Lisa said:ccfan213 said:but a serious topic might be the history of theatre... there is alot on that particularly for english, you could go as far back as shakespeare or even further.
That could be really interesting - I've always wanted to learn exactly how much technical theatre was influenced by sailors. A lot of the terminology is the same [Bo sun, boom, etc] and there are a lot of overlapping concepts. ^^
Lisa
Sailors had a large influence in theatres because they were often employed as fly men. This was because of their skills with ropes, their ability to haul heavy sails equated well to hauling heavy flats, drops etc. They were also experienced at working in high places, compared to standing on a peice of rope high above a deck, furling a sail in a storm , the fly tower would have been easy for them.
One thing that is mentioned in all the links below, and I didn't know until last year, is the reason we don't whistle in theatres. Before intercoms/ electric signals had been invented, whistled signals were used to indicate to the fly men when to fly in /out scenery. If you happen to whistle on stage you may have landed up with a flat dropped on you. Of course sailors were used to receiving commands from a bosuns whistle. It is interesting how a lot of superstitions have their basis in fact.
It is no wonder with all these sailors about, that theatre still today carries the terms that they had used for hundreds of years.
http://www.artandarchitecture.org.uk/stories/thatcher_stage/thatcher_stage02.html
http://www.svconline.com/mag/avinstall_stage_rigging/
http://www.lyceum.org.uk/sites/around/around02.html