The Stagecraft Handbook

About The Stagecraft Handbook

Get the complete, illustrated guide to scenery construction

Using nails and wood, fabric and paint, hardware and rigging, you create an illusion. You build the make-believe world of the play.

Now you have a scene-shop manual to help you. In The Stagecraft Handbook, Daniel A. Ionazzi, director of production for the UCLA Department of Theater, offers trap-room-to-grid guidance. Clearly written, heavily illustrated, this book covers every aspect of scenery construction.

Turn here and learn about:

   • the four primary stage configurations–proscenium, thrust, arena and environmental
   • flying scenery and moving floors
   • organizing the scene shop to make good scenery quickly and inexpensively
   • shop tools and safety
   • scaled drawings, models and other communications tools you’ll use to translate the designer’s vision into a set
   • materials commonly used in building scenery
   • construction techniques for flats, platforms and other standard scenic units
   • installing and rigging scenery
   • maintaining an inventory of stock scenery
Let The Stagecraft Handbook help you turn ordinary materials into extraordinary illusions.