 | Software development and testing. Much of this initial work has been
completed at the University of Texas with testing both there and at the Alley
Theater in Houston. Further refinement and adaptation to the specific needs of
the Steppenwolf production department will continue early in the grant period
primarily in Texas. |
| Equipment specification, acquisition, and integration. Since the project
seeks to develop the most flexible solutions to problems of stage automation,
the computer hardware, interface electronics, and wiring details must serve
both existing stage equipment as well as that likely to be acquired for use in
future productions. Both the technical staff and project leaders will work
early in the project to get the most adaptable equipment in place and working
so that training can begin promptly. |
| Training and troubleshooting. A key component to the project is to ensure
that technical personnel can successfully manipulate the technology and adapt
it to the usually varying demands of a regional theater production schedule.
Under the project leader’s guidance training will continue throughout the
project, focusing first on hiring the technician dedicated to the project and
leading her toward a fundamental competence with the technology. A concurrent
training effort will enable the supervisory production staff to plan the
theater’s use of the technology effectively in collaboration with artistic
personnel. |
| Production trials and troubleshooting. This crucial phase of the project
will allow a detailed look at the system in live performance. While
essentially ready for operation now, using the HMI in the Steppenwolf season
will serve as additional training for technical personnel and will allow a
funded period of extended troubleshooting or experimentation. These initial
productions will also serve to introduce the theater’s designers and directors
to the range of possibilities for its use. |
| Evaluation and long-range planning. Assuming that success for a backstage
endeavor may be judged simply by how unobtrusively it manifests itself,
evaluation of the project must be based on observation. A more formal
evaluation of this judgment and of the system’s usefulness will be obtained
best through interviews with the directors and designers of a production which
use the system. It will also be necessary to examine Steppenwolf’s standard
opportunities for feedback from audiences to note that the technology on stage
indeed goes unnoticed. Finally, in preparation for a possible future project,
the theater will invite technical professionals from other peer institutions
to observe the system in hope that their organizations might adopt similar
technology and use Steppenwolf as a training site. |
