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Good afternoon all! I am in a bit of a quandary. My theatre students will be performing Our Town in March. I have staged this in another school and used the traditional ladder setup in the first act; however, due to an unfortunate tragic accident with a district maintenance employee, ladders have made the list of items banned for student use. In fact, I have to attend a safety training in order to use one myself. That being said, does anyone have ideas about how to stage this scene without the use of ladders? Thanks! Rebecca

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Susan Tomlin
Teacher/Theatre Director
Madison Southern High School
Berea KY
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Sent via Higher Logic Mobile

I did Our Town a few years ago and all I had were two sturdy small wooden tables and wooden chairs. I used a chair placed on each table for George and Emily to sit on while they did their homework at the windows. I used a second chair placed next the the tables as a step up to the table tops.

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Thomas Peters
Theatre and Speech Teacher
The Summit Country Day School
Cincinnati OH
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Original Message:
Sent: 01-06-2015 17:33
From: Susan Tomlin
Subject: Our Town Ladder Alternatives

Good afternoon all!

I am in a bit of a quandary. My theatre students will be performing Our Town in March. I have staged this in another school and used the traditional ladder setup in the first act; however, due to an unfortunate tragic accident with a district maintenance employee, ladders have made the list of items banned for student use. In fact, I have to attend a safety training in order to use one myself. That being said, does anyone have ideas about how to stage this scene without the use of ladders?

Thanks!
Rebecca

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Susan Tomlin
Teacher/Theatre Director
Madison Southern High School
Berea KY
-------------------------------------------



Sent via Higher Logic Mobile

You might try building two window frames. Kids could sit on the floor and lean on the frame as if in an uptairs room at a window. ------------------------------------------- Maggie Ward Columbia MD -------------------------------------------
Original Message: Sent: 01-07-2015 06:04 From: Thomas Peters Subject: Our Town Ladder Alternatives I did Our Town a few years ago and all I had were two sturdy small wooden tables and wooden chairs. I used a chair placed on each table for George and Emily to sit on while they did their homework at the windows. I used a second chair placed next the the tables as a step up to the table tops. ------------------------------------------- Thomas Peters Theatre and Speech Teacher The Summit Country Day School Cincinnati OH -------------------------------------------
Original Message: Sent: 01-06-2015 17:33 From: Susan Tomlin Subject: Our Town Ladder Alternatives Good afternoon all! I am in a bit of a quandary. My theatre students will be performing Our Town in March. I have staged this in another school and used the traditional ladder setup in the first act; however, due to an unfortunate tragic accident with a district maintenance employee, ladders have made the list of items banned for student use. In fact, I have to attend a safety training in order to use one myself. That being said, does anyone have ideas about how to stage this scene without the use of ladders? Thanks! Rebecca ------------------------------------------- Susan Tomlin Teacher/Theatre Director Madison Southern High School Berea KY ------------------------------------------- Sent via Higher Logic Mobile

I saw an in-the-round production recently and the tables and chairs from the Gibbs and Webb houses were build so the could stack safely--nothing ornate and very heavy and square. Emily and George put a chair on the table and knelt on the seat of the chair using the chair ladder back as the window sills. It worked pretty well--still had the sense of the original but fit the limited space better.

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Leslie Weinstein
Monongahela PA
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Original Message:
Sent: 01-06-2015 17:33
From: Susan Tomlin
Subject: Our Town Ladder Alternatives

Good afternoon all!

I am in a bit of a quandary. My theatre students will be performing Our Town in March. I have staged this in another school and used the traditional ladder setup in the first act; however, due to an unfortunate tragic accident with a district maintenance employee, ladders have made the list of items banned for student use. In fact, I have to attend a safety training in order to use one myself. That being said, does anyone have ideas about how to stage this scene without the use of ladders?

