All role cheat sheets
Cheat sheet: props master
Your first week as props master
Your own prop list, rehearsal stand-ins early, nothing bought unapproved.
What the job is, in the glossaryIf you're new
- Every object an actor touches is yours: found, bought, borrowed or built.
- Rehearsal stand-ins come first. Actors need something the right size in their hands before blocking.UCFKent State
If you're a pro
- The prop list, purchasing and backstage storage habits that keep you out of trouble with the scenic designer and the budget.UCF
Talk to these people first
- The scenic designer. Plans, model, palette and research, so every prop belongs in the same world.UCF
- The stage manager and director. Compare script breakdowns, lock the list, and check what each prop has to survive: thrown, broken, stood on, eaten.UCFDavidsonKent State
- The production manager and the other shops. Budget, buying rules and storage; costumes for shared items, electrics for working lamps, sound for radios that play.UCFPull-Tight
Do
- Read the script twice and build your own list in scene order: one row per item, with scene, character, description and whether it is used up each night.UCF
- Pull from storage and get safe rehearsal stand-ins into the room before blocking.UCFKent State
- Price everything and get approval before you buy. Order early. Use loan forms for borrowed items and keep every receipt.UCF
- Read every rehearsal report and reply fast. Visit rehearsal to catch props that have quietly appeared.UCFDavidson
- Plan a labelled prop table on each side, and flag anything fragile, valuable, weapon-like or edible.UCF
Don't
- Do not photocopy the prop list at the back of the script. Make your own.WTAMU
- Never promise a design change for the designer, and never spend without approval.UCFPull-Tight
- Do not let rehearsal props and show props mix, and never send out an undated prop list.EmersonDavidsonEMU thesis
What to bring
Other roles
How-tos for the same show
Tech week, hour by hourPaper tech to previews: who comes, what gets done, how long, and when to move on.Build a prompt bookWhat goes in the book, in what order, and how it runs tech and every show.School, community, pro and UK theatreWho calls the show, what the rules are and what everything is called, side by side.
Sources
Written in my own words from handbooks, guides and rulebooks I read for this suite. Tags beside each point show where it comes from.
- Davidson College Theatre, Stage Management Handbook
- Emerson Stage, Stage Manager's Handbook
- Halle R. Stiverson, The stage manager's resources (Eastern Michigan University honors thesis)
- Kent State University School of Theatre and Dance, Stage Management Handbook
- Pull-Tight Players
- Theatre UCF, Production Handbook
- University of Northern Iowa (TheatreUNI), Stage Management Handbook
- West Texas A&M University Theatre, Theatre production tasks