Illustrated Theatre Production Guide, 2nd Edition

x Illustrated Theatre Production Guide 2 ed

SCENERY BUILDING

Building scenery is different from most other types of

general construction, in that scenery quite often needs

to do more than just sit there and look pretty. At times,

the action of the play dictates that units must fly in and

out, roll off stage, disappear, reappear, or sink into the

floor. Building scenery effectively requires an under-

standing of things like theatre rigging systems, casters

for rolling units around the stage, and the physical

nature of the proscenium stage and peculiar things like

trapdoors.

Whenever possible, building and painting scenery

in a shop is a much better practice than building it in

place on the stage. It sounds trite, but this actually does

match the real-world practice better than you might

think. Of course, shops in large cities must be able to

move their product to a theatre or a TV studio. But

even regional theatres must generally be able to trans-

port what they build. In order for a resident theatre to

remain solvent, it must have shows running all the time.

The next production must be built while the present

one is still in performance. Resident theatres most likely

have only a week, or perhaps two, between shows to get

the next one loaded in, through tech rehearsals, and

open to the public. These are intense periods with lots

of things to do and you cannot afford to wait until you

are in the theatre to start building the scenery.

It’s important to realize that there are many differ-

ent levels of theatre production, and that what works

for one does not always work for another. The nature

of scenery built in New York for a touring show and

the type of scenery built for a university show are often

quite different. Broadway shows have really big budgets

that a university or regional theatre can never match.

The tour versions of these shows sometimes use the

original set, but more often a special version is made

that is more “tour-friendly.” Television is vastly differ-

ent from any sort of theatre work. As a result, there are

lots of different ways to approach most production

problems. I have tried to take the best of different

worlds and bring them together in a style of production

that can work for most theatres. You may not need to

worry about moving your show from town to town, but

certainly it must at least travel from the shop to the

stage. Learning to build scenery in units, or parts that

can be transported and easily assembled, is very impor-

tant if you have aspirations toward professional theatre.

Lighting in a theatre is also different from what one

would expect in most architectural environments. Fix-

tures must be relocated from one show to the next so

that they are properly placed for effects. The equipment

itself is very specialized to accommodate rapid reloca-

tion. Theatres frequently use portable power distribu-

tion networks and very complex control systems. The

chapters on lighting and electricity begin with a survey

of electrical theory, and progress to more specific infor-

mation about the current state of theatre lighting equip-

ment and practices.

DIFFERENT WORK ENVIRONMENTS

In talking to the editors at Focal Press about this book,

I became more aware of how my background in differ-

ent types of entertainment venues has influenced the

way I build scenery, and my basic philosophy of how

to approach the craft. My MFA is in scenery design, but

most of my work experience has been as a technical

director. I have been teaching college for 30 years, but

am also a long-standing member of Local 346 of IATSE

(the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employ-

ees). As a union stagehand, I have had the opportunity

to travel with national touring companies of Broadway

shows, and have set up hundreds of tour shows and rock

concerts. The touring experience impressed me with the

need to make sure that scenery is portable, and with

how that aspect of the craft leads to many clever inven-

tions that are always fun to figure out. Being a teacher

at a university has exposed me to many creative people,

and the enjoyment of being in on the development of

artistic endeavors that most stagehands are never exposed

to. My earliest work experiences were in regional the-

atres. I have also built scenery for television shows,

commercials, and news programs.

It is interesting how different the two worlds of the

union stagehand and the college theatre student are, and

how little they sometimes seem to know about each