Kabuki Drop

Kabuki Drop 2008

Effects – Kabuki drop from Eugene Onegin 08 by Callum Howie

The main stage effect in Eugene Onegin 08 is a kabuki drop, I will explain the effect and how we achieved it in the show, and I will also describe how to make one on the cheap.

Kabuki is the traditional style of Japanese theatre and the kabuki drop is the most common effect export from the style. The effect is when a flown cloth drops to the floor. As the cloth falls the air pressure on either side of the cloth causes it to fall straight down with small ripples in it. The effect is used to reveal the scene behind.

See this video www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIzHGg3lhOs

There are many different types of mechanisms to make the drop both mechanical and electronic which are available to buy or hire.

The kabuki drop used on Eugene Onegin 08 was an electromagnetic drop which is owned by Scottish Opera. The way this system works is a barrel with pins is attached to a standard flying bar. This barrel is loose and is able to spin; the barrel has two “arms” which are set inline with the pins. The arms have half of the electromagnet on it; it reaches to a platform which is fixed to the same flying bar. When in preset the arms are located to the platforms and the pins are pointing up. The ties are then able to sit securely. Again in the preset the magnets are attracted to each other with no current passing through the system, this is so that if there is a power failure the cloth will not drop.

When the system is fired the current pushes the magnets apart and the weight of the arms spins the barrel and makes the pins point downwards and the ties simply slip off.

The version of the drop we used in Eugene Onegin was altered slightly from a standard drop. Firstly the cloth was, by design, only half depth so the cloth had cord extensions to the ties from the cloth up to the bar. The cloth also had ties rather than eyes as well which it should have been for the way the Scottish Opera Kabuki drop works.

To make your own Kabuki Drop on the cheap is very simple.

• Get a wooden baton across the length of the drop.
• Lay out your cloth and mark on the baton where your ties are.
• place two screw eyes where each of your ties sit
• place a stage pin in between the two eyes
• Run a control line across the length of the baton also tie off to the end of the baton so the pins do not whip across the stage.
• From each pin tie up to the control line so that when you pull the control line all pins fall from the eyes.
• Tie your cloth to the pins.

The Seagull 2009

This project was undertaken by Kirsty Campbell for The Seagull which performeed in the New Athenaeum Theatre November 2009

A kabuki drop is an effect used to achieve the sudden falling of an item such as a curtain, banner or fake body. Although there are various electric versions available at a price, it is also possible to make a simple manual Kabuki drop with the sort of hardware lying around on stage. For the recent production of the seagull we were required to design a mechanism which would allow six 4x8 meter soft black masking legs to drop to the ground at the same time. Below is a diagram of the chosen design, here is the video of the result.

Construction

For the main timber part of the design we chose to use CLS as this is thicker and sturdier than normal 20x70 timber. It is also less prone to warping and would give the masking a more even appearance, as well as being easier to drill repeatedly. Standard 55mm screw eyes were used along with thick loop pins to ensure that the weight of the masking wouldn't bend the pins and make them impossible to pull out. After some trial and error it was found that the best way to attach the masking leg to the Kabuki bar was with cable ties pulled through the cloth next to the ties at the top of the leg. This means that there is a connection which is less likely to get caught than the ties on the masking. To attach the kabuki bars to the flying bar we used barrel clamps.

Things to look out for

• It is extremely important to number the masking legs or other items in relation to the kabuki bars when more than one is being used, especially if the dropped items are being moved away from the area after the cue has taken place. Doing this will make the reset process much faster.
• If you do not want the string and pins to drop after the item has fallen, it is a good idea to tie the onstage end to the onstage end of the kabuki bar.
• If at any point items such as masking legs have to be moved whilst set in position make sure that they are pulled in a direction which will not cause them to drop e.g. if the string is being pulled from stage right, twist the leg towards stage left.