The Impracticalities of Modern Day Mastodons

PROP WORK

Performed March 2024 at Theatre@First in Somerville, MA.

My first foray into theatrical prop design was for this offbeat comedy, where I was able to create a wide range of (often ridiculous) items. I created the following props over the course of a week using mostly scavenged materials.

Mastodon jaw bone

A life-size mastodon mandible for some paleontologists to ogle.

After photoshopping a scientific illustration to add more teeth, I then projected the image at scale for tracing.

I used aluminum foil to build out the rough 3D shape.

Air-dry clay doing its air-dry thing.

The final product, made in less than two days.

One of the aforementioned paleontologists.

Big ole cheese

Based on the 1,235-pound mammoth cheese gifted to Thomas Jefferson in 1802, this prop needed to be four feet across and significantly lighter than the original.

I mocked up the design in Illustrator to get buy-in from the director.

I pieced together the exterior with scraps of foamcore and cardboard, and used old styrofoam blocks as internal support.

After the first coat of paint I used drywall spackling to help obscure the seams.

Projecting the Illustrator image for tracing.

The final product!

Bunny bomb

A TNT-style bomb that could survive being strapped to a stuffed bunny and thrown across stage every night.

I made the TNT with rolled up kraft paper, cardboard, electrical tape, and paint.

I made the control panel with things I had lying around - staples, a level, bits of glue stick, and a battery-operated fairy light tucked behind painted tracing paper. For the wires I used a spiral hair tie and an old ethernet cable.

Severed ballerina leg

Something subtle to indicate that the Moscow ballet wasn’t going very well.

Affordability and a quick turnaround were the priorities here - I created the leg using a foam noodle, pillow stuffing, tape, and drywall spackling. I found the red tubes at a party supply store and the shoe at Goodwill.

I painted both the leg and shoe, and tied it all up with a scrap of ribbon I had on hand.

The leg was robust enough to be thrown offstage every show.

A special little remedy

A giant syringe (that’s not actually sharp) filled with a menacing goo (that definitely won’t leak).

After experimenting with a few different concoctions I went with shampoo, acrylic paint, and crushed shimmery eyeshadow. I sealed the syringe with tacky glue and jerry-rigged a drying station.

I made the faux-metal needle by painting a thin piece of flexible plastic. The syringe was thrown across the stage multiple times with zero leakage.

Articles and files and conspiracy walls, oh my!

The play called for a number of newspaper articles, top secret files, and remnants of a “serial killer wall.”

Instead of using placeholder text, I used ChatGPT to generate article titles and content. I used Adobe Firefly to generate accompanying images.

Articles mocked up in Illustrator, with added realism thanks to AI. The pages were printed onto newsprint paper and then cut and reassembled for the files and conspiracy wall remnants below.