Stage edge safety

[Sayen]

Just curious what other theaters do to keep fools from falling off the edge of the stage when not in performance. My theater lacks a pit, so the stage apron ends in darkness, with a drop off of about three feet. It never bothered me before, since I grew up in theaters and know better than to fall off, but a district official was asking questions, and it does raise a good point. Some of those who use my theater are ... less than brilliant, and if a safety concern can be addressed, then it should be addressed.

Any good tips? I do use a ghost light.

[lieperjp]

We have footlights that are above the edge of the stage, so people usually see them and think, "The end of the stage!" The actors are usually good not to go to near the edge of the stage because when the stand within 8 inches of the edge of the stage their faces don't get lit, due to the location of the catwalk. For non-theatrical events, usually there are at least some house lights on that define the edge of the stage.

[derekleffew]

I found this in Australian Raktor's Risk Assessment:
"When not within the half hour call, barricades exist surrounding the open orchestra pit. These are removed by the Stage crew when advised by stage manager."

I've worked in theatres where posts and chains were required (except during performances) when the orchestra lift was below audience level. Excellent practice, and one that should be more popular.

[Sayen]

That was what made me remember the meeting with the district official last year. Posts and chains works in theory, but installation is far from simple.

I'm not worried about the edge during performances. As an aesthetic choice I almost never block to the edge of the stage anyhow. Poor lighting, and I think the audience likes a buffer for the fourth wall.

I think Derek is right, that this ought to be a common practice of sorts. To be effective, it also needs to be simple and low impact on the theater, or it will get ignored for time/convenience by most folks. Yes, I know, safety should never be an inconvenience, but that's unfortunately reality in a theater.

[ruinexplorer]

What about putting up safety markers at the pro? One theater I worked at would use simple rope/flag barrier during load ins to warn of when the pit was down. This in addition to your ghost light should provide ample warning that you shouldn't wander into what could be unsafe. Plus it is easy for one person to move whereas barricades (even chain and post) can be burdensome.

[bdkdesigns]

I've worked in theatres where posts and chains were required (except during performances) when the orchestra lift was below audience level. Excellent practice, and one that should be more popular.

Our pit is basically removable traps. When the pit is closed up, we just have two ghost lights that go out. When the pit is open, we have a bright yellow rope that we stretch across the proscenium line with a large sawhorse with a sign on it. Both ghost lights are placed next to the sign along with a third ghost light that is placed inside of the open pit. Additionally, we have a side slot entrance on each side of the stage that gets a chain with a sign on it. We have stairs on both sides of our stage going to the audience. If the stair plugs are not in, we also place a sawhorse directly in front of them that also have a sign on them. All signs say something along the lines of "Caution: Open Pit".

[Pip]

I found this in Australian Raktor's Risk Assessment:
"When not within the half hour call, barricades exist surrounding the open orchestra pit. These are removed by the Stage crew when advised by stage manager."

I've worked in theatres where posts and chains were required (except during performances) when the orchestra lift was below audience level. Excellent practice, and one that should be more popular.

In our theatres we have a ghost light as well as a rope for when the pit is down.

[gafftaper]

Hughesie's school has some sort of safety fence that spreads out across the front of the stage. I've seen it in his pictures long ago.

Hey Huggie can you post a link here. I'm too lazy to go searching for it right now.

[jdandreas09]

i use glow tape. you just have to get rosco brand because it will glow much longer and brighter and then cover it with a clear tape over it and it will last for years

[Pip]

i use glow tape. you just have to get rosco brand because it will glow much longer and brighter and then cover it with a clear tape over it and it will last for years

$$$$$$$$$

(And most places I've worked use glowtape more for stuff you'll bump into, as opposed to fall into)

[Raktor]

Hughesie's school has some sort of safety fence that spreads out across the front of the stage. I've seen it in his pictures long ago.

Hey Huggie can you post a link here. I'm too lazy to go searching for it right now.

There's one of mine, anyway. The actors are small enough to not be identifiable. :P

[Pip]

Well now it looks like you're talking about stuff thats there even during shows...

[Raktor]

Well now it looks like you're talking about stuff thats there even during shows...

Ah yeah, that could be misinterpreted. That was from the tech run or first dress rehearsal. They usually have them up for the first night of rehearsals to make sure there's no accidents...

[Pip]

Ah yeah, that could be misinterpreted. That was from the tech run or first dress rehearsal. They usually have them up for the first night of rehearsals to make sure there's no accidents...

Ahhhh very nice. Sounds like a good idea.

[hsaunier]

We have inbedded around the stage edge and the pit edge wheatgrain rope light. When the cover is down the DS edge goes out and the US edge of the pit cover lights.

[gafftaper]

The newly remodeled proscenium house down the hill has a set of LED's embedded in the floor that runs across the stage about 6" upstage of the pit. And at center stage there's one red LED as well which is great for dancers.

