Behind the Scenes is a new features series where we’ll get to know ISPD members a little bit better through essays, production diaries, interviews, and more. In this second instalment, Dragana Stevanic gives us a little behind-the-scenes look at some of the props and set pieces created for Irish National Opera’s recent production of The Flying Dutchman.
Bringing The Flying Dutchman to Life
I was hired to prop the show and make the giant fish net set piece a couple of weeks before The Flying Dutchman started rehearsals. There were more than a hundred props on the list, so the majority were bought secondhand and then adjusted in some way — some were just painted, but some were entirely taken apart and only pieces of them were used.
Surprisingly, the biggest make was not the fish net but actually the raw haddock fillets.
Our director, as Rachel Hewer was keen for them not only to look right but also to move in a specific way when handled and to sound right when smashed against the table. They were moulded then cast out of liquid rubber.
And I would be remiss not to mention that ISPD member Francis O’Connor was our brilliant set and costume designer, and my fellow classmate from the Lir, Oliver Kampman, was the main ASM and also did all paper props, which were absolutely brilliant.
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Dragana Stevanic is a prop maker and scenic artist based in Dublin. She is a Lir academy graduate in Stage Management and Technical Theatre, and also holds a BA in Applied Photography and Design. Her recent work includes The Borrowers (Gate theatre), Hothouse (Malaprop), Amelia (Dee Roycroft, Dublin theatre festival) and The Flying Dutchman (Irish National Opera).
