Stage Manager

A stage manager (Afrikaans: formerly toneelmeester, later referred to as a verhoogbestuurder) is the person literally responsible for co-ordinating and managing all the activities (i.e. sets, lighting, sound, props, communication between departments, performers, management, etc.) that take place on and behind the stage during rehearsals and the production. In this sense s/he supports the director, actors, designers, stage crew and technicians, making sure that the production runs smoothly, and may often s/he act as the director's representative during performances, especially on tour.

The activity is known as stage management ("verhoogbestuur" in Afrikaans) .

The term sometimes occurs in 19th century bills and programmes with what appears to be a different and wider meaning, possibly also encompassing some more creative responsibilities, such as those we today assume to belong to the director of a play. For example the Shakespearean actor/manager Thomas Brazier is referred to as the "Stage Manager" for productions of Shakespeare plays by the Leroy-Duret company in late 1868, and in this case F.C.L. Bosman (1980, p. 236) suggests that the success of their ventures in this case could probably be ascribed to the competence of the "stage management".