Floodlights are the simplest of all theatre luminaires, comprising of little more than a lamp and reflector in a box that can be panned from side to side and tilted up and down. Some models are fitted with barndoors to provide some degree of beam width control for the soft-edged light beam.

As they have no lenses the design characteristics of the floodlight are determined by the symmetrical reflector and lamp type. Most modern theatre floodlights use linear quartz halogen lamps.

Cyc lights are a variation of the floodlight that uses a specially shaped asymmetric reflector in order to produce a light beam that spreads further in one direction than the other. This allows for a more even spread of light down the cyc cloth or back drop, or up the cloth if the cyc light is used as a ground row.

Modern cyc and flood lights are fitted with a safety-glass front to prevent hot fragments from failed lamps falling out of the luminaire and must not be operated without the safety glass in place.