A Shocking History of Stage Horror

Tabula Rasa has a history of gore effects used in theatre. Some highlights include:

• Loading a dummy with animal blood and animal intestines for realistic disembowelings
• Hiding a lamb’s tongue in an actor’s mouth to simulate him biting it off

The history goes all the way back to Ancient Greece. It’s interesting to see how real blood and offal was used throughout all but our most recent history. Though the information presented is brief, it’s a great starting point for anyone interested in this kind of thing.

A brief history of gift wrap

With Christmas coming up, I am reminded that a variety of plays and musicals take place during this......

How to Make Stage Blood

Asking how to make fake blood is kind of like asking how to make food. Sometimes you need......

Telephone History

Ron DeMarco, head of props at Emerson University, had these images on a CD he shared with me......

A brief intro to furniture history

Furniture history is important to most props people. This is obviously an enormously complicated and involved topic. My......