Rules of the Industrial Strength Theatre
See Also ESP and IST
Safety Considerations
Elden Street Players Technical Responsibilities
Jeff Boatright, Technical Director
3 May 2003
So you're going to work on a show with Elden Street Players. There are a
couple of things that you should know about this theatre company before you
start your tech work. First, ESP leases its theatre facilities from the Town of
Herndon. The facility, better known as the Industrial Strength Theatre, its
infrastructure and production equipment (lighting instruments, cables, sound
equipment) are all the property of the Town of Herndon. We have access to all of
this through our lease but are required to use both the space and equipment in a
responsible manner. Secondly, there are times that we are called upon to share
facilities with another production (ESP or others) we like to encourage joint
cooperation in these ventures - within reason, of course.
Rules for technical usage of the IST
First, respect the facility. Please return the facility to the same condition
you found it in when you moved in. Exceptions are if you have worked out special
arrangements with the next production team. This includes cleaning up after
yourself as well as putting equipment away in a neat manner. Problems with
equipment or the infrastructure need to be reported immediately to the ESP
Technical Director.
Consumables are our responsibility. The halogen bulbs, gaffers tape,
chemicals, gel's, foil, gobo's, etc that you find in the facility are supplied
and/or maintained via ESP. If you find you need something that is not readily
available you can obtain this as part of the budget of your production. If you
need to replace a bulb or you break or burn up a gobo it’s your responsibility
to replace - of course, ESP will reimburse you for this outside your
production's budget.
Lighting
Hang within power limits rather than program within power limits. The IST
facility is old and fragile. We are constantly pursuing repairs with the Town of
Herndon to these electrical facilities due to improper use. The town is obliging
but not necessarily timely in their response to these issues. While we have had
various components replaced there is no guarantee that the town will approve
significant infrastructure replacement if serious problems were to arise.
So, as a requirement that will be enforced by ESP's Technical Director, no
show will be permitted to plug instruments that exceed the power rating of the
associated dimmer based on the combined 100% ratings of the plugged instruments.
Plugging more than the dimmer's capacity, even if the intent is to program for
less usage, will not be permitted. The infrastructure supports 24 20A dimmers
plus 4 dedicated 20A circuits that can each support one portable 20A dimmer
pack. An additional portable dimmer may be permitted ONLY if it is the sole
appliance plugged to a free 20A circuit.
The plugging of non-lighting equipment into the dimmers will not be
permitted.
Safety. For lighting equipment that is hung above eye level the independent
securing of these instruments with a safety cable will be required. The typical
application is to have the safety cable looped around the instrument yoke and
the lighting grid.
Instruments may not be secured to plumbing or electrical conduit. In
addition, we do not permit lighting instruments to be secured to flammable
structures (for wood, flame retardant is still not an option). No lighting
instrument may be hung within 12 inches of flammable materials.
Lighting and other electrical equipment that become integral with set pieces
must meet building/fire code as specified by the Town of Herndon and the County
of Fairfax.
Be aware of the capacity of circuits! Many of our show's require the usage of
electrical devices that will not be plugged to a dimmer such as fans, fog
machines, etc. Make sure that these are plugged within the capacity of the
circuits.
Preparing for a Show
