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second plan jardin

English translation: mid-ground, stage right

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
French term or phrase:second plan, (côté) jardin
English translation:mid-ground, stage right
Entered by: Tony M

01:56 Jun 28, 2007
French to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Poetry & Literature / Description Of Theatrical Set
French term or phrase: second plan jardin
Context: "Au **second plan jardin,** une baie practicable. A l'arriere de cette baie, le mur du lointain se prolonge en pantalon d'interieur, laissant apparaitre une seconde fenetre comparable a la fenetre centrale. Ce couloir semble relie, plus loin, a la port principale de la maison."

Merci beaucoup,

femme
Barbara Cochran, MFA
United States
Local time: 16:22
mid-ground, stage right
Explanation:
It's important to understand that this is theatrical jargon!

'côté jardin' in FR stage terminology means 'stage right' (the opposite of ('côté cour' = 'stage left') — when describing a stage set, we'd often just say 'right', but as this is ambiguous in the theatre, best to keep 'stage right' or the common abbreviation 'SR'

'second plan' refers to a 'plane', like 'avant plan' and 'arrière plan' — here, it is the second plane, or probably what we'd call 'mid-ground'. It's a little difficult to visualize exactly what is going on here, since 'conventional' stage sets don't usually have a mid-ground as such, I think you'd possibly do best to draw yourself a little plan, so that you can form a visual impression, gleaned from all the various details that are given.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 4 hrs (2007-06-28 06:34:29 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Traditionally, in the theatre, we talk about 'planes' running across the stage; the 'first' would be just behind the main stage curtain, and so on. This dates back to the period when scenery was slid on and off stage in rails in the floor.

Depending on how many of these 'planes' there are, the second one would seem to be rather too far downstage to be plausible here, which is why I don't favour this exact interpretation — in any case, sets these days are more often 'box sets', not arranged in planes in the old-fashioned way.
Selected response from:

Tony M
France
Local time: 22:22
Grading comment
Thanks so much, Tony! Can you tell I've never been a Thespian?
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +3mid-ground, stage right
Tony M
4centre stage set/scenery: a garden
Euqinimod (X)
3 -2second level garden
swisstell
1 -1second blueprint for garden
MatthewLaSon


  

Answers


10 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): -2
second level garden


Explanation:
I admit being puzzled by the "second" which should really be deuxième in French

swisstell
Italy
Local time: 22:22
Works in field
Native speaker of: German
PRO pts in category: 4

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
disagree  Tony M: Not at all the meaning in this context
3 hrs
disagree  Kim Metzger: No need to be puzzled. Just do your research before answering.
1 day 12 hrs
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2 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 1/5Answerer confidence 1/5 peer agreement (net): -1
second blueprint for garden


Explanation:
Hello,

This may be the second blueprint made up for this set (scene).

I hope this helps.

MatthewLaSon
Local time: 16:22
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 20

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
disagree  Tony M: Not at all the meaning in this context
38 mins
  -> Thanks, Tony! My confidance level was 1. LOL.
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3 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +3
mid-ground, stage right


Explanation:
It's important to understand that this is theatrical jargon!

'côté jardin' in FR stage terminology means 'stage right' (the opposite of ('côté cour' = 'stage left') — when describing a stage set, we'd often just say 'right', but as this is ambiguous in the theatre, best to keep 'stage right' or the common abbreviation 'SR'

'second plan' refers to a 'plane', like 'avant plan' and 'arrière plan' — here, it is the second plane, or probably what we'd call 'mid-ground'. It's a little difficult to visualize exactly what is going on here, since 'conventional' stage sets don't usually have a mid-ground as such, I think you'd possibly do best to draw yourself a little plan, so that you can form a visual impression, gleaned from all the various details that are given.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 4 hrs (2007-06-28 06:34:29 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Traditionally, in the theatre, we talk about 'planes' running across the stage; the 'first' would be just behind the main stage curtain, and so on. This dates back to the period when scenery was slid on and off stage in rails in the floor.

Depending on how many of these 'planes' there are, the second one would seem to be rather too far downstage to be plausible here, which is why I don't favour this exact interpretation — in any case, sets these days are more often 'box sets', not arranged in planes in the old-fashioned way.

Tony M
France
Local time: 22:22
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 128
Grading comment
Thanks so much, Tony! Can you tell I've never been a Thespian?

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Cervin
57 mins
  -> Thanks, Cervin!
agree  French Foodie: Exactly, in my theatre troupe, we say 'côté cour, côté coeur' to remember that cour is stage left and jardin is stage right.
1 hr
  -> Thanks, Mara! That's a handy one, I ALWAYS used to get muddled up in my theatrical days!
agree  jean-jacques alexandre: Hi, Tony got it right ! Sorry it took me a while, little emergency at home, unfortunately, I don't seem to be able to come up with a better term
4 hrs
  -> Merci, Jean-Jacques ! Any better ideas, though about that 'second plan', which bothers me a bit?
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21 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
centre stage set/scenery: a garden


Explanation:
There are the foreground, the centre stage and the backstage or background. When trying to figure out the layout depicted in your text, it seems this second "plane" is indeed the middle stage set device, with a "working" opening or window in it. "Working" (meaning "praticable", i.e. réel) is opposed to the set device of the back stage (or a backstage cloth) showing a distant wall, itself maybe painted with a decor done in "trompe-l'oeil" of an opening showing the interior of a house, etc. This trompe-l'oeil device is called "pantalon". In le Grand Robert you have the following definition : " (Théâtre). Élément d'arrière-plan d'un décor, constitué par une toile peinte donnant à voir une perspective par une ouverture.

Euqinimod (X)
Local time: 22:22
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in FrenchFrench
PRO pts in category: 16

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Tony M: 'centre stage' is so universally used for 'right bang in the middle' in a lateral sense, I feel it highly inadvisable to use it in this up/down-stage sense
5 days
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