stage machinery
Behind-the-scenes equipment
Stage machinery is the mechanical equipment used to create theatrical effects and move scenery, performers, or props during a performance.
This includes rigging systems, trapdoors, revolving stages, fly systems for raising and lowering backdrops, and devices for special effects like fog or flying actors.
The stage machinery allowed Hamlet's ghost to rise through the floor.
- trap doorHinged floor opening
- trapdoorsConcealed floor openings
- winchesDrum-and-cable lifting devices
- counterweightsMasses balancing a load
- hoistsRaises or lifting devices
cables · wagons · fog machines · pulleys · sliders · scene change · rigging · turntables · battens · revolve · safety harnesses · curtain call · elevators · pyrotechnics · arbor · grid systems · hydraulic lifts · servo motors
stage machinerylive performance
Unrecorded staged entertainment
acting · stagecraft · performers · theatrical performance · dramatic performance