Is HARDER better?!?!?

I don't know if it is done or not, but it seems to me as your biggest costs of any production is the mounting of it.How come we use it for up to 10 shows then scrap it?.Surely we should engineer a tour of soughts to other venues and capitalise on our investment.In Perth you don't have the distances to worry about, so why could a show from the hills not perform in fremantle during their black times and vice versa.In the country when 200km are average between venues, it's still viable.Even at times just a change of venue, further down the road, makes a differenc.The clubs I have seen down here, tend not to lend their show to soft sets, more your average hard board and jarrah.Why has there been a tendancy, when flats are used, to make them so heavy it takes 3 bods and a dog to set up? Wheres the canvas and pine gone? I realise the belief is, the harder it is the better it is - said the actress to ...... sorry actor! - but not with box sets or the like.Our biggest useable resource is people, so why kill them off, make it easier to do.Sure canvass is exspensive and pine seems too light and soft ( oreagon pine is out of the question), but whats wrong with un-bleached calico as the skin, it's cheap and repared easy or replaced. A lot have said the hard flats are easy to paint and put together - granted but at what cost. Think about, I have used, even on extensive tours, calico flats that have out lasted plywood and the like. If you hole a calico flat, 'first-aid' bandage it - same texture same effect, try that with hard boards.They don't require nailing together, as is often done, rope and cleats do the trick. Flapping will occur if you don't allow for it, such as slamming doors, so the door is a seperate flat stepted behind a header and/or two joggers - easily overcome.You can use roller bandage to cover the jionts and paint it on, not glue, if money is tight you can reuse it by rolling it up afterwards.I have seen some pro dance co's rewind used gaffa off the tarquette dance floor, if it's good enough for them!Of course it saves time and effort to make flats with hardboard, if you have time look around I bet you will find old canvas flats still going strong, with 10mm of poster or plastic paint still on them - a re-skin is not hard to do, that is if your programme mainly box sets type productions.I know some use angle iron frames and velco ply skins to them - this is good for what they require, less maintenance, inter changeable skins and less stock frames needed. - Great....but at least think about it.I'm sure there loads of reasons why harder is better - tell me....please.This is not an old jockey on a new horse, more the other way around.Joe McCabe