shrinking and growing

[Laura]

Hello everyone.

I was just wondering if anyone knows how previous productions of Roald Dahl's The Twits and George's Marvelous Medicine have managed to do the whole shrinking/ growing people and animals thing. I can think of harness/stretchy dress/shoes nailed to stage kind of things for the granny but otherwise I'm a bit stumped. Also the whole sticking furniture to the ceiling episode in The Twits is a bit puzzling.Any ideas anyone?

Yours ponderingly,

Laura.

[GridGirl]

If you've got enough flybars and space in the rig, you could probably fly furniture upside down for the furniture stuck to the ceiling bit. I did a show last year where we flew a table (the right way up, as it happens, but the principle is the same!) and it worked well but did take up quite a bit of space in the rig.

[Glyn Edwards]

Hi Laura,

 

Re The Twits,

 

The last two national tours both used a relatively small "caravan" truck, where the back wall could be rotated 180 degrees. Then with a few pin hinges we stuck the furniture to the roof. We also had a cast that could stand on their heads.

 

The other trick to remember is that if you get the audience to look at things up side down then half the battle is won.

 

HTH

 

Glyn

[Just Some Bloke]

Not either of the shows you mention, but I have done another Roald Dahl show which requires growing and/or shrinking which was achieved simply by putting the actor behind a gauze, putting a lantern on the floor behind him/her and getting them to move closer or further away from the gauze. We used a gauzed screen so it didn't have to be the whole width of the stage. All you see is a silhouette which can grow or shrink hugely and very quickly. Cheap and easy.

[w/robe]

All you need to do is get a Director and Designer with vision and imagination so that whatever the script asks for they come up with an innovative solution rather than saying 'but the script says we have to...' Not only will they have earned their fee but you'll have a better show.

[titchyblone]

we did the Twits last Christmas, with the 180 dergree caravan turning as mentioned by Glyn. Our furniture was welded to the floor of the caravan and Mr & Mrs Twit hung upside down by their knees. Also the cage for the Muggle-Wumps was designed so that those actors could hang upside down too. The theatre did 'George' two years ago, before my time, but apparently Granny had a very long skirt with fake slippers pointing out so that when she was flown out the skirt appeared to 'grow'. Only problem was the poor actress had to remain in her harness in the grid for the remainder of the show, SM had a cue to bring her a cuppa in the interval though!

[Seano]

Regarding "shrinking and growing": the words "Ames room" spring to mind. I googled:

http://psylux.psych.tu-dresden.de/i1/kaw/d.../ames_room.html

 

(I don't know whats wrong with that link. Here's a shorter one for the same page: http://tinyurl.com/amlpv)

 

Its a fascinating effect, but unfortunately I don't think it'd be any good for a stage performance, it relies on being seen from a very specific view point. (Preferably with only one eye!)

 

Sean

x

 

:D The issue would be the fairly horrible space in the middle of the URL, fixed now.

[erroneousblack]

Phone the production company's and ask them how they did it. Had GMM a few weeks back, Granny grew and shrunk at the end of counterweighted beam.