The Traveling Theatre

"Look, look! The traveling theatre is here! The Thespians are here!" The cries of the children in the street caused me to open the curtains slightly and take a peek out of the window. The main street is crowded with people, but no carts - in a small town such as this, horse traffic is a rarity. The crowds all swarm to one end of the street and I poke my head out of the window slightly to see the distraction. At the end of the street I see a marvelous contraption - a sort of flat wagon, with the trappings of a Thespian home at the rear end. The platform extends to either side of the road, and the vehicle seems to be having trouble fitting, even though the main street was built with ample room for two carts to pass one another. As the construction comes closer, I can pick out the features on the platform - a curved wooden sheet as large as the base of the cart itself, painted in the garish colours that Thespians seem to favour, lies atop the wagon, which I now see has raised edges that could function as seats. Three horses pull the wagon, and the driver sits at the edge of the flat bed. I see Thespians bustling about near the home-like attachment on the end, taking out musical instruments and other such things. The sight makes me want to leave the house like nothing has in a long, long time.
The Traveling Theatre is a Thespian construction that has existed for the better part of a century, moving between towns and villages that do not have a permanent theatre and providing theatrical and musical entertainment to the people of such areas.  It is shared between troupes, who have access to the theatre for one month at a time.

Propulsion

The Traveling Theatre is drawn by between three and four horses, harnessed to the main stage. Where this is not sufficient (particularly on steep slopes), the theatre is also pulled by its inhabitants with the aid of some of the ropes attached to its sides. When travelling downhill, the horses are harnessed to the house end to avoid it careening out of control. Additionally, when near a body of water the Traveling Theatre is often harnessed to a boat to give the horses a break.

Communication Tools & Systems

The Traveling Theatre has a small flagpole at its rear, on which they hoist various flags that symbolise things particular to the peculiar trade that it plies. A red flag means that there will be no performances that day, while a yellow flag means that the last performance will begin in an hour and a green flag means that there is at least one more performance before the last performance of the day. Blue flags mean that the Theatre will move on the next day. These flags can be hoisted in combination - blue and red is a common sight when the Traveling Theatre's troupe is ready to move on.

Additional & auxiliary systems

The Traveling Theatre is a remarkable example of Thespian lifestyle and architecture. Its main purpose is to serve as a portable theatre for the troupe that lives in the wagon on the end of it. When it arrives in a town, the huge piece of curved wood is raised up by a system of pulleys attached to poles on the side of the wagon, forming a roof that enhances the accoustics of any performance that the troupe puts on much better than would be possible with a typical stage kit. The roof has the added benefit that it protects the audience and materials for the performance from the rain and wind.

Rarity

One of a kind

Beam

5 metres

Length

12 metres

Height

2.5m when collapsed, 5m when assembled.

Complement / Crew

Thespian troupe (between 5 and 10 Thespians)

Cargo & Passenger Capacity

Can carry up to 10 Thespians and their belongings.