Backstage

Theatre Vocab 201

Well, some time ago, I put a vocab primer up on my old blog... That was Theatre 101... Welcome to Theatre 201, where we'll delve in to some more obscure things as well as some I didn't cover in 101... I need to group these as sometimes you will get a repeat term, that may mean something different according to what you are doing.
More in the Extended Entry...

Rigging:
Out - Up... Usually in a fly system since up is "out" of site
In - Down... Also fly related, down is "in" site
Snub - Tied Off... You snub ropes to make sure nothing moves when it should't
Float - 1) Raising the flown scenery just off the ground. 2) Used when adjusting weight on the rigging system, you can "load till it floats" or keep adding weight untill your counterweight starts the unit moveing upwards. This is not the safest of practices, and should only be done by experienced loaders.
Loader - A person located on a catwalk overhead, who adds and removes weight to rigging systems to get them in balance.
Weight/counterweight/pigs/sandbags - this will varry based on what type of rigging system you have, but it all does the same thing. It adds weight to a rigging system to balance the load. (pig comes from pig iron, not the actual hanging of pigs on ropes)
Sunday - An endless loop of rope or cable used in a choker configuration around a heavier diameter rope to either secure the larger rope, or to add more weight in a sandbag situation.
Prusik - A knot used to snub operating lines in rigging systems. There are a few different knots that people seem to group under "prusik", and each person will swear they have the only correct version.
Rail - Any location in the rigging system that runs along the verticle portion of the ropes. They are further listed as Load Rail, Pin/Spot Rail, Lock Rail (some times there is a "show rail" that is simply a second locking rail used during the run as opposed to during the load in.
Lock/Rope Lock/Brake - The device the rope passes through in a counterweight rigging system
Pin - These are the large wooden (and sometimes steel, but those suck) pins that you use to secure the ropes in a hemp or sandbag system.

Ok... That's enough for the moment... I think I'm going to need a visual aid before I go any further... Any questions?

And incidently, as this is my first extended entry "Lay on McDuff" is from Macbeth... If you have ever heard the expression "Lead on McDuff" or "Lead on Macbeth" they are both wrong... "Lay on" is what the bard wrote.