Theatrical staged plays need sets, and sometimes scenic designers draft complex and huge pieces. It then falls on the scene shop and the Technical Director to build those sets, and at the collegiate level, students are the ones building sets. As part of the upcoming production of Hamlet (Spring 26), we are constructing a roughly 14-foot-tall custom staircase that will be both structurally sound and visually appealing. Building custom stairs for a theatrical production of this scale takes extensive metal and wood working knowledge - from cleaning the steel to precise welding techniques, there are a lot of specialized techniques that go into this process. With a time crunch of March 30th-April 30th, we have to work efficiently to ensure that not only can the actors use it safely, but also that it fits with the show's visual aesthetic. We will be sharing the procedures and processes we take each day in the planning, material prep, and execution of this huge and complex theatrical construction.
Acknowledgements: Special thanks to: Union College Theater and Dance Department, Kevin Miller, Andrew Bodd, and Jasmine Roth