Day 20: Kidney Failure

Yesterday was just a run through rehearsal. Aside form the fact, I totally messed up some of the transitions, nothing too eventful happened. With that said, on to today!

My assignment for the day was to create a kidney for the kidney lamp needed for the play. We already had most of the lamp assemble. We just needed to add the base and a kidney around the stand. The first thought for the kidney was to make it out of a foam ball. So off to Jane's I went in search of the perfect size foam ball. Having found the right size and discussing with the saleslady her thoughts on construction I thought I had it all figured out. Wrong! I began by gathering some tools from the work space backstage. My tools of choice were a serrated knife, a box cutting knife, a tape measure, and a sharpie. I first cut the ball in half (that was the easy part) Then I measured half inch deep and half inch long half circles in each half. Once they were cut the ball was able to fit around the lamp post. I then taped the ball back together to work on the shaping of the kidney. This the part where it got tricky.

I did some online research and had printed a few picture of kidneys I thought were the best. I began my "shaping" with my serrated knife. They 3D sphere kept throwing me off though, and it was not shaping as I was picturing. Several attempts and two many cuts later, the sphere kidney turned out to be a complete fail. After discussing with Ms. Denise, it was onto plan B. Back to Jane's for me.

Second trip, I just got a plain white poster board. We decided we could cut two kidneys out and put them on either side on the post. It was coming together SO much better foam ball. After the kidneys were attached, I began putting a layer of tape outside edge of the kidneys to make them a little more sturdy. Once the outside edges were all taped it was, paper mache was next. This was my first experience with paper mache. I started by making the paste. Flour and water is all you need. After some mixing and reaching the right consistency I began macheing the kidney. It turned out looking really good. It just covered in scrap paper right now, but tomorrow I will put the finishing touches on it with paint, and it will look like a real kidney. I only wish I had a picture to post with this entry just so you can see my work for the day.

The rest of the day consisted of rehearsal. Only one mess up today. Luckily I have one more night to mess up and get it straight for opening on Wednesday. It went really well today. You could tell that everything was at high energy especially act 1. It keeps better and better every time its performed. I cannot wait for everyone to see it! I will be making my debut as assistant stage manager/running crew in just two short  days! Until Tomorrow...