Lash line, ancient art or worthwhile endeavor
- Thread starterJackalope
- Start date
kiwitechgirl
Well-Known Member
In my world, soft covered broadway style flats are only used if the piece is either flown and you need to save on fly space or the piece is being trucked and you need to save on truck space. Even then, I will still hard cover the flat then cover it in muslin before it goes to paints. Hollywood flats are cheaper to build, easier to paint, hold up much longer, and require much less time to install. Even with flown pieces, if I have the ability, the flat gets made out of 1x1 .049 steel, hard covered, and bolts together. Stiffeners are then loose pin hinged on.
Lash cleats were really made for the days when you would change out full stage boxed sets over an intermission with 15 stagehands without any tools. Anymore, no show can afford that many hands. Instead, sets now spin/fly to accomplish the same thing. Added to that, the box set is really disappearing due to people taking shows a bit more abstract to save money.
DuckJordan
Touring IATSE Member
Lash lining hasn't been used in our theater since early 90's, Fortunately our TD has convinced the board that its better to screw into the floor directly or using rigid bracing to create a stronger hold.
Its also good to note he used to work concerts and a few stage events off-broadway. Considering he has told us time and time again glue it, screw it. I am pretty sure it applies to everything...
As far as Broadway style flats, We have used them for every theatrical show. Generaly we build them for each show and donate the smaller ones to the local high school, and just store our massive 1/4" steel flats up above our shop.
GageStryker
Member
I haven't seen a true broadway style flat in years. All of ours are hard flats - the biggest thing being one Footer already mentioned - they're much more bulletproof. Ours get stored in with mixed gear, including some road cases, and all it takes is someone coming back after a touring show with a case and going *shove* now it fits to destroy a soft flat. I don't like to temporarily store anything, but it seems to be the defacto these days - a painted, ready to go hardwall you can prop good side toward the wall in the wings and even if it gets scenery flown into it, it's fine.
Hard walls are so much easier to support with whalers and you can cut them down without needing to redo the whole thing if needed... and making one takes next to no time. I hate to say it, but unless weight's a HUGE consideration, hardwalls win every time.
And if you do need something perfectly seamless, able to fly in and out ASAP... you paint or go digital on a scrim or muslin. It's something you never saw in the old days due to cost, but it's now much cheaper.
It's true - the higher (relative) price of labor today means that the touring mantra "time is money" has moved, in some ways, into the theatre as well.
Hard walls are so much easier to support with whalers and you can cut them down without needing to redo the whole thing if needed... and making one takes next to no time. I hate to say it, but unless weight's a HUGE consideration, hardwalls win every time.
And if you do need something perfectly seamless, able to fly in and out ASAP... you paint or go digital on a scrim or muslin. It's something you never saw in the old days due to cost, but it's now much cheaper.
It's true - the higher (relative) price of labor today means that the touring mantra "time is money" has moved, in some ways, into the theatre as well.
scenerymaker
Member
http://books.google.com/books?id=t7...ts&pg=PA102#v=onepage&q=lashing flats&f=false
Its basically a system of cleats that you "lash" the flats together with a bit of rope.
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MPowers
Well-Known Member
Chase,
As others have said and Footer's excellent link shows, "lashing" is/was a method of fastening two adjacent flats or units of scenery together. Most of the time the units were two soft cover flats. A lash line was a 1/4" braided cotton rope attached to the top of one of the flats. When two flats were brought together, The lash line was hooked back and forth along the joint, much like lacing boots that have lace hooks instead of eyelet holes. Lash cleats stuck out from the frame and the stage hand would snap or toss a loop of the cord around the top cleat, then the next and so on. A single stage hand could attach two flats up to 20' tall, without tools or a ladder, in 10-15 seconds or less. They could be unfastened in about 5 seconds. It was a frequent method of fastening side flats to a flown back wall in a large "box set". I learned how to lash from an old Irishman, Mike Shannon, at the Colonial Theatre in Boston in 1959. I was just beginning to switch to tech from performing and landed a gig as an assistant SM. Back then an equity ASM could be used to assist in set changes. He would sit backstage playing Penuckle until I thought he would miss his cue. But he always knew exactly when to stand up, grip his flat and arrive at the right point on stage just before the back wall touched the floor. A quick rolling, S shaped flip of the rope caught the first two or three cleats on the first toss. When he grabbed the line to throw the first loop, he had already formed a loop for the grip's knot at the bottom and when the last cleat was wrapped, the knot was a tuck, loop through loop, sharp pull and back to the card game. Less than ten seconds and he never looked like he was moving faster than 1 mph. He taught me that rushing a scene change usually slowed you down!
As others have said and Footer's excellent link shows, "lashing" is/was a method of fastening two adjacent flats or units of scenery together. Most of the time the units were two soft cover flats. A lash line was a 1/4" braided cotton rope attached to the top of one of the flats. When two flats were brought together, The lash line was hooked back and forth along the joint, much like lacing boots that have lace hooks instead of eyelet holes. Lash cleats stuck out from the frame and the stage hand would snap or toss a loop of the cord around the top cleat, then the next and so on. A single stage hand could attach two flats up to 20' tall, without tools or a ladder, in 10-15 seconds or less. They could be unfastened in about 5 seconds. It was a frequent method of fastening side flats to a flown back wall in a large "box set". I learned how to lash from an old Irishman, Mike Shannon, at the Colonial Theatre in Boston in 1959. I was just beginning to switch to tech from performing and landed a gig as an assistant SM. Back then an equity ASM could be used to assist in set changes. He would sit backstage playing Penuckle until I thought he would miss his cue. But he always knew exactly when to stand up, grip his flat and arrive at the right point on stage just before the back wall touched the floor. A quick rolling, S shaped flip of the rope caught the first two or three cleats on the first toss. When he grabbed the line to throw the first loop, he had already formed a loop for the grip's knot at the bottom and when the last cleat was wrapped, the knot was a tuck, loop through loop, sharp pull and back to the card game. Less than ten seconds and he never looked like he was moving faster than 1 mph. He taught me that rushing a scene change usually slowed you down!
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I'm going to have to disagree. I have used lash lines a few times in recent years, both were for "house" units on separate castor wagons that came together mid stage. I will admit that they are not useful for every application but when you need them they are the only thing that will work. Same with Broadway flats, I think I work for one of the last companies in the US still building shows with Broadway flats, they do require a little more planning and skill but they have alot of advantages, especially if truck space is tight. but I'm weird, I love picking up new ways of doing things. Every time I get to build with a different carpenter I pick up a new trick or two that down the line will be just what I need to get myself out of a bind. It is amazing some of the new expensive solutions that come along to problems that were solved long ago and forgotten.
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