Upholstered Stool
Class Project
Designed by Rowan Doe
Upholstered Stool
Class Project
Designed by Rowan Doe
A props special topics class offered the opportunity to make a stool, complete with doweling, upholstery, and creative freedom. I made a two-step stool with upholstered cushions with buttons and piping, and hand-turned my legs on our shop's lathe. These were the first cushions that I made. Funny enough, years ago I had made a bodice out of that same fabric in my hometown Portland, Oregon, and found that fabric at DePaul University. It was a really fun find that had to make its way into this project.
Breaking Beds
Our Lady of Kibeho
Scenic Design by Jack Hagan
Breaking Beds
Our Lady of Kibeho
Scenic Design by Jack Hagan
These beds were purchased beds modified to "break." During one moment of the play, the performers are lifted up by the Virgin Mary, and were actually rigged to fly. At the same time, the beds beneath them "break" in half, and I was tasked with chopping up the first bed, welding it back together with plate steel and hinges, attaching legs, and building handles that we stuck into the walls of the set. They also needed to be fitted with pins so that the beds could be moved for ensuing scenes. This was a collaboration between technical and props to have the holes in the walls cut, and several other people also built the breaking beds. There were a total of 3.
Hand Turned Stools
Luchadora!
Scenic Design by Sophia Ospital
Hand Turned Stools with Rush Woven Tops
Luchadora!
Scenic Design by Sophia Ospital
These stools were a tricky bunch. They were custom stools with hand-woven rush tops, turned legs, and dowels that were inserted at strange angles, like 72.4 degrees and 92 degrees. My coworker and I divvied up who was drilling holes on the drill press and who was sanding down and inserting dowels into the ends of the dowel rods. Gorilla glue was used to connect the dowel rods, and wood glue in the apron pieces. There were four total, and a different person made each woven top. They were finished with a "dirty" paint treatment.
Traveling Trees
Jane of the Jungle
Scenic Design by Tara Huffman
Traveling Trees
Jane Of The Jungle
Scenic Design by Tara Huffman
I was a part of the team that built the rolling trees. They had platforms with castors, and the trees themselves were several pieces of bent pipe steel with big plastic leaves attached with hose clamps. I assisted in welding the trunks together and building the platforms out, which included stem castors, so we inset them into the platforms so they wouldn't stick out. The trees were lagged into the platforms.
Upholstered Steel Stools
The Oresteia
Scenic Design by Jack Hagan
The Oresteia
Scenic Design by Jack Hagan
Upholstered Steel Stools
These steel stools were MIG welded and finished with a sanded treatment. I made the cutlist for all 8 stools, which included a miter joint through 1x2 rectangular steel on edge, 1/4" plate steel, and counter-sunk holes on the drill press. After that, a team of us made 1 stool each. The frames were welded together, welds were ground down, and the steel was finished by sanding it with increasingly higher grit paper to create a matte effect. The tops were white vinyl with piping and specifically folded corners that we all also did individually.
Exorcism Table
A Dybbuk: Or Between Two Worlds
Scenic Design by Steven Abbott
Exorcism Table
A Dybbuk: Or Between Two Worlds
Scenic Design by Steven Abbott
This was a steel framed table intended to hold one person on the top and one hiding underneath. The table tilts forward and the actor on top rests on footrests, while the actor from beneath sticks their arms through two holes in the surface and snatches her from behind. Pneumatic braking castors attached. Braking arm attached on inside, similar to the hood of a car. I assisted in some welding, fitting ply caps and casters, and dressing with ropes, along with the Props Master and Assistant.
Traveling Roofs
A Wrinkle In Time
Scenic Design by Lindsay Mummert
Traveling Roofs
A Wrinkle In Time
Scenic Design by Lindsay Mummert
Though this show was unrealized due to COVID-19, these traveling roofs were designed in mind to be carried by actors onstage. They were light and maneuverable, and the final paint treatment was to look like a book.
Walls and Panels
Water By The Spoonful
Scenic Design by Lindsay Mummert
Walls and Panels
Water By The Spoonful
Scenic Design by Lindsay Mummert
As Master Carpenter of this show I spent time building some of the walls in our production. This included poplar framing that had some funky construction to accommodate custom tracking elements. The white panels pictured above tracked on and off stage to reveal painted muslin panels, and much of that had to be accounted for in the construction. I also assisted in building the muslin and hard panels, including those that hung.
Weapons Cabinet
Shop Project
Designed by Rowan Doe
Weapons Cabinet
Shop Project
Designed by Rowan Doe
The old weapons cabinet had been obliterated, so I designed and built a new one per request of our Props Master. It holds a number of broadswords, daggers, rapiers, and thinner swords, as well as rolling and featuring a locking door. It was later painted as well.
"Cubed" Table and Chairs
She Kills Monsters!
Scenic Design by Ashley Wang
"Cubed" Table and Chairs
She Kills Monsters
Scenic Design by Ashley Wang
The table and chairs designed here were built of poplar framing with plywood tops and masonite facing. They were originally designed taller, and then trimmed to a smaller size. The table was fitted with a pneumatic brake system, and were both paint treated by the paint deck. I built all three.
Various
Shop Projects
Various
Many of our scenic elements have pneumatic castors. This system was a platform that held up a 300 pound cast-iron bathtub, along with water and human inside of it. It was a 4x6 platform I added an extra plywood cap to, as well as lauan facing and a masonite cap.
The shelf was also featured in She Kills Monsters, though it didn't need to function as a shelf by the time it went onstage. It had regular castors, and was built using 1/2" plywood. It was spackled and sent to paint.