Technical Design Solutions for Theatre

Scott Werbin

Low-Tech Ghost Effects: Moving Furniture

For a production of Blythe Spirit, Klaus Holm, Technical Director at Wilkes College, needed a way of toppling a chair on a thrust stage. As the chair had to move from one location to another during the play, wires could not be used. Instead, Klaus converted a small section of a platform beneath the chair leg into a small trapdoor — a “flipper” — which would open and close quickly, tipping the chair over in the process.

FIGURE 1: SYSTEM SCHEMATIC AND FLIPPER HINGING DETAIL

Figure 1 illustrates the essential parts of the chair-tipping mechanism: an offstage control lever, a connecting rod, ...