Handbook of Scenery, Properties, and Lighting: Volume I, Scenery and Properties (2nd Edition) [Facsimile] [Paperback]

Harvey Sweet (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0205148786 | ISBN-13: 978-0205148783 | Publication Date: December 12, 1994 | Edition: 2

This book offers practical instruction on creating settings and properties for staged events, emphasizing technique by employing step-by-step construction based on the needs and resources of the production. It also strongly emphasizes materials and technology, presenting a series of solutions to basic problems concerning materials, tools, and equipment.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

This book offers practical instruction on creating settings and properties for staged events, emphasizing technique by employing step-by-step construction based on the needs and resources of the production. It also strongly emphasizes materials and technology, presenting a series of solutions to basic problems concerning materials, tools, and equipment.

Product Details

• Paperback: 350 pages
• Publisher: Allyn & Bacon; 2 edition (December 12, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0205148786
• ISBN-13: 978-0205148783
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,114,096 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars You need this one, August 31, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Handbook of Scenery, Properties, and Lighting: Volume I, Scenery and Properties (2nd Edition) (Paperback)

An excellent guide. My choice for a text in high school and college stagecraft classes. Volume 2 (lighting) is equally valuable. Bite the bullet, pay the price, and add to your library

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Manual for High School Theatre Programs, June 5, 2001

By 

Rick Morse "Professional Puppeteer" (Flushing, Michigan USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Handbook of Scenery, Properties, and Lighting: Volume I, Scenery and Properties (2nd Edition) (Paperback)

Finally, a stagecraft text aimed at high schools, community theatres, and colleges that offers practical methods of scenic construction.

Sweet covers the usual material--flats, platforms, stairs, painting, rigging, and so on--but he explains each particular process step by step, assuming no previous experience on the reader's part. This feature alone is worth the price of admission! I have handed this book to students and parents alike, assigned them certain projects ("Would you please build a door flat for me? Just do what the book says."), and sat back to serve as consultant as necessary. The result? Not only have the quality and beauty of our scenic pieces improved dramatically, but interest in stagecraft has skyrocketed.

A sidebar here for my fellow high school directors: you're missing a sure bet if you don't ask for parental help in building sets. These folks are GREAT and thoroughly enjoy sharing their know-how with your students.

Yes, this book is pricey. But how much have you already spent on other stagecraft books, only to find that they're either so limited in scope as to be useless or so advanced that they boggle the mind? Trust me: Sweet got it right.

Five stars from this high school theatre director!

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very informative, but dry., December 26, 2008

By 

Willow (Utah) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Handbook of Scenery, Properties, and Lighting: Volume I, Scenery and Properties (2nd Edition) (Paperback)

This is an extremely informative book...if you can stay awake reading it. I wish it had been written a little more conceptually. There's no way anyone will remember the millions of details. Nonetheless, it's a good reference book.