As for glowtape. You've hit a pet peeve of mine. Glowtape is usually only effective for about 5 minutes after a large amount of light goes away. Some people think it magically glows on it's own for hours and that just isn't true. I had a student stage manager telling her ASM to go around the set with a flash light AN HOUR BEFORE CURTAIN and charge up all the glow tape. You can charge it up significantly more than usual by using either a fluorescent or UV light instead of an incandescent. But glow tape has to have an occasional source of light or it doesn't do any good. Because of this most places use large quantities of white tape to mark edges. While it's not as effective as glow tape, if the stage was just bright and then blacked out. Areas that are dark and never get good light simply don't ever get the recharge they need to cause glow tape to glow. White tape on the other hand will be visible if there is any light around, most theaters seem to have enough stray light here and there to make white tape a better option.

[thorin81]

I am in a HS theatre, so the things that happen there are no where near what happen in a professional theatre. For example: the district in my school has painted a 4" wide white line across the proscenium edge to help with visibility. Needless to say I will be painting over the "magic line" (my theatre kids call it) during our next production.
I have always been a fan of just always requiring that there be some light source on stage at all times to aide with visibility. Build a ghost light (light on a pole that sits out in the middle of the stage) and make sure that it is left on stage turned on when everyone leaves so that when any new person enters the space they can at least find their way to a real work light panel or to the house lights. If everyone knows that it is supposed to be there they will expect it appriciate it.

[gafftapegreenia]

Glowtape, white or yellow spike tape, and some form of ghost light.

[tenor_singer]

We had our school's insurance inspection and I am floored at a request that the inspector made.

We have a small curved thrust that sticks out about 10 feet that is 32" high and the inspector was worried that a performer could fall off the stage and hurt themselves. He wanted us to put a 3' railing around the front to keep this from happening.

Luckily our head maintenance man told them to go pound rocks.

[derekleffew]

We had our school's insurance inspection and I am floored at a request that the inspector made.

We have a small curved thrust that sticks out about 10 feet that is 32" high and the inspector was worried that a performer could fall off the stage and hurt themselves. He wanted us to put a 3' railing around the front to keep this from happening. ...

As a fool (thank you, Sayen) who is recovering from knee surgery and will most likely be on Worker's Compensation for a total of six months, I can't say I disagree with your inspector. Removable (during performances only) barricades, pipes and chains, or ropes and flags can save thousands of dollars in pain, suffering, and injuries.

[Sayen]

Ouch Derek, sorry - didn't mean it quite like that. I was picturing students who like to run around in dark rooms without permission when I said that. I tend to write too colloquially, don't read too far into it.

In response to the thread, I think two simple posts at each end of the stage with a thick white strap or white flags strung between them would be simple and fast. It doesn't reach the edge of the stage, but the few feet of slack in the line should stop someone from reaching the edge.

[themuzicman]

Having no pit, it is kind of ridiculous to have to mark out a safety landing for a 3 foot drop.

In my current school, the stage is only raised two inches from the floor, but in high school I had a raised proscenium stage, and honestly, you'd have to be pretty stupid to fall off of it, even in the dark. Being on a stage should give you enough warning to turn the lights on if there are no lights.

That said, when we had ballet's, I'd put a few pieces of glow tape just so the little kids wouldn't fall off the front.

[Grog12]

3' is enough to break your neck.

I've watched a dancer charge into a 3' deep cyc trough. With a scrim in front of it..


My grandmother's favorite theatre story is how she saw the Phantom fall into the pit.

[wodden]

We use two ghost lights, one by the stage door entrance and one DSC and a strap with dog clips on each end across the proscenium opening. This has worked well in all 3 theatres for the last 20 years. The dog clips make it convenient and easy to use. We also use straps in the Orchestra pit when the pit is not at Orch level.

[wodden]

Once had a dancer miss a 6" step and come down on the side of their foot, broke the little toe bone inside the foot. 6 weeks in a walking cast. Things can break from any height and from no height falls. Better safe than sorry.

[cdub260]

Once had a dancer miss a 6" step and come down on the side of their foot, broke the little toe bone inside the foot. 6 weeks in a walking cast. Things can break from any height and from no height falls. Better safe than sorry.

And dancers can and will trip on a tape line on the floor. I've seen it happen.

[Eboy87]

As I recall, the Oriental Theatre, for Wicked at least, has a net over the opening of the pit. No idea if it's strong enough to catch someone unlucky enough to fall. Then again, that was two years ago. No idea if it's still there.

[maccalder]

We use Glowire permanently installed around the edges of our pit, it can even be used during performances without the audience really noticing it - put it on a DMX relay and you can black it out on blackout cues too (we use a normally closed relay - take the DMX value > 50 and the it goes open circuit...). It is fairly easy to retro-fit as well - you just need to route a groove in the floor and bobs your uncle.

[derekleffew]

As I recall, the Oriental Theatre, for Wicked at least, has a net over the opening of the pit. No idea if it's strong enough to catch someone unlucky enough to fall. Then again, that was two years ago. No idea if it's still there.

I felt finding this site: InCord Safety Nets > Product Range > Baynets > Orchestra Pit Safety was worthy of resurrecting this thread.

