Maltbury
YPTC Bracing Experience
5th Sep 2007 - 11:08:13
The Young Person's Theatre Company, based in north London, is a vibrant training centre for the performing arts. The high standards of performance (entry is by audition only) are matched by ambitious set designs for their productions.
So when YPTC planned a new musical, Requiem for Tomorrow, they designed a multi-level set with dancing taking place both on top of and underneath the platforms. The staging they needed would have to be tough and highly adaptable.
YPTC had already bought some Steeldeck 7.5 from Maltbury in previous years, so technician Vicky Pryor contacted them again with the details. Of paramount importance was the ability to operate safely and with confidence both on and under all these levels. This demanded an assessment of the stability of each deck or combination of decks. In some cases cross-bracing was required, but the bracing design had to avoid those openings where the actors needed access. To achieve this Maltbury MD Philip Sparkes and Pryor had detailed discussions over a period of time with the result that Maltbury designed and made special brackets to enable some platforms at different levels to work together.
A package of Steeldeck was supplied, specially adapted to suit the YPTC's needs. As Pryor says: "The cast found the structure very easy to work on, and despite the fact the highest section was almost seven feet off the ground, they always felt secure and the structure retained its stability throughout."