Please see the post Drama!Drama!Drama! for the beginning of this series.

This is an area that will be determined by the size of your budget and your stage/facility.

For me the use of props have been found to be an after thought. I like the story to shine forth and feature video, song & dance elements when a production is done, so props are sparsely decorated and scarcely used at best. In other words, only used when needed.

Two reasons for this have been apparent:

1. Storage - there is hardly enough room to store what you need let alone add props from year to year or season to season. So I make the basics for our use: the cross, a tomb (that lights up from inside), a park bench and a casket for a scene in the Christmas play. These have been our main props, so the point is – only very few props are used.

2. Budget –  I have been forced by the lack of budget to make the story tell the tale.

For a church play props are basically a luxury in my eyes and a bit of creative thinking and writing will carry the audience’s attention without the use of major props. But this is my opinion and if you are a prop-oriented production, that is fine. Props rightly used can enhanced a mood or atmosphere of a given scene, so just pray and choose wisely. Also, maybe you have more budget and storage space than I do.

There has been one light in the tunnel in the prop arena of which I will continue to investigate,: How to make ”fake” rocks using foam roof sealant . The link is an article on the subject. So, this may be an inexpensive way to decorate a stage with lightweight rock formations using foam & other materials. I would really like to see how useful this technique is for a tomb scene. I will let you know what I find out, or let me know if you have already done it.

Til next post.