Theatre Design & Technology - Winter 1979 - 10

Schedule of Code Numbers On Plan Drawings 1, 2 & 3
Drawing
1-Lower Level

Space Name

Remarks

Typical Rehearsal Studio

Special Rehearsal Studio

Same size as stage in performance hall upstairs when seating in
proscenium position. Access to outside rehearsal space NO.5
provided by means of overhead-type fiberglass door.
Same as NO.1 described above, except studio can be used for
performances in amphitheatre. Large steel roll-up slat doors can
open up to Stage NO.3.

3
4
5
6

Stage
Roofed over but open sides.
Amphitheatre
Outside Rehearsal Area
This space doubles as a light control booth for amphitheatre.
Costume Studio
Office
Storage Room
Entrance Ramp to Upper
Performance Hall
Exit Stairs from Peformance
Hall
This is an outdoor lobby.
Entrance Porch

Roof

Performance Hall

14
15
16

Tube
Dressing Room/Toilet Block
Overhead roll-up door at northwest allows scenery to be trucked
Scene Shop
in. Overhead roll-up door at northeast is for future expansion.
Scenery is wheeled into performance hall through overhead
roll-up door at south side of shop, into and through overhead
roll-up door at north side of stage area.
Outdoor greenroom waiting area for entrance onto stage.
Porch
Light Shop
Property Storage Shop
Movable Seating Banks

Code #

7
8
9
10
2-Upper Level:Showing
Performance Hall in
Proscenium Position.
3-Upper Level: Showing
Performance Hall in
Arena Position.

17
18
19
20

HVAC unit. It was necessary to deviate from the manufacturer's recommendations (which would have the unit sitting
over the top of the grille) in order to meet the noise criterion
NC25 maximum set for the space. The unit was mounted on
vibration isolators remote from the grille with a fiberglass-lined
ducted return. An acoustically treated baffle is mounted beneath the grille.
As series of 4' x 8' acoustical reflector panels are hung
from 1~" pipe battens that are, in turn, suspended from the underside of the exposed coffered deck. These can be strung
together in groups of two or more (see Fig. 4) at various locations within the hall. The panels (the standard product of
Wenger Corp.) can be set at various angles so as to reflect
sound from the stage (regardless of where the stage and what
the configuration of seating) to the audience. It is desirable,
for example, with the arena configuration, to have a percentage of the sound from the performer facing the audience on
one side to be reflected from the panel over his head back to
the audience behind him. This requirement for good sound reflection is particularly important for young, relatively weak
voices.
It is necessary for the acoustician to supply a series of
drawings giving the proper locations and angles of tilt of the
panels for the use of the TO in setting up each different configuration. In this particular situation, the panels have not been
moved very often and the angles of tilt are incorrectly set. This
8

Theatre Design & Technology

Experimental theatre. All sealing is movable. Space at north is
stage area when seating is arranged for proscenium theater.
All stages are portable. In southeast corner circular stair
leads up to control booth in upper portion of performance hall.
Corridor.

is due not to difficulty or inaccessibility (the panels are very
simple to operate and the Center has an air lift to reach the
dead hung pipes) but more to lack of total working familiarity
with all the systems and their capabilities. The relatively short
summer season and operation for only three of those seasons
has not yet allowed the Center to reach its potential in obtaining full benefit from the systems.
Acoustical absorption is provided on the upper walls on all
four sides (except where the proscenium interrupts the wall).
This consists of a 2" thick, cloth-covered fiberglass, fabricated on the jobsite. Furthermore, those coffers not occupied
by lights have been fitted with 24" square acoustical board
material mounted directly to the underside of the deck within
the pan of the coffer. Reverberation times at 500 Hz vary from
0.9 second full to 1.4 seconds empty. Comments from performers and listeners have been favorable, both with regard to
articulation and reverberation. Although not designed primarily for music, it is evident that for small chamber-type ensembles the space has other acoustical attributes that are
complimentary to music, such as diffusion from the deep coffers, beams, and columns (further enhanced by the mix of absorptive and non-absorptive surfaces), early reflected sound
energy, presence, and good bass-to-midjhigh frequency energy ratio.
The stagehouse over the stage alcove is provided with foreand-aft steel to allow for an underhung rigging system. At
USITI /Winter, 1979

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