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Stage Properties are a Lesson in Wondrous Creativity

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Today, I’m going to talk about Stage Properties are a Lesson in Wondrous Creativity–one of my favorite subjects! When I was studying theatre in college, the first back stage crew I signed up for was stage properties.

Boy, I had a lot of learning to do!

The show was “Look Homeward Angel” which is a period piece set in the early 1900’s. My job was to serve as an assistant of sorts to the cast. I would hand them props or take them from them if they were in a hurry. I prepared the set each night before the production, put the props away after the performance and kept them in good repair.

I hadn’t really given props much thought although I had been in charge of them in high school as well for “The Miracle Worker”. That was high school, you know? Plus, I lived in a small town in Kansas. Consequently, we didn’t have the money or energy to do more than the basics.

But college was a whole different experience.

My students are always advised by me that if they want to go into theatre as a profession, stick to technical theatre because you’ll be hired more often than an actor. Good properties people are hard to find.

They are resourceful, creative and inventive. The American Theatre Wing has some super videos to inform us about thetre careers. Check this out: American Theatre Wing’s Stage Properties

Cool, huh?

Stage Properties a Lesson Wondrous Creativity

Here is a post I blogged specifically about the importance of props in your production: Critical Steps in Choosing a Play or Musical: Stage Prop

When I graduated from college, I spent a summer as a stage properties mistress at the Okoboji Summer Theatre. It was an incredibly difficult experience–ten shows in nine weeks. I can handle a lot, but this job nearly broke me.

In case you didn’t understand that, I said 10 SHOWS (different) in 9 WEEKS!!!

Yowzer!

Most productions have many props they need.

Musicals and comedies have the largest number.

Usually comedies need strange things:

a Mickey Mouse hat to hold crackers on a “cheese ball”
two live afghan dogs, hopefully identical
a grand piano which is playable
matching living room furniture in beige
a large embroidered sampler held on a standing frame
a painting with a church steeple which looked rather phallic
a live cat
liver and onions (which the cast can eat on stage–we used dark rye bread for that one)
fruit pies impersonating the meat pies for “Sweeney Todd”
8 breakable white water pitcher which could hold water for five minutes and then break on cue
bird puppets
steamer trunks
child’s rocking chair
1940 roller skates

Plus, there are all the things which are made from scratch such as swords, daggers, child’s coffin, and a grave marker to name a few. Those props take extra time to design and build. Here’s a cool video about making a stage prop. cake.

See? These are pretty fun and students studying theater need to know about the subject.

Stage properties are a lesson in wondrous creativity

You can find it at: Stage Properties Using Cooperative Learning

Those of us in drama education have a tendency to gloss over stage properties when we teach about them. I inform students if they like to make crafts, enjoy theatre and art they are going to love stage properties.

This one-day lesson about stage properties (with fairy tales as the focus) is suitable for upper elementary and middle school students. It is engaging, fun and unique.

Students learn about stage properties, view video examples, take notes, team up with a classmate and use their imaginations!

Product includes:
Procedure
Teacher’s Questions
Stage properties categories and the reasons they aren’t labeled as such
Short quiz
Cooperative learning assignment

So look into my Stage Properties product, will you? I think it will help you and your students.