SCENERY PAINTING FOR THE AMATEUR MUSICAL THEATRE and PANTOMIME
DICK WHITTINGTON - Bushmills page four

Designed constructed and painted by Brian Willis.
Performed by Bushmills Primary School PTA March 2007

OLD CHEP
Old Chep

As this is probably the last time I will design and paint for this group, I thought it would be fun to return to my original "Old Chep" design I did for Lisburn way back in 1972. (There are changes on the right to account for this year's script.)

The painting is 18 feet wide with a seven foot drop. (5Ltr. paint tin for scale below Rt lamppost) The two wings are permanent and form a false proscenium for the show. This "backcloth" was painted on the back wall of the stage. It's not the nicest of bases on which to work. As you can see, it is bisected by a curtain track. This track needs to be retained as the curtains are used during the show (See previous page of "Ships Rail") So I can't work above this track becasue whatever I paint would appear in all the other scenes. Also, to make matters worse, there is a batten of wood which runs across the wall about five feet off the stage floor. This, the school want to keep as they pin items to it when doing their own childrens' shows.
This photo was taken under fluorescent light (You can see them) and some tungsten. That batten will not be quite so prominent when it is lit from the front during the performance - which means the shadow won't be so noticeable.

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