Essentials of Stage Management provides a step-by-step guide to a little-seen but essential role in theater. As Nicholas Hytner writes in the foreword to this volume, nobody in the theatre has to know more about everyone else's job than the stage manager. Peter Maccoy draws upon his extensive experience as a stage manager and as a teacher to lay out the functions and responsibilities of this key theatrical profession. Chapters cover the role of stage management, stage manager as manager, research and preparation, preparing for rehearsal, the rehearsal period, the production period, the performance and beyond, stage properties, safe practice, and contemporary practice. Includes a bibliography, six appendixes, and index.