Minack Theatre

[Spock]

I've been asked to do the technical work on a production at the Minack next year, sound and lighting mostly. Has anybody got any experience of getting a show on at the theatre they would be willing to share? The last time I was there, about 10 years ago, I was working back-stage. The only thing I remember is the stage surface was nowhere near as smooth as it appears on the photos, which gave us a lot of problems moving the trucked scenery.

[richard]

Very windy, cold for the cast and audience, but warm for the operator, not much lighting to do until the second half usually, Not many lighting positions (and no backlight) and lots and lots and lots of stairs

[Andrew C]

I was there this season, and as you were there 10 years ago, you probably remember most of the issue. Nothing of substance has changed, a few new lanterns, radio mics now available on site, it still rains damned hard. Second time I've been rained off at 1/2 time. I'm told it's rare, but I'm not so sure...

 

Some of the stage has been re-laid, with a gentle slope off SL. There are more handrails in some of the "exposed" areas.

 

There is a new seating area high SL, with a path to a get-in area at the top. And it's a LONG way up, no change there.

 

Watch out for the sound op switching kit off with his/her knees. It took a lot of finding when the main speakers worked for Act 1 but not 2.

 

Pics & webcams, but you've probably looked already.

 

And finally, something that hasn't changed, Phil Jackson is still a really nice, helpful guy; and I doubt anyone tours in who wouldn't kill for his job!

[Spock]

Thanks for the comments, very useful. Andrew, what show did you do this year? I have checked out the web-site and show pictures, again useful as when I was there ten years ago it was well before I got involved in the technical side of things, so I didn't pay too much attention to the set-up.

 

Spock

[Andrew C]

I did Romeo & Juliet. The pack of info that Phil sends out has kit lists, plans and other info. You'll need to extract these from the clutches of your director.

 

Probably the biggest LX problem, is that the best lights (ADB Fresnels & PCs) suffer from having an IEC inlet that collects water, tripping the RCDs.

 

From memory

 

Frog desk (we took our own ETC) DMUX

36 way of Beta pack patched into 40 or so circuits around the auditorium. One RCD per rack of 6.

Enough lights to illuminate the stage and do some basic changes.

The difficulty of adding more is the limitations of hanging points and cable runs. Having said that, some companies take in a LOT of kit.

Oh yes, and two T84s (they'll be rusted to----- by next summer!!

 

5 Float mics for reinforcement and relay to B/S and the dressing rooms.

A&H 24 way desk, with some fairly complex routing to achieve all the feeds to the delays, backstage etc.

1 pair Bose 802 SFX speakers. I took a second pair on a previous visit to get the "storm" level up for "Much Ado" or something.

Senheisser radio mics (I only needed 1, there are more available)

Two domestic Sony MD players

CD, Cassette and there may even have been a DAT.

 

Comms circuits to BS at various points and the box. Some two-way radio available to the visiting company.

[robloxley]

and no backlight

You just need some skyhooks...

 

Seriously, what you can do depends on your budget. Last shows I've been involved with down there were musicals with big hire budgets - something like 13 radiomics and a pile of band mics along with S410 degrees to replace the frontwash, a dozen colour scrollers, some more S4s, 2 Foxie followspots, a 520 etc. However as with everything it's just how inventive you are with what you've got.

 

A big issue is the weather - needing to waterproof the scrollers, having to put foam windshields on the radiomics, and the fact the house speaker cones were rusting.

 

Also any kit needs lugging up & down the cliff - 6x4 steeldeck and discharge followpots isn't fun...

 

Also matinees are generally a bit of a doss for the LX bods, time to sit on the beach or tuck into a cornish cream tea!

[dominicgross]

on the good side, you've got the biggest fly loft in the world!!

 

but seriously, what happense when it rains with all the gear?? I take it that the PA is weather proofed, but what about the LX???

2000w and water dosn't go too well?

[gareth]

but seriously, what happense when it rains with all the gear?? I take it that the PA is weather proofed, but what about the LX???

2000w and water dosn't go too well?

I don't have any experience of the Minack particularly, but I've done quite a few outdoor jobs, and I can tell you that most LX kit is surprisingly resilient to a bit of H2O! As long as you protect any electronics (e.g. in moving lights) and take care not to let rain get to any electrical parts, most lanterns can survive through more water-based abuse than you might imagine.

[Andrew C]

The lanterns least likely to give problems are PAR cans. The water just runs through and out the other side. They have tried all sorts to proof IEC inlets, but as yet to no avail. When down in the summer, we discussed removing the IEC and glanding the cable. However, this would defeat the lamptray interlock.... Risk Assessment ...

 

Connectors are rather more of a problem. All the installed outlets are CEE, but some of the kit has 15s, and use jumpers. These are made water resistant by wrapping in sandwich bags. Done carefully, it works remarkably well.

[robloxley]

All the installed outlets are CEE, but some of the kit has 15s, and use jumpers. 

Never worked out why they don't just put ceeforms on everything...

[Andrew C]

Perhaps it's due to the CEE Grelco being a relatively new development. Evolution has been quite slow; I first did a show in the mid-eighties when a lot of the runs were in T&E in ducts with dead mice....

[johndilley]

I've been asked to do the technical work on a production at the Minack next year, sound and lighting mostly. Has anybody got any experience of getting a show on at the theatre they would be willing to share? The last time I was there, about 10 years ago, I was working back-stage. The only thing I remember is the stage surface was nowhere near as smooth as it appears on the photos, which gave us a lot of problems moving the trucked scenery.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I've worked on "Ruddigore" and "Utopia Unlimited" (both Cambridge University G&S Society) there. I've put the specs online at http://www.srcf.ucam.org/~jd321/minack.doc, which tells you most things you'd want to know.

 

We've tended to hire a lot of kit (as Rob mentioned - it's the same company as him, though he did shows there before me) - Stage Electrics in Plymouth were happy to deliver and collect (for about £100 on our £1300 hire) - a bit of talking to the theatre was needed in order to arrange storage just before the get-in and just after the get-out.

 

Experience-wise - it's very windy - the radio mics can be particularly susceptable to this (espcecially if the wind-shield blows away!). Also lamps can get moved by the wind, so it's worth doing everything up very tightly.

 

And there's the rain - our protection against this messing up the lights (it does if you're not careful):

- Bin bags around all 15A connections

- Parcans pointing upwards will collect water around the lampholder, so emptying that before each show

- Testing each light before each show to check it doesn't trip the dimmer RCDs

- Putting each light on to about 30% before each show to dry it out (with the "don't touch them" message...)

 

That said, I found it great fun.

 

John