The Prop Maker
At my childhood theatre program, us kids participated in every aspect of creating our shows. We pulled costumes from the back closet, led warmups, and made our own props that were specific to the show. This was how I thought theatre was made. When I got into middle school, I was disappointed that I wasn’t able to help with any tech aspects of the shows. So, when I got into high school, I joined the props team, which was one of the only tech aspects that you could work on in addition to acting. I LOVED it. I became head props halfway through my sophomore year and was in charge of many shows, including Proof, How to Succeed in Bussiness Without Really Trying, and Crimes of the Heart. In college, I apprenticed at Children’s Theatre Company in the props department, where I was head props for their senior intensive Be More Chill. In college, I did props design for Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow and Stupid F*cking Bird, as well as creating several individual props for other projects.
Anya Answers!
What is your favorite show you have done props for?
Clue: On Stage. I was head props for this production in high school. We weren’t allowed to have any type of gun on stage, not even a water gun. But the show requires a gun as one of the weapons. Therefore, I decided on a stylized concept where all of the weapons were two-dimensional and made out of cardboard, designed to look exactly like the pieces in the Clue board game. A lot of the other props were handmade too; the letters each character got were made out of origami paper in their respective color, the weapon boxes were hand-made out of cardboard sheets to custom sizes, and I made my first ever decapitated head!
What is your favorite type of prop to make?
I LOVE making fake food! It involves two parts, creating the physical shape of the food and painting the object. I usually rely on foam or clay for the body of the food. Clay is much easier to shape, but foam can provide an interesting texture and is much more actor-resilient. The below picture is from a personal project I submitted to the Minnesota State Fair, made from foam, spackle, and paint. (I won a 3rd place ribbon for this!)
The most challenging prop you’ve made?
In the final act of Be More Chill, a 2-liter bottle of Mountain Dew Red (not Code Red, the vintage flavor) is poured out on stage. First of all, as this flavor was discontinued in 1988, there are very few images of the label, none of which were for a 2-liter. I had to custom splice together the label in Photoshop to the proper dimensions and hand attach it to a bottle. I then had to create a red ribbon contraption that would easily flow out of the bottle and not get stuck. This took me hours upon hours over several days. No matter what I tried, it would keep getting stuck! I did eventually figure it out by weighing it down with a metal dowel and gluing several painted red flat washers along the length of the other ribbons.