November 23, 2004

• Oh boy. Meta-theater in 40 minutes, that's a lot to ask. (I presume you mean the play Noises Off?)
• Giant lazy Susan Rotate to new set. Simmer until firm.
• Um. Farce, right? Essential component of farce: doors. Proposed set design: just lots of doors, in frames, mounted on casters so they can be moved about at will. Do the rest with clearly differentiated lighting states. Simple, practical, flexible, cheap, with the added bonus of adding a further layer of meta-commentary on the artifice of theatre-within-theatre-within-theatre, or something. I've no idea if this is even remotely what you're looking for, or even if it's practical, because I've never read the play (I do have a gut reaction against the notion of cutting Michael Frayn's work, though :-). However, if there's one thing I learned from my years in no-budget theatre, it's that you always overestimate the number of chairs you actually need. I believe the rule can be applied more generally to set design.
• Shit, yes, that should be the play "noises off". This is a standard High School uil production, or else we wouldn't be cutting it and would be using a lazy susan instantly. But Doors sounds great. Lots of doors. I know how to get the split leveling going, but distinguishing the change between the onstage production and behind stage production is where I come up short.
• Essential component of farce: doors. Solid counsel. If you really want to meta-it, have someone hold up a sign saying "Verfremdungseffekt". Keep the quote marks.
• I did this one show where we had a tiny cardboard wall at the front of the stage, with "4" written on it, which we'd stand upright or knock over as the fancy took us. Good times. I'd reiterate, put a lot of thought into lighting design. Obviously, as it's a high school production, I don't know how complex a set-up you have (if any?), but you really don't need anything too technical. It's often somewhat overlooked, but even a simple switch between two different, well planned states can give the audience a far better sense of place than any amount of cumbersome flats and set dressing. And as the play has a natural differentiation there anyway (stage very bright, slightly artificial with bolder colours; offstage more muted, in tones of, perhaps, chocolate and red), it shouldn't come across as jarring. The money we spent in regularly buying drinks for good lighting guys was more than offset by the savings we made in, for example, the chair budget.
• distinguishing the change between the onstage production and behind stage production is where I come up short. Have the doors painted very nicely on the "onstage" side, and leave 'em rough and unfinished on the "behind stage side." Turn the doors around when appropriate. Also, make up a sign that says "QUIET--PERFORMANCE IN PROGRESS" and lower it down for the "behind stage" sequences. (Or, if you don't have a setup where you can lower stuff, just put it on a stand and place it on the side of the stage.)
• Is this for a competition play? I used to do those in high school, and we went to States a couple of times (should have won once, bah!). How many techies do you have? See, I'm not familiar with the play Noises Off, but it sounds like it has set changes, which are generally a no-no in 40 minutes (usually a one-location one-act). But, one of the best plays I saw had a bunch of flats painted to look like walls, and had the techies carry them in and secure them to Eine Kleine Nachtmusic, in a little choreographed swirl (flats arranged in hemisphere on stage) and then simply switched the flats around for different locations. Super minimale, but because of the music and the choreography, it looked great. We were lucky to beat them.
• First off, I have to say you are a brave, brave soul. Noises Off is one of my favourite plays in the whole world, and it has always been my dream play to perform, but it has some nightmarish technical qualities that make the faint of heart, such as myself, run away in terror. Good for you for taking it on! I'm sure it's going to be a roaring success. Doors-in-frames that can be turned round are definitely your friends here. If you have budget/energy/inclincation, then adding some flats-in-frames that can be similarly spun round might also work. jacobw's ideas about painting are spot-on, I think, as are flashboy's about the lighting. How much set do you have? Depending on the cuts you've made, I guess the only really essential furniture for the on-stage bit is the sofa, table next to it with telephone, a sideboard with the TV and a vase or two. These are all things that could conceivably be found backstage too, maybe throw a sheet over the sofa etc, so there may not be a need to strike anything between acts. Perhaps have a stage manager's desk lurking in the wings that you can wheel on for Act 2. How many stage hands do you have at your disposal? The bonus about Noises Off is that wandering stage hands shifting stuff about can actually add to the production rather than distracting from it, so that the props needed for Act 2 (sheets, vases, dresses etc) can easily be placed where they need to be while the main action is going on. There is a not-entirely-awful film version that might give some ideas. Let us know how it goes!
• Don't forget the sardines.
• Yeah, this is for a competition. We can have as many people as we need, because right now I have to convince my teacher-director to allow us to do this play; he has (unfairly) given me the task of finding a way to make the set work. We all want to do the play, if we can find a way to make it work.
• Toohep- Out of curiousity, where are you? In Michigan? What school is this for? And the number of techies limit how elaborate you can get with the set, because the more you have the more stuff you can set up in that, what, 15 minutes? Oh, and the sad thing is that more important than having a good play, at least when I was doing it, was hosting Regionals. Because the hosting school always got to choose the judges, they always went to States. Hosting districts isn't as important, because three schools go on from there... One school I remember had the brother of their director as one of their regional judges... (If you tell me quickly what set pieces are in the script, and what the settings are, I can come up with an idea for you. But like I said, I don't know the play.)
• #2 did some stage lighting at uni and he agrees with flash. Lighting is your friend!