsal hours.

Fight Captain

A member of the company responsible for maintaining staged violence and stage combat after the fight director has left the production. Duties include running the fight call before each performance, checking weapons and safety equipment, and retraining sequences when a replacement joins the cast. The fight call happens before every performance, not periodically.

Final Dress

The last dress rehearsal before opening night, run without stops and treated as a performance in every respect: full technical elements, costumes, makeup, props, and the same call times and pre-show routine the run will use. Its purpose is to test the production as a complete system rather than to fix individual moments, so notes are collected and delivered afterward rather than by stopping the run. A final dress that stops is a signal that the production needed another dress rehearsal, not a failure of the rehearsal itself. Some productions run the final dress before an invited audience, which tests audience dependent timing that no closed rehearsal can reveal.

Fly Operator / Flyman / Rail Operator

The crew member who raises and lowers scenic pieces, soft goods and lighting equipment on the fly system during a performance. In British practice the position is called the flyman, a term still standard in scripts, technical riders and rigging documentation; American houses more often use fly operator or rail operator, and the working position itself is referred to as the rail. Where the rigging is motorized rather than counterweighted, the equivalent position is usually called the automation operator, and the two require different training. The operator works from a cue sheet and executes on the stage manager's call, frequently without a view of the stage, which is why fly cues are rehearsed as timed sequences rather than as visual responses.

Fly Space

The area above the stage where scenic pieces, lighting instruments, and soft goods can be raised out of the audience's view. Productions designed for fly space require a theater with sufficient height and rigging infrastructure.

Focus

The process of aiming and adjusting lighting instruments to illuminate the correct areas of the stage. Focus is conducted by the lighting designer and electrics crew, typically during the load-in period before technical rehearsals begin.

Follow Spot

A high-intensity lighting instrument operated manually to keep a moving performer lit, distinct from the fixed lighting plot in that a person aims it live throughout the performance. The operator works from a written cue sheet specifying the pickup, the performer, the iris size, the color, and the fade in and out, and typically sits in a position above and behind the audience with limited sightlines and a headset as the only link to the stage manager. Follow spot cues are called during the show rather than programmed in advance, which makes the operator a performer in the technical sense: a late pickup or a lost target is visible to the entire house. Productions with heavy follow spot work rehearse those cues in tech alongside the automated lighting, not after it.

Fourth Wall

The imaginary boundary between the performers and the audience in a proscenium-style staging, through which the audience observes the action as though the performers are unaware of being watched. Breaking the fourth wall refers to a performer directly acknowledging or addressing the audience, a deliberate technique rather than an accident.

Front of House (FOH)

All areas of the theater accessible to the audience, including the lobby, house, and box office. Also refers to the staff managing these areas. Distinct from backstage operations.

Ghost Light

A single light on a stand left illuminated on stage when the theater is dark and unoccupied. Serves both a safety function (preventing falls on an unlit stage) and, in theatrical tradition, a symbolic one.

Grand Drape

The main curtain separating the stage from the audience. Also called the house curtain or main drape. Opening and closing the grand drape is typically a stage manager cue.

Green Room

The backstage space where cast and crew gather before a performance and during breaks, traditionally located for quick access to the stage. Several explanations for the name circulate in theater lore, none of them confirmed, so the origin is best left unstated rather than asserted as fact.

Gypsy Run

An early full run-through performed for an invited audience of theater peers and friends of the company, held before previews begin. Distinct from a preview, which is open to the paying public; a gypsy run is closed and functions as a low-stakes test of pacing and staging before outside eyes.

House

The seating area of the theater where the audience sits. Opening the house refers to allowing the audience to enter. House is open is a signal from front of house to the stage manager that the audience is being seated.

House Manager

The person responsible for all front-of-house operations during a performance, including ushers, lobby management, and audience safety. Communicates with the stage manager before the show begins and during intermission.

Improv / Improvisation

Performance created spontaneously without a script, developed live in response to a scene partner, an audience suggestion, or a given premise. Used both as a performance form in its own right and as a rehearsal or training tool to build spontaneity and ensemble trust in scripted work.

