This week we’re going to look in depth at the process that goes behind makeup and the props that are used during a show. Props can be anything from a chair to a piece of food. Meanwhile make-up can go from full blown animal makeup to a normal street look. The crazier that show, the wackier the make-up!
First, the props. You can make them, you could buy them, or you could rent them. Props are flexible in the sense that you can get most things, and then alter them to be exactly what you need. Where props get difficult is when you’re doing a period piece and you need a specific thing from that time period. In that case, you would go to the magical world of the Internet, and research, research, research. Most likely, there is someone out in the world who has the thing that you’re looking for.
Making props is also a lot of fun. You can make lots of things out of foam or wood even. Foam is especially good if something is supposed to be heavy, and looks heavy, but doesn’t actually have to be heavy. Props is a big job. You spend a lot of time driving around going to different places to get the perfect piece. Directors are normally very particular about what they want.Food is another fun prop to deal with. Fake food is fine, but if the actor actually has to eat on stage, you need real food. There are ways to make fake food look very real though.
Makeup is a whole other ball game. You have to be very talented to do the crazy makeup, and to make it look good. You would be surprised by how much makeup you actually have to wear on stage. The lights in a theatre are so hot and bright, that actors use specific thick makeup so they don’t get washed out by the lights. Normal street makeup isn’t enough underneath the bight lights. Everyone wears makeup, guys and girls. Special makeup is fun, because you get to create the character on their face. The shows like Cats and The Lion King have amazing makeup because they’re all animals! There’s also old-age makeup, and injury makeup. One of the funnest things I’ve done was make fake wounds and give someone grotesque injuries.
Without props and makeup, the show would be significantly less then what it is with it!
life in the technical theatre world 
It’s neat learning about making props. I didn’t realize before how useful using foam could be when representing a heavy object!
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