Friday, May 03, 2019
Curators of Everyday Objects: The Work of Prop Masters
Stage Directions: Why does this level of detail—what some might consider a “luxury” in the realm of quickly produced, budget challenged theatre—matter? Every prop master will give you a slightly different answer colored by their own experiences and approach to the job. What I tell my students is this—it matters because what we’re creating on the stage is the world in which the show exists. Whatever it is we’re doing, the show has a reality in which it exists and it’s our job to research, manufacture, procure, restore, and curate the objects that populate that reality. Prop people are curators of everyday objects across decades and centuries.
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2 comments:
CAN I JUST SAY THAT I LOVE PROPS SO MUCH AND HAVE SO MUCH RESPECT FOR PROPS MASTERS/ARTISANS!!! Seriously though, it takes serious talent to do props well and Todd in our prop shop—AMAZING! A prop could literally be an everyday object, such as a blanket… but what kind of blanket? What decade are we in? What color is the blanket? Does it match the set and costumes and go well with the lighting? Will sound get muffled in it if it’s too fuzzy? Is it even fuzzy or is it quilted or just cotton or maybe something totally different? These are all of the kinds of questions that props departments have to deal with, but for every single item, they produce for the stage. It is an insane amount of work that really relies on an insane stock like the one we have in the warehouse, to be able to make really good decisions.
I loved reading the authors description of props as walking memories. I especially liked the comment “people like memories- even if they are not your own. I definitely relate to that statement. Otherwise in this article I lived the authors description of the importance of literature and historical documents in fantastical and futuristic piece. I never really thought about including medieval fighting weapons in a futuristic society. Are we saying this future society has passed through our own age filled with Iphones and have needed to go back to medieval weapons? I have definitely seen this practice in use but I have never really thought in depth about it. The author is truly committed to his craft and I value he care he takes in creating his props. I wonder if he is the designer on the propos or the maker or both. From the article it seems like he had a hand in the design but the conventional model we have been learning about seems to favor the scenic designer as the props designer.
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