Properties

What is a Prop?

Basically properties are everything that is not part of the set, the lighting, the sound, or costumes. What exactly that means can vary drastically from show to show.

Specifically though, properties usually break down into and can be identified through the following categories:

• Hand props
• Personal props
• Set props
• Set dressing
• Consumables
• Greens
• Mechanical special effects

Purpose of Props

• Dress the scene
• Contribute to look and feel of the scene or location
• Help fill space onstage and on the set appropriately
• Interpret the play
• Contribute to the style and mood of the play
• Add information about characters
• Aid the actor
• Help actor in character, movement and business

Video Introduction

Check out this video by the American Theatre Wing featuring Broadway props designers/coordinators Kathy Fabian, Faye Armon-Troncoso, and Buist Bickley.

Working in the Theatre: Prop Masters Links to an external site.

(Length 19:54) from the American Theatre Wing.

Types of Props

As mentioned above, there are a handful of key categories that props will fall into:

Hand props are any props that are handled or carried by an actor. This includes objects like staffs, weapons, lanterns and candles, canes, staffs, parasols, and practically anything else an actor could or might pick up.

Personal props are props worn or carried by a particular actor and issued to them rather than stored on the prop table. These will sometimes be handled by the costume department instead of properties 

Set props include most obviously furniture. These are objects that add to the look of the setting and that the actor interacts with.

Set dressing consists of similar items, but are ones that the actor doesn't usually handle or touch in any way. Trim props are a type of set dressing that hang on the walls, such as pictures, window dressing and curtains, and so on. Some set dressings are what we call practicals. These are props like lamps, chandeliers, and radios that work on stage like they do in real life. Also included in set dressing is anything on the floor. This includes obvious things like rugs, carpets, and other floor coverings, but doesn't generally include a hard show deck. 

Greens are any plant onstage - either live or artificial.

Consumables are items such as food and drink that are consumed by the actor and must be replenished nightly or weekly.

Mechanical special effects are any special effect that does not need to be plugged in to operate. If a pull pin or a string operates a trick, it is a prop. If it is triggered by electricity though, it is handled by the electrics department. Mechanical noise makers are props, but recorded sound effects are part of audio, and so on.

Breakaways are props designed to break on cue. They may be made out of a brittle material, or are pieces that are pre-broken and lightly glued back together with hot glue, so they can break again easily. Some objects, especially breakaway glass, should either be specialty purchases or builds so that the pieces that break are not a safety hazard.

Skills of the Props Artisan

Probably more than any other member of the theatre, the workers of the props department need to be skilled in a large variety of areas (a jack-of-all-trades). They need to be part carpenter, welder, stitcher, electrician, painter, cook, and art historian, just to name a few. In addition, they need to think to themselves, "how will the actor or director want to use this prop?" Will the chair be stood or danced on, or just sat in? By knowing a little about everything, they are then able to make important decisions on how to create each needed prop for the show.

Props artisans also need to be good at shopping, thrifting, and great at making objects (sometimes purely fictitious) out of random materials. For example, a great props artisan is able to look at a drawer or shelf full of random bits and pieces and see the 1900's radio that they need to create. They are able to look past the current appearance of that thrifted wooden chair and see the fully upholstered (fabric and padding covered) masterpiece that they need.

And, most importantly, they need to be great collaborators, communicators, and team players. Because properties can overlap with every other department in the theatre, they need to be flexible, quick, and reliable. Did the handle of the briefcase pop off in the actor's hand? Fix it. Are the curtains the wrong shade of burgundy? Change them. And so on.

These skills are what separate the great props artisans and coordinators from the mediocre ones.