Illustrated Theatre Production Guide

John Holloway earned an MFA in scenery design from Trinity University in 1980 after a residency at the Dallas Theater Center. That landmark building is the only theatre built by Frank Lloyd Wright during his lifetime. The DTC was well known for producing new plays by emerging playwrights. While at the Theatre Center, he designed scenery for the original production of "Remember" written by Preston Jones, author of the three 1976 Broadway plays making up "The Texas Trilogy". John worked as a staff designer at the Oklahoma Theater Center for two years before accepting a teaching position at Niagara University in New York. In 1983, he began teaching stagecraft classes at The University of Kentucky, being promoted to Associate Professor in 1988, and Full Professor in 2003. John is the author of an article in Yale University’s "Technical Briefs", 1989, which was reprinted in the book Technical Design Solutions for the Theatre, vol 1, 2003. He is also the author of three articles in "The Painter’s Journal". Focal Press published the first edition of Illustrated Theatre Production Guide in 2002. John is also the author of several plays, and a number of articles about vintage pinball machines. He has a passion for vintage electronics of all sorts. He is currently working on a book about the history of electricity and electronics in the entertainment industry. In addition to being an academic, John is a member of IATSE the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employes, and has served as the president of Local 346 for many years. As a professional stagehand, John has worked hundreds of different touring shows in local venues, and toured with three different national tours of Broadway musicals; Grand Hotel, The Will Rogers Follies, and the 90’s revival of Camelot starring Robert Goulet. In the summer of 2005, John attended a scenery painting class at the well known Cobalt Studios, in White Lake, New York. One of the teachers for the class was Susan Crabtree, who is also a Focal Press author, Painting Scenery for the Theatre. John has become interested in the topic of visual storytelling, and the importance of puppet and mask theatre. To that end he has been working with students in creating shows that are written and designed to tell stories in a visual way, rather than relying heavily on a text and the spoken word. In this regard, he has been most heavily influenced by In the Heart of the Beast Puppet Theatre, Indonesian shadow puppets or Wayang Kulit, and most recently by the brilliant work of the ANPU puppet theatre of Prague, Czech Republic and Zurich, Switzerland. In the summer of the 2007 John was invited by colleagues at Baylor University to participate in their production of the Robert Askins play, "The Rotting of Tycho de Brahe" at the Prague Quadrennial. This play was featured in the Scenofest Theatre in the Prague’s Industrial Palace. For more information you can find John’s website at: http://www.stagedesignsbyjohnholloway.com

Section One – Working in a Theatre





1 Jobs in Theatre


2 Theatre Buildings


3 Thrust Theatres


4 Proscenium Theatres


5 Curtains and backdrops


6 Ropes and Knots


7 Theatre Rigging


8 Arena Rigging





Section Two – Things in a Scene Shop





9 Hand tools


10 Wooden Joinery


11 Wood and Lumber


12 Essential Theatre Supplies





Section Three – Building Scenery





13 Construction Documents


14 Flats


15 Stairs


16 Decking


17 Metal Working





Section Four – Stage Lighting





18 Electrical Theory


19 Power Distribution


20 Lighting Control


21 Photometrics


22 Hanging and Focusing





Section Five – Audio and Video





23 Audio Theory


24 Sound Reinforcement


25 Digital Audio Files


26 Video Projection





Appendix