8 Shakespearean Periaktoi

I had my Stagecraft class dismantle these 8 periaktoi today so I could use the lighting booms for "Evita". But I plan to keep the 24 small flats if someone local needs them.


Expedient Design:
I had a tremendous amout to stock "hollywood style" flats that were 10 feet tall but only 2 feet wide. And when we did "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Abridged" a couple years ago, I knew I wanted some "old school" theatrical elements such as periaktoi. So it was a good fit to use my narrow flats for this purpose. I built 4 revolving units for each side of the stage so that they became "legs". I left space enough between them for the actors to enter and exit, yet from the audiences viewpoint, the painted images still formed up properly.

Then to make each revolving unit stand up without tipping over, I put my 10 foot tall lighting booms inside them! This made them spin like one of those countertop paper towel dispensers! Each unit had 3 swivel casters on the bottom and the 75 pound boom bases kept them from tipping over. They worked really, really well!

The first side of the set of periaktoi had a carved styrofoam effect to look like interior castle stone. See the photo below, (click to enlarge):


The second side was painted to look like the Scottish countryside, with rolling hills and old castles. See photos below:


The third side of the units was painted to look like a thick forest. (Sorry, I can't find a photo of that scene).

Anyway, the periaktoi were fun to build and I feel like this project helped teach the students about a theatrical trick that goes back to Greek times. I no longer have these items.

-Dana Lowell
Set & Lighting Designer
Sloan Theatre

Throne Chairs

A scene for our childrens' production of "Narnia the Musical".
Click to enlarge:

I have two stock "throne chairs". I have used them in a dozen shows over the years. They are made out of wood and painted silver. I think they were donated to us from the Mason's Lodge about 20 years ago. I installed small caster wheels on them for ease of movement on stage. I have loaned them out to friends at local theaters over the years. (Actually, I used to have 4 of these thrones...but I donated 2 of them to the Triad Sceneshop).

Period Sofa and End Table

Here is a photo of two of my stock pieces of furniture that you may borrow if you are a local school troupe. There is a nice antigue beige sofa with wooden trim, and a tall vintage table with scrolled legs. This is a scene from our upper school production of Chekhov's "A Cherry Orchard" a couple years ago. Click to enlarge:



*You can see a portion of a period arm chair stage right. I have two of these in storage as well.

**The vintage footstool is no longer here. I donated it to the Triad Sceneshop.

***By the way, I hope to give away the flying window units, one of which you see stage left. I have 4 of them about 8' wide by 10' tall. Two units have translucent film on the windows, as seen here - while lit with magenta gel.

"Fabian Poster" for GREASE

I had local mural artist, Dale Johnson, paint a fake poster of 1950's singer Fabian on a flat for a song in the bedroom scene of our middle school production of "Grease". I needed to strike that flat, so I cut the poster out of the muslin with a utility knife! But you can borrow this "poster" for your local production. Click on these photos to enlarge them.



*By the way, I have two pieces of furniture available, as seen in the photo at the top. I still have the pink dresser on the left and the little gold make-up table seen on the right.

"GREASE" electric marquee sign

Click on photo to enlarge:


For our middle school production of "Grease" a couple years ago, I borrowed an electric sign to hang from the front of the theatre building. I got it from Pete Barr, the director/drama teacher at Rockingham High School in Reidsville, NC.

It is about six feet wide and made of plywood. I repainted it with weatherproof red paint and improved the lighting by replacing the old strings of Christmas twinkle lights with much larger marquee bulbs. You may want to offer him a rental fee for it, (I got it in trade for curtain fabric and such). And you really need to be a local theatre group that can pick the sign up in person...it would be very difficult to ship.

Mr. Barr's website is:
http://sites.google.com/a/rock.k12.nc.us/barr-s-theatre/

Rustic Jugs, Mugs, Bottles and Tin Cups

We have a variety of rustic-looking jugs, wine bottles, pewter (plastic) mugs, and weathered tin cups that a local theatre could borrow. We used two dozen tin cups for a song in Bugsy Malone, and then again for several shows since, such as Beauty and the Beast and Les Miserables. The jugs and bottles have a safety coating of cheese cloth an Sculpt-or-Coat. A few of the beer mugs are metal, but most are plastic ones that have been painted and weathered.

Here are some mugs in the Innkeeper Scene in Les Miserables School Edition. Click to enlarge photos:



Here you can see some more of the tin cups, mugs and rustic jugs in Les Mis:




In the Tavern Scene in a middle school production of Disney's Beauty and the Beast, I gave some rustic tin cups and mugs to the chorus at the table:

Six Marble Columns

I am willing to rent or loan out my six "marble" columns to a local troupe. (You really need to be local because they are so large).

They are constructed of light-weight "sonotube" with square tops and bottoms, plus wheels. They are painted to look like dark marble. They could be used in many period plays, including Shakespeare and Greek tragedies.

Below you can see them in the throne room for a children's theatre production of "Narnia the Musical":


And below I used them again in portions of "The Complete Working of William Shakespeare, Abridged". (Click photo to enlarge).

Egg Shells for "Honk Jr."

The 5 prop eggs for the children's musical "Honk Jr." are no longer here.