ng of a mummy.
Properties designer Sarah E. Ross and her team of property shop manager Amanda Herrmann and production intern Keira Jacobs work alongside the scene shop staff to build the mummy a sarcophagus.
The props team is also assembling a variety of items, from clay jugs and other vessels, for the crypt floor as well as tea services, feather dusters, blocks of books and a bear rug for the drawing room.
While master carpenter Chris Walls leads the team of carpenters constructing English manor home of Lord and Lady Hillcrest, production assistant Nicholas Mompier and technical director Scott M. Boyle don welding jackets and sleeves. Sparks fly as they weld and grind sharp edges from a turn table and other steel framed scenery that is required for this fast paced comedy.
As I pass the rehearsal hall on my way back to the Box Office I hear Sean Grennan and Sean Fortunato rehearsing the play. Greg calls a break so they can pause to take a small break to check how the new prop they were given is going to work.
As the scene shop crew consisting of production assistant Kristine Kreutzer and production interns Cory Vincent, Ellen Johnson and Tracy Nowak report to lunch break they are covered in saw dust. They are creating the next world that will inhabit the Players stage. From the Egyptian mummy’s crypt to the drawing room of a mysterious Victorian manor on the moors of England.
The production team joins the actors and director Greg Vinkler for lunch and they catch each other up on how far they have gotten that morning. Which scene is blocked? Which platform is built? When can we start to paint? Did Lord Edgar’s shoes arrive? How many pockets does Jane need in her apron? Which way will the sarcophagus open? Can we have a larger meat cleaver?
If you like a little (or a lot) of comedy with your mystery, join us for “The Mystery of Irma Vep,” which runs July 30 until Aug. 17. Fans of a tense whodunit don’t want to miss a performance of Agatha Christie’s “And Then There Were None,” which is on stage until July 27. For information on the rest of the Players season or to buy tickets visit www.peninsulaplayers.com or phone 920-868-3287. I hope to see you by the bay!
Audra Baakari Boyle is the Peninsula Players Business Manager, celebrating her 20th season by the bay.