Sand/ Sand Substitute

[Daffey]

Hi guys,

My theatre group is planning to restage a show early next year so I'm hoping I can get help finding out what's a suitable/best substitute for sand to be used on stage. When we did it before we used actual sand and sieved so as not to scrape the actors since they run/roll/fall into the sand. Problems was the dust from it floating around. And there's a lot of hard work afterwards to clean the space and most of the equipments.

So I'm wondering what is a good substitute for sand in this case? It won't be covering the whole stage just a majority of the area and it need not be thick, I think about and inch at the most. The actors will walk/run/fall/etc on the surface and eventually will change the original configuration of the sand and so it needs to be fairly save for them, i.e they won't slip/scrape themselves.
Sand works fine before I think except for the dust that will rise and I'm sure that'll be a health hazard inhaling it.

I've searched the forums and only the only suggestion that I found was granulated cork. We're thinking of using those shredded foam thingy (the ones that you use to stuff beanbags) but I think the material is just too light and will fly everywhere at the slight breeze. So any ideas?

Oh btw, I'm in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and I'm sure that will somehow limit the options somewhat coz of the price/availability factors but yeah, any help/ideas is very much appreciated Thanks guys.

 

[Footer]

True play sand that comes in bags is dust free. The stuff you get from a landscaper has the dust in it. From what I have been told, best thing to do is to cover the stage in carpet and then put the sand on the carpet about 1"-2" deep. There is a Yale Tech Brief about this as well. I don't think it is out on the internet, you will have to buy the book.

 

[DaveySimps]

I second the carpet underlayment idea. We used a granulated form of ABS Plastic for a production that worked out very well for us. We got it from a local plastics supplier. They have, unfortunately, gone out of business, but I am sure it is common in that industry.

~Dave

 

[Daffey]

thanks for the feedbacks what we're doing with the set is basically to have a giant world map on the floor. Floor painted blue with the sand forming the land mass. will look into your suggestions and see if there's a local distributor for it.

 

[Van]

I wholely back the "Play sand" suggestion. Standard grade sand that is sold for use in concrete and leveling is not suitable to be around for humans. I'm wondering if any of your actors came down with some serious respitory distress as a result of "rolling around" in un wash sand. The dust that comes off of that stuff is just like little pieces of sandpaper in the lungs and can cause serious long-term issues.
Expensive but a great sand for this application is the white sand used in ashtrays, it's clean, it's pretty.

 

[Daffey]

i was part of the ensemble back then and i developed an allergy for a week after the show rashes everywhere. hence the search for safer substitute. lesson learned.

 

[scenerymaker]

We used a granulated form of ABS Plastic for a production that worked out very well for us.

Talk to somebody who injection molds plastic parts. Those little pellets are the raw material for their injectors. It comes in lots of colors and is MUCH easier to clean up after loadout. The pellets are about the size of BBs. (and there's no dust!)

 

[shiben]

We did a show last year, The Syringa Tree, and we used ground cocco husks to mimic dirt, smelled wonderful, but was awful to clean up. Im gonna guess that any granulated substance that you put on stage is going to be everywhere by the end of the show. We are still getting that stuff out of the dressing rooms... I would imagine that the ABS would not work nearly as well, because it would roll all over... But then again, I have never used it.

 

[Van]

Circue' Uses a ground Cork product that they get from this little compny back east. Apparently they buy it by the truckload, but it works well for Rain, Dirt, Whatever.

 

[shiben]

Speaking of the Cirque, check out their 25th celebration videos (Everything else off topic forum, maybe?). There is one on there about the cork that they use, its an incredibly impressive device that they use, actually, a lot of the backstage videos are awesome, made me want to work on the show!