Theatre Design & Technology - Spring 1993 - 35

A
Designer's
Workstation
WILLIAM R
JOHNSON, J R

onrrol of lighring and
sound equipmenr is no
longer limired ro one fixed
locarion. New rhearres and
old are using porrable conrrol devices from remore
locarions rhar offer rhe besr
sighrlines. Many use rhe cenrer-of-house
searing posirion. In rum, every rhearre has
some merhod of providing a worksrarion in
rhe house sears for using remore conrrol
devices or raking nores during rechnical
and dress rehearsals. While rhearres may
have quire sophisricared conrrol equipmenr, rhe means of urilizing ir from rhe
rhearre searing may only be improvised.
A common problem is rhar srandard
rablerops placed in berween or above rhearre sears may nor provide adequare heighr
and disrance for ease in viewing keypads,
CRTs, or cue sheers for any lengrh of rime.
A worksrarion should rhus be ergonomic in
offering max~imum urilizarion of rhe equipmenr and personnel, and be relarively
porrable for ease in insrallarion and
removal.
The accompanying illusrrarions show a
worksrarion rhar was designed ro be
lighrweighr and porrable, conform ro rhe
srrucrure and size of rhe rhearre sears, and
be ergonomic in providing an efficienr yer
comforrable workplace. The srarion illusrrared was designed for use in rhe O'Connell Thearre ar orrhern Illinois Universiry.
The worksrarion employs a canrilever
design in supporring rhe rablerop. The rop
(plywood) and irs supporr frame (square
rube sreel) canrilever our from verrical supporr posrs (also square rube sreel) rhar are
srabilized by rhe sears in fronr. The rop is
rwice rhe deprh of irs supporr frame. This
design allows for rhe rop ro come wirhin a
comforrable working disrance from rhe
user, yer keeps rhe rop's supporr frame from
inrerfering wirh leg room and ease of body
movemenr. Canrilevering rhe rop and irs
supporr frame from verrical posrs rhus e1iminares supporr srrucrure in rhe main aisle
searing area. For porrabiliry, rhe rop deraches from rhe base srrucrure by rhe removal of
rwo bolrs secured wirh wing nurs.

The supporr srrucrure uses only rwo
verrical posrs (2" square sreel) ro bear rhe
weighr of rhe srarion. Two horizonral ribs
(2" square sreel) span rhe widrh of rhese
bearing posrs. The rop's supporr frame (2"
square sreel) canrilevers our from rhis verrical srrucrure. To keep rhe worksrarion verrically srable, a secondary brace (1" square
sreel) exrends our from rhe borrom of each
bearing posr ra resr againsr rhe srrucrural
sreel base of rhe rhearre sears in fronr. This
brace rhen runs horizonrally across rhe base
of rhe sears.
For verrical srabiliry on rop, flar sreel
reraining clips (1/4" x 2") were formed ro
slip over rhe rap backs of rwo sears. These
clips permanenrly arrach ro rhe tWO bearing
posrs. In rhis parricular rhearre rhe sear
backs were rhin and rigid, wirh an upholsrered fronr and sreel back. This allowed for
solid upper supporr. For rhearres rhar do
nor have fairly rigid sear backs, some alrernarive merhod of providing verrical srabiliry would be necessary. For example, rarher
rhan using reraining clips ro slip over rhe
sear backs, lever arms arrached wirh drifr
pins could exrend our from rhe bearing
posrs onro arm resrs (or orher rigid sear
srrucrure) in fronr. The acrual merhod used
ro ensure srabiliry will be dependenr upon
each rhearre's searing srrucrure.
Once rhe base srrucrure is configured ro
rhe searing, rhe rablerop can be easily
assembled. The rop is consrrucred of 3/4"
plywood. Access ro rhe srarion from rhe
aisle is provided by a piano hinge in rhe
rablerop. A small 3" secrion of rhe rop does
nor hinge, bur is bolred ro rhe frame. This
secrion of rhe rablerop provides a securely
arrached rable surface while allowing rhe
hinged rop secrion ro lifr up for enrry ro rhe
sears. The rablerop illusrrared is 2'-0" deep
and spans rhree sears across wirh an overall
widrh of 5'-0". The rop's sreel supporr
frame is 1'-0" deep by 3'-8" wide. The
complere sreel base supporr srrucrure is 1'9" deep, by 3'-8" wide, by 2'-5" in overall
heighr. Due ro rhe curve of rhe rhearre's
searing row, rhe disrance of rhree sears (on
cenrer) provided a convenienr span across
for locaring rhe verrical supporr posrs and
TD&T

1993 SPRING

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Theatre Design & Technology - Spring 1993