Julius Caesar 2018

Julius Caesar
Production Information
Performance Dates Wednesday 24th - Saturday 27th January 2018
Venue Chandler Studio Theatre
Creative Team
Director Emily Reutlinger
Designer Kirsty Currie
Lighting Designer Calum Dunbar
Sound Designer Allan Hamilton
Fight Director Raymond Short
Production Team
Production Manager Fran Craig
Production Electrician Jak Coventry
Deputy Production Electrician Craig Stevenson
Lighting Programmer and Operator Adlai Faigen
Stage Manager Rachel Matthews
Deputy Stage Manager Rosie Orford
Assistant Stage Managers James McQueen Jessica Reid
Rehearsal Assistant Stage Managers Madeline Hanton Jessica McKay
Technical Stage Manager Daryl Campbell
Sound Operator Ross Brodie

The Production Team

Stage Management

One of the larger items we were required to source was a ‘concrete plinth’ which would be stood on by Brutus and Anthony following Caesar’s death as they addressed the crowds of Rome. As we could not find something appropriate, we decided to adapt a stage table from the props store, cladding the legs with a 6mm MDF skirt. The bottom corners of each of the four sheets was pinned to wooden packers in order to prevent them fanning out, and we then proceeded to sand and paint the entire piece white, before texturing it with multiple layers of watered down grey and brown paint in order to make it appear like broken-down stone. Due to the fact the table had previously been reinforced, and that the lip from the top made it easy to carry on and off, this was all the alteration that was needed, and the piece was complete.

Technical Stage Management

The Technical Stage Department team consisted of;

Daryl Campbell (Head of Stage)

With help from James McQueen

The Ground Plan

The centre of the seating bank was made up by 3x 8x4 steel deck bolted together, it held 43 seats. The stage right seating bank was made of 2x 8x4 bits of deck bolted together, it held 20 seats. The stage left seating bank was made of 2x 8x4 bits of deck bolted together, it held 20 seats.

Kabuki

The Kabuki was one of elements of the show. It was formed of a borrowed cloth from Dundee rep by the designer i attached 3 lengths of sash to the cloth as flying points. It was made by 4 bits of 3000mm 4 hinges and held up by 4 half doughty couplers and pins to hold the cloth up. The kabuki release was by pin hinge tied to sash to release it.

The kabuki drop fired 17 times and reset 17 times

The kabuki drop miss fired 1 time The wrong kabuki was drooped 2 times

Dias

The dias was made up of 4 8x4 bits of steel deck 1 4x4 bit of steel deck to make a dias in the centre of the stage this then had mdf floor with tiles glued to the top which then was screwed to the steel deck. There was a plan drawn by scenic that we followed to lay the floor. There was also rubble made from off cuts of mdf floor and polystyrene to look like rubble this was then measured from the deck enough to fit LED tape and secured to the floor by screws.

Confetti Drop

The confetti drop was made by 2 bits of 3500mm and held up by a half doughty coupler and a black tat cut at the bottom for the confetti to drop, for the drop to work it was attached to 2 scaff bars and have 2 eye hooks on the side of the wood. lines were ran from both eye hooks along the cat walks with pulleys guiding the lines to be tied off on the catwalk. for the confetti to drop you pull the 2 lines and the confetti will drop.

2kg of confetti were dropped throughout the run The confetti bag was refilled 16 times

Lighting

Team LX consisted of:

Jak Coventry as PLX

Craig Stevenson as DPLX

Adlai Faigen as Lighting Programmer

Lighting Plan

The lighting plan for Julius Caesar was mostly all generic fixtures with six LED PARs and LED tape around the central set dias. Here is a PDF version of the final plan:

LED Tape

The LED tape was 4x 3.6m strips of RGB 24w (4.8w p/m) tape which could be individually controlled (1 decoder per strip of tape), we used two 60w drivers to power 2 strips of tape. We ran 13amp power and DMX data to the dias from the back wall and linked all the decoders underneath using cat5 etherner. Here is a PDF version of the LED tape plan:

The LED tape we used was extremely good quality for the price and is available from the PTM staff if required to use. Here is the link to buy [1]

Lighting Fixtures In The Dock Area

The designer had requested four PAR64s in the dock area, given that there are no circuits outside, we had to use AlphaPacks to power these. We ran a 20m 13amp extension from the wall outlet down the corridor and cable tied it to the existing cable track on the corridor roof to ensure the cabling was tidy and neat. As each PAR64 uses 4.5amps each, we were only able to power two lanterns at full at any one time as the maximum power we could pull was 13amp, this worked well with the design as two of the four lights were both cold washes and the other two were warm washes. The designer was happy with only having two lanterns at full, but if they hadn't then we would have had to run another 20m 13amp extension to power another AlphaPack to accommodate the other PAR64s.

Another note on the dock, as the doors were opened twice during the show for various exits/ entrances, we had to isolate the automatic fire detectors (AFDs) within the Chandler dock area as well as inside the Chandler itself to ensure that we didn't cause a fire evacuation. In addition, to contain any haze that escaped from the venue within the dock, we closed all the doors in the corridor to ensure that haze didn't make its way into any other corridors in the building and activate other AFDs in other zones of the building. Client Services were extremely helpful in isolating this area for us and I would suggest if this needs to happen for any other shows in the future, it must be written on the Isolation Form (Red) in the "location" section - "All Chandler and CHANDLER DOCK".

Sound

The sound team consisted of;

Allan Hamilton - Sound Designer

Ross Brodie - Sound Operator

System

We used all 6 Tannoy v12's as a stereo left and right for each seating bank along with the two Tannoy T40r's facing upstage on the centre catwalk for even sub coverage. Behind each seating bank, we used EV Evid 4.2 surround sound speakers wired on bare ends but jumped to NL2, meaning they could be used with RCS amplifiers. Each seating bank had a single speaker placed in the centre behind it, to allow for spot effects and a surround like effect.

A sound network was put in place using a TP Link Archer T60 RouterTP Link Archer T60 Router and an eight port Network Switch.

Network

Port No.1 - Yamaha LS9

Port No.2 - MacBook Pro

Port No.3 - UR4D No.1

Port No.4 - UR4D No.2

Port No.8 - TP Link Router

From using this network, we were able to screen share the Qlab session using another MacBook Pro and control the Yamaha LS9 through the Mix app for iPad. All this limited the removal of equipment after the tech rehearsals and dress runs which reduced the possibility of things failing for the runs.

Microphones

A Ukelele was used in the show during a powerful scene. We decided to use a DPA 4069 with a UR1M, more for effect rather than amplification.