Lances and staffs and spray paint, oh my!

Over the past two weeks hazzahsword and I have been working on making some lances and magic staffs for the play.  First we took two five feet pieces of pvc pipe, some craft foam, paper, and lots of masking tape in order to make the lances. Once we shaped the tops, we covered the entire lance in masking tape. Then we spray painted one blue and the other orange.

                                         One of the lances before before it got spray painted


For the staffs, we again took five foot pieces of pvc, but instead of using crafting foam and tape, we took a field trip to the prop room. We went there to get some inspiration and some materials to make our beautiful creations. We found some mardi gras beads, a ball covered in shiny plastic, some rope, and a wooden ball. I was in charge of making Fata Morgana's (evil witch)  staff while Hazzahsword made Celio's (good wizard). We also had to make these stable enough for a battle scene, so we put wooden dowels inside the pvc, and then again attach the dowel to the top. Then we hot glued them together to ensure that they stay together. After all of this they are finally ready to be tested out tomorrow.

<-- Fata Morgana's

Celio's -->

All Set to Build Sets!

With the show fast approaching, tech crew had to work hard to finish the set on schedule.  Remember those pallets we were breaking last week?  Well, they're finally put to good use.  By cutting them to fit and screwing them onto the orange "walls", we could ease the brightness of the orange and create a more authentic commedia look. But that wasn't all we had to do...

MadHatter using the chop saw to cut scrap wood.

The finished set background.

The other side of the set background.

To mask the white platforms that raise the stage, we made these pieces of wood orange and later screwed on more scrap wood from the pallets.  Actors and techies alike worked on this project.  But wait...there's more!

Techie (left) and actor (right) work together to paint the set.

Finished cover pieces for the stage platforms.

For the curtains, we were looking for a ragged, beaten-down look.  For this, we used burlap and watered-down paint in paint-sprayers.  We will also add patches to make it look even more weathered.

The newly-painted burlap curtain, drying on the shop floor.

 And now, the (almost) finished product...

The (almost) finished stage installed in the black box.

As you can see, the stage looks pretty good (and orange!)  The burlap curtains look old, but are accented with orange fabric behind.  On either side are the "walls", looking boarded-up and ancient.  The orange gym mats on the stage are used for "lahtzee"--rehearsed bits of funny stage action that often involve falling or fighting.  The stage is raised up on those platforms with boarded-up sides, and the whole thing is put together in the black box for the first time.  But though it is now generally finished, we still need to clean up the rough edges and add the finishing touches to our hard work!

Stay tuned as The Love of Three Oranges enters Production Week!