Performing arts buildings often include characteristics requiring spaces with large volumes.  The fly loft above a stage is often tall to allow scenery to be hidden until a scene change reveals the next scenic element or to hide the gear needed for production.  The audience volume is often large to permit a variety of elevated views, satisfactory sightlines, locations for stage lighting at the optimum angle, and even to contribute to the acoustic environment.  Even a smaller theatre may have spaces much taller than a typical double height space.  That volume is part of the grandeur and mechanics of what we do in theatres. It also challenges operation and maintenance in these large, complicated spaces because people must get to all that stuff.

All of this access is not inexpensive, but it is necessary.  It is shortsighted to place equipment in places where it cannot be reached for adjustment, maintenance, or replacement. All too often, this access is not considered or may be “value engineered” out of the project.  Ignoring access will have an adverse effect upon these buildings for decades, adding to ongoing operational costs at best, or becoming a safety risk in extreme cases.

The traditional design of a theatre usually includes a variety of special access areas for technicians.  Examples are catwalks for lighting and access, fly floors, loading galleries, and gridirons.  Some of these are found on both sides of the proscenium and are customized to each building based on specific production needs.  There is no one-size-fits-all approach to these important features, even if each individual theatre consultant might have a preferred design recipe.  Often, we must work with the design team to customize this access to work for specific instances.  Let’s examine two specific cases and consider how changes in technology are changing attitudes; sometimes for the worse.

The performing arts industry continues to see rapid development in the use of LEDs for theatrical lighting.  It is clear that LEDs have over taken the quartz or incandescent equipment that was so prevalent into the early part of this century.  LED-based equipment has many benefits, including the fact that there is no lamp to replace after a few hundred hours of operation as we saw in the days of quartz.  This creates a temptation to place LED theatrical lights in places where access is more difficult, like over a bank of seating with no catwalk or means of access other than scaffolding or complicated (read: expensive) lifts.  This should not be done casually because theatrical lights still need to be focused, adjusted, and serviced.  Motorized lights with remote control options can help, but even those need to be accessed from time to time.  Marooning lights on a pipe high above audience seating will create operational issues for the user.  Lighting catwalks allow safe and quick access to theatrical lights, increasing flexibility in function. Sometimes a middle ground is considered by using a hoist system to allow the lights to be lowered over the audience seating so they may be maintained and crudely focused (because the light needs to be at the operating position to be focused accurately unless it is an automated light).  More on the concept of hoists in a moment.

It’s not just theatrical lights that need access for maintenance.  House or architectural lighting used in theatrical spaces has also experienced the LED revolution.  Setting aside the complications of control coordination (fodder for another article) this is generally a good thing.  Until the advent of LED, it was important to provide access above ceilings of high volumes to access those lights to replace the lamps (bulbs) when they inevitably burned out.  We’ve all been in that high school auditorium where there was no access, and the ceiling had a patchwork of burned-out lights.  A common strategy was to replace every lamp once a year whether it needed it or not because of the labor involved.  Other clever strategies might be employed to reach the lights, like lowering systems, tracked fixtures to pull them to a catwalk, or even carefully positioned bounce lights that reflected off a ceiling.  However, there are many spaces built where access was not considered or was removed for cost, to the detriment of maintenance staff.  With LEDs designed to last orders of magnitude longer, a different approach may be considered.  The use of LED lighting for architectural illumination of a house may be a place where the compromise of using scaffolds or expensive specialty lifts could be considered for service because the interval is usually much longer.  This should be discussed by the owner and design team, considering the particulars of the space before a decision is made.  But there needs to be a plan for service for the life of the building.

Now, back to those theatrical hoists or motorized rigging devices.  Our industry has seen a lot of development in this area too.  At one time, every motorized rigging hoist was more or less a custom design and commensurately expensive.  Today, most rigging manufacturers offer motorized hoists, commonly in the form of “packaged” units, including zero-fleet technology.  These are essentially mass-produced hoists designed to be compactly installed, potentially as a replacement for manual counterweight rigging.  There are certainly benefits to these systems, and most theatre consultants will recommend motorized hoists as an option where it is appropriate (and within budget!).  These hoists are not a silver bullet though, despite the marketing efforts of the manufacturers.  For certain, the access needs are different and probably reduced from that required by counterweight rigging.  No longer do we need a loading gallery with multiple tons of stored weight if there is no manual rigging.  However, it is a mistake to mount a bunch of hoists 50 feet or more above a stage floor with no means of access, just because they can be operated from a button on the wall.

All theatrical rigging must be inspected and maintained on a regular basis.  The industry is working hard to increase awareness because it is no secret there are rigging systems out there that are rarely looked at by qualified riggers.  This poses a risk to people and property.  The Entertainment Services Technology Association (ESTA) has developed ANSI standards for the inspection of all rigging systems, specifically in ANSI E1.47 Entertainment Technology—Recommended Guidelines for Entertainment Rigging System Inspections (enter/search, “ANSI E1.47” for the latest version.)  The ASTC is a sponsor of ESTA’s Technical Standards Program.  That standard requires a thorough inspection of hoists and related components annually.  Even manual rigging needs regular inspection, though the requirements are slightly less stringent.  Inspections for stage rigging require access to each and every component of the system.  A gridiron usually allows this kind of access, but a hoist mounted to roof structure with no way to stand next to it will not.  All too often it is assumed a personnel lift will allow access to all of the components, but there are limits to the size and types of lifts that may allow such access.  A tall scissor lift or boom lift can be a challenge backstage.  Consider trying to reach a machine or a loft block 50 feet above a stage, trying to thread the lift basket through a sea of battens, wire rope lift lines, cables, and hanging scenery to solve a problem.  Can the appropriate lift even be delivered to the stage? Is it too heavy for the stage flooring system? A proper gridiron and/or a catwalk to access the machine can resolve this issue safely.

Reaching lights and rigging equipment are just two of the most common operational access problems created by lack of understanding or forced by limited budgets.  Just because the stage is in a high school does not necessarily reduce the need for access.  Much like designers should consider how to service or replace mechanical equipment, the same goes for theatre equipment.  There can be creative solutions to many challenges in theatre design, but until we can send out technicians with reliable wings or jet packs, we must offer a way to safely access all the equipment in these spaces, and sometimes in a hurry.  Lighting and rigging are just two categories of equipment that need access. We still want the show to go on, safely.

 By Paul Sanow, ASTC

Disclaimer: Any views or opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the American Society of Theatre Consultants.  This article is for general information only and should not be substituted for specific advice from a Theatre Consultant, Code Consultant, or Design Professional, and may not be suitable for all situations nor in all locations.