Thanks!
Rebecca

-------------------------------------------
Susan Tomlin
Teacher/Theatre Director
Madison Southern High School
Berea KY
-------------------------------------------



Sent via Higher Logic Mobile

They could stand on a couple of chairs (although, that might be frowned upon, too) or even just a couple of 2 foot stage boxes.  Place the scene extremely down stage.  I'm not sure the level matters too much.  It's the actions of the actors that seemed to make it for me.  Maybe a gobo of a moon or some stars behind or on the actors-- one could be in a leaf breakup pattern, the other in a window gobo, etc-- I think that would really set it apart-- or even light the scene in blue with two pools of light-- one for each actor.

Hope that helps

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Michael Johnson
Trinity NC
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Original Message:
Sent: 01-06-2015 17:33
From: Susan Tomlin
Subject: Our Town Ladder Alternatives

Good afternoon all!

I am in a bit of a quandary. My theatre students will be performing Our Town in March. I have staged this in another school and used the traditional ladder setup in the first act; however, due to an unfortunate tragic accident with a district maintenance employee, ladders have made the list of items banned for student use. In fact, I have to attend a safety training in order to use one myself. That being said, does anyone have ideas about how to stage this scene without the use of ladders?

Thanks!
Rebecca

-------------------------------------------
Susan Tomlin
Teacher/Theatre Director
Madison Southern High School
Berea KY
-------------------------------------------



Sent via Higher Logic Mobile

I did it with them putting chairs on top of the dining room table.  I think they were on the same one, but looking out.  

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Kimberly Taylor
Oakland CA
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Original Message:
Sent: 01-06-2015 17:33
From: Susan Tomlin
Subject: Our Town Ladder Alternatives

Good afternoon all!

I am in a bit of a quandary. My theatre students will be performing Our Town in March. I have staged this in another school and used the traditional ladder setup in the first act; however, due to an unfortunate tragic accident with a district maintenance employee, ladders have made the list of items banned for student use. In fact, I have to attend a safety training in order to use one myself. That being said, does anyone have ideas about how to stage this scene without the use of ladders?

Thanks!
Rebecca

-------------------------------------------
Susan Tomlin
Teacher/Theatre Director
Madison Southern High School
Berea KY
-------------------------------------------



Sent via Higher Logic Mobile

I once performed in a production of the show where the director wanted to respect the spareness of Wilder's concept without replicating the same ladders-and-bare-theatre-walls image that an audience probably would have seen many times before.  The set designer's answer for this scene was a couple of step units that came on from the wings.  They were deliberately simple, like rehearsal furniture, and painted flat black, but they got the same idea across, because they still didn't seem like "scenery."  Maybe this would give you some elevation without being what your administration would call a "ladder."

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Jeff Grove
Theatre Teacher, Aesthetics Department Chair
Stanton College Preparatory School
Jacksonville FL

I had the same issue . . . District has banned ladders for all students. I solved the problem by building stair units, similar to the moveable stairs that Home Depot uses for reaching the upper levels of their warehouse shelves. Mine were made of wood rather than welded metal, of course. There was a small platform at the top (about 30" square, I think) so that the actors could sit cross legged. When the younger sister climbed to join her brother, she sat near the top on a step. The top level was about five feet off the ground, and though the stairs were steep, they could still be mounted in a standing position. I think we got away with only 1 railing. We put units on casters, so that they could be wheeled off and on (locking casters, of course). Although we built these for Our Town, I've actually used them in several subsequent shows.

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Dawn Coyan
Manteca CA
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Original Message:
Sent: 01-06-2015 17:33
From: Susan Tomlin
Subject: Our Town Ladder Alternatives

Good afternoon all!

I am in a bit of a quandary. My theatre students will be performing Our Town in March. I have staged this in another school and used the traditional ladder setup in the first act; however, due to an unfortunate tragic accident with a district maintenance employee, ladders have made the list of items banned for student use. In fact, I have to attend a safety training in order to use one myself. That being said, does anyone have ideas about how to stage this scene without the use of ladders?

Thanks!
Rebecca

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Susan Tomlin
Teacher/Theatre Director
Madison Southern High School
Berea KY
-------------------------------------------



Sent via Higher Logic Mobile