Community Theater Green Room Discussion Board: Set question

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   There are a couple of scenes in our up-coming play that are inside a house but must be played in front of the curtain.  In the past when we've had to do this we've just used a minimal number of props to suggest a house (or whatever the setting was). This time we'd like to do it differently and I'm wondering if you think this would work:

We'd like to hinge together two large flats, each about 7' x 7' (or thereabouts) in book-fashion. When opened it would look like an inside corner in a house, with wallpaper, pictures on the walls, etc. The flats could be on casters and just rolled out and opened up by two stagehands while a couple more bring on a chair, a table, or whatever to complete the scene.

Are there problems with this that we're not forseeing? Any other clever ways of handling this problem?

Thanks!

Susan

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Guests Guest	Topic: Set question Posted: 2/21/02 at 1:52pm
	There are a couple of scenes in our up-coming play that are inside a house but must be played in front of the curtain. In the past when we've had to do this we've just used a minimal number of props to suggest a house (or whatever the setting was). This time we'd like to do it differently and I'm wondering if you think this would work: We'd like to hinge together two large flats, each about 7' x 7' (or thereabouts) in book-fashion. When opened it would look like an inside corner in a house, with wallpaper, pictures on the walls, etc. The flats could be on casters and just rolled out and opened up by two stagehands while a couple more bring on a chair, a table, or whatever to complete the scene. Are there problems with this that we're not forseeing? Any other clever ways of handling this problem? Thanks! Susan

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Mike Polo Admin Group Community Theater Green Room Joined: 2/01/04 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 286	Posted: 2/21/02 at 2:03pm
	The biggest problem I forsee (foresee? the older I get, the more problems I have with this kind of thing) is that you will have to allow for the depth of anything you hang on the walls when you install your hinges. Also, stability can be an issue if the piece isn't set almost perfectly every time, your mileage may very accoding to the skill of your construction people. In addition, when folded, you also have a stability as well as a weight problem (depending on what you hang on the wall, 2 7x7 pieces could be too much for just two people.) Solve or account for these and it should work fine... I've worked with similar arrangements in the past as a crew member and the cussing has always been inversely proportional to the skill of the construction crew... build it well and there will be silence.
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Guests Guest	Posted: 2/22/02 at 12:59pm
	To solve the problem of leaving space for wall hanging, etc., instead of directly hinging the 2 flats together, put a board (maybe a 2x8) between the two flats like this: -----==----- Where ---- are the flats, == is the board, and * are the hinges. This will give you the clearence you need and also help with the stability problem. To further improve the stability you could put small A-frames on the ends of the flats and mount the wheels to those, that will give you more stability. Dan
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