Yes, I realised this almost as soon as I posted that. I know that a uniform order is the standard. But what's the best way to indicate if one cue should indeed taken very quickly after another rather than simultaneously? A "Wait one second then..." comment, or similar? Ah - I've just seen your later remark: OK, thanks for that. That's fascinating, thanks. It's way more complex than anything I'm working with at the moment. As I said, this is a small scale festival-type play which won't be touring with its own staff: most of the time it will be a question of getting in, playing, and getting out on the same day and we expect that a single resident technician will run both sound and lighting, working directly from a cued-up script which he or she will have seen for the first time just a few hours before the show. Simplicity is vital. Many thanks for your thoughts.