TomHoward Posted January 18, 2015 Author Share Posted January 18, 2015 That's a good idea, thanks - we will be ushering and its a college performance so fortunately the audience are not for the most part complete strangers to either other - when we know what our houses are for each night though we should have a clearer idea of how many we need to fit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
top-cat Posted January 18, 2015 Share Posted January 18, 2015 Does anyone have any suggestions or recommended suppliers for that? So far it's our single biggest expense (much more than the steel deck hire) EFoam will be able to supply the foam, they do the nice firm stuff like you get on the sofa. http://www.efoam.co.uk/foam-grades-types.php You will want to speak to somebody handy with a sewing machine to knock up some fabric covers for them. When I have done foam seats like this before we have always had a piece of wood underneath to make it easier to handle, a fabric cover that goes around the foam and staples to the wood, and then some velcro on the wood which is mirrored on the top of the steeldeck. That way you just stick it down. Depending on the length of the run you may need to work out a way to get the fabric cover off, so that you can wash it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jivemaster Posted January 18, 2015 Share Posted January 18, 2015 Personally as you have the chairs and will have to buy the cushions, I'd do a repeat of the chairs arrangement. Somebody's budget will save on the foam etc and you will get one person per chair rather than five people in six chair spaces. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomHoward Posted January 18, 2015 Author Share Posted January 18, 2015 I'd agree, but it's part of the look of the performance, as it's war-based we're thinking hessian wrapped foam to give a 'sandbag' kind of feel. It's not entirely frivolous either as we need all the space we can get, and the bench seating allows us to go a bit shallower per row than we could with the seating. The performance is only for 3 nights so getting the covers off to wash them won't be a bit concern. I was thinking MDF on the bottom as you suggest, but probably just sticking the foam and MDF together, wrapping and stapling the cover rather than anything tailored. I haven't been able to get quotes and advice off foam companies yet (the joys that the only hours you get to work on it are outside of conventional working hours..) - I'm not sure whether I need 2 inches of foam, 1 inch thickness, hard recon/reused foam, etc. Currently it's over a grand for the recommendation from the only supplier I spoke to Sat morning - just hoping to get this down a bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
top-cat Posted January 18, 2015 Share Posted January 18, 2015 I haven't been able to get quotes and advice off foam companies yet (the joys that the only hours you get to work on it are outside of conventional working hours..) - I'm not sure whether I need 2 inches of foam, 1 inch thickness, hard recon/reused foam, etc. Currently it's over a grand for the recommendation from the only supplier I spoke to Sat morning - just hoping to get this down a bit. Try E Foam as per the link in my post. It quotes instantly and is normally good for price. Also reconstituted foam is horrible stuff but as you are wrapping it it should not be a problem... it's much cheaper than other foam types. I would definitely go with 2", I appreciate 1" would have the cost but for a lengthy performance could really become uncomfortable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J Pearce Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 eFoam certainly provided some good quotes and advice for us while I was quoting for a (now cut from the production) oversized mattress. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Junior8 Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 Frankly along with some others I think you're wasting both time and money here. Unless you've tested the proposed solution by building a prototype and actually sitting on it shoulder to shoulder with five other people for the length of the show you have no idea just how it will work in practice. Also I can't see any way round having to fix the home-made seating pads to the decking - how will this be achieved if they are prefabricated? Velcro wouldn't hack it for me I'm afraid. Jive is right in my opinion - keep it simple. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ImagineerTom Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 Professional experience hat on here - Coming up with a seat back will have WAY more impact on comfort than a bit of foam to sit on. Just try sitting bolt upright with no support on the edge of a table for 30mins, then try it again sitting on a bit of foam. The foam is a waste of time and money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkPAman Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 Last time I went to the Minack, they were hiring out these or something very like them. To be honest, I'm not sure that I'd have made it through the show without one. I've no idea if they'd be willing to hire theirs to you out of season, but you could ask.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
