The highly successful ‘Bible for any stage manager’, now in a revised edition updated in 2024.

The stage manager is at the core of every successful theatre production: organising, managing and running rehearsals and performances; researching and procuring the props and furniture; and providing a creative information flow between the production and design departments.

This handbook is for students, graduates and all those who aspire to stage management, whether amateur or professional, on a large or small scale. Complete with charts and helpful checklists, it takes the reader through a typical production, week by week.

Other useful topics covered are:

Team dynamics and job roles
Theatre unions
Health and Safety legislation
The job market
Production templates
Management techniques and interpersonal skills
Creativity in stage management

As well as updated information and resources throughout, this new edition includes two brand new sections: New Technology in Stage Management, and Sustainability in the Production Process. There are also case studies of professional stage managers and producers working in the field.

‘A comprehensive guide for the aspiring stage manager’ Alan Ayckbourn

‘A very useful, practical how-to book aimed at students and practitioners, both professional and amateur‘ — Teaching Drama Magazine

‘Classic… one of the easiest to read text books on stage management – and well worth getting at any stage of your career‘ — The Stage

‘Highly recommended for the newcomer, the aspiring stage manager, the student, and for those of us who’d just like to confirm that what we’ve been doing for years is actually what we’re supposed to be doing‘ — Sightline, Journal of Theatre Technology and Design

Author Biography

Gail Pallin began her career at The Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh, and has worked and toured as a Stage Manager with many of the major companies throughout Britain, including The Royal Court, Pitlochry Festival Theatre, and the Haymarket Theatre, Leicester. She has also directed various productions with youth and community groups in Scotland.

She lectured at Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh, and then Fife College for 25 years and was on the board of the Stage Management Association.

She now runs a business CallQ, which provides show caller training software to drama schools, universities and the profession across twelve countries. She is a trustee at Pitlochry Festival Theatre.