The stage crew build process is a long and strenuous one. The entire set needs to be completed before the technical rehearsals start for the production, and the team quickly shifts to maintaining and operating the set during the show. What happens to the set after the show?
The stage crew construction cycle can be described by two simple metaphors:
- Rome was not built in a day.
- Hiroshima was destroyed in a day.
The crew shifts from dedicating large amounts of time to carefully piecing together a set and upkeeping it to leveling it in a three hour period.
Here is how it is done:
First, you will need a few tools and resources.
- A sledgehammer
- A crowbar
- A VERY LARGE dumpster
- Vacuum cleaners
- Power drills
- Muscle and grit
Destruction day still remains my favorite stage crew ritual, as it gives the team a new slate to use and allows for a recycling of materials. Most of the wood that we use in shows is reused to the point where it is structurally deficient, and screws are guaranteed to serve in several productions, until they are completely stripped down. Besides that, everything goes. The fun begins.
We mostly love and take pride in the structures we build, but there is always a piece that irritates everyone on the crew, to the point where it deserves a spot in hell.
What does a teenage crew armed with sledgehammers and crowbars do to these obnoxious structures?
We send them to the flames below
Nothing is as satisfying as pulverizing construction project with a sledgehammer, but we only reserve this measure for the worst items.
The remainder of the set is carefully dismantled using power drills, and the recycled wood and screws are sorted out from the waste. The remainder of the supplies meet the full power of the sledge hammer to be compressed for the dumpster.
Within three hours, our monuments to the show productions are reduced to a pile of wood in backstage and sawdust for the dumpster and vacuums. It seems depressing to put so much work into a project, only to have it torn apart by children wielding weapons of mass destruction.
This is what the reflection following the demolition is structured to combat. We reflect with the cast of the show on the high and low points of the production, and how we grew as actors and crew members because of them. The crew members usually mention the countless stories that came up during the build, and prove how we overcame hurdles to craft a set that blew the audience away.
Each set is both literally and figuratively built on the materials and knowledge gained from the previous set. We enjoy destroying our sets in such as small timeframe, because it gives us the opportunity to quickly remember our growth and look forward to the next shiny set design that we will be presented with. A phoenix rises out of the ashes.