Community Theater Green Room Discussion Board: Safety Backstage

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   I have a rule when I SM large casts in small places. No one backstage unless your entrance is 2 minutes away cuts down on crowding.
I have also been known to say that an actor will trip over a line painted on the floor! LOL
Glow tape is best just make sure you charge it up before the show. I have one of my ASM run around and hit each piece with a flashlight before the house opens. Running lights are a must as well. When I do lights I program into every blackout the backstage runners so the light tech won't forget. in the case of your older actors sometimes you just need to assign them a crew person who take care of getting them on and off stage. I have worked with an older guy who was a great actor he just couldn't get to the stage on time. so I got an extra crew person to babysit them, take them backstage for entrances and be right there to take him off again.
As for the space issue: you could always just blow out the backwall of the theatreLOL that should do it!
good luck and don't beat yourself up about it. these kinds on things happen and can not always be avoided. I did Noises off one year in summer stock and the actor who played the director triped coming through the window (he had worked this entrance about 100 times) and broke his leg. he finished the show and did the rest of the season (we did 7 shows in rep, he was in 5) in a cast. Laughing at himself the whole time!

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Shatcher Celebrity Joined: 2/21/05 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 251	Posted: 6/12/06 at 12:38pm
	I have a rule when I SM large casts in small places. No one backstage unless your entrance is 2 minutes away cuts down on crowding. I have also been known to say that an actor will trip over a line painted on the floor! LOL Glow tape is best just make sure you charge it up before the show. I have one of my ASM run around and hit each piece with a flashlight before the house opens. Running lights are a must as well. When I do lights I program into every blackout the backstage runners so the light tech won't forget. in the case of your older actors sometimes you just need to assign them a crew person who take care of getting them on and off stage. I have worked with an older guy who was a great actor he just couldn't get to the stage on time. so I got an extra crew person to babysit them, take them backstage for entrances and be right there to take him off again. As for the space issue: you could always just blow out the backwall of the theatreLOL that should do it! good luck and don't beat yourself up about it. these kinds on things happen and can not always be avoided. I did Noises off one year in summer stock and the actor who played the director triped coming through the window (he had worked this entrance about 100 times) and broke his leg. he finished the show and did the rest of the season (we did 7 shows in rep, he was in 5) in a cast. Laughing at himself the whole time!
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Guests Guest	Posted: 9/28/06 at 2:58pm
	You can order Glow Tape, and Glow Arrows, etc. through rosebrand.com. Also, I make it an art form if I need to use it where the audience will see it. My actor's safety is the most important thing. As for the one actor who needs help down the stairs, assign another actor who is also exiting to be the escort before she starts down the escape stairs. Lastly, I use a camera flash with a test button ($20 at any camera store) to charge my glow tape.
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Nanette Celebrity Joined: 8/01/06 Online Status: Offline Posts: 399	Posted: 9/28/06 at 7:09pm
	We had Scrooge fall off the stage once (nice effect, though, as he was meeting Jacob Marley right then!) and an entire set fell ... domino-style ... when an over-anxious actor turned, hands-out, and started walking during a blackout (we were sharing space w/ the high school and they had a concert ... we couldn't nail the set down until AFTER their concert that night). I've used simple white or blue holiday lights strung along the floor in the wings. It's inexpensive and gives enough light for the actors to see very well. If the audience sees it, well, I'd rather have my cast safe than in traction.
	In a world of margarine, be butter!
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red diva Celebrity Joined: 5/15/06 Online Status: Offline Posts: 199	Posted: 10/02/06 at 3:15pm
	We always try to identify the actors that are "night blind" and need help being escorted off stage in the dark. At least one or two volunteers near them on stage grab their hands and guide them into the wings, which are usually lit with blue light. I used to be one of the guides; now I'm being guided. Sad but true. We also use LOTS of glow tape, but I find that it disorients some people because they have trouble identifying what areas of the stage or pieces of furniture the tape is marking. My suggestion is to start using it as early in the rehearsal process as possible so that those folks can get used to seeing the tape in specific spots.
	"I've worked long and hard to earn the right to be called Diva!"
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avcastner Star Joined: 12/21/06 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 85	Posted: 1/19/07 at 3:53pm
	Backstage we use christmas tree lights--usually blue, as they are not as bright. I've seen the local Shakespeare festival use rope lights you can get at the holiday time as well. Some professional lighting companies sell the rope lighting, too. Also, I have my stage managers give two tours once the set is up: a tour of the set and backstage areas with all the lights up, pointing out the danger spots; and another tour with a black out and running lights on. They progress single-file throughout the whole tour. It seems to help.
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Techiemama Player Joined: 1/02/07 Online Status: Offline Posts: 0	Posted: 1/22/07 at 4:22am
	During my stint as a Stage Manager , I bought a couple hundred 'glow sticks' online and I tape them everywhere that can't be seen backstage. They provide enough light to keep people from bumping into set pieces, they can define stairs in the dark and they glow long enough for the matinee and evening performances without replacing them. I had a very difficult director, with a TON of scene changes, a cast of a hundred kids, and hazards galore for Wizard of Oz and I found that the glowsticks cut down on our accidents and our need for tons of flashlights backstage. They were helpful also on the backs of the curtain legs, so the actors could find their entrances easily, and also on the 'brakes' for the ropes so our elderly but delightful scrim puller could find the scrim and not accidentally pull the grand on us. My ASM thinks we should package them as 'backstage safety devices'. Hope they help you all out.
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