APPROACHING 3.

2
Before the 10 June
1. Choose two areas of stagecraft you want to apply for 3.2
2. Learn stagecraft specific terminology. Read up on it.
3. Memorise the stagecraft specifications for each stage in the
production process.
4. Practice stagecraft illustrations with annotations.

1. PLANNING
Key terms:
Initial ideas,
concepts,
brainstorms,
possibilities.

2. DEVELOPMENT
Key terms:
Experiment,
test, trial,
explore.

Key terms:
Bump-in, Tech
rehearsal,
Performance,
Bump-out.

3. PRODUCTION
SEASON

Key terms:
De-brief, reflect,
assess, evaluate

EVALUATION happens at each

stage

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE

BETWEEN
PLANNING
AND
DEVELOPMENT?

APPROACHING 3.2
While you are reading...
1. Read carefully the information given. Highlight key words.
2. Look for clues. Clues could be in the form of:
a) Theatrical style ( Inform acting, direction and other stagecraft areas)
b) Themes ( What is the intended meanings of the playscript?
c) Context (Inform acting skills required, use of stagecraft and the overall approach to the scene.
d) How is all the stimulus material connected? Look for the relationships b/w the material.

3. Look for images and ideas.

a) On literal level, what images are emerging about characters and locations. Pay attention to these.
They will inform stagecraft.
b) Are there some reoccurring images and ideas?
c) On a metaphoric level, are there some symbolic images emerging?

APPROACHING 3.2
While you are reading...
4. Identify the performing space.
- How will the performance space impact on the acting?
- What actor-audience relationship will you endeavour to establish?
- How will the performance space impact on stagecraft choice? Think about all the areas of
stagecraft, not just your chosen areas. Remember they are all connected.

5. Read the playscript carefully.

Look out for:
- Characterisation
- Essential/non-essential use of stagecraft
- Verbal and non-verbal language. How do they inform stagecraft?
- Stage-directions that indicate movement, blocking, sub-text.
- Symbolism

APPROACHING 3.2
Stagecraft area

SET

Tasks

Why?

look through set and write down and take notes about the possibilities
for the set actually already in set
annotate playscript, intended meaning, intended design and setting,
verbal language of set design
research the theatrical style and how that would inform the set design.
Ie. Absurdism - minimal set
research original context(s)

to consider possibilities for a re-contextualisation

researching initial ideas for venues and obtaining stage plans

brainstorm key scenes and see the possibilities within the
scenes

for the deeper meaning and symbolism that could be enhanced

through set design

research previous productions of the play script

steal ideas, themes, see interpretations, see what did and did
not work

collaborating with director

Make contact with venues
Watch youtube tutorials on making set items

to ensure vision is considered

APPROACHING 3.2
Stagecraft area

ACTING

Tasks

Experiment,
test, trial, explore.
experiment

Why?

APPROACHING 3.2
Stagecraft area

production presentation

Tasks

Why?

TYPES OF STAGES
Staging is the term used to describe the physical placement of a play in performance. Staging involves not
only the shape of the stage itself, but also the design and construction of the set that occupies the stage, the
setting of props on that set, and even the movement of the actors on the stage. Where the theatre or
performance space is a flexible one, staging also includes the shape of the auditorium and the positioning of
the stage in the performance space.
THE STAGE
The traditional stage shape that is still most common in theatres around the world is the proscenium arch,
where the stage is built at one end of the auditorium and the audience sits in rows facing the stage. However,
the twentieth century saw a
revolution in the design of theatre stages, with the shape becoming much more flexible.
FIND AN IMAGE OF A PROSCENIUM ARCH STAGE
Modern performance can occur on thrust stages or revolving stages, and also in theatre-in-the-round, circus
tents, open-air amphitheatres and even in the street.
FIND AN IMAGE OF A:
-THRUST STAGE
-REVOLVING STAGE
-THEATRE IN THE ROUND
-THE INSIDE OF A CIRCUS TENT
-AN OPEN AIR AMPHITHEATRE

TYPES OF STAGES
When working on the staging of a play, many contemporary directors and designers look first at
the location and shape of the stage they will use before they begin designing the set they will
place on it.
When Jerzy Grotowski (POOR THEATRE) travelled to England, the USA and Australia with his
Polish Laboratory Theatre Company, he made sure it performed in a range of spaces, none of
which were theatres. The company used halls, cellars and ordinary rooms as their theatres
throughout the tours. Grotowski did this because he wanted to break down the barriers
between actors and audiences, which are set up by the design of traditional proscenium arch
theatres. For Grotowski, staging meant, first and foremost, creating a space in which actors and
audiences were in contact with each other. For Peter Brook, perhaps the most influential
director of the twentieth century who is still directing plays, staging means finding the space
that is most appropriate for the play being staged. The Ik, an African play his company created
in the 1970s, was staged in the village squares of a number of African villages. Rather than
designing a set to fit a stage, Brook searches for a space that will be the natural stage and set
for his play.

TYPES OF STAGES

"I can take any empty space and call it a bare stage. A
man walks across an empty space whilst someone else
is watching him, and this is all that is needed for an act
of theatre to be engaged."

TYPES OF STAGES

KEY TERMS
Analyse break into parts and provide detailed explanation. How, what
and why.
3 words phrase
Compare describe similarities
Contrast describe differences
Describe give details of what and a little how
Discuss examine by argument, talk or write about: All three what,
how and why. Looking at the effect of..
Analyse and/or evaluate depends on context of question

KEY TERMS
Evaluate state the value or the degree of something
- Make a judgement
- How effective
- To what degree
- Dont offer how it can be fixed
This is effective BECAUSE vice versa
- Justify evaluation
- Often evaluate positive ones
Explain make clear, show the meaning of
Illustrate use examples to clarify meaning
Outline highlight main feature, not too much depth

KEY TERMS
Summarise present main ideas
Identify show, reveal, point out
List - Verbal and non-verbal list
Focus
Two types actor vs drawing focus
Relationship with the audience where they send audience EG prop,
character..
Rest of the cast put drew focus on them (single character)
Focus on audience blocked out other characters