[SML] Grass and sand on stage

[Duncan Mahoney]

We recently used granulated cork onstage in place of sand.  For an
equivalent quantity, cork was not that much more expensive than sand, and
was certainly thousands of pounds lighter during the load-in and
strike...but...walking on cork is different than walking on sand, and the
cork was dustier than we had expected.  We had the stagehands wear dust
masks while sweeping up any escaped cork and raking the stage...the actors
didn't stir up too much dust during the performances.  We had to spend some
time after strike cleaning the lighting equipment. The dust may prove to be
an issue if you have large quantities of people sauntering through the cork.
And the cork will get everywhere, it's almost as bad as glitter or snow.

Duncan Mahoney
Director of Technical Direction
Associate Professor of Theatre Practice
University of Southern California School of Dramatic Arts