hello and welcome 
please feel free to have a little 
   sneaky peek at what I do...
 

Faux Birthday Cake

Partnership Events & Entertainment Limited (PEEL)

I made another cake for PEEL, this time for a special birthday occasion for the company. PEEL asked whether I could make a tiered cake for one of the director's/manager's birthday party, something very fancy and elaborate with the real cake under the faux cake as a bit of a joke... This was made out of styrofoam, light weight filler (which was VERY useful otherwise the cake would have weighed a ton!), and a bit of plastazote for the words. PEEL wanted a light green coloured cake so I tried to gather decorative materials that would go with light green and be fun to look at. I chose decorations which would work in a simple yet striking way and handmade the flower arrangements on the top and on the corners. I tried to avoid the 'wedding cake look' which was a little bit tricky...













Broadcasting Camera


Partnership Entertainment Events Limited (PEEL)

PEEL asked me if I could make three fake broadcasting cameras for one of their cruise productions which they said was "...similar to Hairspray the musical". Their own adaptation version I guess! A lot of dancing routines were involved so some of the actors needed to have a lightweight camera which was easy to hold and move around quickly. This was mostly made from foam/styrofoam and plastazote.





 





1940s Faux Wedding Cake

Partnership Entertainment Events Limited (PEEL)

After making Audrey puppet for PEEL, they came back and asked whether I could make a World War 2 faux cake for a historical food event at a hotel. I researched what a faux cake looked like during the 1940s and picked out certain features which I thought would be appropriate for this piece. A real piece of fruit cake was to be placed underneath the faux cake. This was mostly made from plastazote, plaster of paris, filler and PVA and other decorative materials which I found in places like the market, haberdashery and fabric stores.



Set Painting

Red Ladder Theatre production of 'Ugly'
 
A freelance prop maker I got to know while I was at the West Yorkshire Playhouse asked me if I could help out doing a few days work on a painting job for Red Ladder Theatre. They specialize in touring theatre so their set is designed to be minimal so they can easily move from one location to another. I was based at the Q Division workshop in Leeds and painted the doorways based on the scale model below giving them an aged look for their latest production of 'Ugly'.





 

Puppet - Audrey 2

Partnership Entertainment Events Limited (PEEL)
'Little Shop of Horrors'

After taking a break from theatre work and getting a 'normal' job to save up some money, PEEL got in touch with me and asked whether I could make a puppet for one of their Thompson cruise ship productions of 'Little Shop of Horrors' and I was happy to take on the job. Audrey's body was made from foam along with the roots, and the leaves were made from plastazote. I made her teeth our of foam board, layering them together and sanding them down to shape, which was probably an awkward way to make teeth but I thought I would try and use materials which were lying around the flat to make good use of them!



 



Polar bears

West Yorkshire Playhouse
'His Dark Materials'

After my work experience at the West Yorkshire Playhouse, I was employed for a month or so at the Playhouse mainly to make/assemble polar bear puppets for the 'His Dark Materials' production which was to open at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre in March 2009 and then to go on tour. These polar bear puppets were a full costume for the actors and were designed by the Blind Summit company. 'His Dark Materials' was adapted from Philip Pullman’s three novels into two full-length plays, written for the stage by Nicholas Wright and directed by Rachel Kavanaugh.

Plastazote was used for the entire puppet, the pieces were cut to shape, glued together and spray painted. I particularly enjoyed making the armour for the bears, painting them to look rusty, aged and worn, and I also enjoyed fitting the eyeballs for the polar bears as it instantly made them all come alive.









For more information on the Blind Summit company:

Placement/Work Experience

During my second year at University I had a placement at Rocket Scenery, a scenic construction company based in Nottingham. This was my very first taster getting involved with theatre industry work and getting a feeling of the working environment and understanding the working process of a set construction company, getting a set made from paper design/model box to real life. Below are some examples of the work I got involved with at Rocket, mostly in scenic painting and some prop making.




After my graduation, I was accepted to do work experience at the West Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds which was a great experience. This allowed me to get more involved with the prop making side of things, and this is where I learned a lot of useful skills and techniques broadening my interest in prop making. 

Below are some of the productions I got involved with.


 

 

 



'Don't You Leave Me Here' - by Clare Brown(above)



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


'Animal Farm' - by George Orwell(above)


 

 

 


'Full of Noises' - West Yorkshire Playhouse Touring Company 
(above)
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