Stagecraft

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Stagecraft is a loose term that refers to just about anything that happens backstage before, during, and after a theatrical production.

It is comprised of many disciplines, typically divided into five main sections:

Scenery which includes set construction, scenic painting and special effects)
Lighting design
Sound design which can include musical underscoring as well as theatrical sound effects
Costume design including costume construction and makeup
Production, comprised of stage management, production management, house management and company management.

In its most basic incarnation, stagecraft may consist of a sole Stage Manager, who sets up all the scenery, organizes the cast, and runs the lighting instruments. At the full-time professional end of the spectrum, modern Broadway and opera, stagecraft and tech for a production may include hundreds of skilled carpenters, painters, electricians, stagehands, seamstresses, wigmakers, etc. In this form, modern stagecraft is a highly technical and specialized field, with many sub-disciplines and a vast trove of history and tradition.

The majority of stagecraft is practiced in an environment somewhat between those two extremes, with a dedicated crew of people of the various disciplines working together with the actors and directorss to pull together a successful production.