Wednesday, June 3, 2015

Even the Simple Things Need Designing

 The major set pieces for  LILI  have all been completed. Some minor things still need to be made, like these two small step stools. Not part of my original design, I realized  during assembly for the Puppet Booth that the actors who bring the Header in and attach it would need a bit of height assistance in order to do so.

So I quickly drew up this plan for the stools in a simple country style and cut them out of pine and lightweight cedar lumber.
 Here the various pieces have been cut and sanded, ready for assembly.

 And here is one of the stools fully assembled. I added the dowel brace underneath for extra stability. I will paint these to coordinate with the set, then disassemble and pack them flat for transport as I have with all of the rest of the set pieces.
Quite a bit of work for two props which will only be seen on stage for 30 seconds tops, but even the little touches require design, I believe.
This is also true of set dressing items such as the pillows which will be placed on the bare benches on either side of the stage when they represent the Caravans in which the actors live in the carnival. I found some commercially available pillows with texture and pattern that I liked and will use on the set, but I needed something a bit more special to go along with them.

So I found some stencil patterns that would work and used then to adorn leftover pieces of canvas as I am doing above. Sewn into a pillow with some yarn tassels at each corner and paired with the pillows i purchased, these will give a colorful and period detail to the plain benches during the show.

I will add stuffing when I get to Texas this summer so I can trasport them rolled up to save space in the van.

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