In One

Playing a scene in the narrow playing space downstage of a traveler curtain or other masking, while a larger set change happens out of view behind it. A common technique for keeping a musical moving without an exposed scene change; the number or scene performed there is often described as being "in one." This is the first entry under the letter I, so it requires adding I to the alphabetical navigation.

In the Round

This refers to theater that is performed "in the round". See "Arena".

Jukebox Musical

A musical built around a catalog of pre-existing songs, typically from a single artist or era, rather than a score written for the show. The songs are usually reordered and recontextualized to fit an original or loosely constructed story. Rights for a jukebox musical often involve separate music licensing from the show's script and score license, which can affect how a production budgets and schedules its rights process.

Key Light

The primary source of light on a subject or area of the stage, establishing the main direction and quality of illumination before fill and back light are added. A lighting design is typically built by establishing key light first, then layering the remaining instruments around it.

Load-In

The process of bringing all production elements into the theater and installing them on stage. Load-in typically precedes the first technical rehearsal and can take one day to several weeks depending on production complexity.

LX

Abbreviation for electrics or lighting, used in production schedules and cue scripts. LX cues refer to lighting changes. The LX department handles all stage lighting design, focus, and operation.

Mark

A position on the stage floor, set or piece of furniture that a performer or crew member is trained to find without looking, ensuring correct placement for lighting, sightlines and blocking. Hitting a mark is a basic performance skill checked throughout tech and preview rehearsals. Marks are physically created by spiking the floor; see Spike.

Milestone

A production planning deadline marking the target completion of a specific phase of work. Common milestones include off-book date, choreography set date, first stumble-through, and first dress rehearsal. Milestones anchor the rehearsal calendar and define forward progress.

Monologue

An extended speech performed by a single character, either alone on stage or addressed to another character who does not interrupt. Commonly used as audition material because it isolates a performer's work without requiring a scene partner. Distinct from a soliloquy, which specifically reveals a character's inner thought rather than being spoken to another character on stage.

Music Director

The person responsible for all musical elements of a production, including vocal preparation, pit orchestra direction, and musical pacing. In school productions the music director may also serve as the pit conductor. Distinct from the director, who leads the dramatic interpretation.

Number

A single song within a musical or opera, tracked as its own unit in the score and in rehearsal paperwork distinct from the surrounding book scenes. "Musical number" is the fuller phrase, but "number" alone carries the same meaning in production shorthand and in casting and rehearsal notation. Related to Reprise, which is a specific type of number rather than a separate concept.

Off-Book

The point at which actors are expected to perform without consulting the script. The off-book deadline is one of the most important milestones in the rehearsal calendar and marks the transition from blocking work to more refined scene development.

Open Call

An audition open to any performer who wishes to attend, without a submission, invitation or prior appointment required. Common for ensemble casting or when a production wants to reach performers outside its existing network. Distinct from an audition scheduled by appointment or invitation only.

Orchestra Pit

The area, typically below and in front of the stage, where the orchestra or pit band performs. Not all venues have a dedicated orchestra pit. Productions without one may use an onstage or offstage orchestra, or a backing track.

Overture

The orchestral piece performed before the action of a musical or opera begins, typically weaving together melodic themes that recur later in the score. It carries no cast and is tracked in production paperwork as a music element rather than a scene.

Pantomime

In American usage, wordless physical performance conveying action, emotion or narrative without speech, closely related to mime. In British usage, panto: a distinct Christmas theatrical tradition with stock characters, broad comedy and audience participation, unrelated to the American sense beyond the shared word. The two meanings do not overlap, and context determines which applies.

Paper Tech

A meeting between the director, stage manager, lighting designer, and sound designer to walk through every cue in the show before the first technical rehearsal. Cues are assigned and programmed during or before paper tech so the first tech can focus on refinement rather than construction.

Perusal Script

A copy of the script provided by the licensing organization for review before a production license is secured. Perusal scripts are typically watermarked and may not be reproduced or distributed to cast without a production license in place.