top-cat Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 Has anyone actually read what he wrote? The point is that sitting on the deck with no back is part of the artistic design for the show, to make it more like being 'on scene' with the war setting. It's not just the OP wanting to cheap out on chairs. I'm sure the soldiers would have loved folding chair things lik in Mark's post but they didn't, and thus if you're going to ruin the effect with those things you may as well use chairs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomHoward Posted January 19, 2015 Author Share Posted January 19, 2015 Thanks guys. I have a contact for seating hire so we will likely compare it. I'd like to add a backing and we can do it (as the cost is fairly small) but we are worried about the depth per aisle as it'll lose another 10cm or so and we're already really tight. I'm not sure if we can push them much wider but maybe 5cm or so max but will complicate the corners a little.. Currently the state of play is that we have ordered some 1m sections of different foams (efoam thanks) to test comfort and we are going to mock up a couple of 4ft sections of deck. we are thinking that worst case we can put backrest on the rear row at worst, as the depth isn't a problem there, and it would give 1/3rd of the audience a backrest. Whether that's better or worse than no one having one I'm not sure.. To be honest we'll probably either go with appearance or comfort, if we can't get this dressed bench idea working we'll just use the chairs as in the first photo, as these are ours anyway, just trying to be a bit more immersive. Bit concerned about how hazardous the walkways behind the rails would become if given a low level trip hazard with the backrest of the row below. We think (I have learnt better than to have an opinion on design ideas) that a plain wooden backing might still be okay, and certainly still more intimate/inkeeping than the rather striking red chairs we have. They are pretty set on this hessian cushion now so we may have to run with it. The programme is 5 x 20-min productions in an evening, so we are considering having a break between each one as well (presently they are all bare, so shouldn't be any set changes/resets between shows, but experience tells me there will be) so that may give people an opportunity to move around as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy_s Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 ... Also I can't see any way round having to fix the home-made seating pads to the decking - how will this be achieved if they are prefabricated? Velcro wouldn't hack it for me I'm afraid... Having worked in a theatre with bench seating and removable seat pads, I can vouch for the efficacy of heavy duty Velcro for fixing the seat pads to the boxes. In the seven years or so I spent working there I cannot recall a single instance of a seat pad becoming loose when the audience was present. (audiences consisting largely of boisterous wriggling children). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Junior8 Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 ... Also I can't see any way round having to fix the home-made seating pads to the decking - how will this be achieved if they are prefabricated? Velcro wouldn't hack it for me I'm afraid... Having worked in a theatre with bench seating and removable seat pads, I can vouch for the efficacy of heavy duty Velcro for fixing the seat pads to the boxes. In the seven years or so I spent working there I cannot recall a single instance of a seat pad becoming loose when the audience was present. (audiences consisting largely of boisterous wriggling children). I bow to your experience! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kerry davies Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 Roger, think marquee chair pads. A mere couple of tabs of ordinary velcro is enough for a season of hard usage. I would still question the value-for-money-and-effort involved in this project but, thankfully, I don't have to build it or make it safe. If I had to I would hire a bunch of seat pads from my local marquee firm and just dot down some velcro to fix them in place. Why buy anything with one-off usage? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomHoward Posted January 20, 2015 Author Share Posted January 20, 2015 I would still question the value-for-money-and-effort involved in this project...You and me both - having been in this venue for 6 years though I've given up on the 'why' and tend to concentrate more on the 'how'. The first just isn't worth fighting.. We wouldn't actually scrap it though but it certainly is a big cost expense. We don't really need alternatives like marquee seat pads etc as we already have suitable seating so if it's not incepting we'll just use what we have. Having risk assessed with and without our backrests though, the backrests do introduce a lot of risk in exchange for the lack of comfort. I'm not particularly happy with them so it'll be benched without backrests or seated I think - it's design or comfort, unfortunately they can't have both. It's a directorial decision really but I just want to make the 'design' option as comfortable as it can be (within reason) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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