no budget opera company needs traveler

Calitina

Member
I am directing an opera for a company who is renting space in a theatre that does not have any drapery. No main, travelers, legs, tormentors nothing. One of the singers said that she will pay for fabric for a traveler. That's great....but I need the hardware. With no budget, and shopping trip to Home Depot, what can I get there?
The stage is 25' wide and 20' easily from floor to the stage ceiling.
There are no preexisting or leftover hardware that I can see. No tracks, but there is a pipe mid stage. I am thinking, grommets and chains suspended from the existing pipe?
Thanks,
Not a Diva:)
 
You will probably ask what type fabric as this will have weight bearing issues on the aforementioned pipe. The fabric is light weight has no significant function other then to change sets and have acting area in front of traveler. I cannot and do not have the time to rig another pipe to create the option of opening the traveler on separate pipes to overlap. I am stuck there and don't care.
Thanks
:)
 
Is the pipe just a pipe, or is it for a fire sprinkler/suppression system? If it is for a fire sprinkler then you more then likely won't want to attach anything to it. If it breaks, you will have a very wet, very smelly stage.
 
The pipe is does not go into any walls or ceiling and is not attached to anything. There are actually 3 pipes. One after the proscenium, the mid stage one and one upstage. The might have to hang the teasers? Although there are no lamps hanging and only the stage lights are there.
Thanks.
 
It is hard to reply to this without coming across as snarky.;)
First off, Home Depot isn't really a go-to place for rigging hardware. Overhead rigging of anything should be done by qualified personnel using rated hardware.
The three pipes sound like electrics. Do you really want to hang curtains from your lighting positions? Also using chain and grommets won't allow the traveller to travel. You will need a track of some sort. Here from Mainstage is an example of the complexity of track systems:
http://www.mainstage.com/PDFs/hhcurtain.pdf
I do remember a low budget technique using aircraft cable very firmly attched to the sides of the stage with the curtains hung with s hooks, then the curtains could be hand drawn by two stage hands. The curtain would have to be very light weight. I suppose you could rig something using ropes and pulleys and recruit some power lifters for stage hands. As far as buying fabric, perhaps you could seek donations and do something like this:
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Whatever you end up hanging will need to be properly rigged, as it's over peoples' heads. So, whether you go with a traveler track, roll drop, braille curtain, austrian, trip, or any other type, there will be a labor cost involved in getting someone who knows what they're doing involved.

You mentioned 'no budget'... does that mean simply that no money was forecast as being needed for this, or that no money is available? If money is available, you might call around and see what could be rented from special event production companies in your area. They'd take care of making sure it was safe, and it would probably cost less than buying for a single-use show.

If money is not available, for hardware or help, then it's time to get creative with ground-supported ideas. Perhaps a wide, tall banner supported by two or more poles held by stagehands? Flats on narrow wagons? Tightly focused lights arranged to not bounce any light behind the actors down center, upstage stays blacked out during changes?
 

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