Open Forum

I'm doing Sense and Sensibility this winter, and there are several scenes set at a formal dining table with about eight guests. Does anyone have interesting staging ideas to avoid having either the worlds longest tables or having half the actors with their backs to the audience? I probably can't build anything too elaborate because I don't have a technical director. I'm also interested in suggestions that convey the idea without necessarily using a real table. This is the Kate Hamill version, so there's room for creativity.

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Cassy Maxton-Whitacre
Theatre Department Coordinator
Fishersville VA
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I'm not sure how well it would transfer to a proscenium stage, but Bedlam did Hamill's version in the traverse where everything was on wheels. The dinner table rotated by either the seated actors moving their feet under the table or by the seated actors holding the table while other actors moved their chairs... it's hard to explain but you can see some of it in the video from the American Repertory Theater: A.R.T. - American Repertory Theater | Bedlam's Sense & Sensibility 

Again, might not work as well in a proscenium and it might be a challenge for younger actors. I also just did a show with every set piece on wheels for fast transitions and it can be a bit of a building challenge. But I loved this production and thought it might at least inspire some other thoughts/ideas :) 

Review: At ART, 'Bedlam's Sense and Sensibility' is on a roll - The Boston Globe

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Rebecca Curran
Drama Director
Sanford FL
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Original Message:
Sent: 11-13-2018 08:53
From: Cassy Maxton-Whitacre
Subject: Creative staging for formal dining table

I'm doing Sense and Sensibility this winter, and there are several scenes set at a formal dining table with about eight guests. Does anyone have interesting staging ideas to avoid having either the worlds longest tables or having half the actors with their backs to the audience? I probably can't build anything too elaborate because I don't have a technical director. I'm also interested in suggestions that convey the idea without necessarily using a real table. This is the Kate Hamill version, so there's room for creativity.

------------------------------
Cassy Maxton-Whitacre
Theatre Department Coordinator
Fishersville VA
------------------------------

If it's a dinner party why not try several tables for four? 
It might be a challenge to plan but fun to allow actors to circulate.

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Nell] [Lynch]
Timonium MDMaggie
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Original Message:
Sent: 11-14-2018 08:23
From: Rebecca Curran
Subject: Creative staging for formal dining table

I'm not sure how well it would transfer to a proscenium stage, but Bedlam did Hamill's version in the traverse where everything was on wheels. The dinner table rotated by either the seated actors moving their feet under the table or by the seated actors holding the table while other actors moved their chairs... it's hard to explain but you can see some of it in the video from the American Repertory Theater: A.R.T. - American Repertory Theater | Bedlam's Sense & Sensibility

Again, might not work as well in a proscenium and it might be a challenge for younger actors. I also just did a show with every set piece on wheels for fast transitions and it can be a bit of a building challenge. But I loved this production and thought it might at least inspire some other thoughts/ideas :)

Review: At ART, 'Bedlam's Sense and Sensibility' is on a roll - The Boston Globe

------------------------------
Rebecca Curran
Drama Director
Sanford FL

Original Message:
Sent: 11-13-2018 08:53
From: Cassy Maxton-Whitacre
Subject: Creative staging for formal dining table

I'm doing Sense and Sensibility this winter, and there are several scenes set at a formal dining table with about eight guests. Does anyone have interesting staging ideas to avoid having either the worlds longest tables or having half the actors with their backs to the audience? I probably can't build anything too elaborate because I don't have a technical director. I'm also interested in suggestions that convey the idea without necessarily using a real table. This is the Kate Hamill version, so there's room for creativity.

------------------------------
Cassy Maxton-Whitacre
Theatre Department Coordinator
Fishersville VA
------------------------------