(Show is running for two eight-show weeks.)
Furnishing/scenery:
All scenery will need to be painted.
Consider exactly when it will be painted.
Walls will need to look realistic and as seamless as possible.
Furniture, couches, lamps, couch, table, bed, etc. will be props.
However, appliances like the fridge, stove, sink are incorporated into the build, so that will be scenery’s responsibility. You need the solution to fake the stove function. Floor of apartment will be installed right over stage floor, so your elevation will be whatever thickness of lumber you use to make the floor. Windows do not have to be practical, but all doors will open and shut. This will be a second floor apartment, so the top of the trees outside of the window will be crucial to representing a realistic environment.
When you read the play, it becomes apparent that it is a group of modern day college students. Play discussion later in class will be helpful to answering any functionality questions about what appliances work in what ways.
Everything needs to be flame-treated!
Finding items to minimize budget spending: Getting items from a scrap yard or craigslist is optional, but it’s important to consider whether you would realistically have any of these items in your own apartment. Consider quality just as much as acquisition.
Ask yourself, “What are the consequences of getting these items from an unknown origin? Will it be safe? Will it be clean? What is the upkeep of the item?”
Carpet: It should match the carpeting all around. You could get molding to separate the QASA industrial carpeting. The bed has to serve as the bed for an apartment and the bed for a hotel room. It’s relatively cheap. No raw carpet edges. Try to use some sort of hardware strip to mask that seam.
Regarding budget:
Make your best estimate first, then get feedback. The producers have not allocated money towards each department, but the annual operating budget for the company as a whole in one production is less than $50,000. Scenery needs to balance this budget with the other crews.
The shop will work for either making it a wood shop or a steel shop. It’s too small to accommodate more.
Don’t worry about buying tools. The shop will provide it. However, if you want some sort of special tool to facilitate the build process, that’s an option.
You should consider transportation in your budget. It is non-trivial that things will need to be transported to and from the campus.
Regarding employee wage:
Master carp and staff carpenter both get overtime. They get paid time and a half after 40 hours in a week or 12 hours in a day. So if you schedule someone for 14 hours, two of those hours will be over time.
Once they go into overtime, they stay in overtime until they get a day off. Monday to Sunday week, each Monday will go back to regular pay/time.
Load-in:
We’re going to do a specific load-in activity in two/three classes where we’ll get all the details sorted out.
You can load in as large of a single piece as you want. The exit from the scene shop is a large roll-up door that’s at least 10 feet wide and 20 feet tall.
