These are my notes from the Building Scenery for Outdoor Theatre session at USITT 2012. As someone on the panel said, “In the prestigious Friday morning at 8 a.m. slot.” Which means we were all a little tired. Thus, these notes were written fast and loose. I tried to give credit where appropriate, and to include theatres, shows and designers where I could. Any errors introduced in the note-taking are completely mine—but having said that, I’d love to correct them. If I got something wrong and you’re the designer, TD, carpenter or just someone at a theatre who knows, please tell me! It’s the web, I can change anything to make it right.

The panel consisted of (right to left in the photo):

Donald Robert Fox, from the Univ. of Toledo, former production manager at Michigan Shakespeare Festival

David Avalinski, moderator, from UNC Chapel Hill, TD for Illinois Shakes – and the only one who still works in outdoor theater

Will Leonard – ATD at Alley Theater, former TD for Snow Camp Historical Outdoor Drama. ATD Georgia Shakes – where they built and stored scenery outside.

Bill Webb, production manager Elon Univ. Was prod mgr at Illuminations Festival in Manteo N.C. Rotating group of shows and activities from full on Shakespeare to dance concerts and music events and film. 10 feet from the sound – wind, salt and sand.

Jonathan Allender-Zivic, from Coe College in Cedar Rapids, who worked in forests of Pennsylvania.

David introduced the panel by noting that he was the only one who does outdoor theatre anymore. One designer he’s worked with always asks “Why do we do outdoor theatre?” To which his reply is “BECAUSE IT’S FUN!” usually shouted while cleaning up the set after rain.

Unique things about regions they’ll talk about:

-Heat, humidity, rain

-Sea, salt, sand, insects

-Wind

-Critters – driving pigeons out, cleaning up owl pellets.

Everyone started sharing some horror stories and wisdom won, which was pretty much the format of the panel. It worked well, and we got some great stories, like…

Snow Camp had lots of squirrels, which would chew on cables, find the live wire, and “ceast to exist,” and then if it was in a dry area of grass, you had to put out fire from when they exploded…

Ozone issues – Georgia Shakes had “Code Purple” ozone, which means don’t go outside, but Will would be welding outdoors in a tent with the sides rolled up in shorts and shirt b/c the heat was too much for leathers. (No one recommends welding in those conditions.)

David had to worry about tornadoes in Illinois

Illuminations is on an island surrounded by brackish water (Bill), so you have wind, but also have to deal with the incredibly corrosive nature of salt air. Hardware bolted into buildings just gets covered in salt and causes complications with rigging. You have to use marine grade or stainless steel. That really really jacks your cost up. Simple applications aren’t, b/c of corrosive weather.

Jonathan had to deal with mega-humidity – 40%-100%. In a valley in PA, it would rain solid for 30 minutes, go away, then cloud bounces off mountain and COMES BACK. Wood swells, compress, swells, compresses – for painting, you didn’t know what would happen.

-Someone worked at a theatre in an artist’s community with trash cans, so lots of raccoons—and they loved the theatre. So you had to decide to run them off, or if they were too big, just to let them chill.

At Mich Shakes, all scenery built outdoors on site, in element. Rain, winds, high humidity, high heat, critters. Deck was planks, so bees and wasps would make their home under stage.

Mich Shakes always started from scratch except stage house. Always had to put small film of oil on tools b/c would get surface rust overnight.

After the horror stories, they started talking about different materials.

David – in 2000, right out of grad school, worked at Illinois Shakes, with no experience outdoors. So he built for indoors. Big mistake. Wood swelling and shrinking and splitting. Now he builds things with steel frames and luan covers. Luan seems to do OK. All about how you attach. T-Nails requires too many nails. He mentioned liquid nails, but I’m not sure that’s what he settled on to use. All steel gets primed, all wood gets elasto-merricked.

Always seems to be one show that just gets beat down by rain. Which means the wood is gonna buckle, there’s just nothing you can do about it.

Donald – Make sure everything is sealed. Thomson deck seal on wood, every edge, every surface. That helped out a lot. Crystal Gel from Rosco also works really well. A 1-5 ratio on every single edge to seal wood. ANY POINT where moisture could get in leads to buckle. Road boxes covered with crystal gel, painted, then coated again with crystal gel to seal against elements. Crystal Gel takes pigment, so you can get a nice base coat.

[NOTE: I spoke to Rosco about this after the seminar, and they were surprised at this usage, as Crystal Gel isn’t really meant to be water repellant. Still, if it works… They did recommend the Foam Coat, mentioned below…]

Hard scenery – Rosco Foam Coat. 1:3 ratio (3 water.) If there’s anything you don’t seal, the water will find it.

Super saturated paints on soft goods, muslin, then have costumers dry it and set it. Then a very thin coat of Rosco FlexBond at 1:10.

Someone noted that they did Richard III with lots of battle banners, in a wet season, they banners survived and didn’t run.

Tarping – Everything got tarped at night, and during rain, shakes the tarps, check to be sure nothing’s sititng in water.

Bill Webb mentioned that you have to keep a close relationship with scenic designer, help them understand the environment they’re designing for, and that they develop a wind- and rain-resistant design. One designer used a lot of snow fence, which took light well, and also let the wind go through it. You can make pretty stage pictures that celebrate the elements that don’t become 20-foot-tall kites in the wind.

But make sure designers LISTEN. Can’t design panels on casters—Scene change happened in the middle of a tender scene in Romeo and Juliet. “Natural Automation” as wind took panels across the stage.

