Scenic effects involving rotating turntables, tracking stage wagons, and the vertical movement of curtains and painted drops have become common in both Broadway and Regional theatre productions. The machines that drive these effects range from small pneumatic cylinders pushing loads of a few pounds an inch or two, to 40 horsepower winches running multi-ton scenery at speeds 6 feet per second or more. Usually this machinery is designed by theatre technicians specifically for a particular show's effect. Compared to general industry, this design process is short, often only a few days long, it is done by one person, design teams are rare, and it is done in the absence of reference material specifically addressing the issues involved. The main goal of this book is to remedy this last situation. Mechanical Design for the Stage will be a reference for you that will: * provide the basic engineering formulas needed to predict the forces, torques, speeds, and power required by a given move * give a technician a design process to follow which will direct their work from general concepts to specific detail as a design evolves, and * show many examples of traditional stage machinery designs. The book's emphasis will be on following standard engineering design and construction practices, and developing machines that are functional, efficient to build, easily maintained, and safe to use.

Scenic Construction for the Stage is a comprehensive guide to the practical processes involved in constructing scenery for the theatre. Offering key insight into the role of the scenic carpenter, Mark Tweed details the progression from interpreting design, model boxes and drawings, to material selection, fabrication and finishing. Additional topics include advice for developing accuracy, finish and consistency; tool selection and sharpening; CDM, Health and Safety; practical workshop mathematics and geometry, and how to fit ironmongery. With an in-depth but accessible approach, this practical book offers advice on how to start out and improve as a scenic carpenter, building a solid repertoire of reliable techniques and working practices to achieve professional results. Includes a foreword by Sir Kenneth Branagh and illustrated throughout with 350 colour photographs and 34 technical drawings and detailed step-by-step instructions.

The Technical Brief is a collection of single-focus articles on technical production solutions, published three times a year by the prestigious Yale School of Drama. The primary objective of the publication is to share creative solutions to technical problems so that fellow theatre technicians can avoid having to reinvent the wheel with each new challenge. The range of topics includes scenery, props, painting, electrics, sound and costumes. The articles each describe an approach, device, or technique that has been tested on stage or in a shop by students and professionals. Some articles included are: Building Authentic Elizabethan Ruffs; Simple and Inexpensive Stained Glass; A Quick-Load Floor Pulley Design; A Simple Approach to Stretching Drops; Flexi-Pitch Escape Stairs; Spot-Welding Scrim with Sobo; Handrail Armatures for a Grand Staircase; The Triscuit-Studwall Deck System; A Frameless Turntable; Stand on Stage: Minimum Weight, Maximum Effect; A Self-Paging Cable Tray; Roller Chain Turntable Drives; A Bench-Built XLR Cable Tester