smooth, I made a number of
evenly spaced non-through
cuts on its underside. The back
panels and door jamb hold the
curves in place.
I painted the interior a lovely
yellow that often appeared in
my art deco research. I then
covered the inside walls and
top with a reflective sheet of
Mylar. Besides accentuating
the appearance, this sheet also
masked the cuts in the plywood.
On top, I added two small
panels in a distinctive deco
style; the handles were simple
rectangles fabricated from con -
struction lumber. I filled and
painted the plywood edges
black and stained the wood,
fittingly, with an English chest-
nut tone. The final touch was
to seal everything with two
coats of amber shellac.
Theater is illusion; the
trick of the actors is to make
the audience forget that they
aren’t the characters they inhab-
it. My work is similar. The audi-
ence at And Then There Were
None sat very close to the set,
and patrons walked along theabove:
The in-progress cabinet.
Hart used paint and
a reflective sheet of
Mylar to cover any
cuts and blemishes that
may be visible in its inte-
rior. Finding fast, inven-
tive, and inexpensive
solutions to complex
problems is a big part
of his job.right:
To make the cabinet’s
curved edges, Hart
made a series of non-
through cuts into the
backside of a maple ply-
wood sheet before bend-
ing, gluing, and clamping
it in the desired shape.
This left the top veneer
of the cabinet intact,
giving it a deceptively
expensive look.edge of the space to get to
their seats, even brushing
by the props. The smallest
details had to stand up to
scrutiny. Even up close, this
liquor cabinet appeared to
be a genuine antique rather
than a prop.eric-hart.com
Eric Hart is the props master
at Triad Stage, teaches prop
building at the University of
North Carolina School of the
Arts, and is the author of The
Prop Building Guidebook.Eric Hart not only
sources theater props,
he also builds them. He
made this plywood and
Mylar art deco liquor
cabinet – a necessary set
piece for a play where
the characters drink
copiously – when he
couldn’t find a suitable
one to purchase.american craft aug/sept 19 49