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Best Tennis Shoes For Preschoolers in 2023

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Set Design on a Shoestring

It is often difficult for high schools to afford the set for their plays, so directors often choose plays with "little or no set needed." Here are suggestions for designing a set that will keep your costs down and open up possibilities for future plays.

1. Talk to local builders
Many builders throw away wood, doors, windows etc. Sometimes 2 x 4's are thrown away because of knots, warped portions, or simply because the wood has been cut and the builder doesn't want to deal with partial pieces. One local builder donated 8 doors to our theater department because they didn't meet fire codes for the type of building he was building. We were happy to use them in our non-permanent dwelling! There are many builders out there. Often the only requirement is that you are willing to go through a pile of "cast aways." And, by thanking the builders in your program, it also gives them some advertising and lets them know you appreciate their donations.

2. Talk to local Theaters
There are often theater departments in the area who have set pieces you can borrow or rent at a discount. College theaters often have more storage than high school theaters, which means they can store set pieces, larger props and furniture. (They often have period costumes which can be rented as well.) Again, it is nice to thank theater departments who help you out by placing their season schedules in your program.

3. Talk to parents
Some people collect things. Sometimes they aren't really even collecting but rather piling up items they no longer need. There have been many times when parents have loaned furniture for use in a show and then realize they no longer even want the furniture. Sending a specific letter out to cast members' families (or to the whole community if your district has a newsletter) listing your specific needs is a great way for people to feel like they can contribute without having to participate in tedious fund raisers! It is amazing what people collect and are willing to share.

4. Paint
Recycling centers are a great place to contact for paint. We often get 5 gallon buckets of white paint completely free and use them for white-washing sets or adding into other colors for set painting. Businesses, builders and common folks take their paint to these centers for disposal. Often there are gallons that have never been opened. Sometimes there are strange colors, but there are often theater seasons where we pay no money for paint because these centers have all we need. (As a tip, be sure to read the paint type. You don't want to get high gloss or oil-based paints for set painting.) If you have an artist in the bunch, paint can also be a good way to create depth, crown molding, pictures, landscapes, etc. that you cannot afford to purchase or build. You can buy some of the thinnest, most inexpensive wood board and simply paint your set on it or use backdrops and paint those. We often create our own paintings for the walls by looking up paintings from a certain era and painting in a similar style. We just paint over them for the next play. We have used the same picture frames, painted in different colors and sometimes hung in different directions, in almost all of our plays. By repainting even the frames, the audience does not know the difference. (And it allows our art students something fun to do.)

5. Purchase enough material for one or two "permanent" pieces per season
If you teach a theater class, have one of the units be set construction. Take the kids to a college theater department or have a set designer come to you as a guest speaker. Ask questions about how to save costs and how to build a few items that can be used repeatedly in many shows to come. Stockpile those few items for use in future shows. For example, my theater students made 4 tables that can be easily taken apart for better storage. They were built 7 years ago and have made an appearance in every play and musical since their creation! Sometimes they are a different color or have been covered with a tablecloth, but they have been there. Some versatile boxes of various sizes can be built and stored for use in plays. You can paint them, cover them, stack them, etc. Building a few things each year helps keep the stress level down.

6. Plan ahead
If you pick out a play a few seasons ahead, you can peruse local listings to see if anyone else is doing the plays you plan to do. Then contact them about purchasing some or all of the most difficult/expensive set pieces at a reasonable cost. (You should look at it first!!) Many theaters trash much of their sets at the end of a performance. (Particularly some of the high school and college theaters) Talk to them. Often if you are willing to move it, they are glad to get rid of it.

7. Use Duct Tape
Any true theater person knows that when all else fails, there is duct tape. The uses for this are so many that I can't even begin to list them!

In the past 10 years, our department has built some very impressive sets for less than $300 each. With some innovation and willingness to ask around, almost any set can be modified and built to suit your particular needs.