The fly gallery is the name given to the area in a theatre where flying is done from. No, not when people are attatched to ropes, and swing across the stage - this is where the ropes for lifting pieces of scenery, lighting bars, and anything else that needs to fly into the roof are tied off.

The fly gallery can be an incredibly dangerous place to be if you don't know what you are doing, and aren't aware of the risks. If one of the ropes were to slip, and your ankle were to get caught up in the loose end of the rope, you would be hanging from the ceiling before you knew what hit you. And then the floor probably would. Another major hazard is knocking a rope, and a bar, or piece of scenery falling on someone on stage's head. Both accidents can be fatal. For these reasons, it is imperative that the fly gallery is kept tidy at all times. If a fly rope is going to slip, then you don't want a coil to be able to wind itself round somebody's ankle. It is also a good idea for people not to be able to trip over any loose fly ropes, and possibly hurt themselves.

Larger theatres might have two fly galleries, one on either side, but a lot of theatres will have a half fly on the other side, which leaves height on one side of the stage for tall pieces of scenery to be moved around.


If you're after any other theatre tech information, then do take a look at 'Everything you ever wanted to know about theatre tech, but were afraid to ask'