Theatre Design & Technology - Dec 1965 - 23

BI BLiOGRAPHY
Acrors' EquIty Assoclo ion. EQUITY RULES
E .IPLOYMENT June 1960 (New York,

GOVERNING

Ac ors' Equi y Associotion. EQUITY RULES GOVERNING
EMPLOY .lENT IN MUSICAL STOCK. April 1960 (New York)
Actors' Equity Assoclotlon. STANDARD RUN-OF-THE-PLAY
CONTRACT October 1963 (New York)
,6.SS0clotlon of Theatrical Press Agents and Managers. MINIMUM

Associo Ion of Thea rica I Press Agents and Managers. STAND·
ARD INDIVIDUAL CONTRACT OF EMPLOYMENT. Form 4A
(New York)

Soc iety of Stoge Directors ond Choreogrophers. COL LECT IV E
BARGAINING AGREEMENT with the Leogue of New York
Theotres, Inc. August 13, 1962 (New York)
United Scenic Artists. SCENIC DESIGNING
TRACT Oc ober 15, 1964 (New York)

ARTISTS

CON-

BASIC AGREEMENT (New York

Don Juan Goes to Hell Electro-Mechanically at Carnegie Tech
Carnegie

Ins

ltu

Technology

was

the

scene,

during

the

.he AmerIcan premiere of Max Frisch's DON
JUA , OR THE La E OF GEOMETRY, in 0 tronslotion by
oast

mont.

I. R. CODE: (ENGINEERING
VOLVINGST.

MACHINERY

RE-

ELEVATOR)

Tech's James L. Rosenberg.
To meet

he considerable production requirements En Frisch's
W. Oren Parker (Head of Tech's DeSign Deportment)
conceIved 0 multl-foceled setting on an eccentflc revolving
scrIpt,

wagon

be seen from no less than six dlfferen
angles.
,I
was
to pivot eccentrically,
traditional drives
not serve h,s needs. HIS problems were further compli-

Because

woul

coted by the obllgo ory elevo or by which Don Juon ond The
Statue
Sition
In

were

to descend

into hell.

To me ch

he revolver

po-

w,-h on opening into the trap area was to courr trouble
production

which

reqUired

vista

shifts.

Ins ead,

Parker and Technical DIrector FredriC Youens gave the problem to two TechnIcal Production students as a closs assignmen
The follOWing is theu description 0 the solution:

The drive system for the turntable used
Carnegie
was

Tech

production

constructed

readily-available

the

conveniently

provided

the

size

components.

fifty seconds per full revolution. While this may
seem ponderou sly slow, the un it never executed a

sprocket

which

was specified in our design.
The

tota I

drive

unit

the

un ivers ity

was

powered

a five

ma in ta inan ce

de partment.

Be-

cause a variable speed set-up had been envisioned,
original plans called for a D.C. motor, but it wasn't
available. The AC motor employed was linked to a
gear-reduction

box

having

full revolution during the course of the show. Instead,
it made a series of moves with the longest being
180 degrees, which took twenty-three seconds, and
the shortest being approximately 20 degrees, which

horsepower 3-phase A.C. motor which was procured
from

speed of the turntable was not arrived at

haphazardly. Ideal design speed was established at

The only slightly unorthodox application r perhaps,
was the utilization of a spoked motor scooter wheel
and tire as the drive wheel for the revolve, because
it

The

DON JUAN

Frisch's

ratio

of forty-to-one.

Linkage of motor to box was by pulley and double
"V" belt, the pulley ratio being two-to-one. From

lasted about four seconds. Due to the use of a friction drive, and the fact that it ran on a painted canvas
floor cloth, the unit took an average of two seconds
to come up to speed. (Care had to be taken to mop
the stage early enough to a II ow ample drying time,
otherwise severe slippage was noticed.) On the other
hand, the total coast distance of the unit, after power
shut-down, was approximately two and one-half feet,
which made hitting pre-set marks extremely ticklish

gear box to wheel, the linkage was via cycle chain

To overcome this difficulty, two "self-syncroni-

(from the same motorscooter), with the sprockets
having a ratio of two-to-one. The whole drive unit

zing" motors (known as SELSYNS) were borrowed
from the school's Electrical Engineering department.

was

mounted on an angle-iron frame, fabricated in

The operation of the selsyns is such that each unit

the Drama Department shops. Finally, the entire unit

of a pair, through electrical linkage, has the char-

was then bolted to the wagon's superstructure (made acteristic of duplicating, exactly, any movement in
of 2" x 6" planking) with two six-inch tight-pin the other unit. In this application, one unit was
hinges positioned on the on-stage side. The friction
drive thus made full contact with the deck, and trac-

mounted at the pivot point of the wagon, with the

shaft of the selsyn "rotor" attached to the fixed
tion could be increased by adding weight to the unit. pivot shaft, and the motor" stator" fixed to the wagon

O[C[M8[R 1965

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Theatre Design & Technology - Dec 1965