Turning a Stage floor into a beach?

Adam123

Member
Hi all! Well, I come to you needing some help. As a high school member of our tech crew, I need to turn our stage floor into a beach for Shakespeare's Twelfth Night.n

We have a thrust stage that is shaped like pentagon with the back end curved by the syc. I need the entire stage to be covered in something that a) has a tan colour of sand, and b) can be removed in sections and carried away fairly easily. It will need to fairly smooth (ie. If a person falls they won't scrape themselves), and it must be fairly strong because we are rolling some heavy things around on casters on top of it.

Various materials ideas have been proposed such as Masonite, plywood, burlap, and mat/carpet material. However, we have found faults with all of these. Masonite is so supple that the casters would dent it, and it must be reused. Plywood has a rough texture, and these is stage fighting. Burlap would slide around too much. Carpeting would look weird. Any ideas?

Also, we need some kind of material to colour the surface. Spray paint has been proposed, but our TD says it leaves a really rough surface. Other than that, we could paint. This would, however, take a TON of time. Again, any ideas?

Thank you, guys.
 
I would probably paint a ground cloth. A drop for the floor. (If I couldn't paint the actual floor) Though you'd still have the problems with removed in sections portion. Thin enough that you can roll over it easily, strong enough to be durable. Ideally though you'd stretch it taut and tack it down off stage or weight it the best you can. A good painter wouldn't need a ton of time, even my high schoolers who aren't great could base one out and I could hit details in the same day.

Looking at the other options you mentioned, OSB ( chipboard or particle board) has a rough texture but there are plenty of sanded plys out there that would be a smooth clean surface. Also since we like to make sure everyone is safe around here, what kind of stage fighting? Do you have someone qualified to stage the violence?


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