My middle school stage is horrible and I need help/ideas

[Lyrical]

Hello,
I apologise in advance if this is the wrong place for this post. I am a volunteer at my daughters middle school in San Jose, CA. I am the head of the Drama Club which operates with a faculty sponsor and the monetary support of the Parent Faculty Club. We're putting on 2 one act shows in April and after looking at the stage - I'm freaking out. The stage is in the gym and has no backstage area, no side stage area -basically no where for the students to be when not supposed to be in sight of the audience! The sets for the one acts (Wishful Thinking" and "This is a Test") are very simplistic - chosen partly for that reason! but I was thinking I need to build flats to create a backstage and side stage area.
This school has no theatre arts program and no one that really knows anything about set building, and to be honest - I haven't dealt with flats since high school (many moons ago).
Does anyone have any ideas or advice they can share? I'd be very appreciative =) Thanks in advance!

 

[WestportLights]

That would work, A small group I work with has used that type on configuration in the past. Here's similar to what our local high school has. (marked in Red) It allows for better movement and stage entry options than what you drew up. Just for the sake of options.

 

[LXPlot]

Luckily for you, flats are very, very easy. For what you're using them for, you can just connect a few 8 foot two-by-fours together with four foot two by fours and put lauan on the fronts. These are very light and will work well for what you want.

Alternatively, Ehow has a decently good article on how to build flats.

How to Build Flats for a Theatrical Production | eHow.com

One last point: If you don't have a moving set, you shouldn't need all that much wing space, and probably not any space behind the stage at all. I personally don't think you would want a moving set anyway, because you will probably be doing mostly comedies and during comedies the audience starts to get bored if the set changes are not lightning fast. And the likelihood of lighting scene changes is minimal at best in a middle school setting.

 

[MPowers]

Off stage space need is dictated by how many cast members are OFF stage at any given moment, do you have a green room or do they all have to manage in the back stage area? Next, how many and what kind/size of hand props and such do you have and how do you prep/store them. Do you need a 4' long prop table or an 8'? Do you have any quick costume changes that must be made in the wings rather than back in the dressing rooms? If so, is it a jacket change or do you need a change booth for modesty/proprieties sake? Other considerations are do you need crossover space behind the set? Does an actor exit SR and his/her next entrance is SL?

For off stage spaces and masking, look into pipe and drape from a local rental house. They can provide 8' to 12' high black drapes in just about any configuration necessary to turn the gym into a stage. Quick and easy, they set it up and take it down. We're a little far away to make you an offer but just as an example our rental division has over 500' of 8' tall, 12' tall and 14' tall black IFR velour drapes in stock. I'm sure a display or stage equipment company in your area could take care of you for a modest fee, probably much cheaper than building flats.

The advantage of building the backstage masking flats yourself, is of course they can be re-used many times for the initial cost, you own them. The disadvantage is you have to have storage and a way to get them from the storage site to the stage and back each time. Advantage of rental drapes is the logistics are all taken care of, the disadvantage is the cost is repeated each time you need them.

Some rental companies will give a discount to non profit groups or waive a portion of the fee for program credit or advertising in a program. Never hurts to ask.

Hope this helps.

 

[kicknargel]

+1 on the wing arrangement from WestportLights, and +1 on pipe and drape as an option. And if you're doing this a lot, maybe the school wants to invest in purchasing a pipe-and-drape system. Much easier to store and set up than flats. On the other hand, the flats could be painted something show-specific, becoming scenery and not just masking.

BTW, if you go with flats, you'll also need a jack on the back of each one. These are a triangular brace (about 8' tall and 2-3' long) usually built out of 1x4. Attach to the back of the flat and put weight on the back of the jack to keep the flat from tipping forward. I use a 40lbs bag of playsand (from Home Depot) wrapped in a heavy trash bag and placed in a gym (duffel) bag. You can get purpose-made ones from the theatrical supply but they cost a lot more.

And IMO, the method the LXPlot described for making flats is not a good one. You can use 2x4, but 1x4 or 1x3 is lighter and does the same job. Also, you need 2 or 3 internal members (called "toggles") to keep the lauan from being floppy. I'm sure there are plenty of posts here about building flats. Your cut list per flat (for 1x4) would be 2@7'-10 1/2" (uprights or "stiles", 2@4' (top and bottom, or "rails") 2@ 3'-10 1/2" (toggles).

Also, I don't use lauan because it's a devastating rainforest product. Most people do, but I use a temperate forest product, like 1/4" birch veneer ply or something called "superply." A Little harder to find and more expensive, but I sleep better.

 

[Lyrical]

Thank you all so much for your responses! Westport - I love your idea for the flat placement.
MPowers - I just sent an email to my local party places in hopes of finding pipe and drape systems at a price my budget allows! Thank you so much for the idea!

KickNargel - Yep, I'm not into luan either. . . if I wind up building flats, I'll use muslin or sheets for that matter!

 

[visagegyc]

It's worth checking with other local resources as well. San Jose Rep may not loan scenery, Musson Theatrical might not rent pipe and drape, but they could possibly suggest rental places (check for convention services in addition to your party places; LOTS of conventions in your area and they do enough pipe and drape to span the Bridge, I guarantee!) or other sorts of contacts for you.

 

[kicknargel]

If you're renting really make sure you're getting a good deal. Rentals for conventions is a funny game geared toward very short-term rentals, and sometimes if you rent for a couple weeks you could have bought. You can buy pipe and drape all over the internet--I don't know about relative qualities, but it may give you an idea of it's value.