How to Make a Back for a Stage

Bring your play to life with a beautifully painted backdrop.

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The backdrop is an essential component of the stage, as it allows you to create the scenery needed for the play. Professional theaters often use elaborate backdrops made with expensive materials and fabrics. Building your backdrop's supporting structure out of PVC pipe will allow you to save money, without sacrificing the quality of your production. Instead of using silk or velvet, you can cover your backdrop frame with seamless paper. This will allow you to easily change the scenery of your play, using various painted landscapes and designs.

Related Searches:Difficulty:Moderately ChallengingInstructions Things You'll Need10 8-foot pieces of PVC2 four-way PVC fittings2 five-way PVC fittings8 1-foot pieces of PVC2 PVC elbow fittings2 PVC T-jointsSeamless paper -- available at craft and party supply storesDuct tapeSuggest Edits1

Place one 8-foot piece of PVC pipe onto the floor in a horizontal position. Insert the left end of the PVC into a four-way fitting.

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Insert the right end of the PVC pipe into a five-way fitting. Lower an 8-foot piece of PVC into the four-way fitting, in a vertical position. Insert a 1-foot PVC pipe into the two remaining holes of the four-way fitting, to create legs for your backdrop.

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Place a J-shaped elbow fitting atop the vertical piece of PVC pipe. Lower an 8-foot piece of PVC into the five-way fitting, in a vertical position. Place a T-joint atop the second piece of vertical PVC.

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Connect the elbow fitting and T-joint with an 8-foot piece of PVC. Insert a 1-foot piece of PVC into the opposing ends of the five-way fitting, to create a second set of legs for your backdrop. Place an 8-foot piece of PVC onto the floor, in a horizontal position.

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Slide the left end of the PVC pipe into the remaining hole of the five-way fitting. Place a five-way fitting onto the right side of the PVC pipe. Lower an 8-foot piece of PVC into the five-way fitting, in a vertical position.

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Place a T-joint atop the piece of vertical PVC. Connect the two T-joints with a piece of 8-foot PVC. Insert a 1-foot piece of PVC into the opposing ends of the five-way fitting, to create a third pair of legs for your backdrop.

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Insert an 8-foot piece of PVC into the remaining hole of the five-way fitting, in a horizontal position. Place your last four-way fitting onto the right side of the PVC. Lower an 8-foot piece of PVC into the four-way fitting, in a vertical position.

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Place an elbow fitting atop the vertical piece of PVC. Connect the T-joint and elbow fitting with your last piece of 8-foot PVC. Insert your last two pieces of 1-foot PVC into the opposing ends of the four-way fitting, to create a fourth pair of legs for your backdrop.

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Wrap a large sheet of seamless paper around the skeletal structure of your backdrop. Secure the paper in place with numerous pieces of duct tape. Draw landscapes and designs onto the paper to complete your stage backdrop, if only one is needed for your production. If more than one backdrop is needed, paint each one on a separate sheet of seamless paper, and change them as needed during the play.

ReferencesShin Digz: Background Materials, Stage Backdrops, Background PaperBarlow and Associates: Stage TypesCharles H Stewart: Theater Glossary of Backdrops and Scenic DesignResourcesHarvard: Set Design: Student Technical Theatre HandbookArts Work: Stage DesignYale: Design: Yale School of DramaPhoto Credit Adam Taylor/Digital Vision/Getty ImagesRead Next:

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Makeup Tips to Hide Jowls and the Neckline When on the Stage

Print this articleStage makeup has a variety of uses when applied to theater. It's useful when concealing problem areas on an actor's face and also when adding problem areas to an actor's face to make him appear older or more sinister. If you want to conceal the actor's jowls and neckline area, use basic makeup, but heavily apply it, since the actor will be on stage.

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Remove any makeup that you have on. Apply water to your face, followed by soap or face cleanser, then remove it with more water. If you're not wearing street makeup, you should still wash your face with these items, as they clean the face to prepare for stage makeup application.

Foundation

After the face is clean, apply foundation to the jowl and neckline area. Since you're trying to cover up these areas, make sure that the foundation is the same color as the actor you apply it to. If you don't have the correct color, mix the colors you have until you get the right tone.

