Check out Utah Shakespeare’s next Virtual Production Seminar that will be held on Thursday, October 8, 2020 at 1:00 p.m. EDT / 11:00 a.m. MDT. In this seminar, Setting the Stage: Props, Paint, and Scenery Construction, they will discuss the people and processes behind the scenes. Hammers, saws, paint brushes, and an abundance of imagination and talent are necessary to create the beautiful props, paint drops, and scenery for the Utah Shakespeare Festival.

Join theatre artists Julia Rogge, Scenic Charge Artist; Chris Winneman, Technical Director; and Kelly Kreutsberg, Properties Supervisor in this Virtual Seminar to discuss the people and processes behind the scenes. Richard Girtain, Production Manager, will moderate the seminar.

You can watch the Virtual Seminars live on the Utah Shakespeare Festival Facebook page, or you can check out the archive if you miss an episode.
As you’ve learned in past Virtual Seminar Groves, from Utah Shakespeare Festival, many of the props at the Festival are handmade. USF Properties Director, Ben Hohman shares one of his favorite props he’s made:

“There are many favorites, but this is a pot-bellied stove that we built for Johnny Guitar in 2006. It has been in several shows since then including Guys and Dolls, Fiddler, and Big River. It is made mostly of plastic flower pots from Walmart, along with some random scraps of material that were around the shop. We painted the whole thing with textured spray paint to make it look like metal. The whole thing cost us about $15 dollars. It is one of my favorites because it shows the resourcefulness of the props department, it was a late add to the show, and getting a real one was not possible due to time constraints and the budget. Plus a real one would have been way too heavy for the action of the piece, but we did not let any of that deter us. We figured it out and made a piece that even upon close inspection many people believe to be real, and it has held up and been used multiple times.”