How in the world did you design a truckable set to be set up in two hours!? I am about to direct this piece and the ideas for the turntable are KILLING ME!!!!!

Any Suggestions?

jeffrey_goodrich@hotmail.com

We did Noises Off last year on a large auditorium stage. I shiver to think of all the problems we had to solve, but we solved them almost without compromises. We built the set in three pieces: The center piece contained the first floor entryway, the window and the door to the kitchen, plus the balcony and the three doors of the second floor (closet, bedroom and archway to attic.) The second piece was a "wing" stage right that contained the stairs to the balcony and a landing with the bathroom door. The third piece was another wing, stage left, that contained the doors to the downstairs study and bathroom. The three pieces were on trucks (moveable platforms) that could be moved independently. On the backstage side, the stairs leading to the balcony were also separate, and so was the landing inside the bathroom. So, we actually ended up having a total of five pieces to move. We spend just two hours plotting and rehearsing the move. Our stage crew of four managed to flip the set in three minutes.

This design allowed us to have a much wider set than if it were built on a single platform. A single piece set couldn't be any wider than the available depth of the stage, and that would limit the width of the set from 30 feet to about 18.

We copped out on the the glass breaking. It was too much trouble for the effect, and in retrospect, no one missed it. The burglar simply pushed the window open from the outside. The play has more than enough shtick even without the damned glass.

The most important aspect of the production was having the basic set available from the first rehearsal and having all props on hand. I asked the actors to come off book right off the bat. With a play like that, you simply can't waste rehearsal time for memorization. The actors came having memorized about ninety percent.

Biggest pain was blocking act II -- the pantomime act. We spent two solid weeks working on this. We rehearsed for a total of six weeks, five evenings a week from 7 to 10. On the first day of the week before hell week, we ran through acts I and III and turned the set before we went home. The following day we did act II twice and turned the set again at the end. On the third day we did acts I and III again. And so on. Hell week was actually the easiest week for all of us. We repeated the run-through format of the previous week for two days as dress rehearsals, we had one tech rehearsal, and took the day off before opening. Notice that we actually never had a straight run through the whole play.

Excellent reviews from our audiences justified all the hard work that went into the production.

By the way, you can see photos of the set on our website

http://www.henriettacommunitytheatr.homestead.com - www.henriettacommunitytheatr.homestead.com

During perfromance, we turned the set in plain view under a blue wash. 

Damon, you're absolutely right about the fast-action replay. That play can be quite entertaining without it, and even without the singing. I saw a production of it where the actors sang (very badly, if I may say so) O Sole Mio, without accompaniment. They also skipped the fast-action bit. It was entertaining, all right, but things like having real singers sing the actual music, and the fast-action ending is what separates the men from the boys in regional and community theater. What can I say!

I directed this about a year ago...

I never saw a show come together as last minute as this one.  When all was said and done, the show was a hit, and a lot of fun. 

The HARDEST straight play I've ever been involved in, no doubt. 

Our 2-story set (there's no way to do it right without 2 stories) had to fit in a 14ft stage height.  We actually built a platform for the 2nd floor, and two flats for the 1st.  We would move the 1st floor flats to the rear of the platform for the second act.  We built the second floor symmetrically, painted the doors a beige color (so they would look like backstage as well), and created removable luan panels that looked like walls when hung, but when removed exposed the studs (looking like backstage).  It was a pretty ingenious set, if I don't say so myself. 

I don't know if there is anyway to do this set without being ingenious.  Good luck to all!

I just saw this play - the window had a bunch of small pices alltogether (like a latice on top of it) so when they broke the window they just popped out the one piece and then replaced it later.

Hope that made sense?

No body has mentioned a "crash box".  Simply, it is an enclosed wooden box with glass in it.  Tip it suddenly and the contained glass breaks (some more).  Of course cuing needs to be visual.

Good luck,

Russell

Several things as I conquer my thrid production of Noises Off as Director and Designer.

1. for the window.  the use of a crash box does work great as I hate 'sugar glass' but if you want to combine things use a crash box and plexie glass in the window.  It works wonders.  You can attach the plexie with a small amount of adhesive in the corners and it knocks out easy/combine with the crash box.  That way the character Poppy can put it back in easy in ACT I and the extra panels for Act 2 and 3 will hold.

2. As for the set you have a few options: A.) Two level revolve. B.) the current production I am opening soon has a two level 7 piece revolve.  It is tougher to stablize but it is doable.  Do to the size of the stage the upper level and the the staircases all break apart and move. c.) I would disagree you can do it with a parical raised level of 3 steps to the upper bathroom and then one more step to the airing cupboard/bedroom/archway.  this gives more of a raised ranch effect and can move easily. 

3. Depending on your actors you will be fine as long as you get on the set 2 weeks before plus tech week for a total of 3 weeks.  sooner of course is better however in the world of community theatre that is not always an option. 

I hope this helps and let me know how it goes.

Jeff