When a stage gets really dark, how do actors know where they're going?

[HerculesMulligansHat]

Today's least relevant and most useless question!

Oh, and what is it like backstage? Are you allowed to talk or is it all very quiet and serious?

There are dim red lights in the wings so the actors know where to exit.
Backstage, do you mean on stage but waiting to go on or in the dressing rooms?

When the stage is dark they move around just the same as you can probably walk from bedroom to bathroom in your house without having to turn the lights on.

on stage but waiting to go on or in the dressing rooms

Dressing rooms- how near are there to the stage? I'd imagine you have to be quiet the nearer you get to the stage.

Backstage is usually very quiet, but certainly not serious!

When the stage is dark they move around just the same as you can probably walk from bedroom to bathroom in your house without having to turn the lights on

I'm the sort of person who bumps into the same low table every night- reason 239 why I'm not an actor obviously!

What a good question!

Different in different theatres - some are under the stage !

I love this question. Anything pointless in 2020 is my new favourite thing OP

There's always a bit of light, and your mark is normally taped in a different colour to the stage, so you aim for that.

Backstage - as in waiting in the wings - is always pretty quiet. In small fringe theatres you're usually very close to the audience, so pretty much have to wait in silence. In big ones you can get away with a very quiet whisper.

Different theatres will have different light trails

But yes, it's very low lighting. Dame Judi Dench said her last theatre performance would have to be her last on account of macular degeneration.

As for dressing rooms, again, it depends on the theatre. I've performed in one where the only thing separating you from the audience was a curtain, so once the house opens you have to STFU. And I've performed in others where the dressing rooms are underground or several floors above, and you can do a full vocal warm up without risk of being heard.

There is usually floor lights, which are yellow and not bright and shaded so the light only shines on the stage at floor level. They light up the floor marks so the actors know where to stand and the stage hands know where to move props etc. There is low level lighting behind the wings, again sheilded by the curtains and not seen by the audience so actors can head toward that. Quiet in the wings, usually well controlled by director and assistants. Back stage is often below and behind and quite well soundproofed. Much more frenetic with people doing costume, make up etc, usually a hive of activity and burble of talking.

I can't answer the question about lighting but I was lucky enough to have a guided tour backstage of a big theatre and the thing that I found most strange was the strange angle of the stage.

It tilts downhill towards the audience which I wasn't expecting.

@HerculesMulligansHat

When the stage is dark they move around just the same as you can probably walk from bedroom to bathroom in your house without having to turn the lights on

I'm the sort of person who bumps into the same low table every night- reason 239 why I'm not an actor obviously!

I'm the same

Same layout in the bedroom for 14 years - guaranteed I'll stub my toe going for a midnight pee

Dim red lights backstage, Stage Managers with torches, sometimes bright/glow tape to follow on the floor.

And it is quiet backstage (although whispering you can get away with depending on the venue), but it can be hilarious!

Dressing rooms can be far from the stage, or really close by - depending on the venue. Actors may not go back to the dressing room mid show, and may hang around in the wings/nearby if it is too far to go back elsewhere.

@CompleteBarstool

I can't answer the question about lighting but I was lucky enough to have a guided tour backstage of a big theatre and the thing that I found most strange was the strange angle of the stage.

It tilts downhill towards the audience which I wasn't expecting.

It's called a raked stage. Makes it easier for the audience to see everything, no matter who is where on the stage.

Quiet in the wings, usually well controlled by director and assistants.

Where does the director hang about? Can they get a good look at everything from the wings

It tilts downhill towards the audience which I wasn't expecting.

Oh I'd not like that!

There's a lot of tape on the stage very often, that reminds cast where to stand or reminds crew where to put stage set features. The tape may slightly glow in the dark. There's also dim light just off stage in wings to aim for.

It'd be unusual for the director to be backstage. Your Stage Manager is and the ASMs are your gods backstage.

The director might be in the audience for the first performance or two. Then they disappear to their next show, never to be seen again.

@HerculesMulligansHat

Today's least relevant and most useless question!

Brent Spiner - Data Star Trek Next Gen

Director, invariably in the bar.
Dressing rooms is entirely dependent on venue.
In the wings, you keep schtum and wait for your cue.

Director, invariably in the bar.

Thank you all for answering!

I directed an amdram production last year. When plays go "live" the stage management team takes over. Unfortunately there was some miscommunication which lead to an actor being directed onto the stage at the wrong entrance. She had to cross the dark stage to a bed and had the route in her head but, as it was the wrong entrance, she collided with a table with decanter and glasses on it. I heard the enormous crash on the tannoy system and my heart stopped. Both she and the decanter survived!

We have pulled her leg since about actors just speaking their lines and not bumping into the furniture.