Portable Staging for Schools and Small Venues[2019]- Doughty EasyDeck

There is a certain power to well-established stages. In some instances, they become iconic—think of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, the Roman Colosseum, and New York City’s Radio City Music Hall. There is no denying that these permanent (or permanent in their time) stages and venues have their perks, but they cannot be moved, nor is it as easy for them to adapt.

And when you need set a simple stage only for a short amount of time, such as a youth drama club production, bulky, permanent staging solutions just don’t make a lot of sense.

The solution is simple: modular staging systems.

Portable Staging for Schools and Small Venues - Doughty EasyDeck

When it comes to small venues such as primary schools, choirs, performance halls, worship centers, and production groups, a simple and cost-effective solution for temporary staging is always required. We recommend Doughty’s Easydeck modular staging system.

Farnham Maltings that has operated an art and community center for Farnham since the early 1970s brought Doughty Engineering on board for a 3-year project with the University of Creative Arts (UCA). With the Easydeck flooring and insightful staging strategies provided during the project, it resulted in desired portable staging platforms. For the full story, please read the case study of Doughty EasyDeck here. 

5 Reasons why Easydeck is The Best Portable Staging for Schools & Small Venues

#1 Easydeck has everything you need

Easydeck is an affordable staging solution for schools and small venues. It offers all of the portable stage accessories you need. Simply check out the user manual and see what kind of stage you're looking for. The required quantities of gears are well listed for each type of stage.

#2 Simplicity without Special Tools to Assemble

All Easydeck modules consist of two basic components:

• Lightweight ‘crackle’ black finish steel frames
• Phenol-coated birch ply reversible deck panels

They are easy to set up and take down by pupils without extra tools that may need extra supervision and take a longer time. This benefit offers them the freedom and creativity of being able to produce multiple numbers of stage layouts with the same range of equipment. That's why Easydeck system is the ideal portable staging for schools.

#3 Incredibly Flexible and Customizable

One of the biggest perks for the Easydeck system is that its modular nature makes it incredibly flexible and customizable.

Regardless of whether you’re looking to build a mobile stage for a speech or portable risers for a choral concert, you can create the desired combinations with multiple heights of sturdy steel frames and various shapes of deck panels. Any custom sizes are also available on request.  

• 3 Types of Steel Frames: Square Unit, Triangular Unit and Rectangular (Step Unit)
• 3 Types of Panels: Square, Triangular and Rectangular

#4 Conforms to High Professional Standards

Doughty is the world-leading manufacturer of rigging, suspension, and lifting equipment for the television and theatre industries. Their quality has propelled them to be a leader for entertainment industry products over the course of the last three decades.

The Easydeck modular staging is a perfect example of both their ingenuity and quality. It also conforms to the standards of DIN 53799 and BS6566:1 1985. 

#5 A truly Practical Temporary Stage without Compromising the Look

Doughty designed this line of products after extensive consultation with drama teachers, amateur groups and rental companies. Their goal was to develop a staging system that is safe, efficient, and cost-effective. This is how this truly no-fuss system was born. You can find how Easydeck modular stage systems help Little Angel Theatre (LAT), a special needs school in North Wales and Bradbury Hall to achieve their staging needs.

We won't compromise to the stage appearance. By offering a wide range of Easydeck Bolton Twill Curtain Valance options, your stage will have a more finished look.

Assembling an Easydeck Modular Stage

At the foundation of every Doughty modular stage are the Easydeck Square Units. These steel square units are manufactured in four standard heights to best fit your venues: 250mm, 500mm, 750mm and 1000mm. These staging decks can hold up to 500kg per square meter. As mentioned above, the deck panels come in three shapes to meet your particular staging requirement. 

The following elements are also used to build Doughty Easkdeck. For more details of how to assemble Easy Deck modular stage, please download the user manual.

• Easydeck Joint Clips secure runways and step units.
• Joint Channels create a secure joint between two adjacent frames.
• Support Channels match the height of the Joint Channels and Joint Clips, ensuring a level platform for the deck panels.
• Riser Brackets are designed to be used when two units are tiered on top of each other. These are fitted to each corner ensuring the tiered unit is safe and secure. These must be used in sets of 4.

When working with Easydeck, we have some tips to avoid the following incidents: 

1. Entrapment/Crushing:
   Keep fingers clear when lowering the floor panels into the frame modules.
2. Slips:
   Assemble the floor panels, ensuring the ‘top-side’ is suitable for the intended purpose.
3. Trips:
   The entire floor area must be level, stable and devoid of any ‘ramps’ between adjoining modules that may present a trip hazard.
4. Modular separation:
   Modules must be firmly secured to one another using the proprietary Joint Channels and Joint Clips provided.
5. Collapse:
   Modules that are stacked must be positioned and secured using proprietary Riser Brackets.
6. Falls:
   Handrails should be fitted where there is a risk of injury from falling.

Conclusion

For troupes, performers, and visionaries who are looking to easily and quickly take their concerts, plays, ceremonies, and other productions on the road (or in the next room) without sacrificing professional and dependable construction, the solution is simple: modular staging systems.

You don’t need to be a leading production company to easily build a reliable, custom stage—if you have the right equipment, that is.

Remember: All the world’s a stage, and you can build yours anywhere with the help of Doughty EasyDeck modular staging and shopmtn.eu.