Show dictionary · Production Management
Stagehand
Also: hand · local crew
A stagehand is a crew member who physically builds, runs, and strikes productions: unloading trucks, assembling rigs, running scenery and decks during shows. In union venues, stagehands come through the IATSE local’s call, organized by department.
In practice
The generic word covers a skilled trade with specializations: electrics, audio, video, carpentry, props, wardrobe, rigging. A call sheet asking for "twelve hands, four riggers, two loaders" is naming crafts, not headcount alone, and locals dispatch accordingly.
The touring counterpart is the road crew ("roadies" in civilian speech, rarely their own): department techs who travel with the show and direct local stagehands each day. The daily choreography of road crew leading local hands is how the same show gets built in a different building every night.
How you’ll hear it
"Four hands to the dock for the backline push, and keep two on the deck for the changeover."
Related resources
Part of the eventools.io Show Dictionary, a free glossary of live event production terminology.