Performer killed at Bolshoi theater
- Thread starterRickR
- Start date
Looks like they had some HUGE set pieces 50+ feet tall flying into the scene. The actor took the wrong path and got crushed be a set piece in motion. This is a good reminder to take a moment to review your safety protocols. What would happen if an actor took an unexpected path on/off stage when you are flying heavy things. What protocols can you put into place to keep them safer?
I know for us in the HS world it's going to be different working with the kids, but anytime we have significant pieces that move during changes we do choreograph the movement with the techs and the cast, and I regularly tape out boxes where flats will land so as to provide reference to the actor kids. They pick up on not standing in the spots where scenery will come down generally.
Yeah Strad I do the same. I also put a spotter kid on headset and position them out on stage where they have a really good view of what is moving. I also adjust when we fly the piece to minimize the chance of anyone being in the area. Of course being in educational theater, nobody complains if one set change is a few seconds longer.
What Rigger?
I'm so fly....I Neverland.
This is a great opportunity to point out a couple things:
1. You never totally know that someone is going to do what they are supposed to do. Anyone remember Pink getting the slingshot treatment across the deck a few years ago?
2. Look here, just in what @gafftaper and @StradivariusBone have detailed for us, the vast difference in safety culture between American high school and the Bolshoi. There's no OSHA in Russia, know what I mean? I'll bet the mortgage there's no recourse for the dead person's family.
1. You never totally know that someone is going to do what they are supposed to do. Anyone remember Pink getting the slingshot treatment across the deck a few years ago?
2. Look here, just in what @gafftaper and @StradivariusBone have detailed for us, the vast difference in safety culture between American high school and the Bolshoi. There's no OSHA in Russia, know what I mean? I'll bet the mortgage there's no recourse for the dead person's family.
Yeah, I'm not risking any student's safety for a slightly faster set change.
To be more detailed than my previous post, I am primarily talking about flying walls made of broadway flats in and out on a downstage lineset. If the set piece is going out, I have my stage manager call go for flying out about 2 seconds into the scene ending blackout cue. With the goal being that the wall starts to fly as soon as the light is actually out. I instruct the actors for that scene to hold their position on stage in the blackout and watch for the flying set piece to be above their head before they exit. When they do exit they are instructed to take a route that is not under the moving piece. The flyperson is instructed to give it a couple of mighty pulls so that the set piece is off the deck quickly, then slowly finish the rest of the out. This way the stage is quickly cleared and the routes off stage are safer.
For flying things in I put a spotter on deck on headset about 5 feet upstage of where the wall will land. The ASM holds the cast from entering the scene. Once the spotter sees that the stage is clear of cast and crew, they say "the stage is clear", my SM has a night vision camera view of the stage and they call the go. Everyone listens for the spotter to call stop in case of an emergency. As the set piece approaches the deck, the spotter counts down "Five feet, three feet, two feet, 1 foot". When the spotter says "Three feet" the ASM releases the cast to enter the stage and they have a predefined route they are to follow that avoids the flying set piece. With a few days practice this safety protocol adds about 5 seconds to a set change. Nobody notices the few extra seconds and everyone's child goes home safely at the end of the night.
jayvee
Well-Known Member
I do this same thing, along with taping stuff out so the kids get used to pathways.
