The Stage: Set, props and paint

Background

The Model Box

Every year, over a million people go to the theatre to see plays put on by the Royal Shakespeare Company. There they experience a new world – the world of the play. But how is that world created? Three recent RSC productions – Much Ado About Nothing, The Tempest and Measure for Measure – show the skills needed behind the scenes to bring the designer's vision alive. Tom Piper is the Designer of Measure for Measure. He gets his inspiration from everywhere, making rough sketches which eventually feed into the model box. The model box is very important. Built to a scale of 1/25, it represents the Designer's conception of the set. It does not show how to realise it – this is the job of the Head of Production and Stage Operations and his team.

The Production Departments

After months of work, Tom and the Director are happy with the model for Measure for Measure. The next stage is for Tom to present the design to the production departments responsible for realising it. The model showing is the first opportunity for staff from the production departments – Paints, Props and Construction – to ask Tom any practical questions. They ask about materials, paint finishes and effects. The model starts as a tool for guidance. There is a great difference between a scale model and its life-size realisation. Some things may not work life-size. Working out such problems is a long process.

The Set

The RSC is a repertory theatre: it stages a number of shows in each season. Sets have to be changed quickly several times a week, so they must be strongly built. A good example is the apple tree which dominates Tom Piper's design for Much Ado About Nothing. Benedick uses the apple tree as a hiding-place, so it has to be strong. It is a 20-foot-high full-size model tree made from silicon and fibreglass. Discreet notches are placed in the trunk to enable Benedick to climb up and down safely. When it was dismantled for transportation from the workshop, the stump looked so effective that it was decided it should be incorporated into the set. The stump appears in Act II. In order to get the tree on and off the stage, the set has to be opened up.

The Workshops

The workshops in Stratford work with various designers to produce over 30 shows a year. Each design is unique. Most allow freedom for individual creativity, and can be demanding. Because the whole show is created in one building, the Designer can keep an eye on the whole process. The workshops in Stratford are a great resource where a huge range of skills are employed, such as carpentry, pneumatics and hydraulics. They also collaborate with other departments. The Designer relies on the workshops' expertise about how things should be made. A trust develops between them so that the Designer can let them make decisions without him. There are often surprises and accidents which contribute to the creative process.

The Props Department

All the production departments work in parallel. While the paintshop is finishing the walls for the Measure for Measure set, the propshop is working through its list for the same show – anything from a Duke's throne to a handwritten note. The prop list can go through as many as 20 versions from the start of rehearsals to the first night. The Designer gives a list to the props maker who then decides what exists already and what has to be made or bought in. The props must be durable as they have to last for up to two years. To make things look old, they are 'aged' by being rubbed with sandpaper or a cheese grater.

The prisoner's head used in Measure for Measure comes up through a trapdoor and then gets kicked. It has to be very sturdy. Face casts were taken from actors and used to make plastercast moulds into which latex was poured; after a while, foam was put inside the cavity for extra protection.

Every production sets new challenges for those behind the scenes. Anthony Ward's design for The Tempest includes a massive sea shell and wings that span half the stage. Ariel's wings were made to the actor's measurements. A tailored frame and harness were made to fasten them to him. Safety regulations meant that he had to be strapped in. Caliban's shell in The Tempest was made from polystyrene sheathed in protective fibreglass; a latex shell structure was then painted on.

The Set

Even the floor of a set can throw up surprising problems. The RSC paintshop is responsible for the magical island in The Tempest. Eight metres in diameter, the pebble beach had to be actor-friendly, fireproof and durable. Real pebbles were rejected because they were too noisy. Eventually foam rubber was cut into pebble shapes, stuck with glue, covered in a 'cream cheese' texture and painted to look like pebbles.

In the run-up to the first performance of Measure for Measure the production departments begin to see the whole of the set coming together – and how the actors will work with it. At this stage the Designer is anxious that he has made the right decisions.

One trick required in Measure for Measure is to make an actor disappear through the floor. Pneumatics are used as a reliable source of energy. The trapdoors which Pompey falls through in Measure for Measure are very safe. The trick might look easy, but it took a lot of time and effort to be made effective and safe for 100 performances.

The World of the Play

Three months after the model box presentation, the Measure for Measure set has reached the Royal Shakespeare Theatre stage ready for the opening night. The opening scene is discussed.