Inside A.C.T.

posted by Victoria Flores, A.C.T. Web Development Fellow An actor's view of the house with techies installing scenery. When the lights dim and the grand drape goes up, you see a polished, in the current moment, put together stage. Scroll back a few days and imagine the actors, designers, stage hands, and scene shop crew filling the stage—weaving around the scenery and each other. A.C.T. 's production of Major Barbara  exemplifies the intricate process of implementing a set design. During a performance it can be easy to glaze over the tiny pieces that make-up a design. For this reason, as the web development fellow, I took a step behind the scenes to help illuminate the depth of thought surrounding some of the tech process for Major Barbara . Coming from a computer science and theater background my perspective of the design process is multifaceted. I see the descriptive metadata of the set's components alongside its process details and artistry. Wielding a came...

A.C.T.'s Scene Shop builds Major Barbara , a set on Flickr. The fourth show in our 2013–14 season, Major Barbara features a complex scenic design by Tony Award-nominated Daniel Ostling. A visit during the early stages of build, reveals the bricolage of mullions and stencils being pieced together at A.C.T.'s Scene Shop. Locally sourced piles of window and door frames are seen throughout the shop ready to be installed on the concave oval curve that makes up the structural backbone of the design. While scenic artists work on the scumbled deck and intricate custom rug, carpenters piece together a large Salvation Army emblem. For more info and to buy ticket go to  http://www.act-sf.org/majorbarbara #ACTBarbara