Monthly Archives: April 2019

Props, Take Two: The Remains of Dinner

theater; props; fake food, ,

When we last checked in with the intrepid prop managers, they THOUGHT they had everything they needed for the upcoming play, The Savannah Disputation at the Alexandria Little Theater, sorted out. That was before final rehearsals started with the “real” props…

Prop managing is a constant learning experience. At first, my friend Susan and I thought it would be just a matter of rounding up a very specific group of stuff as per the script specifications. Hey, guess what…things change until the director is satisfied and the actors feel comfortable with the things they have to handle.

Case in point, a table dressed for that time just after a dinner has ended, which needs to be set in a hurry, on the darkened stage, after the lights go down between scenes. We were asked to make it the remains of a LARGE dinner (in Savannah, so Southern Style) and really fill up the table. And put some convincing looking food scraps on plates for scraping. All the items were to be placed on a big board, covered with a table cloth, and brought out to place on the table. Voila, instant dinner remains.

Problem #1: The board would not fit through the stage opening it needed to go through (IE the closest one to the table). Problem #2: Even if it had fit, it would have taken two weight lifters to carry it with all the stuff on it. Problem #3: All that stuff (which was then brought out on trays and arranged as quickly as possible on the table) ended up actually obscuring the actors from the audience. There were a few other problems, but these were the major ones.

Solution, naturally: less stuff. But, then, during the rehearsal run with a highly pared down amount of stuff, it was decided that it was now too much less. So, the search for “just enough stuff” continued to evolve. Which it will, I have no doubt, until opening night. And by closing night, we will have it “just right.”

My personal prop obsession is the “banana pudding.” The first attempt at this concoction, which has to be eaten so must be, at least in theory, edible, included spray whipped cream; which turned out to melt into an unsightly puddle in the dish under the stage lights. Enter generic Cool Whip like substance, that age old standard which, I learned, could become part of a question on a standardized test, as follows: “Cool Whip is to Whipped Cream as Cheez Whiz is to [Cheese].”

Ah, the theater. Never a dull moment. But a lot of moments filled with some emotional lows and many (sugar) highs.

Over the Cherry Blossoms

tourism,

The annual deluge of tourists is diminishing as the cherry blossoms fade. I had a good dose of them in various locations and at various times of day and night, as per the picture gallery below. (Featuring the Tidal Basin, our own Cherrydale neighborhood, and Kenwood, Maryland.)

But first, a poem to mark their passing.

Past Peak

Ungracious green, pushing pink

To the verge. Swirling, disturbed,

By passing (not pausing) hordes

Apathetic, unperturbed.

Property Management: Bibles, Banana Pudding and a Bottle of Scotch

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My small but devoted blog followers may wonder where I’ve been lately? Well, one place has been at thrift stores, discount stores and a couple of highly specialized shops, all in the name of rounding up props for the upcoming production of The Savannah Disputation at Alexandria’s Little Theater. My dear friend Susan got me into this, describing it as if it would be a giant, fun scavenger hunt.

Little did we know that we would be spending hours hunting down rosaries and grotesquely carved tourist candles, as well as devising relatively unmessy but convincingly food-like “remains of Sunday dinner.” We did some of this together, but we also forayed out on our own, consulting one another as necessary via text and shared photos.

Here is a typical text exchange, which seems to be in some sort of weird code, or perhaps the dialogue from a very obscure play:

Me: (at the Botanica Boracua on Columbia Pike) [photo of row of colorful religious candles] How many and what colors?

Susan: I like the gold Mary in 2nd row, 1st picture, how much?

Me: It’s actually St. Anthony.

Susan: That’s fine. $6.99?

Me: There’s also the holy trinity [another photo, close up showing candle with Holy Trinity]

Susan: I think I like the other one more gold on the label, although. blue would contrast and we do have a pale blue Mary. So whichever you like better!

I left with a rosary and two candles that we finally mutually agreed to after an additional phone call. And so it has gone, through photos and text of pudding cups, crosses, and candles.

Our next job (which we were sort of unclear that we had signed on for) is to organize all the props, scene by scene, and to write a detailed list of when they are used and where to find them when needed. In short, a lot more work than anticipated all around. But, it has been a fun learning experience, and I know sympathize even more with the Supply Staff of our annual Smithsonian Folklife Festival.

Here is a gallery of some of our texted photos. If you go see the play, keep an eye out for the ways they are used!