Undertaking The Collaborative Project

Get-In Period (2 Weeks)

Overview

The Get-In ran rather smoothly. Set was unable to start at the beginning of the week due to rigging scheduled but that spare time was used to gather all available recourses needed to make a start as soon as possible. Their was a few issues with communication and prioritizing at times but never enough to negatively impact the process.

MDF Floor Install

The floor install was efficient as it was laid down as we figured out precisely where the lite deck was going which helped keep the flow of things. We had split into teams once it was lay: one team scraping and sanding the edges, another nailing them down, and another taping the seams. I was taping and eventually we found an effective method - it would have been useful to have found it earlier though.

The taping ended up being postponed due to aforementioned prioritizing and communication. I still believe that it was less efficient postponing when we did as the job we postponed for didn't start for awhile and we could've finished taping in that time.

Custom Wooden Decking - For Trapdoor

I was originally brought onto this task as a  spare set of hands however it ended up becoming my project. Despite the issues this kept bringing each luckily had a simple enough solution.

Issue 1: Despite the gap between Lite Deck being the same the original measurements taken by another crew member had different widths. I had brought this up during the construction process but after measuring a 3rd time the measurements were still the same so we chanced it and it didn't work. The solution was to measure the Down Stage Deck and then adjust the Up Stage Deck to the new measurement - this meant shortening two of the sides and the top piece. Once put back in place this worked.

Issue 2: The next issue was that although the decks now fit, one side of the trapdoor frame didn't sit on the Lite Deck meaning it couldn't be screwed in. This resulted in the addition of a piece of 2 by 1 to fill in the gap.

Issue 3: Although bolted to the additional decks the wooden decks were tilting/dropping which raised a safety concern due to the amount of foot traffic. It was suggested to add additional bolts along the bottom edges of the wooden decks in order to prevent twisting and add some extra stability. This meant drill new holes in the bottom of the decks and align them with drilled holes in 2 by 2 timber and bolt through.

Issue 4: The most worrying concern was the shortage of long bolts as with the additions of new supports it was apparent I would struggle to find bolts long enough to go through two pieces of 2 by 2 timber, the width of the outer frame of Lite Deck, and leave enough excess to secure a nut and washer onto the bolts. This issue thankfully resolved itself.

Issue 5: A quickly resolved issue was that the back decking had dropped in one corner which was put down to warped wood. The top layer was removed and a shim was placed under that corner before the top piece was fixed back on.

Barber Chair #3 - The Death One

This was one of the most complicated yet simple parts of the whole production. Once the trapdoor was secured it was approved to start figuring out how we would be presetting it safely. It was decided that the spinning function was not necessary and that lever would cause a risk so it was taped up and noted to be out of use, this gave us the option to have bolts drop in place to secure the positioning of the chair once preset for Act 2. The only preparation needed for this was to drill 2 bolt holes into the frame below - when presetting the chair would be positioned then the bolts dropped in.

Technical Rehearsal

Overview

In terms of ASM all ran well during the tech. Due to not having many additional jobs backstage for the period I was more on standby than actively working. In context for this show, I was waiting underneath the Barbers platform so that there was at least one ASM backstage at all times.

What Went Well

Anytime a note was given, question was asked, or spiking had to be done there wasn't much delay as everyone was around.

Spiking Was done rather quickly each time.

Anytime the chair was called to drop the trapdoor opened accordingly after we figured out the technique (two people on the handle one pulling one pushing)

What I'd Do Differently

I usually pre-cut some spikes although didn't this time - I'd go back to pre-cutting them.

I should have asked someone else to stay backstage with me instead of in the seating bank so it would have took less time for them to reach me when we were needed.

Dress Rehearsal

Overview

Dress run ran great except there was a show stop due to the chair having been kicked out of place right before a drop - this wasn't a fault on anybody but did lead to it being looked at again and gone back over. When doing pre-show checks for this run we realized that certain aspects of the set were loosening overtime due to activity, mainly the railings and bolts holding the wooden decking, these were then added to our checks.

