Many
rigging problems, especially in smaller
theatres, or in theatres with very deep stages, result from having no
grid at all, or too low of one. Stage riggers have developed a variety of
tripping techniques to help combat this problem. Tripping a drop means to rig it so that it can be folded in half (or even thirds) when it is
flown out. The technique only works with soft or semi-soft
scenery.
To trip a drop, it is flown regularly, but much like breasting techniques, requires the use of additional battens. To fold the drop in half, attach the second batten to the bottom of the drop. Raising this batten will fold the drop in half, reducing the amount of grid space necessary for storage. Further reduction can be achieved by attaching a third batten at the drop's vertical midpoint, allowing it to be folded into thirds.
An extreme means of tripping a drop can often be found in opera houses. Rather than fly the drops into the grid space, they are rolled onto a giant drum at the bottom of the stage. This oleo drop is rigged in nearly the same way as an old rolling window shade. The same ropes which control the height of the batten supporting the drop are also wrapped around the drum at stage level. Bringing the batten in causes the drum to roll, wrapping the drop around itself.
Though more complicated than standard rigging techniques, both tripping and breasting are perfectly safe means of dealing with out of the ordinary rigging situations.
This node completes the Stage Rigging Metanode - - Whoo Hoo!!Well, at least my part of it<