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Noose and the law


yeletah

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Does anyone know the legalities surrounding the use of a hangman's noose in a theatrical production?

 

I'm working on a production that requires a noose to be flown in midstage and I've heard anecdotally that the use of a noose on stage is illegal, but I can't find anything online to confirm this.

 

Does anyone know? Or even better is anyone aware of any documentation detailing the use of a noose on stage?

 

Thanks in advance

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Quick question. Is anyone actually going to be hung in a scene or is it just going to be flown ?

 

 

Flown only. Nobody actually places the noose around their neck/over their head. This is why I'm struggling to accept a noose cannot be used

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I have never known it being illegal to fly a noose.

 

Using it will be a different matter but just flying it then you will be fine.

 

It will be matter of doing a risk assessment and having the control measures in place so no harm can be done to anyone to please the pencil pushers.

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I'm not a lawyer I'm just another person on the internet, however I've never heard of a UK law prohibiting the appearance of a noose. The one thing to be careful of is the use of the noose in a way not intended by you which could come under arcane parts of law or under the HSWA.

 

Tie the noose immediately before the run for which it's intended and untie it immediately afterwards, it's a great idea to ensure that the breaking load of the suspension is only just sufficient to support the noose and certainly too little to support a (small?) person.

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It doesn't need to be a working noose, surely? Two pieces of rope and a few stitches should suffice for any decent prop maker.

 

There is no specific law forbidding nooses, representational or real. There isn't a law about crucifixion either otherwise all they Passion Plays would be in trouble. There are laws against hanging or crucifying actors otherwise we would all be at it.

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Apparently it may be technically illegal in some states of the USA, as it has an unpleasant history - associated with lynching - and is considered likely to offend or displaying one can be seen potentially as threatening.
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As has been said there is no law in the UK that specifically prohibits the flying or showing of a noose.

 

I would still advise great caution to avoid potentially fatal accidents. Don't leave it lying around, lock away or untie it when not in use. Consider suspending the noose in a non loadbearing way. Warn all cast and crew that NO horseplay or fooling around of any description whatsoever is allowed with the noose.

 

Accidental strangulation still results in loss of life regrettably often even without a "proper" noose. Dressing gown cords and straps on school bags becoming looped on bunk beds or bannisters seem to feature all to often. A "proper" noose would seem to be a still greater risk.

 

 

 

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Way back in 1988 I did a lot of work for the Halloween tours in a Napoleanonic fort and we had several nooses around the scenes, one of which was placed around a neck then the lights blacked with a scream.

 

All of the nooses were made with a seperate spiral of rope around a piece of plastic conduit which slid quite freely on the suspended rope, the end of which was attatched to the spiral with a single loop of cotton and was very delicate. In fact so delicate, that scene manage only 2 or 3 shows before it broke and we made a pile of them so they could quickly be replaced between groups. Repair went on right through the week long run.

 

Edit: If you don't need it to slide then delete the tube.

Edited by sunray
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Hi

 

Sure others have done the same, I've used a proper noose but made it safe by cutting the loop in half and then used a few stitches to put it back together.

 

If you tried to hang yourself with it, it would just snap.

 

All the best

Timmeh

Edited by timmeh2
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  • 3 weeks later...

I've just been round too my local hall to do a little bit of work to find one of the other hall users rehearsing for their Summer season dance show at the end of the month and it includes a routine where birds rescue a fairy from hanging and yes they have a loop, albeit not a noose, on a long rope running across the overhead grid and tied to a handrail.I had a discrete and quiet word with one of the adults and got told it's none of my business...

Then I mentioned this was not her daughter and the youngster at Tate Modern.

 

The solution WE came up with on the spur of the moment is to tie a big knot about 700mm from the end of the rope without forming a loop. then forming the loop by fixing the end of the rope under the knot with a hair elastic. It promptly came open when they practiced taking it off and as a bonus they have decided it looks more like the fairy tale for the birds to break the noose than lift it off over the head.

 

Heck I came away from there feeling good.

 

It looks like a good routine too.

Edited by sunray
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the thing with a real noose is that all the safety features work on the premise it is safe, not unsafe. Somebody trips, breaks the 'break-open' feature and panics, using the tube of extra strong glue they see (but left behind by the carpenter, not the props people). They put it back. They person chokes. Would that person then step forward and take the blame, or would the 'noose safety officer' catch the blame? lots of honest people, when faced with this would do the human thing, and shut up, leaving the fault with the person who declared it safe.

 

I suspect we could all make a noose that would be safe - up to the point when something goes wrong. Look at stage illusionists. They prep, check, re-check and still the illusions go wrong with new and unexpected causes. I still do the occasional illusion job, and frankly, sticking people into boxes, shutting them in and then setting light to lighter fuel scares me witless. I really hate having big jars of lighter fluid that you can dunk things in. I hate flight cases with this stuff in, and I hate having a pocket full of lighters. I hate people throwing me flaming fire sticks to catch, and I hate every time one is shoved into a box containing a person. The paperwork is fine, but there is always a chance I messed up, somehow, or didn't notice the dancer inside had bumped into the container of lighter fluid and had dribbles down her top, just before the fire stick wafts past it. I don't mind every other risk we manage, but fire scares me. I have an extinguisher, but never want to use it!

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