Set Painting, Creation of Set Elements and Capes.

Yesterday we completed all the painting and ensured that the furniture is decorated and ready for next week. There are a few finishing touches to be added but these are all things that will have to be done in the week. I'm feeling confident that everything will be ready in time and I am very pleased with the look of the whole show so far. The above picture shows where we covered all the screws to keep the appearance of a medieval bench, we added another layer over this so that the paint blended in with the staining.

Decorating the chests. Combining my scenic artist's research and mine I decided to add these strips of 'iron' made from mountboard.

 This was the table after it had be used to create the staining etc. We decided to paint this all brown so the stains didn't show through the table covering.

The shields are being put up here on the mezzanine floor so that they don't block the audience view. They will need painting where the screws have come through so they don't reflect when the lights shine on them.
Below: Chests with completed additions. I'm really pleased with how they look and I think the fake iron finishes them well. They just need some black paint where the keyhole is.

 Staining the staffs, so they are in keeping with the rest of the set and props.

Painting the steel legs of the table.

I decided to use my illustrator's design created for the programme for the sign of The Tabard, which is the Host's Inn and where the tales begin. We decided to simplify it a bit so that it was really bold and clear for the audience to see.

Below: Creating the hessian curtains for the windows in the balcony wall. I decided to back them on some lightwieght calico we had left over from creating the rehearsal coverings so they were not see-through at all. This also helped wth the stitching of them.

I added some extra fabric so they would ruffle slightly when put on the poles. We will require some hooks to pull back the curtains when the windows are open.

 Back of curtains.

 Leaves and vines, for Emilee in the Knight's Tale. Here I'm covering the edges with clear nail polish so they don't fray.

 How the leaves will look when sewn on.

 

String dyed Olive Green (Procian dye) for the vines. I decided to use sisal string as it drapes well and we can tie it and wrap it around the scaffolding to create the best affect.

 Capes: These are a couple of pictures showing how we created the capes. I have chosen some broaches etc to be added to these to accentuate the characters in the tales and to finish the capes well.