melonw
Member
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 it will be lauan facing backed by a pvc channel of descending widths (so the trunk is the widest, then the next segment inserts into it, then the final "branch" inserts into that) with epoxied stops so things can snap into place. The question is the rigging. The segments of the tree will be lying flat on the stage previous to the scene (concealed; it's a bi-level stage with a handrail in front of the location for the tree storage), and then at the right moment someone will pull a cable from below and the tree should "rise" into place. (How it comes down is another question. ) The cable can run through the pvc channel so it forms the "spine" of the tree... I just don't know how to rig it so it will work.
Constraints: the tree will be on the 2nd story of an outdoor theatre with no roof, so everything has to happen from below.
Any advice much appreciated!
Constraints: the tree will be on the 2nd story of an outdoor theatre with no roof, so everything has to happen from below.
Any advice much appreciated!