Rigging

“The thing about rigging is, you can learn it if you become a master rigger but there's no book on rigging” (Serra 2016)

What is it?

Rigging is the act of positioning and focusing all of the technical equipment needed for any performance. All of the hardware used to lift, lower, and hold performance equipment on or above a stage. (Stage Craft Industries n.d.)

Health & Safety

Equipment should not be used if it is faulty. Always check the condition of equipment before use! Never overload rigging equipment. Labels clearly state how much weight each piece of equipment can hold.

The main priority of anyone rigging equipment should be safety. This includes electrical and mechanical safety, avoiding trip hazards and that ensuring everything is secured firmly and has secondary safety chains or wires where required.

The person rigging needs to make their own safety a priority, specifically if working at height. There are a lot of rules and regulations that need to be adhered to.  When rigging please follow the 1974 Health and Safety at Work Act and the 2005 Working at Height Restrictions (WAHR). Please follow the links for more information.

Bibliography

GLERUM, Jay  O. 2007. Stage Rigging Handbook. Third Edition edn. SIU Press.

REID, Francis. 1995. Lighting the stage: A lighting designer’s experiences. Oxford: Focal Press.

REID, Francis. 1998. Discovering stage lighting. 2nd edn. Oxford: Elsevier Science.

SERRA, Richard. 2016. “Rigging quotes.” [online]. Available at: http://www.searchquotes.com/search/Rigging,/#ixzz4O0EFMjtr [accessed 18 October 2016].

STAGE CRAFT INDUSTRIES. n.d. “Glossary of theater & stage rigging terms.” [online]. Available at: http://www.stagecraftindustries.com/siteglossary.php#R [accessed 18 October 2016].