Common Materials: Scenic

Theatre has a long history of taking other materials and transforming them to visually look like others. Most scenic pieces are ultimately made of fairly simple and common materials, and have been for centuries. These are the most common ones we use in scenic construction.

Dimensional Lumber

Refers to plank-like boards of wood. It comes in evenly numbered lengths starting at 8' (foot) long and going to 16'.

An important thing to note about dimensional lumber is that it is called by a nominal size referring to the board's width and thickness. However, these implied sizes are actually different than the true dimensions of the board. The boards start bigger when they are cut from the tree but are milled down to be smoother and a consistent shape. That process results in them being a little smaller than the name they are called by.

Take a look at this chart of common construction lumber sizes. The column and row titles are the nominal sizes and the actual dimensions are in the center.

The most common sizes we use for theatre are called 2x4 (two by four) and 1x4 (one by four).

Sheet Lumber

These come in 4 ft x 8 ft (4'-0" x 8'-0") rectangular sheets of wood. Sheet lumber is named by both its thickness and the type of its material.

Because of a different manufacturing process than dimensional lumber, these sheets are actually the thickness and sizes they claim to be. 

Plywood

Officially made up of laminated wood layers, plywood is strong and versatile. It is used in theatre on virtually every scenic piece and is the go-to material to cover (or skin) hard flats, platforms, and stairs. The most common thicknesses we use in theatre are 1/4", 1/2", and 3/4".

Lauan

Pronounced 'loo-on.' Is a plywood-like sheet lumber that has a very smooth finish and is easy to paint. It is a bit more brittle than plywood, but is extremely light-weight and easy to buy and work with. Lauan is another go-to material for skinning hard flats, but is not strong enough to support the weight of humans. The most common thickness is 1/4".

Masonite

A hard, strong, and stable sheet lumber that can withstand a lot of repeated punishment. Because of this high strength, it is often used as the stage flooring.

Fabrics

The costume department aren't the only ones who work with fabric. In fact, it is becoming very common for Scenic Designers to specify curtains, drapes, custom masking, and a variety of other uses for fabric in their designs.

The most common scenic fabric is called muslin and it is a plain, woven fabric that is mainly used as a base for soft flats and backdrops. It is very easy to paint and transform into whatever you want it to be, but is overall very affordable when compared to other fabrics.

Other Materials

Foams, plastic, and plexi-glass are other construction materials that we have adopted heavily into theatrical sets. Foams can be carved and shaped into complex and organic objects. Plastics come in a variety of colors and textures and can also be specialty cut or shaped via a process called vacuforming, where they are molded into a replica facade of a 3-d object like a brick or stone wall. And plexi-glass is our go-to material for when we want a hard object that has transparency.

How and when these are used will vary by show and its specific needs. But they are an important part of our toolkit as theatrical artists.