With lighting designer, had to be sure you got cable runs where you needed them early in season.

Jack Sand, the roofing compound, can be good in wet environments on stage decks. Rubbery surface that isn’t as hard on kneeling in costumes as actual sand.

Question from the audience about too hot, too dry, with splitting and warping.

Use screws—can put more force on it where staples won’t hold it. Might want to pre-drill holes, so boards don’t split.

And of course, pick your lumber carefully. If you can choose lumber that’s better to start with, it’ll last longer. Get lumber in as soon as possible, then store inside, you can see which ones will bend and which will stay straighter.

Stack lumber, put ply on top of it, then put stage weights on top of that. That’ll help cure the wood.

Anywhere you go you’ll have to go back and do repairs, but taking initial time to do it right, build it beefier, brace it more, support it more. It will warp less.

GROUND EFFECTS

Trying to build plumb and square on a dirt floor is really hard. If need to build perfectly plumb, cover ground with plywood, and build on that.

When constructing on grass, try to find most level ground you can find. And BE SAFE. If dewy, be careful about slips.

Need lots of shims. B/c level ground you build on is not the same level ground you install on. Shim and nudge.

At Utah Shakes they had to measure stage three times – morning, afternoon, evening. Smallest measurement was what you built for. B/c a stage shrinks throughout heat of day.

Also think about transitions. Can’t use casters on dirt floor to move it around. Struggle becomes making it heavy enough not to move around in weather, but light enough that the extras can move it during scene changes.

Can’t use gaff tape in a really humid environment—it doesn’t work. Clear vinyl tape is best for a marley floor in outdoors. Marley floor incredibly sensitive to sand. No solution—you just have to sweep and mop obsessively. Dust mop literally just before curtain, even in front of audience, b/c you need to take care of dancers.

Biggest, widest squeegees you can buy—have a bunch of them.

Putting gaps between planks of stage is great to get water off stage and dries better, but needs to communicated with costume designer to let them know heels aren’t the best idea.

Know where your drains are, too, so the water running off your stage—you’ll know where it goes.

HARDWARE

Rigging hardware is biggest concern. Make sure battens are still structurally sound and can maintain weight – at beginning of season and throughout.

Use a lot of plastic cable ties instead of tieline—ultimately it’s a time saver, b/c tie line gets wet and swollen and rots. Cable ties are plastic, and shrug off environment. Dress cables with cable ties.

For lighting equipment, you have to use a lot of brass brads in gel frames, b/c they’re miniature kites for wind. They’ll blow out of units really fast.

The panel recommended GRK screws, a little more expensive. Star bit at top so it doesn’t strip as much, and they’re reusable. They bite into wood very nicely. You can reuse screws, and hold onto them. They’re stronger too, they don’t snap off like drywall screws.

Always have lots of extra screws.

Pull those buckets of screws and bolts INSIDE when it rains. Otherwise you get bolt soup.

TEK screws—if you get a bad batch and they’re snapping a lot, pre-drill. Any will work. Get them a little longer 1 5/8”. They help a little bit with the warping.

DON’T STRIP THEM. If you strip them, that’s where rust builds up. No stripping, the out is easier.

ADDITIONAL STRUCTURE?

Don’t really need to add additional structure, but you might have to tweak to survive in elements.

Add tarp points to set—that way you have place to attach tarps. A d-ring here or there.

Some additional structure for cyc—it becomes a big kite. Cyc stretchers from top to bottom of cyc. Big, beefy, plywood structures sandwiching the cyc. Spring clamps screwed to ground, pinching onto bottom pipe, which would keep the cyc grounded.

Sometimes you want to use less structure, to keep it open to let wind through it. Cut U shapes in scenery. Experiment with where you put them so it doesn’t damage scene paint. Fishing weights in a smaller piece instead of pipe can work to keep stable.

Take wind seriously. Look at Indiana State Fair.

Be clear about when you stop performance due to weather—first priority is keeping everyone actors, techs, audience safe. Let the weather pass.

Never fight the architecture, never fight the environment. You will always lose. Learn to adjust.

There’s no wrong answer when working outdoors. Try something.

The whole board likes plastics. Doesn’t expand, doesn’t contract, won’t warp. Rose Brand has a fabric with a slight plastic tooth that you can print on.

PVC And black corrugated piping from Lowes, or gardening fabrics, and you can do some creative, amazing things.

When working with PVC, check with paint samples. Again, Rosco’s Crystal Gel. A little sanding to give it some texture so paint can bite.

Coated sonitube, which they use for concrete forming. Takes more prep to paint, cutting isn’t fun, but it does stand up well.

Crystal Gel, Crystal Gel, Crystal Gel – they all love it.

“You can dump a 5 gallon bucket of water though a Source 4, and it will still work.” (much laughter and appreciation)

Any solutions to minimize heat on stages exposed to sun?

Any time you can use a carpet as a scenic element, it helps with heat. Reflecting pools onstage, fill with ice. Melts during show, but actors can dip handkerchiefs in it, and cool down during show. And water coolers and lots of water backstage.

Get everybody on board so no one gets abused. Get a heat plan. Meet with costumers to decide what pieces are expendable and can be removed if it gets too hot. Hide glasses of water onstage.

Try to convince designers not to design a black stage floor. No matte surfaces. Mist it down. If it’s built up heat throughout the day, try to shade. Fans in trap space moving air can keep floor a little cooler.