The fly height is the name given to the
height of the
roof above the top of the
proscenium arch in a
theatre. Full fly height means that there is enough room to hide something that would be full
height on
stage, above
stage, completely
hiding it. Most (if not all) of the larger
professional theatres will have full fly height, but the majority of
smaller,
amateur, and
school theatres will not.
The other common fly height is where there is only just about enough room to hide a
lighting bar - often needing borders in front to hide anything hanging down. In a
theatre with less available fly height, there is not really the possibility to hide
scenery in the roof - it all has to be stored in the
wings.
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'