Chip was played by a 10yr old boy who was effectively just a tea cup so following on from other stage productions I designed a trolley that could house him comfortably whilst still giving the right effect.
I purchased a regular 1980's catering trolley from a charity shop in September for £5 -
... then cut out all the middle of the shelves but left the structure on 3 sides. The base plate was then strengthened, extended and superior castors added, before it was boarded out and decorated to look like open shelves.
Then to cover up the character from the rear I designed a 'tight' curtain that allowed easy access to get in and out of the trolley but also closed off the entire rear so that nothing could be seen.
One of our backstage staff (Susan) who is studying a Design for Performance degree at Edge Hill University worked with me on this particular bit as I have excellent design but few sewing skills! 8)
We cut strengthened black felt to size allowing for just a slight gather, rolled over the sides to make a passage big enough for net curtain elastic wiring to go through. I attached hooks to the rear of the trolley top and bottom on both sides, and eyes to both ends of each piece of wire. It worked without fault!
The initial build was a collaboration between myself and Chips father, Brian and we were both really happy with the end result! The guys who made the big costumes bought the trolley off us as they liked it that much and it is now being used for Salford Universities production of the musical.
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