Places

The call given shortly before a performance begins, instructing cast and crew to move to their opening positions. Called by the stage manager over the backstage intercom on a fixed countdown before curtain up. Distinct from Curtain Up, which marks the actual start of the performance.

Preset

The state of the stage, props, costumes and technical elements before the audience enters and before each act begins. Preset is documented so it can be reproduced exactly at every performance, and checking it is part of the run crew's pre-show routine. A missed preset is among the most common causes of a problem that becomes visible to the audience.

Preview

A performance held before the official opening night, often at a reduced ticket price, giving the creative team a chance to gauge audience response before critics attend. Open to the paying public, distinguishing it from a gypsy run, which is closed to the general audience. A production may run several previews before opening.

Principal

A cast member in a named, speaking or singing role, as distinct from the ensemble. In Equity productions, principal and ensemble are formal contract categories with different compensation and working condition terms.

Producer

The person or organization responsible for making a production happen, including securing rights, raising or allocating the money, engaging the creative team, and holding final financial accountability. In educational and community theater the producing function is frequently held by the same person who directs. Naming the two responsibilities separately is useful even when one person carries both, because they pull in different directions.

Production Manager

The person responsible for planning and delivering the physical production, including budgets, build schedules, department coordination, venue logistics and technical staffing. A production manager works across a season or across concurrent productions, where a stage manager works within a single production. Distinct from the company manager, who handles contracts and personnel rather than physical production.

Production Meeting

A regular meeting between the director and all department heads to coordinate production progress. Typically held weekly or biweekly during the rehearsal period. Tracks design build status, unresolved technical questions, and cross-departmental dependencies.

Production Program

The printed or digital publication distributed to the audience at a performance, containing cast and crew credits, show information, production notes, and sponsor acknowledgments. Also called a program. Not to be confused with the trademarked term Playbill, which refers specifically to a licensed publication.

Prompt Book

The master production document maintained by the stage manager, containing the fully annotated script with all blocking notation, cue placements, contact information, and production schedules. The single authoritative record of the production as built.

Prompt Corner

The fixed offstage position, traditionally stage left in older houses, from which the stage manager calls the show. It holds the prompt book, the cue light controls, the production intercom and the paging system. Also called the corner or the desk.

Prop Master / Prop Coordinator

The person responsible for sourcing, building, maintaining and tracking every prop in a production. The work runs from the initial props list built off the script, through rehearsal substitutes and the run's daily preset and repair, to the return or storage of borrowed and rented items at strike. Borrowed props carry an obligation that outlives the production, which is why the props record has to survive closing night.

Props

All hand-held or set-placed items used by actors during the production. Props are tracked separately from costumes and scenery and are the responsibility of the props coordinator during the production period.

Proscenium

The architectural frame separating the stage from the audience in a traditional theater configuration. A proscenium stage places the audience in a single frontal position. Distinguished from thrust, arena, and black box configurations.

Quick Change

A costume change that has to happen faster than a normal exit allows, executed offstage with dressers assisting. Quick changes are choreographed, rehearsed and timed like any other technical sequence, and the costume is usually built to make the change possible. The change is planned around the performer's exit and re-entry, not around whatever wing space happens to be free.

Reader

Three distinct uses. In an audition room, the reader is the person who reads the other roles in a scene opposite an auditioning performer, so the auditionee can be evaluated without a second candidate present. At a read-through, the reader is sometimes the person assigned to read stage directions aloud, so the cast can follow the action without mistaking narration for dialogue. In literary management, a reader is a staff member who evaluate submitted scripts, a role found mainly in professional companies with active new-play development.

Read-Through

An early rehearsal in which the full cast reads the script aloud from beginning to end without blocking or staging. Typically the first time the full company hears the complete script together and helps the director assess ensemble dynamics.

Rehearsal Report

A written document distributed by the stage manager after each rehearsal summarizing what was accomplished, conflicts that arose, open questions, and notes for production departments. The official record of the rehearsal period.

