Help with some set design terminology?

IanJoseph
Thu, 15 Apr 2010 22:34:51 +0000

Large movable sections of a stage floor that move vertically are called an ‘elevator’. Each elevator may cover the full width of the stage and be up to two meters in depth, able to be raised higher or lower than the normal level of the stage floor. Elevators may also be called ‘lifts’ or ‘bridges’.
Smaller sections of the stage floor just large enough to allow a performer to appear or disappear are referred to as a trap. Simple traps may be nothing more than a section of floor that is lifted up or lowered.

The largest and possibly the most versatile piece of stage floor machinery must be the ‘revolve’. It is capable of allowing scenery to be brought into view of the audience, or of providing a treadmill-effect, allowing actors to walk while remaining at the same point of the stage.

Refer to:
[BBC - h2g2 - Theatre Stage Machinery](http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A1304821)