Curtain Theater Rep Plot

The Chair of the Theater Department at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst has asked me to design a rep plot for the Curtain Theater. This is a great opportunity to embrace a challenge, learn some new drafting techniques, and assist the department with a much needed stream-lining for the lighting department during a packed season. The Curtain Theater is a small black box space. The challenge will be designing a plot that can efficiently meet the needs of four different productions, each of which, are being granted the option to reconfigure the audience in anyway that will best serve the productions needs. This means that the audience could be placed in three corners with the set in the fourth in as many as 8 different configurations, and as many other different configurations as the space may allow providing the number of seats available for the audience does not drop below the magic number.

At any rate, it is a daunting task to take on, but I am up for the challenge. Beyond the seating configuration, other challenges I may face include, but are not limited to, special needs by the lighting designers who will be using the space, four stair wells into the space (often used for performing on), and a mezzanine that often gets used as a playing space. Here are a couple of images of the space without any lighting instruments.


Curtain Theater drawing by Laura Schoch

Curtain Theater Section drawing by Laura Schoch

Now that I have the drawings, the next step is to begin calculating angles and throw distances for the best possible configuration of lighting instruments. Again, keeping in mind the fact that we will have four productions using, for the most part, the exact same configuration. I say, "for the most part," because each production will have its own designer who will need to add specials to the existing plot as need arises. Off to the drafting table!