Projections are widely used in contemporary theatre and their application calls for closer collaboration than ever between designers of scenery and lighting. Sometimes an additional artist, a specialist in projection design, will join the production team.

Projections can be used in addition to built-up and painted scenery  , or sometimes projected scenery can altogether replace conventional scenery .


The lighting designer can also, as part of the play's lighting, create visual effects that are scenographic elements in their own right such as leaves, trees, clouds or abstract shapes .

A built door leads into a building created by a projection. Our Hotheads, National Theatre, Prague, 1979.		The projection falls onto the scenery, almost eliminating it. The Last Ones, National Theatre, Prague, 1966.
Projected clouds on a backdrop and gobo projections of leaves on the singers and stage. The Turn of the Screw, The New Israeli Opera.

Regardless of whether projections are created by the lighting designer or by the scenery designer, the technical side of projected scenery is always the lighting designer's concern. The lighting designer has to choose the projector, decide on the best position and angle, and ensure that the stage lighting will not interfere with the projection.

Using projections in the theatre can have numerous advantages.

Projected scenery can replace real scenery with an easily rendered picture containing intricate details which are very difficult to obtain otherwise.		Projections can be projected on almost any kind of surface, from projection screens to the stage floor, scenery, and even actors or dancers.

Backgrounds such as city skylights, countrysides and so on can be presented dynamically, changing to suit the atmospheric requirements of the scene.

  The projection of informational or documentary material has a unique quality which is very difficult to obtain by other means.
 
  Projected scenery enables fluid scene changes.

  Projections can create impressive dynamic effects on the stage.
 
Projection is an important scenographic technique which can sometimes be pivotal for the design of a theatrical production. It does however have its limitations. An actor cannot lean against a projected column or climb projected stairs.