Janufa for E.N.O.

They were from the crew who did the load out under our supervision.The entire floor had to go into a 45 foot trailer and it was very close.

 

The curvy looking stuff was actually Indomeno for Garsington Park opera.

 

It is in the plan.
That is just the assembly room the carpenters, engineers, fibreglass and CNC shop is next door with the drawing office, reception, board room, green room and a small electrics shop.

 

Do you mean while we build it or that it doesn't collapse on stage?

 

We have a drawing office and they calculate weights and loadings and I presume do risk assessments and method statements but we never see them.
We get construction drawings, possibly metal work to clad, most panels are cut on a CNC router if it's ply or mdf but we work with all sorts of materials.
Once all the bits are made we take them next door where hopefully they fit together easily or we swear a bit and then hit them till they do fit together.
Then the scenic artists take over and make it look nice.
At that point the designer finally turns up with a day to spare and wants to change stuff.
Then we mark all the pieces up so that someone who's never seen it before can put it back together, break it down, weigh it, and stick it on a lorry.
When I worked in a small theatre I got a model box from the designer and had to do all the above other than the painting myself.

 

All most all theatre designs, when they reach the approval stage, are made into a 1-25 scale model of the stage with the set on it in all its various settings, this is usually the job of the assistant designer, and it is our job to make the model box 25 X bigger.
When it comes down to the finish this is the bible, if it looks like the model box the designer can't complain.
Some times you just get references and odd sizes, I once, for the wicked witch's house in Hansel and Gretel, was given an iced biscuit as a reference and that was it. I knew the route this particular piece of scenery had to take to get on set which limited the size it could be but the designer and set builder really have to trust each other for this approach to work

 

Cracking lass though . Another build where it was supposed to look tatty, the door was hung upside down as well.

 

Depending on the size of the project you should get some drawings showing the ground plan and elevations from the designer but these aren't construction drawings.
At this company due to the complexity of the designs we get cad drawings for the structure but the cladding can be more artistic, for "Oliver" we worked off photo's of the model box for all the distressed timber.
These photo's are recent projects that have gone out of the door. Oliver was a Xmas show, the James Plays are still touring, Janufa is opening very soon and I think All or Nothing is on the road already 4 days after we sent it out.
Currently we are building a show for Regents Park open air theatre to be followed by another one for them and we have another show for Chichester Festival Theatre going through which is also going to be followed by another set for the same company. There is a 6M high animatronic dinosaur for a theme park that is at the quote stage as well which will be different.