Chapter 1 A Review IntRoductIon The general purpose of a theatrical presentation is to entertain, educate, and communicate ideas. That presentation is often comprised of a script, dance, or music, interpreted by performers, and design ele- ments, all unified by the director's overall concept. Lighting is one of those design elements, and for a lighting design to successfully achieve its purpose, it can't conceptually, or physically, take place in a vac- uum. Instead, it has to work in conjunction with the other design elements, the performers, and the direc- Before tracing that path, however, this first chapter reviews basic theatrical lighting terminology, general theatrical staffing, and some of the parameters that potentially impact any production. The terminology includes basic nomenclature for the theatrical envir- onment, basic electricity, and physical components of theatrical lighting, as it will be referred to in this text. Experienced readers may find much of this redun- dant to their knowledge and skip ahead to Chapter 2, which talks about all of the paperwork potentially involved in designing and creating a lighting design. Chapter 3, on the other hand, jumps into a review of