Safe Hangman's noose

[grumpy 2]

Hi All

 

I work in a college, after many years working in technical theatre in London.

 

One of the student productions (Based on Romeo & Juliet) has Romeo hanging himself.

 

Having done "Maria Martin" I know how to make a safe noose where the loop has a breakaway of 2 strands of cotton thread.

 

I have made this and it functions correctly.

 

I have now had to do a Risk Assesment in which I have covered all the possable problems I can think of. The college health and safety person will not sign this. (what a supprise) It is well outside there area of understanding. (The comment about it might make the audence go away and hang themselves is another can of worms which we will not cover here). As in Romeo and Juliet it is an intergral part of the plot and the actor has to at least put the noose round his neck before the blackout.

 

Ok My question is this. Any Ideas where I can find evedence that this has been done before in theatre and it is an acceptable method?

[paulears]

Sure - it has been done in professional theatre, and the bloke that died might have been something to do with people's reluctance to do this see here. However, you can find positive examples in Chicago - where there was a hanging in one scene (part of Cell Block Tango???). This is often cut for exactly the same reasons. Like you, I've seen it done with the doctored noose, but finding somebody willing to sign it off would be rather difficult I expect. One of those risk assessments where the original risk is bad - as in death, and after taking safety steps, you can reduce it - as long as the system works - and that, is the problem. There are serious what-ifs - and based on my own experience, I'd not be secure enough to take the responsibility, and it would be cut.

[grumpy 2]

I agree with everything you say. But you know directors (I can't do it without this scene). I don't blame H&S not willing to sign. I'm just stuck in the middle and just want to try to please everyone. You should see the risk assesment.

[Bobbsy]

A few years back I worked on a production called "Hangman", believe it or not a musical about Albert Pierpoint, Britain's last "official" hangman. Actually, it was better than it sounds (even had some darkly comic scenes) though not exactly my cup of tea.

 

Anyway, as you can imagine, there was a lot of debate about how much to show of each hanging and, if one was to be seen, how to achieve it safely. In the end, it was decided that the dramatic (as opposed to shock) effect was better if we never saw a gruesome hanging. Each one was done with a blackout and appropriate sound effect (which is mainly where I came in).

 

As I recall, the sort of technique you describe (coupled with a concealed flying harness and safety wire) was discussed and risk assessed...and rejected. Where death is the outcome, even the most miniscule risk was not considered acceptable.

 

In the end, it was settled that a fake noose (looking like a hangman's knot but based on a bowline that couldn't slip) was used, on a rope not attached at the upper end, with the unfortunate actor standing on a non-opening gallows with safety rails etc. As I said, a black out and sound followed rapidly once the "noose" was on the actor.

 

I don't know if similar could work for you, but (since you already mentioned a blackout) thought I'd mention this.

 

Bob

[bruce]

But you know directors (I can't do it without this scene).

 

Ask the director if they would allow their child/mother/grandmother/whatever to test the system...

 

(actually, that's probably not a good suggestion.... they'd probably be happy...)

[grumpy 2]

"In the end, it was settled that a fake noose (looking like a hangman's knot but based on a bowline that couldn't slip) was used, on a rope not attached at the upper end, with the unfortunate actor standing on a non-opening gallows with safety rails etc. As I said, a black out and sound followed rapidly once the "noose" was on the actor."

 

Thanks Bob

 

The comment about not securing the other end of the rope would make me feel happier. I have just rewritten the risk assesment for the fourth time.

End of rope not to be secured to a bar but put over the bar and a appropriate weight tied to the end to act as a counterweight to stop the rope running over the bar unless over 1kg of force is applied to the noose.

[DrummerJonny]

if you are doing that, make sure the weight isn't going to fall off the bar and clobber the actor.

 

I'd suggest you DO tie it to the bar, but with plenty of slack so it can reach floor height with some slack (enough so if actor slips it will still have enough) then loop the excess rope over the bar, with the weight if needed.

[grumpy 2]

The weight will be on the floor between the blacks and the wall. If anything goes wrong the weight will be lifted off the floor. Must make sure that the weight and rope can't get caught on anything. This will give a secondary and independent safety measure if the breakaway does not work

 

A concurrent post has been automatically merged from this point on.

 

This is begining to sound like a plot for a murder mystery.

[Bobbsy]

The comment about not securing the other end of the rope would make me feel happier. I have just rewritten the risk assesment for the fourth time.

End of rope not to be secured to a bar but put over the bar and a appropriate weight tied to the end to act as a counterweight to stop the rope running over the bar unless over 1kg of force is applied to the noose.

 

As I recall (and I was doing sound not staging so I'm not the expert) no weights were used, beyond enough extra rope to balance the visible part.

 

Bob

[grumpy 2]

It is only a 3m drop and I dont think there would be enough rope on the dead end to counterbalance the noose. Will have to experiment to get the minimum mass to stop the rope running.

[slipstream]

Last one I built we created a noose then wood screwed the knot solid before cutting the top of the neck loop and rejoining the ends with velcro. The suspension was from a harness. We did not have a drop to worry about it was a suicide so the hanging body just had to be revealed. Much less technical than the crucifiction for Godspell.

 

Sam

[Psychedelic Theatre]

Could you not put a section of elastic in the rope, out of view obviously, but long enough that if the actor was to fall to the floor/somehow get tangled up they would be able to just pull it down and take it off?

 

Something like this:

 

 

II===--------==========================O

 

I being the bar the noose is being hung from. = being the rope. - being elastic and O the noose.

 

 

Or is that still not safe?

 

Tim

[Kinell]

If you have faked the noose with cotton thread/velcro, what about faking the knot on the bar in the same way?

[Russ83]

End of rope not to be secured to a bar but put over the bar and a appropriate weight tied to the end to act as a counterweight to stop the rope running over the bar unless over 1kg of force is applied to the noose.

We did a hanging scene for Brassed Off last year but I wouldn't put any weights on the noose. Our noose was just passed over the lighting bars and into the wings where I stood and held the other end. You then have a person in charge of just how much tension to put on the rope to make it look tight to the audience but still safe. It can also be immediately released should something happen.

It is also a good idea to have someone standing by with a wooden box or staging block large enough for the actor to stand on to release the tension on the safety harness and speed up getting them down.

[TomHoward]

This came up in one of our productions, and what we settled with was a silhouette projected onto the cyc from behind, using a small fresnel on a floor stand - and we had an actor behind with a rope that he draped behind his head, rather than around his neck. I wouldn't consider anything that puts a rope around someone's neck safe.