The Tempest images
As in all community theater productions, a second theme is that everybody should have a good time. And not get hurt. Unless absolutely necessary. Crossed signals can be a problem, and here's an example. Tom got it clear in his mind that the huge upstage ramp unit (with Caliban's cave running through it) did not have to bear anybody's weight, but Katie (playing the air-spirit Ariel) and director Steven corrected that impression . . . after the unit was built. John (Trinculo), Megan, Mary, stage manager Carina and I had to create a load-bearing section for one of Ariel's entrances. At left, Carina, Steven and Karen (not Karen the prop mistress, Karen who plays Prospero's wicked sister Antonia) try to rattle the new unit while Katie is on her way somewhere with a level.
Don't expect to see pix of Katie standing still. She doesn't do that.
Steven gets preoccupied, as you can see from the fact he's still pondering Ariel's tilted platform while Karen and Jenna (also a Spirit) apply the dancing test to the main Downstage ramp.
In two weekends' work, we have the major units (and everything load-bearing) constructed. A week of rehearsal on the first two ramps has shown that we get good visibility and eye-lines (vital elements that the audience sees but aren't really there--momentary lines created when characters look at one another) and that actors with lower back pain need to be keenly conscious of how they are standing. In the coming week we have the cave to work with too. You can see on the next page how the set units relate to one another.
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