Propping Up the Show - Hazel Price
Hazel Price
Assistant Stage Manager (ASM)
Managed to nab Hazel as she was speeding through the production office (hence the blurry photo)... Too late, girl! On with the questions...
Q: What do you do?
I work with Lee. We're jointly responsible for getting all the props for the show and generally assisting rehearsals, making sure they have everything they need.
Q: Any problem props with this show?
The sofa took us quite a while. The designer had an idea of how it should look, but it also had to do a lot of things, so that took some time to sort out We got there in the end. Then of course there are the flowers coming out of the walls, which is a work in progress...
Q:How did you get into this line of work?
Through amateur theatre at the age of 14. Somebody told me that the local professional theatre was opening up their youth theatre department and I got a chance to see how stage management worked professionally. I've known that was what I wanted to do since I was 15. I went straight from A levels to drama school, and have been working ever since - almost 8 years now.
Q: The new smoking ban in Scotland - is that affecting prop departments?
We can't show smoking on stage - not even herbal cigarettes. The new law only came in at the end of March so we haven't had to resolve this yet. It's a new problem that everyone's having to deal with. Normally, if an actor didn't want to smoke, you just gave them a herbal cigarette, but that's no longer possible. I've seen productions where people have had lighters not working, or the smoking just omitted. I worked on a show that went to Kilkenny the year before last, where the ban was already in place, and the actors had cigarettes but just didn't light up.
Q:Any prop secrets you'd like to share?
I hate it when I see red wine on stage that's very obviously Ribena, cos I've worked quite hard over the years to find a way of making red wine look realistic. I just use red food colouring or cochineal, and burnt sugar, then I just add the Ribena in so that it tastes nice for the actors. But you need to pour it in the right way as well, so that it doesn't go too frothy, which is a bit of a giveaway.
Q: What do you like most about your job?
That it's constantly changing.
Q: What personal qualities would be ideal for someone in your job?
A sense of humour, dedication, and... the phrase nowadays is 'thinking outside the box'. If there's a word for that, that's what you need.
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