Répétiteur

The pianist and vocal coach who plays for rehearsals and prepares singers musically, principally in opera and ballet. Duties include playing the orchestral reduction in staging rehearsals, coaching language and vocal line, and carrying the conductor's musical intentions into the rehearsal room. In musical theater the equivalent work is usually divided between the rehearsal accompanist and the music director.

Reprise

A repeated section of a song heard earlier in the score, usually shortened and recontextualized by where it falls in the story. Musical theater uses reprises to return to an earlier emotional idea after the audience has learned something new. A reprise is tracked as its own number in production paperwork even when it shares a title with the original song.

Run-Through

A rehearsal in which all or part of the production is performed consecutively without stopping to work individual scenes. Used to assess pacing, line retention, and simulate the experience of performing for an audience.

Scene Breakdown

A document mapping which characters appear in each scene or number. Used to build rehearsal unit assignments and call times, ensuring only the actors needed for a given session are called to it.

Score

The complete musical notation for a show, including all vocal and instrumental parts. The score is licensed from the licensing organization and must be returned after the production closes. Unauthorized reproduction is a licensing violation.

Show Bible

A master reference document maintained across a production, or across a franchise or long-running show, holding continuity notes, design references and key decisions made during the process. Often called simply the bible. Distinct from the Prompt Book, which is the stage manager's authoritative record of blocking and cues for a single production; a show bible is broader in scope and, for a touring or remounted show, often outlives any one production.

Sides

Abbreviated sections of a script used for auditions, typically containing one or two scenes relevant to the role being evaluated. Sides allow auditionees to prepare specific material without receiving the full script before a license is secured.

Sitzprobe

The first rehearsal at which the cast sings the score with the full orchestra, seated and without staging. The German term means seated rehearsal. Its purpose is musical rather than theatrical: balance, tempo, and the singers' first experience of the full orchestration after weeks of working against a piano reduction.

Soliloquy

A speech in which a character, usually alone on stage, speaks their thoughts aloud rather than addressing another character. Distinct from a monologue, which may be addressed to another character who does not interrupt; a soliloquy specifically reveals interior thought rather than being spoken to someone else on stage.

Spike

The act of marking a position on the stage floor, usually in tape, to record the exact placement of a scenic element, prop or performer. Spike marks are set during technical rehearsals and verified at preset. They are what makes a scene change repeatable in low light by crew who cannot see the full stage picture from where they are standing. See Mark.

Stage Left / Stage Right

Directional terms from the actor's perspective while facing the audience. Stage left is the actor's left, which is the audience's right. Stage right is the actor's right, which is the audience's left. Always referenced from the actor's point of view.

Stage Manager

The production's primary organizational and operational leader during the rehearsal period and run of the show. Maintains the prompt book, runs rehearsals, distributes call sheets, manages production communication, and calls all technical cues during performances. The organizational backbone of the production.

Standby

A performer engaged to cover a principal role who does not otherwise appear in the production. A standby is present at the theater or reachable throughout every performance and goes on only when the principal cannot. The distinction from an understudy is that an understudy performs another role in the show as well, so an understudy going on creates a second gap that also has to be filled.

Strike

The full dismantling and storage or disposal of all production elements after the final performance. Includes the set, costumes, props, lighting, and sound equipment. Requires as much organizational planning as any rehearsal and should be assigned and scheduled before closing night.

Stumble-Through

An early run-through in which the production is performed from beginning to end for the first time, with expected stops and imperfections. Gives the director a first look at the full shape of the production and identifies areas requiring the most remaining work.

Swing

A performer who learns multiple ensemble tracks and covers any of them as needed, without normally appearing in the production. Because a swing may be called into a different track at short notice, the swing's own record of every position's blocking, choreography, costume changes and prop handling is among the most demanding paperwork in a musical. Distinct from an understudy, a standby and an alternate, each of which covers a specific assignment rather than a rotating set of them.

Table Work

Rehearsals held at a table, typically early in the rehearsal period, in which the cast and director analyze the script, discuss character motivations, and explore the text before staging begins. More common in dramatic productions than in musicals.

