ABSTRACT
The increasing use of complex technology within theatre production has had an impact on stage management, both in terms of the types of challenges that they may encounter within a production and in the way that they approach their job. The computerised automation of scenery, lighting, has increased the creative and technical options open to designers, who have embraced this opportunity. Large scale productions are now more spectacular than ever, yet they can be operated by fewer people. Arena opera, circus theatre, large scale spectacle, have all become immensely popular and all employ stage management. As the technical theatre industry has become more specialised and the technical subjects have become recognised as legitimate professions, some schools have begun to offer more specialised courses. It is possible to train as a specialist prop-maker or production electrician to degree level as well as in stage management.
