The Epsom Playhouse Technical Department

Frequently Asked Technical Department Questions:

Age for amateur crew is minimum 14 where directly supervised (stage hands etc), 16 for crew in areas not directly supervised (followspot, lighting/sound control) or flying under direction, or 18 for those in charge of flying.

The Auditorium capacity is 406 at normal stage, 388 with the orchestra pit or 352 with the forestage. The main block of seating holds 324 at normal stage, 306 for pit or 270 for forestage.

Backdrop size : 10m (35ft) wide, 5.5m (18ft) high. The stage is backed by a white cyc as standard

We have 80 chairs for stage use.

Dressing rooms are all stage right. 2 downstairs hold 20 people each, 3 upstairs hold 8,8 and 30 people. Total capacity 86.

Fly crew are required in proportion to weight of items flying! A gauze or cloth will need 2 people to fly it out (up). A starcloth will require 4 people. Solid scenic items will usually require at least 4 people, sometimes up to 6, depending on the exact nature of the item. If more than one item has to move at the same time, more people are required.

Lighting control is an ETC Impression 2 memory desk, with 24 subs or Go-button operation. We have 144 dimmers.

There is a standard lighting rig that gives 4 colour washes overhead plus booms to give 4 colour sidelight washes, with the facility for some specials too.

We have cable mics for voice and instruments, plus 2 body worn or 2 hand held radio mics.

We do not have general music stands for bands or orchestras, but do have 13 lit ones for use in the pit, or by small bands on stage.

The orchestra pit will hold a max of 20 players, depending on percussion etc. We only have 13 lit music stands, though.

Parking at the theatre is very limited. One commercial vehicle can be parked by prior arrangement. All other vehicles must be parked in the adjacent multi-storey car park, or off-site.

We have rostra to make choir or orchestra tiering in 8x4ft sections. 4 pieces of each height : 6",.12",18".

Stage Size : Acting area is 10m (35ft) wide, 9.3m (30ft) deep in normal stage shape (including the apron in front of the main house curtains), 11.8m (38ft) deep with additional forestage. Limited wing space each side.

The stage masking is hard black flats, 3 per side, with black soft borders above.

The sound control is an Allen & Heath 24 channel desk, with a fixed front of house rig of amps/speakers, plus onstage monitors as required.

Sound playback is available for CD, MiniDisc and cassette.

Sound recording is possible on MiniDisc or cassette. We do not have the facility to burn CDs.