Liquid Highlighter

You can hide the jowls by applying liquid highlighter to your jowl lines with a concealer brush. Some liquid highlighters also come in a pen-like applicator, allowing for simpler use. This product will make the lines less deep and create a smoother appearance.

Fluid Concealer

Fluid concealer can also be applied to the problem areas on your jowl and neckline. Since you're applying it for the stage, apply more than the usual amount.

ReferencesMakeupArtistWorld: About Theater MakeupRead Next:

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How to Make a Turning Stage

A rotating stage gives the audience on all sides a view of the action.

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A turning stage is an effective way to give everyone in the audience a view of what is happening. A turning stage can also give the appearance of actors traveling as they walk along the edge of the stage and scenery goes by. Two different sets placed back to back on a turning stage can facilitate a quick scene change as the stage rotates and another scene appears. Build your own turning stage for your production, thereby expanding the capabilities of your old stationary stage.

Related Searches:Difficulty:Moderately ChallengingInstructions Things You'll Need2 metal flanges, 2-inch opening1/4-inch wood screws,1 inch longScrewdriver2-inch-diameter pipe1/2-inch-thick plywoodWood glueSaw3/4-inch screwsStraight-line castorsScrewsLarge eye screwBlack ropeSuggest Edits1

Measure the floor of your existing stage, and determine the center point. For a rectangular stage, extend a diagonal line from each front corner to the back corner on the opposite side of the stage. The lines cross at the center point, which is the pivot point for your rotating stage.

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Screw a flange into the floor at the center point. Use a flange that is not threaded inside. Tighten the flange down well, as your entire stage will pivot around this flange. Using 1/4-inch wood screws that are 1 inch long, place the screws in the pre-drilled holes on the flange. Hold the flange in position as you screw the screws through the holes in the flange into the floor.

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Cut a 6-inch length of pipe of a diameter that fits into the flange. Push the pipe into the flange. Screw the set screw in the side of the flange down tightly so that the pipe does not move.

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Join plywood sheets together to make your rotating stage the size you want it. Though the sheets are square, join them before cutting the circle you will need for your rotating stage. Join 4-by-8-foot sheets together using butt joints with blocks. Butt the edges of the sheets together, and glue them. Cut 6-by-18-inch blocks from plywood, and screw them to the undersides of the joints, using 3/4-inch screws so they won't stick out. Place each block so that it straddles the joint. Space the blocks along the length of the joint, leaving 6 inches between blocks.

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Saw a circle out of the joined plywood. This will be the floor of your rotating stage. If the cut intersects a place where you have supported a joint with a block, continue the cut. You will have a partial block support at this point, but it will be strong enough to support your actors, because the next block will be no further than 6 inches away.

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Screw a flange that is the same size as the flange on the old stage floor into the center of the rotating platform, using screws that do not penetrate to the other side of the floor. Note that at this point your rotating stage floor is upside down to make it easier for you to work on it.

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Screw straight-line castors to the edges of the rotating stage floor. Space them out to support the edges of your rotating stage floor. Place the castors 2 feet apart so that the edge of the stage will be adequately supported.

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Add an additional circle of castors halfway between the edge of the platform and the center point. Place these a foot apart to add strength to the platform.

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Turn your entire rotating stage platform over, and place the flange on top of the pipe that is secured in the flange in the stage floor. Do not tighten the set screw in the second flange, because you want the flange to rotate around the pipe. The casters are now on the stage floor holding up the edges of your rotating platform.

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Attach a black rope to the edge of the rotating platform by screwing a large eye screw into the platform and tying the rope to it. This allows you to pull the rotating platform, making it rotate.

Tips & Warnings

If your rotating platform is very large, add one or two more circles of castors to get the support you need.

Use straight-line castors rather than swiveling castors so that you will be able to easily reverse the direction of rotation of the stage.

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ReferencesProlyte Products: Rotating StageHSTech Stage Design and Technology: Rotating PlatformPrecision Turntables: Rotating FloorsOne Ocean Kayaks: Scarfing Plywood Sheets -- Butt Joint with a BlockPhoto Credit K-King Photography Media Co. Ltd/Lifesize/Getty ImagesRead Next:

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