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Stone Table Set Piece for The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe

  • 1.  Stone Table Set Piece for The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe

    Posted 10-18-2022 14:59
    Hi Everyone, 

    I am looking for ideas for building a stone table set piece for The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. It doesn't necessarily have to crack. I direct in a very small school with limited resources and just don't know where to start. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!! 

    Anne Elisa Brown
    Madison High School
    Madison, SD

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    Anne Elisa Brown
    Director of the MHS Drama Department
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  • 2.  RE: Stone Table Set Piece for The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe

    Posted 10-18-2022 16:12
    Before you build it, you'll need to design it. What you want to do is start by doing some online research into what other productions have done, as well as on the historical period itself. This will give you some ideas, and then you can come up with a design that works for you given your resources. Once you have that, you can begin to figure out how to build it.

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    George F. Ledo
    Set designer
    www.setdesignandtech.wordpress.com
    www.georgefledo.net
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  • 3.  RE: Stone Table Set Piece for The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe

    Posted 10-19-2022 08:44
    Thank you for your reply. I was hoping that this forum would be a place to get ideas about other productions. :-)

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    Anne Elisa Brown
    Director of the MHS Drama Department
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  • 4.  RE: Stone Table Set Piece for The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe

    Posted 10-19-2022 03:21
    Found some ideas here:
    Community Theater Green Room Discussion Board: Stone Table for Narnia


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    Linda Ganbaatar
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  • 5.  RE: Stone Table Set Piece for The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe

    Posted 10-19-2022 08:41
    Thank you! I will check it out!

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    Anne Elisa Brown
    Director of the MHS Drama Department
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  • 6.  RE: Stone Table Set Piece for The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe

    Posted 10-19-2022 12:10
    I checked out the link for the community theatre discussion, and what struck me right away was that all the suggestions were about how to build it, but not about what it would look like. In professional theatre, film, and TV we always come up with a design first, tying it carefully into how it relates to the story, the characters, the period, and the director's vision for the production. Once we know what the audience will see, then we can figure out the best way to build it.

    A few years ago I wrote a blog article on research and how important it is:

    https://setdesignandtech.wordpress.com/2017/08/10/research-is-an-investment-not-a-luxury/

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    George F. Ledo
    Set designer
    www.setdesignandtech.wordpress.com
    www.georgefledo.net
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  • 7.  RE: Stone Table Set Piece for The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe

    Posted 10-19-2022 12:38
    Hi George, I appreciate your advice. Unfortunately, I have no background in set design or even building. I don't even know how to use a saw properly. I am a full-time Spanish teacher and the theater director for a small high school. I was given the job as an extracurricular because no one else would do it. We don't have much in terms of resources, so I am really hoping for pictures of stone tables that other people have built if they have done the show. If I can get a few pictures from other schools, (not professional theaters because we won't be able to reproduce anything professionally built), I can take the pictures to some community members who may be able to help us build something.

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    Anne Elisa Brown
    Director of the MHS Drama Department
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  • 8.  RE: Stone Table Set Piece for The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe

    Posted 10-19-2022 13:06
    Hi, Anne,

    Thanks for the clarification. Given your comments, I'd say you're well on your way. You're looking for photos (research) and once you find something (i.e., decide what it wants to look like, which is part of designing), you'll take it to some folks who can build it. Go for it!

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    George F. Ledo
    Set designer
    www.setdesignandtech.wordpress.com
    www.georgefledo.net
    ------------------------------



  • 9.  RE: Stone Table Set Piece for The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe

    Posted 10-20-2022 12:00

    I have not produced this play, but if we built many set pieces that were supposed to be stone over the years, and often with a miniscule budget.

    I would start with an old table bought at a thrift store or salvaged from some cast member's garage. 

    Buy some muslin, and staple it on fairly loosely, maybe even scrunching it up a bit if you want it to look rough in the final product.  Wrap the legs, too.

    Then paint your table with regular latex paint.  I recommend that you put out a call for partial gallons of latex paint people have at home and are willing to donate, especially in gray, blue, tan--the colors of stone.  You can also check the oops! paints at your local big box stores.  Just make sure everything is latex.  With several colors of paint, you can wet mix the colors as you paint, giving you a start on the variations that will make it look like stone.

    After you get a good coat of paint on your muslin-covered table, get a couple of natural sponges and dab on colors to improve that variation of color.

    If you want your table to crack, look for a table that pulls apart for the addition of leaves.  Pull it apart at the center before you wrap the top parts in muslin.  You can shove it together for the pre-crack part of the play, and cast members can pull it apart when it "cracks." 

    Students love doing this type of work.  Just make sure they wear clothes that can go right into the garbage after your work day and that you cover your work space with a plastic drop cloth.     



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    CJ Breland
    Retired Theatre Arts Educator
    NC
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  • 10.  RE: Stone Table Set Piece for The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe

    Posted 10-20-2022 12:02
    I didn't proofread thoroughly.  There should be no "if" in that first sentence.

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    CJ Breland
    Retired Theatre Arts Educator
    NC
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  • 11.  RE: Stone Table Set Piece for The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe

    Posted 10-21-2022 09:51
    Thank you so much! This is great advice. I will share it with a few people and see if we can make this happen!! I really appreciate this!

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    Anne Elisa Brown
    Director of the MHS Drama Department
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  • 12.  RE: Stone Table Set Piece for The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe

    Posted 10-21-2022 11:46
    Hi Anne,
    I did this show a couple of years ago and our stone table worked really well and was fairly simple.  We used some 2x4's to build the legs and then used some plywood for the table top.  We made two sections of the table so that it could split apart.  Once we had the table part made, we took some thin wood (it wasn't plywood, but was much thinner and lighter - but I can't remember what the wood is called) and put it on three sides of each section of table and painted it to look like stone.  On the front sides we cut the wood to look like a crack that wasn't super noticeable when the table was together.  Then when the table "cracks" we had a couple of tech crew members hiding underneath the table that were able to push it apart.  It worked really well and was fairly simple to make.  I've attached a picture of it when it was together and one when it was cracked.  Hope this helps!
    Vicki

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    Vicki Henderson
    Arts Avenue Theater and Dance
    TX
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  • 13.  RE: Stone Table Set Piece for The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe

    Posted 10-21-2022 12:37
    Wow!!! Thank you so much for the directions and pictures. The pictures help a lot!

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    Anne Elisa Brown
    Director of the MHS Drama Department
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