How-to

How to make a deer butt

In a previous post, we saw a deer butt which Natalie had built several years ago make a reappearance in a current production of A Lie of the Mind. I asked her to share how she constructed it. She began with research and preparation. Without that, you can easily waste your time building something which [...]
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Paper-tearing jig

Our upcoming show requires a large amount of torn pieces of paper. They also live in a working sink throughout the production. As with any paper prop handled roughly by an actor (and especially one that might get wet during the show), we treat it almost like a consumable, with a large amount of back-ups [...]
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Faking a Beer Can

For our upcoming production of The Book of Grace by Suzan-Lori Parks at the Public Theater, we need beer. Technically, we need about ten beers per night. Unfortunately, in most legitimate theatres, you cannot have the actors drinking beer during a performance. You need to figure out a way to have a beer can filled [...]
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Faux Oil Paintings

Our upcoming production of Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson has a gallery in the audience of 19 portraits. These were described as oil paintings of “dead white guys”. We decided to begin experimenting with printing these portraits out and seeing how we can make them look more like a painted canvas. I decided to try some [...]
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More on a Wooden Table

In the previous post, I spoke about the wooden table we were building for The Last Cargo Cult. Jay Duckworth started off with a coat of darker stain to catch the raised grain and really accentuate it. He went over the whole thing again with a lighter shade. After it appeared on stage during tech [...]
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  • About

    Eric Hart

    I am Eric Hart, the assistant props master at the Public Theater in New York City, and a longtime prop maker.

    This site is a way to share my work and the things I've learned over the years. It's also a way to connect with other prop makers, props masters, and artisans, as well as a collection of all things of interest to props people from around the internet.

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