To have a permanent stage or not?!

[cedd]

Thanks for bursting a bubble there Russ! Remind me not to buy you a pint next time we're working together

 

Yes yes ok, I skipped that bit, and a big ste in a room really isn't the best idea in the world, it was just an idea that came ino my head, and there's so little space in there that I have to write them down before something else pushes them out!

 

Perhaps thinking outside the box should be reserved for those with an IQ higher than 30.

 

 

I do sometimes wonder why portable staging (apart from steeldeck) always seems to have that horrible varnished wood finish. Even a Matt varnish would help.

[Russ83]

Sorry Chris, I just happen to be reading these topics on new school builds very thoroughly at the moment!

 

...Interesting ideas though.

I did give you credit at the end though...perhaps half a pint?? I think it's my round anyhows.

[a917917]

what I have seen done in a couple of venues is where the main floor area is on hydrolics and moves up and down so an audiotorium and stage can be created within 5mins and the press of a couple of buttons, it porbably very expensive though so all depends on budget :D

[jennyhicks]

I have found ith many of our clients that the best of both worlds tend to work the best. Having as much as poss permanent but with certain moveable parts which can be swapped, changed or moved.

[mikienorth]

Not quite sure, but is this the product w/robe mentioned?

 

Sico folding theatre

 

Might not be quite what you want for this planned work, but might be the thing for someone else.

 

I'm going to suggest the 'digging down' idea, which as you say is impossible, which is a shame, as I'd then fill the void with lifts. As many as you can afford. They could be used to build varying stage sizes or shapes, and to build raised seating. The floor can be set flat as well.

 

The only other thing that got me thinking here, is the idea of putting the stage out when needed, and away when it needs to go away, leaving it out the rest of the time, A sort of sem-permanence.

 

A fixed raised stage removes flexibility and formalises the arrangement. The college I briefly attended had bricked up their proscenium to create a dance studio, and created a stage by using retractable seating looking down onto the flat floor which was used for performance. Solves all problems in one, except the underfloor traps.

 

Who says the stage has to be raised?

[dmoffat]

"folding theatre"? hmm

Sounds like its designed for he school and community center market.

There is nowhere sensible to rig most of your lights though. Ok for top and backlight from what I can see.

 

Not sure that is ideas, though would be nice without the whole curtain half way up your stage, and the entire rig being a little deeper, but then again, they are not always looking at it from a technical perspective, and I doubt the stage will be up to taking much pain.

 

Dave

[andy_s]

Taking GRisdale's idea one step further and thinking laterally.

 

Say for instance you want a 3ft high stage;

 

The hall floor is constructed in such a way that half the floor (one end) is 1 1/2 feet higher than the other, with a step half way down the room. The lower end is built up to make the floor level for flat floor use with staging. When you need a stage, you move this staging (Which is 1 1/2 feet tall) to the other end so it sits on top of the higher section of floor. You know have a floor 3ft higher than the sunken section, which is now where your audience sits.

 

 

You would need a flexible lighting, sound and drapes setup, plus somewhere to put your chairs, but that's it!

 

You get a crawl space under the stage in "stage mode", a flat floor with no staging storage issues in hall mode, and a raked seating setup as well.

 

Drawbacks would be that your stage is the same sizeas your audience however you play it, but assuming the room is a rectangular box, you can use drapes to bring the back of the stage nearer to the audience, creating storage space and a walkway behind.

 

In practice, I doubt people would go for it, but it's an idea I've not seen done before. Perhaps because it won't work, but I thought I'd mention it.

our Weston Theatre has something similar to this...the usual layout is fixed, tiered seating in a kind of semi-circular shape around the stage, which is the same level as the front row. the semi-circular area at the front of the stage is 600mm below the main stage area, and is filled with an assortment of custom-built steeldeck. Some of these are re-legged at different heights to create an extra stalls area (with a shallow rake for sightlines), turning the auditorium from an amphitheatre to something more akin to an end-on proscenium stage, with a "raised stage" feel, though in fact the stage remains at the same level as the front row of the permanent seats. It works quite well, although it is a labour-intensive solution - and does bring the benefits mentioned - we've been able to install traps, water features, secret under-floor entrances, under-floor lighting etc when in amphitheatre mode. the big issue is indeed where to put the seats when not required. We've got a plenum under the fixed seats (supposedly for air circulation) which is used to store them, but it's very awkward to get in and out of.

[w/robe]

Not quite sure, but is this the product w/robe mentioned?

 

It isn't. I was at school in the days of gate-leg rostra. The system I failed to describe had lx and tab tracks that tracked down the hall and the stage filled the width of the hall with each hall-width section of deck dropping down to attach to the one in front as you pulled the whole stage away from the wall. It was a great solution in that particular school as you could have a stage that was either 10' deep or 40' deep in 15 mins with your bars any where down the hall that you wanted them.

 

If PDD is interested, and still in a position to decide, then get in touch with them to see if it is still there (Myers Grove School, Sheffield) and go for a day trip to South Yorkshire. I've looked on their website but there is no picture of the hall.