Still Life With Iris

Iris is one of those productions you never forget. It wasn't overly complex, but it was a big production for UMD and it didn't have much time in the shop, about 5 weeks as I recall. The set and costume designer, Bill Brewer, arrived at the first production meeting with a full color model and a set of costume renderings already completed. This is normally something that would have rankled my collaborative sensibilities, but somehow it didn't come to mind as I tried to absorb what I was looking at.

Bill is a world class costume designer and artist. He doesn't take on scenic designs very often, partly I think because he doesn't like to draft. He didn't draft a single plate for this show; instead I was handed the model, given a pat on the back, and wished good luck.

Model Photos

None of my drafting has survived from this show. Back then I was still drafting with AutoCAD rel. 14. I've since transitioned to Vectorworks for all my drawing. Ten years and six computers later it's a miracle that I still have photos.

There were seven different locations in the production and all the transitions needed to happen quickly and smoothly. So I put everything on low profile wagons, put down a false floor and connected the wagons to hand winches in the wings. There were a few elements that were also flown in and out.

Sea Shell

The sea shell was my favorite unit. It was two units that came from either side of the stage and met just left of center. The shell was over 6' tall, had a jeweled interior, and opened to reveal an actress inside. I built it using a 1/2" square tube frame, covered that with hardware cloth, and sprayed that with expandable insulation foam. It didn't work all that well; I ended up using much more foam than expected. A finer mesh aluminium window screen probably would have worked better. The scallops were shaped with upholstery foam, and everything was covered with foam coat.

Rain Barrel

The rain barrel was over 8' tall and had to fit three actors. It was open at the back, had a platform midway up, and a ladder for access. It was on stage for five minutes and never seen again.

Tree

Bill originally wanted the tree to be a big puppet. The trunk was supposed to bend at the middle, and the branches were also supposed to lower so the actor could pluck leaves off the tree. I did get some of the branches to move, but the bend in the tree trunk was cut. The tree was hollow with a stagehand inside to manipulate the branches.

The roots were steel wrapped in foam which allowed there to be a 2-3 foot gap between the wagon and the trunk.