Bricks and brickwork -- Blocks and blockwork -- Lime, cement and concrete -- Timber and timber products -- Ferrous and non-ferrous metals -- Bitumen and flat roofing materials -- Glass -- Ceramic materials -- Stone and cast stone -- Plastics -- Glass-fibre reinforced plastics, cement and gypsum -- Plaster and board materials -- Insulating materials -- Energy-saving materials and components -- Recycled and ecological materials -- Sealants, gaskets and adhesives -- Paints, wood stains, varnishes and colour.

This book aims to cover the basics of putting together a lighting system for stage productions.

In the post-war world of the 1950s and 60s, the format of theatre space became a matter for a debate that aroused passions of an intensity unknown before or since. The proscenium arch was clearly identified as the enemy, accused of forming a barrier to disrupt the relations between the actor and audience. An uneasy fellow-traveller at the time, Francis Reid later recorded his impressions whilst enjoying performances or working in theatres old and new and this book is an important collection of his writings in various theatrical journals from 1969-2001, including his contribution to the Cambridge Guide to the Theatre in 1988. It reports some of the flavour of the period when theatre architecture was rediscovering its past in a search to establish its future.

This book explores the practitioners, equipment, installations, techniques and procedures that led to lighting design being clearly established as an essential component of performance, and it charts the role of lighting in shaping performance styles and the visual aesthetic of theatre.