set build – Page 2

Dollars and Nonsense set design/build

Back in the summer I designed and built a lightweight set for Gotta Sing! Gotta Dance!, a theatre camp held in Vancouver. They put on an impressive musical twice, once for each group of students, after just a few days of rehearsing.

This set had to be stored in an upstairs room between camps, so it had to be simple and lightweight. I was introduced to 3/16″ foamcore and used it as the main material. I was able to fit the entire set into the back of my pickup truck (not including items like the desk and chairs which the director sourced).

Production watermarked photos by Hannes Photo: www.hannesphoto.com

Produced by Perry Elhrich; Directed by Meghan Anderssen; Lighting Design by Victoria Bell, Set Design by Andrew Potts; Projections by Meghan Anderssen

The play Dollars and Nonsense has many references to a certain popular board game. My design capitalized on this and the play is set in Atlantic City so there are some hints of the boardwalk etc. as well.

Foamcore is fairly rigid but it wasn’t quite enough to just sort of stand up by itself. Also I learned that both sides have to be painted, or there will be a lot of bowing.

The venue was the Norman Rothstein Theatre at the Jewish Community Center in Vancouver. This was the third time I had worked in this space.

It was a good experience, and I enjoyed watching the end result of the talented staff and students–colourful, musical, professional, and fun!

Set Build: Curious Incident of…

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

This is an interesting play about a neurodivergent protagonist as he tries to solve the murder of his neighbour’s dog, and encounters some other mysteries as well.

Set design is by Hayley Bamford.

It is playing now until May 25; tickets at gallery7theatre.com.

The build happened over a week and a half, with some help from three volunteers. It was a very simple set although I still had to plan how to build it so it could travel. Note to self: measure the inside doors of the auditorium next time you assume they are the same size as the outside doors…

The set designer spent some serious time painting the set and backdrops. It looks fantastic!

Platforms, boxes, and stairs:

Joined platforms, stairs, and railings:

Canvases: I made 5 frames – 2 large ones, and 3 huge ones! Then looked at a couple of youtube videos to learn how to stretch canvas on them. It seemed to work out! Hayley took care of priming and painting them, luckily for me! The biggest ones are 9 feet x 9 feet.

Load in:

Set Build: Sound of Music

I recently finished the build for Gallery 7’s production of Sound of Music. It was two full weeks plus a bit; we had quite a few volunteers helping as well. It is mostly flies that drop down in different configurations to set the scene. Tickets available until March 24 at www.gallery7theatre.com. (Many shows have sold out so far.)

Design is by Jeff Kiers.

Here’s a few pictures from the build process and also a few from tech week.

Set Build: Midsummer

TWU’s last show will be A Midsummer Night’s Dream in March. I was contracted for set construction carpentry, and spent a couple of weeks at their workshop in January. It was good working with the TD and the few students that are left in the small production class. (Set Design is by Alaia Hamer)

It’s my second time building for this particular show, but the nice thing about theatre is that every time is different!

Here are a few pictures of the build in progress. I didn’t get as much finished as I would like; too many set builds happening at once and I ran out of time. I left it in the Technical Director’s hands, and hope that they can finish everything!

Tickets to the show should be available from TWU’s website in late February or early March. www.twu.ca

Snowbound Set Design and Build

Gallery 7‘s production of Snowbound is now playing at Abbotsford Arts Addition. I had the privilege of designing the set and building it. Here are some photos of the set build and a few shots from tech week rehearsal as well:

The set is quite simple, just a small stage with a backdrop. But it did take two weeks to build and set up.

The window is an important part of the play; it needed to open easily with a pull bar, revealing a snowy background behind.

The floor was done with painted stage risers; painted vinyl laid on the venue floor for the lower part.

Snowbound plays until February 10.

Set Build: Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley

A small set built and run by Gallery 7 right before Christmas was this little gem, Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley. Due to venue constraints (MCA Abbotsford), our set had to be struck twice after load-in, so we kept it fairly simple. Design is by Jeff Kiers, and it was directed by Sarah Green.

We had a library/entrance door on stage right, and a living room area on stage left.

It was a lovely Christmas play; I attended closing night on Dec 23 with my daughter.

A Tale of Two Cities – Design and Build

Gallery 7‘s production of A Tale of Two Cities is now playing at Abbotsford Arts Centre. I designed and built the set. Here are some pictures!

Design was fairly simple: Floor with trapdoor, a couple of risers, and backdrop of a city skyline, with some furniture to create different scenes.

These show some of the build in progress: windowframes, flooring, candelabras, wedding arch, walls, trapdoor stage plug, chairs.

There were also some custom barrels which I cover in detail in this blog post.

The backdrop was a large undertaking, being 30 feet wide by 15 feet high, with windows that could be lit from behind.

It was flown in, so needed to be structurally sound. It was constructed of 2×2 SPF and recycled coroplast. Windows were painted muslin. Brick work was painted with a roller with slats cut out and dipped in various colours of paint.

(Director: Gabe Kirkley; Lighting: Ken Hildebrandt; Costumes: Dani DeJong; Props: Becki Cormier; Set Design: Andrew Potts)

Blue Stockings Set Build

TWU contracted me to build the set for their fall production of Blue Stockings. (Set Design is by Cecilia Vadala.)

I spent four days building a shelf and some tables. Nice and simple for me!

Tickets available at https://www.twu.ca/life-twu/arts-media-music/samc-theatre/box-office

Jeeves Intervenes set design and build

Gallery 7 (www.gallery7theatre.com) is now showing Jeeves Intervenes on the stage at MCA Abbotsford. It’s a delightful farce/comedy. I had the privilege of designing and building the set.

I really enjoyed reading the script. In my research I read some of PG Wodehouse’s other works and watched the TV series “Jeeves and Wooster.” What I enjoyed most was the ridiculous amount of privilege that Bertie Wooster enjoys, and how even though he has problems like everyone else, he can muddle through them with grace given by his manservant and others.

So…how to build a posh London 1920’s flat with a modest budget? I spent a lot of time hunting for “vintage” furniture on Craigslist and Marketplace. It started off with a beat-up turn of the century wardrobe and the collection built from there. Many items were cheap but needed refinishing or reupholstering. I had many volunteers for this show, who were all helpful in making Bertie’s place come to life.

Below are some pictures starting with the concept drawing and then showing a few building pictures.

Set – almost finished!

Set Build – A Christmas Carol

Gallery 7’s latest one-man Christmas show is now playing. This was one of the simplest builds I’ve done for them. It needed to disassemble quickly due to some scheduling conflicts at the venue; the set designer (Lora-Lynne Frewing) did a wonderful job of keeping the set to a minimum.

Here are some photos of the build.