Theatre Design & Technology - Winter 1979 - 15

A platform stage with ropes and various levels, and suspended platforms was used to allow free movement of dancers both underneath and upon the platforms. In this case, nu·
merous panels of heavy nylon gauze were hung in front of the
platforms which gave the dancers something to play with and
provided a surface to light in a variety of ways to produce a
variety of moods. The suspended platforms were thus not as
noticeable as in other sets. But the visual excitement, as well
as the freer movement, created by the platforms still made
them a most desirable scenic element.
The authors also used hanging platforms in another set, a
rambling unit set for the epic The Great White Hope, also done
at Karamu. Again a suspended structure enabled an increased effective playing area and created more fluidity in the
design.

Introduction to Hardware
All cables and rigging hardware are designed to resist tension loads, and to bend over sheives and pulleys. Bending and
abrasion are encountered in wire rope used in cranes and machinery, and are not of concern in this article which deals with
stationary uses of cable.
Contrary to the appearance of wire rope, it is not merely
twisted. Each strand is pre-set to take a helical shape. The

rope is layed up in this fashion to reduce unraveling, internal
stress, bending fatigue, and give longer service life. A wire
rope is made from smaller ropes, that are in turn made from individual wire strands. If the direction of "twist" in the strands
is opposite the twist in the rope itself, the direction is referred
to as "regular lay." If the directions match, the term for the
construction is "lang lay." In regular lay rope, the strands run
parallel to the direction of the rope. In lang lay the strands run
in a more rotating direction. If the small wire ropes rotate to
the right, the cable is said to be right lay; if to the left, left lay.
Wire ropes are specified by two numbers, i.e. 6 x 7. This is
read as six smaller ropes comprised of seven strands. This is
the most common composition, but many others are standard
also.
Wire rope is invariably better for most structural uses than
solid products such as galvanized wire or piano wire, as its
compound structures give it much greater strength. A piece of
'Is" airplane cable, a common type of wire rope, may have a
strength ten times that of a comparable piece of solid galvanized wire. Piano wire and galvanized wire may have occasional uses in supporting very light weight objects (under fifteen pounds), or in stabilizing large structures, but are of little
value in most structural applications.
The rigging hardware manufactured serves one of four general purposes. A pully, block or shieve is used to change di-

The Sistuhs, 1977. Suspended platform supported by four Y." strands of airplane cable run to the grid above. It was stabilized primarily by the
stairway which ran off stage left; although additional stabilization was eventually added by galvanized wire running offstage left from the platform
edge. Posters were hung on conventional piano wire.

USITT Winter, 1979

Theatre Design & Technology

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