Theatrical Logic

[WooferHound]

THEATRICAL LOGIC

In is down, down is front;
Out is up, up is back;
Off is out, on is in;
and of course -
Right is left, and Left is right.

A drop shouldn't and
A block and fall does neither.
A prop doesn't and
A cove has no water.

Tripping is okay;
A running crew rarely gets anywhere;
A purchase line will buy you nothing;
A trap will not catch anything and
A gridiron has nothing to do with Football.

Strike is work (in fact, a lot of work) and
A green room, thank God, usually isn't.
Now that you're fully versed in
Theatrical Terms - “Break a Leg...”
But not really!

 

[ruinexplorer]

Ah yes, an oldie but goodie.

Here it is on a shirt.

 

[TheLightmaster]

Don't forget this lighting logic; the larger the lens on an ERS, the smaller the beam.
Blue looks white.
Gels aren't.
Movers don't move, they focus.
Catwalks don't have cats.
It goes on....

 

[derekleffew]

...Catwalks don't have cats. ...

Not always true. I still laugh at myself because, when spotting a feline some 75' above the arena floor, and accessible by only one, usually locked, staircase, what went through my mind was "What the h3ll is a cat doing up here? ... Well, it IS called a catwalk."

 

[Kelite]

Well, it IS called a catwalk."

And I'm sure I've seen a few flies on the flyrail...

 

[ruinexplorer]

How about models on the catwalk? Or are they too sexy. . . (do a little turn on the catwalk)

 

[belexes]

Yeah, theatre logic is something that's easily understood to people who work in it but for a thing that does actually largely do what it's supposed to, the names completely don't match. What annoys me quite a lot is how everything in theatre has 5 different names, even if it's the same thing. A batten? That's a pipe, right? And then what the hell is this other thing? I fancy myself as being a person that at least tries to know what he's doing and then I don't understand any of it. Turns out it's just different names for the same thing.

 

[shiben]

Yeah, theatre logic is something that's easily understood to people who work in it but for a thing that does actually largely do what it's supposed to, the names completely don't match. What annoys me quite a lot is how everything in theatre has 5 different names, even if it's the same thing. A batten? That's a pipe, right? And then what the hell is this other thing? I fancy myself as being a person that at least tries to know what he's doing and then I don't understand any of it. Turns out it's just different names for the same thing.

A batten at least makes sense, if you look at how tall ships sails opeated and where the first theatre riggers came from. Check out the wiki entry. A pipe is what the batten is made of. Similar reasons for booms and whatnot. It all makes sense in the long run...