Hey I have some
stagehand terms that I would like to know what they mean...Can somebody give a definition for some or all of these?
Scrivener
Body Grinder
Balust
depth
Goggle
and
System Pipe
I'm curious just where you picked up this list. I've been working in Tech
theatre as a performer, educator, and professional designer, engineer,
stagehand, technical director
etc. for over 50 years and I have heard of only two of those terms in reference to
theatre.
Scrivener : (or scribe) was a Middle English term for a person who could read and write. This usually indicated secretarial and administrative duties such as dictation. Except for Shakespeare quotes, I know of no
theatre use.
Body Grinder: Maybe a break dance move?
Balust: Probably a mis-spelling of
Ballast.
Ballast tank, a device used on ships and submarines and other submersibles to control buoyancy and stability
Ballast weights, metallic plates used to bring auto racing vehicles up to the minimum mandated weight
Electrical
ballast, used to stabilize the
current flow in lamps
Sailing
ballast, ship's
ballast, used to weigh a ship down.
Track ballast, the layer of crushed rock or gravel upon which railway
track is laid
Ballast weight is probably the clossest, used in outdoor temporary stages to guy
wire roof structures when
ground anchoring is not possible.
Ballast often consists of Jersey barriers, water tanks, large concrete blocks.
Depth: probably in reference to an up-down
stage distance or space. Also used to describe an actor's performance.
Goggle:
Safety equipment that allows one to chip and sand and grind
etc. without getting debris in the workers eyes.
System Pipe: At last a
theatre term.
System pipe refers to any of the permanently installed pipes (called a
batten) over a
stage for the purpose of hanging scenery,
curtains, lights and scenery or
curtains.
System pipes may be
dead hung or rigged. Temporary pipes, show pipes,
Road pipes,Show
grid, are pipes which come and go with each individual production and may be rigged from the
stage grid,
system pipes or hung from
truss or towers.