Theatre Design & Technology - Oct 1966 - 12

I believe, that some urgent problems exist which can
affect both the safety and the operating economy of the
theatre.
If one would look further into the accepted procedures of
building design or into the design methods used for industrial machinery, one would immediately find that almost
everything there is carefully pre-planned, checked and
analyzed by trained professionals before construction begins. In sharp contrast the design of special stage machinery too often remains a hit-or-miss proposition. The
duties and responsibilities of various consultants are not
clearly defined and it is surprising that with all the
technical knowledge available much stage equipment design still remains shrouded in a rather dark cloud.

fore, the engineer must learn the requirements in this
area.
There are two basic ways that engineering for stage
equipment can be accomplished. First of all, the services
of independent engineers may be used. They would study
the problems with the architect, determine all the requirements, make working drawings, write specifications
and finally, supervise the installation.
On the other hand, sometimes detailed engineering can be
done by a manufacturing firm. In this case, the installation would only be checked by the architect. Of course,
the best method for handling a particular project would
depend on its specific requirements and on the availability of services based on adequate experience.

In order to improve this situation one would have to determine first, of exactly what does the stage machinery
consist; second, what is involved in its design and installation; and, third, what does it take in experience to
produce workable, realistic and safe facilities?

If an installation consists primarily of standard components and does not affect the building structure, consulting
engineering services can be minimized, provided, of course,
that the work is done by a reputable manufacturer.

To begin with, I feel you must be able to distinguish
between the art of designing and planning a stage or
theatre and the mechanics involved. While it is the duty
of the architect and stage consultant to create and shape
the theatre and to establish its operational criteria, it is
the duty of the engineer to make these ideas work.

However, while most of the experienced and respectable
manufacturers in this field can provide reliable advice in
their own specialty, they cannot always afford to employ
permanent engineering staffs with the sufficiently diversified experience, required for the design of some major
installations. Here, too, the manufacturer would have to
employ outside consultants.

And here I would like to be clearly understood. When I
speak of engineering for the stage, I mean the work of
professionals who are trained and who possess basic
knowledge in various branches of engineering, who can
determine the exact technical requirements for operation
and safety, and who are legally authorized to do so.
I believe that the standards here should be at least equal
to the standards applied in the construction of buildings.
And there are good reasons why these standards may
have to be even more rigid and specific.
An ordinary structure, for exa,mple, contains many redundancies. Therefore, a failure of one column or beam
may not necessarily cause the failure of the structure.
In the case of a movable ceiling, wall, or lift system however, there is the danger that if not properly designed its
safety may be dependent on only one specific component.
If this is permitted, and it should not be, a failure in such
a component may have grave consequences indeed.
This is one area in which proper design, specialization
and also a great amount of discipline are required. Since
stage facilities are made up of structural, mechanical and
electrical components, engineering knowledge must provide specific answers in all three of these fields.
The design of any complex stage facility is a team effort which must be carefully coordinated. One should
know that the various components cannot be developed
independently, but must be designed as a unit in order
to achieve dependable operation and economy.

Thus, if a project contains a large amount of special
equipment and requires close coordination with the building structure, I feel that the work can be better controlled
if the design is separated from fabrication. I believe this
would actually assist the reputable manufacturers because
thorough and detailed information would eliminate possible
unfair competition and minimize the guesswork while estimating the project. It would also considerably reduce
the risks faced by the owner and help the architect and
the stage consultant by contributing to their ideas during
the early design phase of a project.
In addition, this approach would certainly help to establish
the best relationships between movable and supporting
structures, which in turn would affect the overall economy.' No matter how the engineering design of a project
is handled, and no matter who does it, it must provide
specific information and determine exactly how an installation is to function prior to its fabrication. Generalities
made at this stage are not sufficient and have been
proven the cause of much trouble.
Furthermore, a good engineering design should analyze
various safety requirements and determine what would
happen if a key mechanical component would fail because
of progressive wear, overloading or Improper maintenance.
Fail-safe features must be provided accordingly, and their
extent would depend on the anticipated damage that a
failure could bring.

The prime responsibility of the engineer, therefore, is to
develop and design a stage facility to satisfy the performance criteria established by the architect or stage
consultant. In order to do this he does no', necessarily
have to know everything about the art of theatre. He
must, however, be an expert in his own field.

However, much too often this proper development and design work is restricted by the lack of adequate funds.
The problem is further complicated by the theory in some
quarters that engineering can be obtallled free. Unfortunately, III many cases where this type of approach IS employed, the lack of proper planning is often not discovered
until a succession of costly modifications have become
necessary.

Of course, some knowledge of stage operations is quite
essential, since very often an alternative to a proposed
installation can fulfill the same purpose and may be much
more economical than the one originally proposed.

As I mentioned before, the seriousness of certain requirements is not always understood because the installations
are relatively small and there are very few precedents
upon which one may rely.

Quite often only a slight change of dimensional tolerances can have a considerable effect on the cost. There-

Another occasional problem IS that the design cost of a
special installation appears relatively high compared to the

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THEATRE DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

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