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Stage machinery

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Stage machinery, also known as stage mechanics,[1][2] comprises the mechanical devices used to create special effects in theatrical productions.[3]

Stage machinery includes the mechanical devices used to create special effects in theatrical productions.

It consists of many different types of machinery to enable scene changes, lower actors through the stage floor (traps) and machinery which enable actors to 'fly' over the stage[4][5].

Alexandra Palace Theatre, London and the Gaiety Theatre, Isle of Man are two theatres which have retained stage machinery of all types under the stage. [6][7][8]

Scene Changing

The wings of a theatre stage had to be at least half the width of the stage each side of the proscenium arch and the fly system for flying scenery had to be twice the height of the stage.[9]

Drum and Shaft

This consisted of a shaft around which was built one or more circular drums which had a much larger diameter than the shaft.[10] A rope wound round the drum was pulled in order to rotate the shaft and if there was more than one drum on the shaft, several pieces of scenery could be moved at the same time to raise the scenery wings and backdrops.[5]

This was a pair of vertical runners used to raise or lower a long profile of low scenery such as a groundrow, pieces of scenery made of canvas stretched over wood and used to represent water flowers etc , through a narrow slot in the stage floor.[5][9][10]

Slote/Sloat

This was a pair of vertical runners used to raise or lower a long profile of low scenery such as a groundrow, pieces of scenery made of canvas stretched over wood and used to represent water flowers etc , through a narrow slot in the stage floor.[11][5][9]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Stage mechanics devices and equipment". Elektrovat. Retrieved 12 December 2021.
  2. ^ "Mechanics for theaters Stage mechanics Scenography". Stagetech. Retrieved 12 December 2021.
  3. ^ Esslin, Martin (1977), Illustrated Encyclopaedia of World Theatre, London: Thames and Hudson, p. 256
  4. ^ Wilmore, David (1989). "The development of stage machinery in the nineteenth century British theatre: a study of physical and documentatry evidence". Ph.D. Thesis, Department of Drama, University of Hull.
  5. ^ a b c d Hartnoll, Phylliss (1983). The Oxford Companion to the Theatre (4th ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 837. ISBN 0-19-211546-4.
  6. ^ "3D Scan of Alexandra Palace Theatre Stage Machinery". YouTube.
  7. ^ Ally Pally (February 2019). "Scanning Stage Machinery".
  8. ^ "Victorian Special Effects: Stage Machinery at Alexandra Palace". Google Arts and Culture.
  9. ^ a b c Johnson, Ray (2007). "Tricks, Traps and Transformations". Early Popular Visual Culture. 5 (2): 151–165 – via Taylor and Francis Online.
  10. ^ a b Southern, Richard (1970). The Victorian Theatre. A Pictorial Survey. Richard Southern. p. 34. ISBN 0 7153 4968 6.
  11. ^ "Trap Doors and Lifts On Stage". Theatre Crafts.


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