[TimMiller]

Dancers can do all sorts of weird things. I now have a ML in the shop that a dancer kicked off of the edge of the stage (the ML's were behind the monitor line), so how you manage that is beyond me. Also a dancers mom was trying to sue the dance company because her kid fell of off my stage. My whole arguement was that it was a 4' stage so by law where we were no railing was necessary, and rather than following the arrows leading off of stage, the stupid kid walked over the safty lights that marked the edge of the stage (the safety lights were not exactly at edge, you had about a 3" margin of error). Most ironically this was the first show we did that had safety lights around the edge of the stage.

[photoatdv]

We have a wire cover over most of our below ground pit, but people seem to be good at falling onto the stairs where it isn't covered. We've had two hospitaizations and I don't want to know how many bruises.

But yes, dancers can trip on ANYTHING. They are also good at taking out cables.

[rchu3149]

Dancers are good at tripping.... but we have a footlight that we use when the theatre is dark at night to give enough light to warn you of the pit.... we have a net that we're supposed to use when we're not in rehearsal or performance.... we don't use it... Unless there is a show requiring pit, the pit stays up...

[TheDonkey]

Whoa, surprised that I've yet to comment here.

At my old school, we had a bunch of LED's soldered onto 9V battery caps(with proper resistors), and we just attached them to the old wireless mic batteries.
They had an orchestra pit, but I didn't go to the school long enough to see what happens when it's open.

At my new school, we have light switches beside every door for house/works lights, and everyone knows to tread lightly, but during shows, we never actually go to full black(this thing with our Drama head...) so that's not really much of a problem.

[museav]

Admitting my own foolishness here, but while working at an amphitheatre, and in broad daylight, I was concentrating too much on other things and managed to walk backwards right off the downstage lip, landing in the first row of seating. Everyone thought I had really hurt myself as I lay on the ground shaking, but I was actually just laughing so hard at my own stupidity that I couldn't get up.

The point other than admitting to being the idiot you can't always account for is that in that case lights or a painted line would have been of no benefit, it would have taken something that indicated while walking backwards that I was at or approaching the edge of the stage in time to stop. Maybe stage rumble strips???

[ReiRei]

Whenever our pit cover is off, we leave the pit lights on along with ghostie so there's very little chance that someone can accidentally fall in the pit.

Today we did our first full run through of Pajama Game and when we finished, not only did the actors scream as loudly as they could in excitement, they also decided to lie on the pit all at once and hang their heads over the side. As I have the loudest yelling voice in my theatre, I was the one to tell them to get the hell off of it unless they wanted to break their necks. Scary stuff.

Moral of the story? Even when the stage is lit, some people are still dumb.

*This is not a bash on actors as I know many, many intelligent actors. The stage just has a way of sucking the common sense out of even the greatest minds sometimes...

[tech2000]

We've only had actors (1 or 2) fall into our pit when it was open for a practice. It's only 8' or so. Although now all of our safety lights on the edge of the stage are burnt out.

[derekleffew]

Monica Lijewski remains hospitalized after fall from Olney stages - The Washington Post

Monica Lijewski, the actress who fell into the orchestra pit from “The Sound of Music” stage Nov. 9 during rehearsals at Olney Theatre Center, remains hospitalized with severe spinal injuries to her neck.

[tjrobb]

We had a bad fall when the blocking changed without all the actors knowledge. Thank God he caught himself on a piano. Only walked away with bad scrapes. PLEASE remember to let actors know if the blocking moves, especially towards the pit. Poor guy was blinded by the balcony rail units and couldn't see.

[chausman]

All of the tours that have come to Spokane that have had an open pit, have either had a ground row to keep the actors away from the pit, or had basically a net covering the pit.

As far as I know, in 14 years of performing, CYT has only had 1 real fall off of a stage. That was Aladdin, where on the "carpet" (a wooden platform about 6 feet off the stage floor) was pushed top far downstage and fell into the front row. The elderly couple who were going to be there were in the bathroom at the time. Aladdin pushed Jasmine into a seat, and he landed between two seats. No one was severely hurt, and the show did continue. I just heard this from a friend, I was at a different show by the same company in a different theater at the time. Other then that, we've just had kids during intermission run onstage and then jump off. For about 12 seconds when we saw them and made them go sit back down.

During Joseph and ___, when the brothers are singing about getting rid of Joseph, they were pushing him around and every show they moved farther downstage until they just about pushed him into the only pit cover that was removed, down 10' to the bottom of the pit, and through a $4k digital keyboard. They just about ended a lot of different things. Luckily, no one ever actually fell onto our wonderful parent orchestra.

Now, we have the orchestra safety lights on for every rehearsal and performance to mark the edge of the stage.

[Beans45601]

I had a student stage manager telling her ASM to go around the set with a flash light AN HOUR BEFORE CURTAIN and charge up all the glow tape.

Ahem. The full time professional stage manager at my theater also does this. I just don't have the heart to tell her that, well, she is wasting her time. Sigh.