Props are a good thing

Our excellent props department is led by Properties Shop Manager Edie Whitsett, who shared some interesting tidbits about the props from A Tale of Two Cities.

There are additional challenges when working on a play about a specific time period, in this case the years leading up to and first few months of the French Revolution (the start of is generally marked by the storming of the Bastille on July 14, 1789). You have to maintain a balance between historical accuracy, the desired visuals and the technical demands of the play (where some props have to be durable and others have to break apart for each performance).

As a result, we have the pieces that embrace historical accuracy:

- Quill pens were first used during the 500's BC. These are the quill feathers of birds sharpened to a point. Steel nib pens did not come until the early 1800's. The quill pens in "A Tale of Two Cities" are either turkey or pheasant quills.

And we have other pieces where the proper visual and feel are more important:

- The pistol is a Cogswell Pepperbox; it actually dates form the mid 1800's, but we really liked the look for Madame DeFarge. Ours is cast out of urethane foam so it won't break when it gets dropped.

Originally developed in London in the mid 1800's, this six-shot percussion pistol was not technically a revolver since the multiple barrels and receiver rotated together. This replica gun has a mechanically-revolving barrel with working action and wood grips. Though this replica pistol saw limited action in the Civil War, it was likely more commonly used in saloons of the American frontier underneath a poker table.

- The rifle is an American Civil War replica used in reenactments.

And we have the pieces that Properties must build to look like one thing, but fulfill a different purpose:

- The wine barrel that drops and breaks is made out of foam, glue, rope and wood.

- The pudding is carved and painted foam with sauce made from paint and glue - yum! A traditional English pudding is made of eggs, flour, butter (or suet - raw beef fat), dried fruit, brandy, syrup, spices and soda. It is steamed in a mold, tightly covered. Some folks baste it with more brandy or pour a hard sauce over it.

What strikes me most about this list and the other items that Edie shared, which covered items and topics ranging from secret societies’ use of coded messages woven into textiles to the invention of the envelope and the origin of 8 1/2” x 11” paper, is how much Edie and her staff gets to learn in the process of researching props.

And isn’t that often the best thing about theatre – we come to it with one expectation, to be entertained or enlightened, and find we learn more than we could have anticipated.

A Tale of Two Cities opens Friday March 20 and runs through April 12, 2009 in SCT's Charlotte Martin Theatre.