"Real Gone" Set

On December 5, 2012 our class went down to visit the set of "Real Gone" the play that our school will be putting on January 17, 18 and 19. My teacher, Mrs. Burke, is the adviser for the play, and I am really excited because she said we could help paint sets when the play gets closer!! The set was a standard already made one, and they just had to design it the way they want. There will be a kitchen, pantry, stairs to the upstairs, and the front door. The set is made of reusable flats, which have legs and masking to hold it together. Then, there are braces to support it, as well as weights and sandbags to make sure it doesn't fall over. The student-directors of the play decided to have the audience sit on the stage. They will create a three quarter thrust theatre. They wanted to do this because the audience is closer to the actors so that they will feel more of a part of the play. However, it will provide blocking challenges because all of the audience will want to see the actors. Also, the actors behind the set must be extremely quiet since the audience will be right there. They will not be able to have costume changes behind the set. Seeing this set made me realize how much work goes into a theatrical production. Most people think of a play as actors memorizing their lines and acting. Maybe they'll recognize the director and a little bit of the set, but it is really so much. Especially in a student-run production, they will face a lot of problems. I highly doubt they will have a production that is flawless, but that is live theatre: it is never flawless. I can't imagine how much work the students will have to put in. I also think it is awesome that they are going with a creative way to position the audience. I've never been to a play where the audience sits on the stage with the actors, so I am really excited to go see it!! It's amazing to see how these things come together. They often make it look flawless, but I know it takes a lot of hard work to do it. I'm excited to help paint the set, so it will give me a taste for the kind of work that happens in theatre in the real life.