Scenic Construction

In four terms you will gain the opportunity to work in the Academy’s carpentry and steel fabrication workshops, working with professional directors and designers on the Academy’s public productions.

Throughout the course students will visit various professional organisations such as the National Theatre and Royal Opera House. In the final term students project work will be exhibited in RADA’s GBS Theatre in the ‘Technical Tree’ giving them the opportunity to talk about their work with an invited group of industry contacts.

The training covers:

• Bench carpentry and joinery
• Knowledge of construction materials and their properties
• Building, erecting and maintaining sets in both timber and metal
• Mechanics of scenery handling and rigging
• Working drawings and ground plans using CAD
• Budgeting and ordering
• Safe use of hand tools including routers, jigsaws and sanders
• Safe use of power tools including; band, table and wall saws, morticer, tenoner and planer thicknesser
• Introduction to metal work: use of MMA, MIG and TIG welding processes and metal working tools, such as grinders and the metal lathe.
• Technical stage management skills
• Theatrical flying and rigging
• Principles of masking and sightlines
• Computer aided design (CAD)
• Four to six weeks professional attachment to a theatre or scenic contractor

This course leads to the award of a post-graduate diploma in Scenic Construction.