the source Posted October 29, 2007 Share Posted October 29, 2007 This is a topic that originated from a passing-comment Bobbsy made about one of his shows. It was about a show of Midsummer's Night Dream (never seen or read it) and was staged outdoors. It's the outdoor element I'm fascinated in. I'm just a video-guy so know nothing about stage-production. But this idea of a roaming stage, with a moving audience trying to catch up with the action, has so many variables, and is so exciting I want to know more! I gather it might have been done loads of times... but thats what I want this topic to be about... I welcome any pictures, stories, etc. Not for any gain, etc. just curiousity! Bobbsy, perhaps you'd be kind enough to post again the pics from that show to get the ball rolling. I should say now that I know it was only a passing-comment, and you weren't making a big deal out of it. But I want to know more so I thought I'd create this new topic to ask you about it. You said you timed it so Act I was in daylight, and Act II moved in to darkness. Wonderful. Apart from allowing the outdoor lighting a chance to add to the story, I imagine the acoustics gets a lot more intimate too as sound travels a lot further, and I guess, clearer. And, moving the audience around to the next scene... ** laughs out loud **. So many variables. I relish a chance to be involved in something like that! James. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Some Bloke Posted October 29, 2007 Share Posted October 29, 2007 Outdoor performances of AMND are commonplace and promendade versions (where the audience move around) aren't at all unusual either. It's only following what's already there in the script, after all. :) The nice thing is that the early stages of the show don't need lighting as the sun's out (you'd only be doing this in the summer, obviously) so the lighting you do need can all be kept for the last one or two areas, with a bit of luck. If you make all the sound effects live that solves having a P.A., and if you use tree stumps and so on as your set then set changes aren't really needed either. Most of the work during a performance is done by the stewards moving everyone around and the SM finding an ingenious way of getting the cast to the next venue before the audience! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Coker Posted October 29, 2007 Share Posted October 29, 2007 One I made a little earlier..... KC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
obsoperator Posted October 29, 2007 Share Posted October 29, 2007 But this idea of a roaming stage, with a moving audience trying to catch up with the action I gather it might have been done loads of times... I trust you know that theater was done only outdoors until roughly the time of the Restoration. You might look up "Pageant Wagon". And speaking merely as an overseas tourist, you can hardly walk around (today) a place like Glastonbury or York without being assaulted by a moveable event of one kind or another. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkPAman Posted October 29, 2007 Share Posted October 29, 2007 The Minack is an open air Theatre. Some people here have worked there. As a punter, take a cusion. Possibly also blanket, gloves, flask of hot soup......... :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobbsy Posted October 29, 2007 Share Posted October 29, 2007 I guess there are two separate topics here "the source". First, outdoor theatre is actually relatively common, often performed in a relatively conventional manner with fixed seating, lighting, sound and so on. Ken Coker's pictures from Bodrum are an excellent example of this. At an extreme end of the scale, I was once loosely involved in a production of Grease (about as non-traditional as you can get!) in an ancient amphitheatre in Cyprus. Other outdoor productions are sort of a hybrid,with the stage and seating being part of the natural surroundings, at least to some extent. My memory of the open air theatre in regents park is that it uses natural trees and a hummock in the ground as a stage. MarkPAman's link to the Minack probably shows the best example of this. I've only ever done the daytime tour but the Minack has to be the most spectacular setting for a theatre I've ever seen. I'd love to see a show there...and I'd love even more to work on a show there! (Unlikely now though since I'm 10,000 miles away!) Finally, there's the sort of show I mentioned in the other thread; namely a "promenade style" performance. Actually, this style isn't limited to outdoor productions; I know of a number of shows done this way in large studio theatres or warehouse-style performance areas. Multimedia-style shows are often done this way. Anyhow, for the benefit of those who weren't following the other thread, I'll just summarise that the show I mentioned was a Youth Theatre production of A Midsummer Night's Dream when I was a trustee (and technical slave) for the group that performed it. To a large extent, it was a case of a location in search of a show...anyone remotely familiar with the script couldn't help but see the possibilities since the gardens had everything from a mock Grecian temple to a wild-ish redwood forest. Alas, my best pics of the show are presently in shipping, but the link "the source" asked me to repost is HERE though I fear they don't really do justice to the show. As has already been said, we planned the production with a sunset time chart in hand and did it late August so a reasonable start time gave us the first half in daylight and the second half by (often heavily gelled) stage lighting. It was certainly a fun project to work on (especially as we couldn't have been luckier with the weather) and we even did all the rehearsals outdoors to get the young cast used to projecting their voices! Basically I had 3 weeks outdoors in the sun...with after-rehearsal beer provided by the director!. Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paradoxism Posted October 29, 2007 Share Posted October 29, 2007 One of the best examples I have seen was the Duke's Theatre in Lancaster who have an open air every year that runs for about a month. They take over the local park and each scene location is at a different part of the park. They rig lighting and sound all over the place, and then the technicians run around the park in an electric van with all the control gear and racks etc that turns up to each location just ahead of the audience, plug into a couple of multicore stations and away they go with the next section. The majority of all the scenes are staged using the natural surroundings, with maybe a couple of moderately simple sets dotted around, though most of the productions are things that lend themselves to outdoor locations. Very good productions and a very unique concept, though the setup and logistics involved would require the longer run and decent audiences to make it viable. Lots of school and group bookings I would imagine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dj Dunc Posted October 29, 2007 Share Posted October 29, 2007 We did a run in lancaster memorial park. We used a converted and extended golf buggy type thingy, and had a pa / lx rig at each site, so we pulled the plug on the rig, the guys reloaded whilst on the move, and replugged at the next site, to wait for the actors/punters to arrive. It worked a treat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the source Posted October 29, 2007 Author Share Posted October 29, 2007 Wow thanks guys, great. I did of course know that theatre started without a roof... it was the concept of getting the audience moving around and using a real life set that interested me. In fact, not even a set. I wonder if anyone has taken over a whole village before, and let the audience roam free, with a guide to where they might want to be... my mind is racing with possibilities... Ken, that looks like the best workplace ever... and thanks obsoperator, a mystery cycle sounds something like I'm thinking of, only not with wagons. Thanks for replying guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roderick Posted October 29, 2007 Share Posted October 29, 2007 For many years I was the LD/PM for AMND in the Botanic Gardens in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane & Perth in the early 90's.There were two areas, the first where all the punters would arrive and have their picnic whilst Act 1 was played in the fading daylight. Everyone would then move to the second area for all the 'in the woods' scenes where we had an extensive (well for an outdoor show in the 90's anyway) lighting rig: 72 PAR64, 24 Scrollers, 4 GoldenScanII (with 1200W globes), 2 SuperZooms and a range of strobes, MR16, mirror balls, etc. Lots of pyro's too. There are a couple of pictures here (linky) but they don't do the production justice. I'll see if I can scan a few more.The production then moved back to the first area for the wedding and the mechanicals. For this we had a small lighting rig just to light the performing area and a few 'pretty' uplights for Puck's final speech.Each area had their own dimmers and control.The bulk of the lighting was rigged up in trees and stayed there for the run of the production, often three months. Most of the scrollers and the 'wobblies' were struck every night and put out the next day again. We developed some rather ingenious focussing sequences to make sure all could be done in the short time available between dusk and the punters arriving. One of the funniest moments we had during the show was one day when Oberon was severely upstaged by a possum who came in to have a look what all the fuss was about. The actor playing Oberon turned around to see why everybody was giggling during his rather serious monologue, spotted the possum and came out with the classic line: Are you a member of Equity? Most annoying question asked almost daily: What happens when it rains? Simple answer: You get wet! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnlinford Posted October 30, 2007 Share Posted October 30, 2007 The Minack is an open air Theatre. Some people here have worked there. As a punter, take a cusion. Possibly also blanket, gloves, flask of hot soup......... :unsure: The Minack is an amazing place to work. Though note when sound designing in a Force 9, the show sounds really nice on the beach a mile downwind, but not so great in the auditorium... As a technician there, take a torch, a wind breaker and a thermos of hot strong tea... And also some sunglasses for the Matineé... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew C Posted October 30, 2007 Share Posted October 30, 2007 The Minack is an amazing place to work. As a technician there, take a torch, a wind breaker and a thermos of hot strong tea... And also some sunglasses for the Matineé...Seconded. I've done about 8 shows over the last 20 years or so, and have seen every sort of weather, short of snow. So you'll need a hat, but not one of these :unsure: ! You'll probably need a set of new knees after a week there, those steps are a killer. Try to avoid large, heavy props. A grand piano is a distinctly bad idea; even worse than a farm cart (been there!). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Posted October 30, 2007 Share Posted October 30, 2007 The Wintershall productions are some of the best promendade productions I've seen. They do two - a life of christ in the summer and a nativity at christmas - each element of the story is set in a different part of the grounds of the estate and some of the story is set as the characters walk from one place to another. Well worth a visit at some point. http://www.wintershall-estate.com/Religious-Productions.htm edit: They have a trailer for their Life of Christ production which shows some of the locations used for different parts of the story. http://www.wintershall-estate.com/LOC_Prom...-of-Christ.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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