Theatre Terms
As a service to the theatre community, AACT provides over 1000 definitions of theatrical terms. Fully searchable, our glossary is helpful for technical staff, directors, actors, producers, or anyone wanting to better understand the inner workings of theatre.
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| Term | Definition | Link |
|---|---|---|
| FLOODLIGHT | Often simply, a "flood." A large, powerful light, typically one of several used to illuminate a stage, or the exterior of a building. Floodlights are basic theatrical lighting instruments, consisting of primarily of a reflector box and a lamp, usually attached to a yoke to allow the instrument to be hung. They are often used in the theater for color washes, or left uncolored for use as work lights. | |
| FLOODLIGHT or FLOOD LIGHT | A lensless lighting instrument that produces a broad non-variable spread of light. Floodlights ('floods') are used in battens, or singly to light cycloramas or large areas of the stage. | |
| FLOOR PLAN | Plan | |
| FLUORESCENCE | The property of some materials to glow when subjected to Ultra-violet light. The materials degrade the UV wavelengths into longer and therefore visible reflected rays. | |
| FLY | To lift or raise a set piece or lighting bar up and out of sight--or, in some cases, a person, as in "Peter Pan." In order for this to work, there needs to be an open area above the stage with enough head room to store items that are "flown." This is known as "Fly space" or the "flies." | |
| FLY BARS | The metal bars to which scenery and lamps are attached for flying above the stage. | |
| FLY GALLERY | High working platform at the side(s) of the stage from which the flying lines are handled. Often are also the site for socket panels for connecting flown lighting apparatus to dimmers, and also sometimes a lighting position. | |
| FLY LOFT | Extension of the stage walls up to allow scenery to be flown up until it is out of sight of the audience. Known as the "flies". The ideal fly tower should be more than twice the height of the proscenium arch, and is said to have "full flying height". | |
| FLY SPACE | ||
| FLYING | ||
| FOCUS | 1) To adjust a lighting instrument in terms of beam spread or direction. 2) In acting, to turn and face another actor, an object, etc. and give it one's entire attention. 3) In directing or technical work the area or person designed to draw the audience's attention. In a large musical number, for example, the focus is often the lead performer. (Thus, to steal focus, is to do something that diverts audience attention from the intended object of focus.) In a set design, a stairway, doorway, couch, or other object is positioned as the focus of the scene. | |
| FOCUS SPOT | Term for both Fresnel and PC type lamps with adjustable beam size. | |
| FOCUSING | The process of adjusting the direction and beam size of lamps. Does not necessarily result in a "sharply focused" image. | |
| FOH | Front Of House, usually referring to staff such as house manager, box office, etc. | |
| FOLLOW SPOT | A spotlight mounted so that it can turn to follow an actor moving across the stage. | |
| FOLLOW-ON CUE | A cue that is timed to follow an original cue so quickly that it does not need a separate cue number. Often abbreviated to f/o. | |
| FOOT A FLAT | To hold a foot, with the sole on the floor, against the bottom of a flat, while another person, moving under the flat, pushes it up or lets it down. | |
| FOOTLIGHT or FOOTLIGHTS | Now obsolete. A lighting unit with a reflector, installed in a strip on or in the floor, parallel to the curtain line, and usually in front of it, shielded from the auditorium side. Modern lighting equipment renders footlights virtually obsolete except for period/special effects. | |
| FORESHADOW | To hint, in dialogue or by other means, that some later dramatic action will occur. | |
| FORESTAGE or FORE-STAGE | That part of the stage which projects from the proscenium into the auditorium. Sometimes called an apron. |
