Designing a set for Touring

peacefulone61

Active Member
We have decided that we are taking one of our Summer Shows on tour. It has been ages since I have had to build a set That needed to Move. It is for "Moonlight and Magnolias" It will be a box set. I just wanted to run some Ideas by someone else to make sure this actually makes sense. I have one week to move the whole production and a crew of myself to the new venue and what I can fit in my Station Wagon.

I plan on Building the two door frames and two bookcases all as free-standing units. the "walls" in between will be a curtain fabric with an aftermarket flame treatment applied to it suspended by a pipe and drape system and attached to a baseboard to keep it stable at the bottom.

I am wondering Does this make Sense, Is there a better solution
 
Wait, the set has to move venue to venue in a station wagon? No truck? I'd probably just say "rent a truck or you don't get wall".... or do what you are planning. It'll work. You could get a bit more involved with collapsible frames that you stretch fabric on... but that involves welding and probably outside of your budget on this one.
 
Think Ikea flat pack style. I don't know what you meant by free standing units, but its much easier to transport a door flat and 2 jacks flat than it is to transport a "free standing" door unit with feet sticking out at the bottom. We'd need more detail to figure out what you're really asking...

The station wagon criteria adds its own challenges.
 
I have attached a ground plan of a white model (top view) to give more of a scope of the set design.

The school I work at will not let me use any of there vehicles because I do not have a CDL and I am fighting with the director on renting a box truck. ( he does not want to spend any money.) The Furniture will be handled by the rental house they have agreed to move their stuff between locations.
 

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  • updated ground Plan MOON.pdf
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I'm sorry but you should not be expected to use your own personal vehicle to take a show on the road. That is a slippery slope of liability. What happens for instance if a set piece rips a seat cushion or much worse. It also could set up an expectation of this always happening and you always having to use your personal vehicle because "well you did it last time and it was fine".
 
Is your staionwagon the size of the set. So much heartache and prep for something a box truck could solve.

You are a nicer person than I to offer up your vehicle as transpo. I hope you charge him the price of a rental fee for a truck.
 
I frequently haul gear in my personal vehicle, but it's a truck, purchased with that in mind. I also haul truss and road cases in my toy hauler trailer. That I live in full time. Some of us choose to work on gigs that are smaller and do what we can to make them work. It absolutely does create a reliance on people like us for those venues, and they do expect it going forward. Don't do it once to be nice unless you plan on getting stuck doing it again.

Anyway, I like your idea of pipe and draping the flat wall sections. I'd suggest building in some slits in the top pocket of the drape that the pipe can poke thru, so that the whole rig can be shortened if you find yourself in a tiny venue. You can just telescope the whole thing down as stage space allows. Also, maybe a couple lighting c-clamps or half couplers built into the hard pieces to receive the verticals from the pipe and drape stands? Just for stability. Though leaving a gap would let the actors slam the doors without billlowing the soft walls.

You could build your bottom trim like a little hogs trough (stiffner, whaler, whatever vernacular you use in your area), with velcro on the back mated to the drape. A few stage weights on it with a tiny bit of tension and you'll pull out fold lines and wrinkles, and keep movement to a minimum. I built a box set a few years ago where the verticals for the flats were on the back and the baseboard, chair rail and crown molding (all 1x3) on the face of the set completed the framing of the walls. Just sandwiched the luan between them. Kind of a similar idea.

This is actually a pretty great idea for any high school box set. Flats are heavy and expensive to build, and the joints between them usually show up badly, especially with re-used stock flats. Pipe and drape is flexible in size, and the soft goods can be replaced as they wear out, or even between acts. Just have to figure out a way to hang stuff on the walls.

I'm shamelessly going to steal this idea!
 

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