What Went Well

We figured out the rythm of backstage so it was easier to manage the following runs.

All chair drops went as planned except for the show stop which was handled professionally - although this raised the issue that the MD couldn't hear us to stop the show.

What I'd Do Differently

When the show stop happened I felt the actor stand back on the trapdoor just before he had moved and we opened it, I should have trusted my first instinct to not open it when I felt him stand back on it - luckily there was a delay to opening the trapdoor as it got stuck so he was able to be out of the way in time to not be injured.

Show Week

Overview

Other than the occasional delay starting on time all shows ran with little to no issues. There was one show the preset was adjusted after I had set it but it didn't cause any major issues. One issue that did cause more concern over the course of the shows was the trapdoor itself along with the frame. During Pirellis Death we noticed how the structure would shake and creak which was bearable but when keeping an eye on this it came to my attention the trapdoor was starting to have small cracks in the wood. After getting some second opinions it was deemed safe but was worth keeping an eye on - on top of this the shim put in place to help keep the Up-Stage deck raised started falling apart due to the activity and bolts over the nights.

What Went Well

All potential hazards were detected early on and were able to be evaluated before any harm was caused.

There was mutual respect between cast and crew which meant that cast would listen when wed ask them to be quiet and they would come to us with any concerns/questions during the runs instead of anything being blew out of proportion.

All trapdoor deaths were clean and no one was majorly injured despite the times it seemed they would be.

At the end of the show I would help Mic Tech de-mic everyone so that the cast could get changed sooner and we'd be able to lock up faster.

I was also in charge of cueing props when to start cooking the pies ready for Act 2 - this cue was originally given at the start of "Mrs. Lovett's Meat Pies" but was eventually moved to two songs later due to complaints that they were cooling by the time cast would be eating them.

What I'd Do Differently

As aforementioned there was one show the preset was adjusted after all preset and pre-show checks were done which meant it wasn't in the right place when show began. Although not directed being anyone's fault I take accountability for not doing another last minute check before we opened house - I proceeded to do this last check every other show.

During Act 1 there wasn't much for us to do except be on COMM's and on standby incase anything goes wrong however instead of just standing around I should've found something else to make better use of my time during that first hour - on the last show night I helped with mic changes but I wish I had done that in Act 1 throughout all shows.

There were a few instances where no one was on COMM's on Stage Left which looking back didn't need to happen.

Show Reports

The below reports are in order from L to R please ignore the typo on the dates.

Get-Out Period (1 Weeks)

Overview

The Get-Out as usual was the quickest part of this process and only took 3 days to complete with only 5 max of us working on it at any one time. We started with removing all the vac form and dressing, then disassembling the flats and upper layer, before moving onto the decking aspects. Despite extra hands being preferred it worked better having a smaller team as it enabled for smoother communication and better efficiency cause there was always a job for someone to be doing.

Day 1 

Day 1 was spent focusing on removing the vac form which albeit it being a quick and efficient job it led to many open cuts across the whole team - this was a fault of our own for forgetting how sharp plastic and staples can be. By the end of the day all the plastics were gone, props had been moved back to the store and containers and we was left with the upper level of flats/scenic along with the decking and flooring. The band pit was also stripped albeit this not being sets responsibility.

Day 2

By the end of Day 2 all the upper scenery was out along with all railings, additional supports, and all cloth dressings and drapes were folded and put away. My last task of the day was removing the wooden decks and trapdoor which despite a simple task took a bit more effort than I would've preferred. With the frames out of the way  all that was left for Day 3 was removing the decking and MDF Flooring along with a general clean up.

Day 3 

We was down to 3/4 team members when taking down all the deck which meant that it took a tad longer since we had to be extra careful. The biggest challenge of this was removing the MDF flooring as not only was each seam double taped but there was cobbles on top that needed removing and then we had to find a way to get it up without damaging the sheets due to them being nailed into the floor.