Roadside Trash Into Stage Treasures

Veteran theatre creatives Bob and Col Peet featured in a recent episode of Stage Whispers TV on mastering prop and set building.

The brothers, now based in Adelaide and Sydney, warned that it is very dangerous driving behind them on council clean-up days. One of their favourite habits is picking up some roadside trash to save it for a time when they can make it into a stage prop.

“We have made pot stands into a buffet, and very ordinary chairs into glamorous pieces,” said Col.

Bob described how he found beautiful chairs in a clean-up.

“I stopped and picked one up. I then got an email from someone who wanted four chairs. The next morning I went back. There were the other three chairs under the rubbish. I was able to rebirth them with black upholstery. Later we turned one into the wheelchair in Wicked. It all comes apart.”

Another time Bob found a gold couch on Facebook Marketplace at the home of a drag queen.

“So, it was appropriate that it became purple, which I got from a bedspread. That ended up being a lovely piece for The Producers,” he said.

The brothers are big fans of giving community theatre casts a look at set model boxes early in the rehearsal process.

In the video they showed off their latest masterpieces.

“I do a model box at a ratio of one to 25. When we build it, the cast say the set looks just like the model,” said Col.

The Stage Whispers TV Live Broadcast is sponsored by The Association of Community Theatre, which partners with Marsh Insurance to offer non-professional companies public liability insurance policies.

For more information visit www.communitytheatre.com.au