How Do They Do That:
Stage Weapons
I once cut an actor on stage. I was playing Suzy, the blind woman, in “Wait Until Dark, and I was coming,
armed with a butcher knife, after the evil Mr. Roat, who had taken refuge in a room off stage. The set was
nearly dark, and I wasn’t wearing my glasses. I nicked him right on the chin.
We had taped the blade but did nothing more to the knife. In small community theaters like ours, props come from
what is at hand, usually somebody’s donated piece, and this knife was going right back into the kitchen drawer it
came from when the show was over. Also, we have a very intimate theater. If the knife had been altered too drastically,
the audience could see it.
Using Sharp Weapons
Sue Brockman, the properties director, at Children’s Theatre Company in Minneapolis, Minnesota, is more than cautious with weapons.
The theater doesn’t use them very often because of the nature of children’s scripts; but when they do, she makes sure that knives are
blunted on a grindstone, the tips are removed, and the edge is still taped. Most of the time, weapons (swords, for example) are made
in-house out of harmless materials.
The University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh advises its student actors and tech crews to treat prop weapons as real weapons, because, many times,
they are. Prop weapons are only handled by the prop director or the weapons master, who keep the weapons locked up until they are used on stage,
either for rehearsal or in performance. They only release a weapon to an actor if the actor has had proper training in its use. All weapons are
returned to the weapons master or prop director after a scene is finished.
The International Cinematographers Guild, however, has drafted extensive guidelines for edged and piercing props, which many university drama/film
departments and community and professional theater companies have adopted. These guidelines require real or fake prop weapons to be make of steel
or high tensile aluminum, strong enough to withstand use or being struck by another prop weapon (as in the case of sword fighting). They caution
against dulling a sharp weapon too much, noting that it can lessen its strength and could cause the blade to shatter.
The guidelines, also, suggest inspecting the area where a weapon will be used. The prop director or weapons master should check for hazards on the
floor or ground. An actor running with a blade could trip, falling on the blade or into another actor. All actors should be taught safety precautions
when they are taught how to use weapons and should wear protective gear under their costumes whenever possible. If a weapon, such as a dagger, is thrown,
the actor should know where and what the target is at all times and never throw a weapon unless he or she has received a clear signal from a person designated
to give the signal. And, all productions should have an abort signal, just in case.
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