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Some notes about good railing construction:
-You probably want to make the railings 3' to The railings need to be 3.5' (42") off the platform surface. Much taller starts blocking people's faces, much shorter becomes a bit worrying.
-It's surprisingly easy to make stable railings. Don't worry too much about adding lots and lots of wood. The Othello railings had about 4' gaps between each vertical support, and they were fine.
-Railings don't need to be 2x4s. Othello used 2x3s to good effect. Twelfth Night used 1x3s, which seemed fine (though weren't intended to be structural). R&J used 2x4s for the edges and horizontal parts, but had 1x3s as the rest of the vertical slots.
-If your railings need to be more than 8 feet long, consider buying wood that's long enough to span that whole length, since it will be easier to make it structural.
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-Try to make sure actors don't get splinters. Sand the edges before you paint the railings, and make sure no screws stick out once they are constructed.
-Making railings a bit longer and letting them continue further down along the platform can make them more structural.
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