Tip: Temporary Prop Table Layout

I recently finished working at Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival, where the theatres are used by multiple shows, with morning children’s shows and another production performing in the evenings on the same stage.  The smaller Schubert Theatre backstage area is a fairly cozy hallway, which my Mainstage Theatre cast would also walk through to get to our proscenium entrance. When Assistant Stage Manager Amelia Heastings was setting up the area for Much Ado‘s performances, she settled on a completely temporary layout for the prop table, in a way I had never considered before, which she said I could share. Take a look.

Photo of a backstaeg prop table with pieces of paper under each prop for temporary labels
Amelia’s temporary prop table layout for Much Ado uses pieces of paper under the props, which can be removed during the daily strike.

Each piece of paper is labeled with “SR” (stage right) and then a number out of 11 – as she has 11 pieces of paper total. She then proceeds to lay the pieces of paper in order each night, and the props on top of those. Such a simple solution for an indoor production in a rep situation. (Outdoors, wind could very much be a factor, of course.) Thanks for sharing, Amelia!