Tech Week

The intensive final rehearsal period in which all technical elements are integrated with the performance for the first time. Typically includes a cue-to-cue rehearsal, technical run-throughs, and dress rehearsals culminating in the final dress before opening night.

Technical Director (TD)

The person responsible for scenic construction, rigging, and technical safety. Translates the scenic designer's vision into buildable reality within the available budget and schedule, and ensures all technical elements meet safety standards before any actor uses them.

Track

The complete set of assignments for a single ensemble member across the entire show, including all scenes, numbers, costume changes, and prop handling requirements. Tracking by member enables efficient scheduling and quick identification of all elements each cast member is responsible for.

Understudy

A performer who learns one or more principal roles in addition to their own, prepared to perform those roles if the primary cast member is unable to perform. In professional theater, understudies typically attend all rehearsals relevant to their covered roles.

Unit Rehearsal

A rehearsal scheduled for a specific subset of the cast rather than the full company, organized by scene or musical number. Allows the director to work specific material efficiently without requiring the presence of cast members not needed for that session.

Upstage

The area of the stage farthest from the audience. The term originates from raked stages in which the upstage area was literally higher. To upstage another actor originally meant positioning oneself upstage, forcing the other actor to turn their back to the audience; the phrase now more commonly describes drawing focus away from another performer by any means, deliberate or not, regardless of where either performer is standing.

Vamp

To extend material to cover time until the next planned action can happen, whether by repeating a short musical passage as many times as needed to cover a scene change or delayed entrance, or by a performer improvising dialogue or stage business to cover for another performer who has missed an entrance or a cue. A music director calls to vamp; an actor vamps on their own judgment in the moment.

Vaudeville

A variety entertainment format popular in the United States from roughly the 1880s through the early 1930s, built from a sequence of unrelated acts, magicians, singers, comedians, acrobats, and novelty performers, assembled onto a single bill in a deliberate running order. Weaker acts typically opened and closed the bill, with the strongest material placed to build toward a headlining act. Distinct from a revue, whose acts are usually connected by a shared theme or musical thread; a vaudeville bill has no such connective thread between acts.

Wandelprobe

The rehearsal that follows the sitzprobe, in which the cast sings with the full orchestra while adding movement and staging, as distinct from the sitzprobe's seated, music-only focus. The German term translates roughly to "walking rehearsal." Not every production schedules one separately; smaller houses and productions with lighter orchestration sometimes fold its function into the first orchestra dress instead. Where it is scheduled, it sits between the sitzprobe and the first orchestra dress rehearsal.

Wardrobe

The department responsible for all costumes during the production run, including quick changes, repairs, and laundry. The wardrobe crew works during performances to ensure every costume piece is in place and every quick change happens on cue.

Wardrobe Supervisor

The person responsible for the costume department during the run, covering maintenance, laundry, repairs, quick change staging, and the dressers who execute them. The supervisor takes the costumes over from the designer and the shop at the end of the build and is accountable for their condition through closing and strike. Distinct from the costume designer, whose work is largely complete when the run begins.

Wings

The offstage areas to the left and right of the performance space, not visible to the audience. Cast members wait in the wings before their entrance. Props and scenic elements are often staged in the wings for quick access during scene changes.

X-Fade (Cross-Fade)

A lighting or sound term for smoothly fading out one cue while simultaneously fading in the next.

XLR

The standard three-pin audio connector used for professional microphones and sound gear on stage.

Yo-Yo Hoist

A specialized type of compact motorized rigging hoist used in tight fly spaces where lift lines stack in a single layer. Used when space is tight and angles are difficult. Also called a Pile-Up hoist or Stacking drum.

Yoke

The bracket on a lighting fixture that allows it to pivot up and down and lock at an angle, typically attached to the fixture body on one side and to a C-clamp on the other. Distinct from pan and tilt on a moving light, which are motorized; a yoke on a conventional fixture is adjusted by hand and locked in place during focus.

Z-axis

In set design and projection mapping, the depth dimension on stage (moving upstage and downstage, away from or toward the audience).