Props and Pool Noodles: Key 2056

A few decades ago I worked in a variety of professional theatre jobs including props. In those days there was no internet to order things from or search on for ideas. My skills were limited but it was fun to find things and make things and usually I could get help with the more complicated building of things. Last month Saskatoon’s 25th St. Theatre was looking for some help and ideas in creating oversized “backstage” items for their upcoming Fringe Festival. Lucky for me they said yes when I suggested creating an oversized props table. And how fun to come back and volunteer for 25th St Theatre — a company that employed me and had been so good to me when I was a young theatre artist — and make props again.

Here’s what everything looked like in my garage:

And here’s my by the “props table” next to the stage in the kids area:

This “wee potion” bottle was actually the last thing I made for the props table. The base is a jug of spring water from Canadian Tire topped off with the casing for a light bulb solar lamp (the actual light I used in another prop) and the finial on top is from my supplies. Having a Silhouette machine made cutting the vinyl label a lot quicker and easier then if I would have been if I had to make it all by hand.

Inspired by a mirrored tray at the dollar store I decided to make a giant hand mirror. I cut a cardboard box into the shape of a mirror and weighted it down with some old discs I got years ago when I made an extremely large purchase of key-making supplies.

I taped up the cardboard, filled it with gap filler, and covered everything in plastic garbage bags and landscaping cloth. This made the mirror waterproof enough to live outdoors during the Fringe (where, despite the heat wave and drought, it did pour rain at least one night).

I made some large, decorative flowers from a cheap foam yoga mat (thank you dollar store and You Tube — more “luxuries” of supplies and information that didn’t exist when I was making props in the ‘80s and ‘90s).

Here’s the finished mirror. I used mirrored Mylar that actually works exactly like a mirror when it’s totally flat (not something I achieved here as my gap filling foam was uneven). If I had more tools I would have cut the entire mirror out of pink insulation boards instead of using cardboard and foam filler.

The props table light is made out of a plastic flower pot, part of an old lamp that died earlier this year, cardboard, more of those discs, and the solar light from the “wee potion” topper. I used part of a blue plastic bag as “gel” to tape over the light and, of course, a pool noodle. The light did fall apart quite a bit — I repaired it once before it went off to the Fringe and I’m pretty sure the Fringe folks had to repair it as well. I’m also pretty sure that it’s easy to just get blue light bulbs now…but I think the blue plastic “gel” is funny for those who would recognize what it represents.

The paper plate “candies” are actually the first things I made for the props table (thank you Pinterest). I started out using markers for the red lines but ended up switching to paint as the marker ran out of ink. I put some small discs (why yes, I do have a lot supplies and things around the house) into the candies and filled them with gap filler to make them sturdier for the outdoors and give them a bit of weight. I also covered them with vinyl shower curtain “candy wrappers” instead of cellophane so they’d be more durable and waterproof (which seemed to work).

The large candy necklaces are made from pool noodles (another Pinterest inspiration) and were entirely satisfying to make as I was so happy with how they turned out. And also really lucky to find a white pool noodle lurking in some hockey logo covered material — saving what I am sure would have been several hours of spray painting time. A Dremel saw and a pair of scissors made the cutting go smoothly.

Lucky for me my friend lent me some large books from a show she’d worked on at the Shakespeare on the Saskatchewan Festival (I place I also worked in my youth in a variety of roles — including props — so it was fun to have some “prop connection” there again).

The books had been outside for a few years so I gave them a bit of cleaning and repair and recovered them with some fancy paper I had. I also made some titles with the help of my Silhouette machine.

One of the most life-shaping jobs I ever had was working as ASM/Props/Rosaline for the Shakespeare on the Saskatchewan Festival. That bilingual co-production of Romeo et Juliet held over to tremendous applause in 1989 and went on to tour Ontario in 1990. The letters and wee potion bottle are a nod to that time.

And, finally, of course, I made a key out of pool noodles, metal rings, a metal pole from that dead lamp, and pink surveyor’s tape

A cool and fun journey to get to Key 2056 — thanks for following along!