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The ESNA Players are pleased to be able to say that they have a dedicated Crew both for the production of the shows, and also in the production of the sets - The ESNA Players has gained a reputation in recent times for designing and producing some stunning sets, with a minimal number of items being hired in for the show (normally just items such as extra rostra, and in their production of Sweeney Todd- The Chair) Sweeney Todd For Sweeney Todd the crew produced, not just extra flatage (both flown and static) but also a number of trucks -
All of which were designed to 'flat-pack' to aid in the get-in /get-out as well as overcome storage problems. In addition the crew also supplied a number of special 'practicals' such half a dozen light boxes to simulate candle-lit windows. It was estimated that the build crew put in over 700 man-hours to produce the set for Sweeney (not counting the time for get-in/out). Oliver! Virtually every piece of the Oliver! set was constructed from scratch. The whole set was built from a set of original sketches provided by the Director some 5 months before the show started, the dedicated crew then spent 2 nights a week with the occasional Saturday and Sunday building from raw materials. The Oliver set contains over £1200 of timber sourced from local timber merchants. Once again virtually every piece of the Mack and Mabel set was constructed from scratch. In a meeting in the pub some 6 months before the show opens, the crew and the director talked over some rough drawings. In the following months the build crew met twice a week to construct this massive set. As always things get behind, until 3 weeks before the show, some crew members take days off work (a month in one case !) to ensure the set is complete. This years "Get-in" will be particularly memorable!. This time it was not possible for us to hire the theatre the Saturday before show week, so to ensure the set was transported to the theatre and assembled ready for Sundays technical rehearsal, the crew did an over-night-get-in starting at 11:30 Saturday night and ending at 10:30 Sunday night !, a tiring 23 hours. Follies Relatively speaking Follies was a very simple set compared to ESNA's more recent shows. The director asked for a set that looked like a run-down theatre, so there was very little work for us, as most of the show is set on an open stage with a small steel-deck rostra at the rear. But once again most of the accessory items were built by the ESNA crew from scratch. Because of a lack of storage space, this years get-out consisted of an 8 ton skip, into which most of the set ended up ! Crazy For You After losing our storage space in Loughborough, we ended up with virtually no "stock" items left at all. Many items simply had to be thrown away (including our Spiral Staircase used in Chess) just to make space for the Crazy for You set. This time Adrian prepared the drawings and everyone (except yours truly) set to constructing from scratch. Many, many, many hours later, a completed set emerged from the sheds on the day of the "Get-In", and unlike previous years, this time it was completely finished, painted and all (by our newly acquired paint boss and expert Becx). The Get-In itself was relatively straight forward, and after a tense Technical Rehearsal, everything ran as smooth as clockwork. West Side Story Virtually every piece of the West Side Story set was constructed from scratch. The whole set was built from a set of original sketches provided by the Director some 5 months before the show started, the dedicated crew then spent many nights a week with the occasional Saturday and Sunday building from raw materials. The large truck, that mated with other parts of the scenery was a particularly important and impressive piece. It appears that large trucks are becoming a key part in ESNA productions, having had large trucks in 5 of the last 6 shows !. Return to the Forbidden Planet This show was slightly different for the ESNA crew, as we had very little say in the set design. A good friend of the crew and society, who has been very interested in the show well before ESNA announced they would be tackling the show, designed the entire set and even built a scale model that the real thing was constructed to. A couple of the ESNA regular set builders had a take a back seat, due to work and family commitments, so this one is mainly down to Truff and Ade, and anyone that has seen the show will agree - boy did they do a good job. With a lot of help from our master artist, this set looked fantastic !. Once again, apart from the hire of the odd piece of steel deck, the entire set was constructed from scratch, all the lighting effects in the teleporters and generators, everything ! - well done lads. Anything Goes It was "back to normal" for this one. The set was designed by Ashley, and was built by most of the normal crew (except Truff who was lost to operate sound), we even saw a return of our painter - Becx !. The set was scratch built, with just the steel deck rostra being hired in. The get in relatively straight forward and after a successful weeks run - the get out was even better, with everyone at the party by 11:30 ! My Fair Lady It was time for a show off, the My Fair Lady set was hired in from Scenic Projects. Annie As our season continued at Stamford Hall due to the Loughborough Town Hall Theatre refurbishment, this set was also hired in from Scenic Projects.
The Crew Below are some lists of people involved in the production of the sets, and in the running of the shows. In order to reduce the number of times these lists are changed, these lists contain the names of people 'normally' involved, not just those helping out in the current (forthcoming/previous) production. Where someone has a 'normal' job within the crew, this has been indicated, though most of the crew can/will perform whatever job is given (book,stagehand,flying,pyros,followspotting,etc).
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