Strike
The day after a show closes can be a traumatic time for many involved in the production. Watching your home for the last few weeks disappear into a pile of floors, flats, and rubble is never a happy sight, but often lately it has become an even more unhappy time for the crew of the next play. Striking a set is more than just “Set Destruction”, i.e. taking down a few walls. It also means putting the entire playhouse back in the state from which you started your production. Costumes and props have to be put away, and lighting and sound equipment too, not just the set.
There has been some grumbling of late by those who have had to deal with the incomplete job done by the strike crew, in their haste to set a new record for the earliest time out of the playhouse. Remember, this is your home too, and it is always nicer to come in to a tidy home. Here are some guidelines to make life easier for everyone.
The Stage Crew will:
- Remove all costumes, furnishings, set decorations, and properties from the set, and return each piece to its owner, if rented/borrowed, or to its correct storage location if KT property.
- Remove all glow tape and spike tape from every piece of the
set, be it furniture, walls, or floor. Clean off glue residue if necessary
with solvent, because if it is left in
place it becomes part of the finish within a few weeks. Good furniture has been ruined in the past by tape residue. - Carefully disassemble the set and put it back into storage
(if stock parts or usable lumber), and into the garbage bin if scrap.
- Remove all hardware, screws, nails, and staples from all pieces that are kept. These can be dangerous if they slice open the hand of the next person who picks up the piece. Hardware is always kept (returned to its correct storage bin) but most fasteners are discarded after each show.
- Remove all masking tape from the flats, leaving the edges smooth so the next crew can reuse them without having to clean them up.
- Remove all cloth tape from riser floors, and inspect each one to ensure there are no screws, nails, or staples waiting to stab the next user.
- Put all tools away in the workshop, put paint cans back on the shelves, and generally tidy up the area. Do not block any emergency exit with anything!
- Sweep the stage floor, workshop, and anywhere else that looks messy. Wash or vacuum floors if necessary.
- Empty the garbage containers from the control booth, makeup/costume room, and workshop, replacing the bags as required. Our cleaners do not do the technical areas, only the public space.
- Remove all traces of your production, including scripts, notes, and other odds and ends that no one wants to claim.
The Technical Crew will:
- Talk to the lighting person for the next event (don’t forget rentals and tours) and leave whatever they ask in place. At a minimum leave some sort of wash.
- Remove all practicals, instruments, cables, speakers, etc. from the stage and set before the stage crew arrives to take down the set.
- Take down any instruments, cables, rigging, etc. that you put up on the LX pipes, tech gallery railings, and FOH. Remove any gels, gobos, etc. from all instruments, and close barndoors and shutters on the stored instruments.
- Store equipment in its proper location:
- Lighting instruments belong either on LX8, the SL tech gallery, or the FOH catwalk. Lights stored on LX8 or the FOH catwalk must be safety-chained.
- Lighting cables belong either in the wheeled flight cases on SL, the SL tech gallery, or the FOH catwalk. Cables should be loosely wound using over-under technique (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUz266TU9JE). Put the cable ends together to prevent bent pins and secure the coil with a cable tie.
- Audio cables belong on the rack in the SL tech gallery near the booth.
- Gels, gobos and other bits belong in the SL tech gallery near the booth.
- There is always a large crew for the physical teardown, but most people disappear as soon as that is done, leaving only a dedicated few to finish the cleanup. Please stay as long as necessary to put our home back in good condition.
Thank you all,
Director of Operations