Prop Director
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Prop Artisans Prop Skills Prop Internships Prop Training Contracts/Salaries
THE PROPERTIES DIRECTORS HANDBOOK
PROPS for the THEATRE
Prop Director Jim Guy working with Artisan Sarah Heck, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre
The Properties Director must have a strong background in management of a shop and staff, budgeting, period research, be able to read, interpret, and draft the scenic designer's prop sketches into working drawings utilizing appropriate construction techniques/materials to satisfy the production’s particular needs, be skilled in all phases of property construction, and be a collaborative and effective communicator with stage managers, directors, actors, and other area heads.
The Properties Director is responsible for maintaining the prop shop tools and equipment and keeping a wide variety of supplies in stock from lumber, steel, plastics, and paint to sewing and craft materials.
The Properties Director establishes and maintains the high standard of safety for work done in the shops and on stage. While each person in the prop shop and indeed, in the theatre itself, is ultimately responsible for insuring their own safety and making personal decisions about work processes and products used in the production of theatre props, the Properties Director should make safety a top priority. Beyond just the obvious desire to work in a healthy and safe environment, it’s the law. The general duty clause of The Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) states, in part, that the employer shall furnish “employment and a place of employment which are free from recognized hazards.” The Properties Director has an obligation to maintain health and safety standards for the protection of all who work in the shop and to promote necessary tool/ supply upgrades and shop maintenance needed to comply with safe working practices both to management and to the prop staff.
Most importantly the Properties Director manages the build as it moves thru the shop, adjusting crew assignments and determining priorities in response to rehearsal requests, availability of materials, changes in the prop list, difficulties in building a prop, and all of the juggling of whether some particular prop is built, bought, pulled, or borrowed from another company. Attendance at production and design meetings allows for efficient communication with all departments including those overlapping into props such as costumes, scenery, or electrics. Acting as the point person in the prop shop they direct necessary information to the properties crew about changes in specific props or projects, to stage management about status of projects and specific handling or use of props, and to the designer about requested changes or rehearsal adds. They also work with the production manager to balance the budget needs for the show and the personnel hires.
Properties Director Jolene Obertin in her office at Seattle Repertory Theatre.
In addition to running the prop shop, the Properties Director is often responsible for the maintenance of the properties stock and managing prop rentals to community organizations and other theatres. The Marketing and Development office often requests assistance from the prop shop for back-stage tours, educational events, fund raising galas decoration, photo shoots, and other community and fund raising events.
In small theatres and especially at the university and community theatre level, the properties director is often a one-person shop. Obviously the level of production must also be smaller given the limited number of hours in the day and the ability of one person to do the work accomplished by a full staff in other organizations. The one-person properties shop usually relies on strong local contacts for borrowing items and a realistic understanding of the limitations necessitated by budget, time, and availability of volunteers or other production personnel who may be able to help out if they have time available in their own production work. However, the passion and commitment demonstrated by these small shops remains the same for the dedicated properties director striving to put on stage the best product to support the play.
Click here to view sub-topics:
Prop Artisans Prop Skills Prop Internships Prop Training Contracts/Salaries
Click to move to next “chapter”: Pre-Production and Research
