A theatre’s stores are the sediment of every show the company has ever mounted - rails of built costumes, a props store organised by someone who left years ago, a lighting stock that represents most of the building’s portable value. Then a production opens, and half of it scatters: pulled to the stage, lent to the touring company, taken home “to repair”. This guide covers how theatres and performing arts organisations keep equipment, props and costumes findable between shows - and how to make strike week the moment things come back instead of the moment they vanish.
What you will learn
- Why productions scatter stock
- What to track, department by department
- Make the production the owner
- Volunteers, borrowers and hires
- Getting started before the next show
- FAQ
Why productions scatter stock
Theatre runs on a cycle that is hard on inventory:
- Every show is a pull and a strike. Stock leaves the store for weeks at a time, gets modified, repainted and re-rigged - and at strike, exhausted crews put things wherever there is space.
- Departments borrow sideways. Sound takes a lighting boom arm; stage management’s tools end up in the workshop; nobody logs any of it because everyone is in the same building.
- The crew changes show by show. Casuals and volunteers handle expensive kit for three weeks and are gone before anyone notices the missing followspot lens.
- Lending is part of the culture. Other companies, schools and amateur groups borrow props and costumes - generously and informally, which means permanently.
- Storage hides as much as it holds. A deep props store with no location system turns owned stock into ghost assets: the register says you have a chaise longue, but since nobody can find it, the next production hires one anyway.
What to track, department by department
The right granularity differs by department - per-item for the valuable and the dangerous, box-level for the bulky and cheap:
| Department | Typical stock | Approach |
|---|---|---|
| Lighting | Movers, LED units, dimmers, lenses, clamps | Per item with serials |
| Sound | Desks, radio mics, IEMs, speakers | Per item; track transmitter and pack as a paired kit |
| Video and AV | Projectors, media servers, playback and AV kit | Per item with serials |
| Props | Hero props, weapons, period furniture | Per item; box-level for dressing props |
| Wardrobe | Built costumes, hired costumes, stock rails | Per costume for builds and hires; rail or box level for stock |
| Stage management | Comms, cue lights, workshop tools | Per item for comms; kit-level for tools |
Stage weapons deserve a special mention: per-item records with condition notes and a named custodian are not bureaucracy, they are what a safety inspection expects to see.
Tip: photograph hero props and built costumes as they go into store, and attach the photo to the record. Six months later the photo is faster than any written description - and it settles condition arguments when items come back from a loan.
Make the production the owner
The single most useful structure for a theatre: treat each production as an owner that equipment can be checked out to.
- The pull becomes a checkout. When props, costumes and extra lighting stock are pulled for the show, each item is checked out to the production - a scan per item, done during the pull you were doing anyway.
- The show’s open list is live. At any point in the run, the register shows exactly what the production holds, which is also your answer when two shows in rep fight over the same fixtures.
- Strike has a checklist. At closing, the production’s open-checkout list is the get-back list: every line returns to its home location, transfers to the next show, or gets explained. Strike is the one week when this information exists - capture it then or never.
- Damage gets logged at return. “Hem torn, needs re-blocking” recorded as the costume comes back is what makes the store usable for the next pull.
Volunteers, borrowers and hires
Theatres lend - to other companies, schools, amateur societies and their own members. The lending isn’t the problem; the informality is. Give every outbound loan a record: who took it, what condition it left in, and an agreed return date tied to their production schedule. The overdue list then does the chasing diplomacy can’t.
The same logic covers casual crew and volunteers. They shouldn’t need training or accounts to participate - a QR label on the item means anyone can scan it with a phone camera to see what it is and where it lives, and the stage manager logs the actual checkouts. Companies that also do screen work can run their kit the same way - see asset tracking for film and video production.
Getting started before the next show
- Start with lighting and sound, not props. Highest value, fewest items, serials available - the win is quick and visible.
- Label and photograph as you catalogue. Durable labels on units and cases; photos attached to each record.
- Give everything a home location. Bar, shelf, rail, box number - so returns have a destination, not just a direction.
- Make the next pull the pilot. Check the whole pull out to the production, then run strike from the open-checkout list. One full cycle proves the habit.
- Add props and wardrobe box by box. Per item for the valuable, box-level for the rest.
A system like AMPthilly fits this way of working: every item gets a record with photos, serials and a home location, printable QR labels are scanned with any phone camera in the browser, checkouts track what each production or borrower holds, and the audit history shows every handover. The free plan covers 3 users and 25 assets with no card required - enough to pilot the lighting stock through one production - and you can contact us if your stores are bigger than that.
FAQ
How do theatres keep track of props and costumes? Per-item records for hero props, weapons and built costumes; box- or rail-level for dressing and stock. Pulls are checkouts to the production, strike checks them back in.
What is the best way to track stage lighting and sound equipment? Per item with serials and a home location; every move to a show, hire or workshop logged as a checkout. Track radio mic transmitters and packs as paired kits.
How do you stop equipment disappearing after a production closes? Check everything out to the production at the pull - at strike, its open-checkout list is the get-back checklist.
Can volunteers and casual crew use an asset tracking system? Yes - QR labels open the record from any phone camera in the browser, no app or training needed for a scan.
Should a community theatre track every prop? No - per-item for the valuable, dangerous or hired; box-level with photos for bulk dressing props.
The takeaway
Theatre stock scatters because productions are temporary and stores are deep. Make the production an owner, the pull a checkout, and strike a check-in; track per-item where value or safety demands it and box-level where it doesn’t; and give every loan a record and a return date. The companies that do this stop hiring chaise longues they already own.