Theater Photography, help?

[Mgn.Dnly]

I've been invited to photograph a comedy troupes performance, I've never shot anything like that, so I was hoping for some tips and pointers?
Its a small theater setting, so low light and some moderate movement on stage. I'm working with a Canon T3i and 18-55m lens, I also have on hand a 55-250m lens and what I believe is a 43-72w lens. I'm not really in a position to purchase new gear or equipment, so how can I make what I have work best? What settings should I use? How can I get some decent shots of the performance?
Any help or advice would be awesome, thanks for reading!

 

[deeky]

Having lit theater before, low light is going to be your issue. Set your ISO as high as possible. Use your lens with the widest possible aperture (most likely the shorter one), borrow one that's wider if you can. If you are at all familiar with the camera, shoot aperture priority and wide aperture. Or if there is a lot of fast movement, shoot in shutter priority and and set it at the slowest possible shutter speed you need to stop the movement. The camera will open the aperture as wide as possible.

If possible, work with them outside of the performance. Most good stage shots are set up and taken in a rehearsal setting. That way you can freeze the movement, get right up to them and move so you have the best lighting without becoming the 4th wall for the audience. May be hard to get the same natural expressions as in a live performance, but less distracting for everyone involved.

If you are working outside of live performance and want more light, a good lightboard operator should be able grab all of the live channels and slide them up together for more photo-friendly yet still balanced lighting.