Technical Design Solutions for Theatre

April Busch

Shop-Made Naugahyde

All the action in a recent production of A Ride Across Me Constance at the Yale School of Drama took place within a single box set made with 26′-tall walls and fitted with an elaborate grand staircase, a suitably massive chandelier, and little else. Nothing in the set moved: there were no traps or turntables or elevators; there was no flying scenery. In fact, aside from two doors upstage painted with the same stenciled pattern as the walls, the audience had essentially nothing to look at for two hours but the same 5 actors and the set decoration. Thus, the set designer was intent that the furniture looked just so. Figure 1 illustrates the Naugahydeo-upholstered look that Set Designer Michaela Strumberger wanted ...