Lighting design – The concept that a designer creates to provide light onstage to support the mood or atmosphere of the play

Light plot- The map that shows you where all the lighting instruments are placed and where they will be lighting

Lighting grid– Up above the stage, it is the system of bars and electricity that power the lights

Lighting board– The control panel that power the lights

Cyclorama– The large white sheet at the back of the stage that can be lit or projected on

Backlight – Lighting from the back

Sidelight – Lighting from the side (lighting from different angles provides more depth and texture to the actors)

Top light – Lighting from above (really important that the actors don’t look 2-D)

Front light – Lighting from the front (if you only had this lighting the actors would look bad) 

Footlight – Lighting that is placed on the floor in the front 

Spotlight – A single source of light focused on a single subject (highlights and emphasizes a place or a person in the production)

Fill light – Light sources that add lighting in and around the set/scenery/stage – they ‘fill in’

Wash – A large group of lighting that can ‘wash’ the stage in light that you can bring up at once together

Lighting angle – The angle of the lighting instrument in relation to the subject; usually 45%

Gobo (or pattern) – A pattern (in olden days it was a circle of metal) that blocks light to give you a shape onstage (greater than 45 top, lower than 45 becomes footlight or front light, gives us gentle shadows on characters that aren’t pronounced )

Gel– The color that you want the instrument to throw onstage (or light onstage)