Choosing the Right Stage: Portable, Permanent, or Hybrid?

Portability vs. Permanent: Choosing and Developing Your Stage
In the theatrical world; stage types can be divided into two styles. The portable design is usually smaller and less intensive than its counterpart; the permanent stage. Choosing between these two styles can be difficult and easy decision for any performer.

The Ease of a Portable Stage

Portable stages are perfect for taking to events and giving a performance for your local group. This type of entertainment at events demands a portable stage. These stages are usually smaller in appearance and made of lightweight materials. Canvas, wood, and few large pieces are crafted together to make a basic stage.

The Solidity of a Permanent Stage

A permanent stage can be built into a room of a house or can be designed to be brought out on special occasions. A permanent stage usually features highly decorative features, rich draperies, an amazing lighting system, and can withstand a nuclear blast. While a permanent stage cannot be brought to social gatherings with ease; they can be utilized to provide entertainment at home quite easily.

A Blending of the Styles

Our stage, Teatro Humberto, encompasses both styles; but quite by accident. The stage was originally designed to be portable. However, after a short amount of time the project quickly became more of a permanent theatre with some portability.

For example, the stage is portable because it breaks down into smaller sections, making packing an entire stage that much easier to fit into a trailer...yes, I said trailer. The permanent features are the shear size of the stage pieces; while strong enough to support our weight can be a hassle to transport to all events.

The Future of Humberto

Teatro Humberto is in what we call, affectionetely, phase one. That is, it is our prototype stage. We built the stage and allowed it to evolve on its own. In essence, we understood what we needed and added what we thought we needed as well.

Eventually, the stage will become more portable. Our main goal is to take it to events and entertain our friends. Creating a pleasing portable theatre while keeping with the requirement that we feel make it safe and secure will require more planning in the future.

What are your needs?

Do you need to travel to events with your marionettes or will you entertain guests in a "remodeled" garage? Do you have a large vehicle to haul things in or do you have a motorcycle? Do you want to spend a lot of money or prefer Free Cycle finds?

These questions are very important when determining the type of stage that you need to build. While you may have a very specific type of stage in mind; you may find that you need to alter and tweak it around to make it fit your lifestyle. For example; you may need a portable stage but only have the sidecar on your bike to transport it in.

The solution is to make alterations and change your preconceived notions on what the stage needs to look like or how it needs to be constructed. Make it smaller, out of more durable wood, or add hinges to make it fold up easily. Additionally, using colored fabric decorated with paint can help add to the style of a stage while keeping the weight down considerably.

A Portable Stage

In the beginning there was a stage, or so we thought....

The Vision: Theatre to Entertain and Teach

Marionettes have been used throughout history in one form or another. The earliest ancestor of the marionette dates back to ancient times, from Burma to the Greeks and Romans. These puppets eventually gave birth to what we know as the marionette; a puppet controlled by strings from a person situated above the marionette.

Why start a theatre?

For a variety of reasons we had decided on utilizing theatrical productions to both entertain and educate participants. The first reason was that theatre is fun and many of our friends were quite interested in one form or other of the stage. Another reason was that it would be a interesting project to work on; starting from learning the basics and creating the simplest of marionettes and gradually working our way up to the truly fantastic and extensive marionettes designed in the medieval fashion.

The first goal was to entertain; for why else would somebody wish to see a show with dolls suspended from strings jiggling around on a stage? Performing stories such as the entertaining Quest for the Holy Grail, the moving Song of Roland, and snipets of the various fairy tales recorded by the Brothers Grimm reaches this goal. Entertainment in our corner of the Society for Creative Anachronism is sadly lacking and limited to bardic circles where songs are performed around a campfire. The entertainment of the masses has been and always will be the main goal of our modest troupe.

The second goal, and one that I still feel is vital, is to transfer the oral tradition of our medieval-minded group into a visual form. As a group that believes in preserving the collected medieval past of our forefathers, our history is woefully neglected; crumbling into dust as the years pass by. Theatre could, in essence, help keep the stories and traditions of our group alive.

So…why the marionettes?

Working with marionettes provides several benefits over traditional actors. Marionettes can perform many tasks that may seem magical or require special props with ease. For example, a marionette may fly through the air in one scene and swim under the ocean in the next without anything special besides imagination.

Additionally, marionettes were preferred over traditional actors in our situation because of the shortage of the latter; at least in our area. One experienced puppeteer can, in essence, control two marionettes at a time, thus increasing the amount viable performers quickly.

Also, using marionettes gives the puppeteer a sense of freedom, as only the marionette is being seen. This allows for even the shyest of people to pick up the controllers and perform the most outrageous and entertaining of performances.

Where do we go from here?

This blog is meant to showcase our studies into this unique and entertaining art form. Precious few resources can be found on the Internet that further studies into medieval and renaissance marionettes or their applications into the Society for Creative Anachronism. It is our hope that other people who are interested in our field of study can find more information and create their own working troupe.

Additionally, this blog will be ongoing as we continue to progress from the simple to the extravagant, from the amateur to the patient; and we invite you to come along with us.

Arthur began Humbly and as an afterthought

So where did Arthur get his big start?

Inquiring minds might want to know. Well, he had Hispanic origins and was an afterthought. Who is Arthur anyway? - A marionette of basic proportions and simplistic build.

First came the inspiration to build a portable marionette stage....much like, "build it and they will come."

Then came the scripts, three each - Scene 1, scene 3, and Beornkin. The first two scripts were inspired by bad copies of Monty Python and were tweaked for SCA audiences.

On New Year's Eve, 31 Dec 2010, while looking at a marionette; "Pedro," brought back by friends who had travelled to Mexico, it struck me that 3 marionettes could be created very easily for a performance that night.

Thus it all began. Fathir