Wow! This is a lot! I wish I could deliver on all your asks, but I don't have a good answer! I'll just share what we have done. We have periaktoi we have used for several performances. We have three 2x4 triangular frames for each periaktoi. The bottommost frame has a triangular piece of plywood on which three wheels are mounted. We do not use locking wheels, as the stage is flat and the periaktoi don't hold people! We use 1x4s for our verticals. We screw lauan facings (or thin plywood) onto each periaktoi so they cover the view of the wheels, leaving a 1/2" gap up from the floor. The lauan lasts a long time and can be repainted every show. The lauan can also be laid out on the floor while painting so the seams match up perfectly once they are screwed on. I hope someone has an idea for a more 'collapsible'/'touring' friendly method!
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Hi all -- we're building a couple of 3x8 periaktoi for our one act festival show, and wondering if anyone has design advice.
We can make "permanent" prisms, but I'd rather have pieces that could be folded/collapsed/assembled on site for easy transportation. I also like the idea of being able to swap out sides with different types of flats for future shows.
For this show, the pieces would be rotated in view of the audience, which would need to be both smooth and fast -- so using casters, except I'd like to set them inside the peri so that they aren't visible... Except that would make locking the wheels difficult, so I'm worried about the pieces rolling away.
We do have a design plan, but this is new-ish territory for both me and my set builder, so any advice or been-there wisdom would be amazing!
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Josie Tierney-Fife
English Teacher/Theater Director
Gorham, Maine
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