Play
American Conservatory Theater
by Samuel Beckett
Main Stage
San Francisco, CA 2011
Directed by: Carey Perloff
Scenic Design by: Daniel Ostling
Technical Design by: Ryan L. Parham
Actors: René Augesen, Anthony Fusco, and Annie Purcell.
Photo by Kevin Berne.
Play takes place entirely in three urns. The actors needed to be able to enter, exit, and perform the entire act from inside the urns.
Here are photos of Mr. Ostling's scale model.
The proportions of the urns were later changed to account for the shoulders of the actors.
I started by cutting plywood circles with a circle jig on the table saw. Then I took 1/4" steel rod and bent circles around the forms, finishing by welding them closed.
We created these jigs to hold the circles, then I bent the uprights along the next plywood mold and welded them together.
The next step was to wrap the frames with cling plastic to insulate the interior from the foam, attach wire mesh fabric, then cover the wire mesh with a two part industrial foam mixture similar to "Great Stuff".
Once the foam was set, we carved it to shape and sanded it as smooth as possible. The divots (pictured below) were acceptable as the next steps involved adding more layers. We also attached metal brackets to the bottom for the urns to be fixed to the scenic wagon.
Various diameters of pipe insulation were then cut in half and shaped using a grinder to look worn. They were attached to the frames with baling wire stabbed through the foam and twisted. Care was taken to arrange the various diameters according to the designer's scale model. As actors needed to be inside, the ends of the wire were left external to be cut off and hidden in the foam. We also left an access port in the rear for entrance and exit, though due to sightline issues the ports had to be very thin.
The final forms were handed to the fantastic paint department for finishing touches.
Photo by Kevin Berne.