SLEUTH - Working Drawings 2

There were 6 pages of working drawings required for SLEUTH ( an average one set design might run to 2 pages with groundplan). For my own reference marks I always ordered the drawings from stage right to stage left showing the relation of each wall unit and set piece to the next as they combine across the set.

The staircase which dominated the center of the set was actually designed not for Walking Up...
...but for Falling Down. When Milo is shot by Wyke at the end of Act 1 he has to take a dead tumble down about 3/4 of the length of the stairs, landing unconcious at the foot of them as the lights fade.

If you look closely at the bottom photo you can see that the rise and tread of each step are actually reversed with the shorter width on top of each step and the longer as the rise. I also put thick foam rubber padding underneath the carpeting which covered the stairs. This steep angle and extra padding ensured a fairly easy tumble which would not endanger the actor. There is also a small landing breaking the staircase at an angle, allowing the actor to roll in mid-fall, allowing him to control the tumble.

This made the fall safe, but  actually climbing the stairs was something of a workout and required a bit of parctice. Fortunately the actor playing Wyke was very long limbed and he only had to go up and down a couple of times during the play.

There was also a wall safe located behind a painting on the side of this staircase which had to be rigged to explode open while being "burgled". A theatrical smoke bomb and recorded sound effect of a small explosion rendered this trick believable to the audience.