Recent content by melonw

Thanks everyone who commented! In the end I went with a stagehand who walks onstage and pivots the tree into an upright position, then pulls & secures a rope that extends its two "branches." It's a little clunkier than would be ideal, but it's also outdoor community theatre, so it fits right in.

You know, I might just have gotten stuck on a previous iteration of this idea that was going to unfold up out of the trap door (it can't, there isn't room) and not have moved on. You m ay be right. It might just be time to have stagehands set the tree and be done with it...

Magnets to keep the pieces together as they descend is a great idea, thanks! For the rest of it...So, this is the stage I'm working on. Trapdoor is at the top of the center stairs. 2nd level (where the handrail is) is about 15' deep before you hit those posts in the back. People enter and...

So, I could use some help. I'm designing the set for a production of Hamlet and seem to have promised a magical pop-up willow tree for the staging of Ophelia's death (she descends through a trap door). The tree will be just a trunk and one branch, so the branch ends up cantilevered. I'm thinking...