Gianni Schicchi / Les Mamelles de Tirésias

Gianni Schicchi / Les Mamelles de Tirésias
Summary
Performance Dates 19th - 26th January 2019
Location New Athenaeum Theatre
Creative Team
Director James Bonas
Conductor Matthew Kofi Waldren
Set and Costume Designer Tom Paris
Lighting Designer Rob Casey
Sound Designer Neal Clark
Production Team
Production Manager Malki Stephen
Stage Manager Avalon Hernandez
Deputy Stage Manager Katy Nicolson
Assistant Stage Manager Judy Stewart
Chief LX Neil Smith
Lighting Programmer Rhys Gaughan
Production Electrician Roy Fairhead
Assistant Production Electrician Matthew Craigen
Production Sound Engineer Barry McCall
Sound No. 2 Corey Jackson
Stage Supervisor James McQueen
Deputy Stage Supervisor Greig Buckley
Head of Automation and Flys Cameron Kerr

Technical Stage Department

Due to the contrasting designs of the pieces, and the need for a fast turnaround between them, the stage, air overhead, and wings were designed so as both shows could live together, with minimal rearranging required between them.

Schicchi demanded a black box set, which we achieved by laying a full stage dance floor, and covering Mamelles’ hard white legs with black softs. These could then be de-weighted and hauled out at the interval to reveal the other set. The large ‘Tear-in-the-Sky’ flat on the upstage wall was constructed by Pretty Scenic, and hung through an assortment of drifts and turnbuckles. This piece could not be flown when the furthest upstage hard legs were in their paged-off position, so vigilance was always important during the turnaround.

The designer had settled on the idea of a floor cloth which the travelling band of actors would ‘tour’ with and roll out before the performance. We trialled different ways of holding this down, between its rubberised bottom, clips, and sash before finally making the decision to tape it down from preset. This allowed us to properly stretch it before each show, and eliminated some more difficulties it posed in regards to other set elements. Originally, the front cloth was to be suspended on a rope between two poles held by performers. Upon trialling this in the room, however, we found the rope could not be made taught enough to support the weight of the cloth in the middle and it sagged quite a bit. Through discussion with the designer, the Stage Supervisor devised a method of suspending the front cloth from a bar, trapezeed down on hemp lines to a wooden batten - made of the original supporting poles. This would start crumpled up on the ground from preset and - through use of a continuous loop hand-line on a sandbag downstage - could make it appear like the performers were hauling up a front cloth before their performance, with it flying fully out to reveal the space. Lengths of hemp lines to achieve this were trialled, and the finished effect fitted just within the grid height we had available in the Ath.